Page 24 of Love Notes

The familiar smell of books welcomed me into the library, and I crossed the carpet to the desk.The older lady wasn’t here today.Instead, a guy was sitting there, his forehead creased as he stared at the screen of an ancient-looking computer.He had short dark hair and green eyes, and he was cute.

He glanced up as I approached and smiled.“Hi, there.”

“Hi,” I said.“I’m hoping you can help me find a book?”

“Sure.Do you have the title or author name?”

“Yeah.It’sReminisces of Harmony Lake, by Isaac Prendergast.Volume Two.”I’d got to the last page of my newspaperman’s book, only to find out there was a second volume.I hoped the library had a copy, but I wasn’t counting on it.I hadn’t found it my first time here, and you’d think it would be shelved with the first volume if they had it.

“Hmm.”He tapped on his keyboard.“Okay, we have the first volume over in the local history section.”

“Actually, I borrowed that,” I said.“It’s at my place.”

“Oh.”He blinked at the screen.“It doesn’t say it’s on loan.Do you have your library card with you?”

“I don’t have a library card,” I said.“Um, the lady here just let me take it and wrote a note.”

The guy laughed.“Oh, you’re one of Aunt Harriet’s special loans.She always does this, then wonders why she can’t find books.I’m trying to get the system all digitized, but it’s a nightmare, honestly.”He was still smiling when he said it though, so it was clearly something he enjoyed doing.“I can’t see—oh, wait, here it is.Under V for Volume Two, instead of R for Reminisces.Yeah, it should be over in local history as well.”

“I didn’t see it last time I was here,” I said.

The guy opened the drawer of the desk to reveal a bunch of handwritten notes.“Let me check these.”

More of Aunt Harriet’s special loans, I guessed.

The guy flicked through the notes, humming.Then he slid them back into the drawer and stood up.“Nope.Let’s go have a look for it then.”

I followed him over to the local history shelves and stood back to allow him a little room while he searched.It was possible I’d just missed it the other day, but I was mostly sure I hadn’t.When the guy hummed again, the sound questioning, I figured I was right, and the book wasn’t here.

“Oh,” he said at last, tapping one of the lower shelves.“You know what?I bet…”

And without finishing that thought, he ducked around the other side of the shelf and into the section of the library that was filled with colorful tubs of picture books and beanbags.He leaned over and began to dig in the nearest tub, surprising me when he pulled a nondescript hardcover out.He opened it to the title page.

“Reminisces of Harmony Lake,” he said triumphantly, passing me the book.“Volume Two.Sometimes the little kids like to play librarian and reshelve the books they can reach.Last week I found a copy of Thucydides’History of the Peloponnesian Warin here, right next toThe Very Hungry Caterpillar.”

“Wow, an actual Harmony Lake detective,” I blurted.“The real deal.”

The guy tilted his head and gave me a quizzical smile.He stuck his hand out.“Anyway, I’m Ben.”

I shook his hand.“Adam,” I said.“Nice to meet you.You’re Sam’s boyfriend?”

It was great to meet another one of Ryan’s friend group, especially since, like me, Ben was a recent addition.It would be good to have someone as new to the group as I was.Not that the guys seemed like the sort of people who would leave us out on purpose, but we didn’t have the knowledge of the twenty plus years of insider jokes that worked into most of their conversations.

“That’s right.”His smile grew.“You must be the guy who’s staying in Ryan’s cabin.I don’t think we’ve met before, but you look a little familiar.”

“Oh,” I said, heat rising in my face.I didn’t often get recognized, but if anyone was going to do it, I guessed it would be a librarian.“I, um, actually write books.The detective comment…um, have you heard of the Harmony Lake Murders series?”

Ben blinked, his smile faltering.“The Harmony Lake Murders?Shit.You’re AdamNelson.”

“Yeah.”I didn’t often get recognized outside of book conventions or signings, where people were expecting to see me, and I’d never quite developed the ability to skate over the awkwardness of having to explain I waskind ofsomeone.A long way from famous but not exactly unknown either.My books sure as hell didn’t cause throngs of people to rush to the bookstore at midnight on release day, but they shared the same shelf space as books that did, and that wasn’t nothing.But moments like these were still always incredibly awkward.“That’s me.”

I suppose it should have been some consolation that Ben looked as awkward as I did, but it wasn’t.

“Uh, okay,” he said.“Um, I’ll add Volume Two to your note.Okay, bye.”

And he hustled away from me like his ass was on fire, leaving me clutching the book and blinking after him, wondering what the hell had just happened.

THAT AFTERNOON, FORthe first time in what felt like forever, the words flowed.I could see the story clearly in my mind, framed by Harmony Lake, and Caldwell Crossing, and the way the light filtered through the trees and danced on the waters of the lake in the golden hour.My victim was found floating in the lake by my main character’s mother, and he’d arrived on scene before the local deputy, and the local deputy wasn’t happy about that at all.And was I imagining it, or was their sexual tension off the charts in this scene?I blamed Ryan.If he could inject romance into the life of an awkward introvert who wrote murder mysteries in his pajamas, then there was hope for my nerdy bookstore owner and the grumpy-but-attractive local deputy.

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