Page 37 of The Library of Second Chances
The man called Tony made an angry noise. ‘Oh no, I forgot. I’ll go and get it.’
‘No need.’ Mrs Cook pointed, and they all looked towards the far wall, half hidden in shadow. A stepladder stood there, shiny and new.
‘Was that there before?’ asked Harry, folding his arms.
‘Probably not.’ Chloe and Mrs Cook exchanged another amused look.
They went downstairs, Chloe recalling that Harry had asked for the rest of the fantasy books. At the time she’d gotten distracted and hadn’t ordered them. Mrs Cook explained to her that if the books weren’t registered on the system, she would have to order them in. After rifling through the files and finding they only had the first two, Chloe picked up the phone.
Then something caught her eye on the desk.
Books, arranged in a neat pile. Chloe picked up the top one; it was the third volume in the series. And underneath it were the rest, all with attractive matching covers.
‘Now you’re just showing off,’ she murmured aloud to the library, putting down the phone. ‘But thank you.’
Chloe worked at the computer, checking the wage slips. It was another small job Mrs Cook had assigned to her. With only the three of them as employees, it didn’t take too long. Chloe decided to check Harry’s borrowing history. She glanced over her shoulder, then went into the list of library members and their records. She hesitated before she clicked onHarry Ashcroft. This wasn’t an invasion of privacy, was it? What books you read was hardly private business. Before she could talk herself out of it, she clicked on the link.
The Meaning and Symbolism of Flowers, checked out last week at 2:45pm. Why was he checking out a book like that?
‘It’s none of your business, Chloe,’ she sang quietly to herself, clicking off the tab. She didn’t like flowers. They reminded her of bad times.
After much hammering and called orders, Harry appeared in the reception area with his workers trailing behind him, carrying their tools. ‘The roof’s all fixed,’ he said. ‘Though your cat doesn’t seem too happy about it.’
‘Clementine had claimed that little spot for himself,’ said Mrs Cook fondly. The ginger cat sulked in her arms, looking even grouchier than usual as his tail swayed back and forth.
‘Well, maybe we can make that little area for him,’ suggested Chloe. ‘Shift the bookcases and make a cat play area. Then anyone who goes upstairs to the fiction section can see him.’
As Mrs Cook settled the bill with Tony, Chloe found herself alone with Harry. ‘I . . . um, got your books,’ she said, showing him the pile on the desk. ‘Would you like to check them all out?’
Harry picked up the third book in the series, turning it over. ‘It’s like new. I’ve almost finished with the second one, so this is canny timing. Thank you, Chloe.’
‘Don’t thank me. Thank . . .’ She was going to say the library, but didn’t know how that would sound.Ah, screw it.‘Thank the library. Mrs Cook is right, it likes you.’
‘Er, right.’ Harry looked amused as Chloe put the books into a bag for him. He thanked her and turned to go.
‘Listen,’ Chloe blurted as he headed for the door. Harry turned. ‘Let’s . . . Let’s start over. Go to the pub, or somewhere. For dinner. Again. Properly, I mean. If you’d like to.’ Heat rose to her cheeks. ‘I owe you, for the curry and for the coffees. So if you’d like to do something . . . er, sometime?’Stop babbling, she thought. ‘I don’t have your phone number,’ she added meekly.
Harry opened his mouth just as the library’s front door opened, a cold breeze flowing into the room. A young blonde woman came in, her long hair flowing behind her.
Chloe’s eyebrows rose. It was Gwen.
Her beauty lit up the room, from the elegant way she moved to her soft smile as she glanced around. Had she put on make-up? Harry’s co-workers stared for a little longer than necessary before slipping through the door behind her.
Chloe’s stomach dropped at the sight of her sister.
‘Hi, Chloe,’ Gwen sang, dancing over to her. ‘So this is where you work.’ She glanced around. ‘Wow, it’s lovely.’
‘Yeah, it’s the only library in the town,’ said Chloe, not quite able to keep the edge from her voice. ‘Um, this is Mrs Cook.’ The librarian smiled at her, still holding Clementine in her arms. ‘This is my sister, Gwen.’
Harry was still there, head tilted in expectation. Feeling it would be rude to exclude him, Chloe reluctantly said, ‘And this is Harry.’
‘Hi, Harry.’ Gwen waved at him. Was it Chloe’s imagination, or did their gazes linger a heartbeat longer than necessary?
And why did she care?
Chloe busied herself with rearranging papers on the desk, suddenly feeling very annoyed with everyone.
‘Do you need anything, dear?’ Mrs Cook asked Gwen as Harry came over to Chloe. ‘Are you looking for a book? Eric just came in for his shift. He can probably help you out.’
