Page 9 of The Library of Second Chances
Chloe’s brow furrowed, a small chuckle escaping her. She scrunched up the paper and tossed it into the lobby’s waste-paper basket.
She threw herself into the tedious work of inputting the books with Eric, listening to him chatter about a video game he was playing.
‘Did you know some games have stories that are just as good as books?’ Eric asked, somehow able to talk and put the bookinformation in at the same time. ‘And games can even come from books, too. LikeThe Witcher.’
‘I remember playing one on the PlayStation 2 years ago. It made me cry,’ said Chloe, and Eric gasped in shock. ‘The story was just so good. One of the characters died and I was inconsolable. My sister said I was being stupid.’
‘You play games?’ he asked. He looked so surprised that Chloe giggled.
‘I even know who Super Mario is. Crazy, I know.’
‘Sorry, just most girls fall asleep or walk away when I mention games. Hey, maybe we can play one together sometime.’
‘Uh, yeah. Maybe.’ Chloe changed the subject, asking Eric to pass her a huge encyclopaedia he had brought over earlier. It was so heavy she had to hold it in both hands. They worked through the morning, and paused only to help two customers check out books. Chloe was pleased the younger of the two, a girl who looked around eighteen, joining the library in order to check out some romances. ‘That one is really good,’ said Chloe, nodding to the one on the top of the pile.
‘Yeah, I’ve seen it on TikTok a lot,’ said the girl. ‘Thanks.’
‘Let’s do some of the fiction books next, okay?’ said Chloe when it was nearing lunchtime. Her bottom was numb from sitting on the reception stool, and going up and down the staircase to the fiction section would be good exercise. Eric nodded and took her place, frowning at the screen. ‘We’re making good progress.’
It would take months to get down the information of every single book, and poor Eric would be battling through the archives long after Chloe had moved away, though she didn’t say so. The least she could do was help him out with as much as she could before she left. She ascended the spiral staircase to the fiction section above, inhaling the scent of paper and ink that she loved so much. Clementine purred at her from behind hisfavourite curtain, and this time, he let her run a hand down his soft back.
‘What to start with?’ Chloe wondered aloud, wandering through the rows of shelves. She supposed she could start with horror, since there were fewer of those. There were so many books in the fantasy and romance sections that it looked intimidating. She was about to pass the shelf when she spotted a faint glow emanating from one of the bookcases, stopping her in her tracks.
Her heart thumped. There it was again, the same glow she had seen that evening after her disastrous date. It couldn’t be what she thought, could it?
A warm wind rustled behind her, like a gentle breath from a steam room. She glanced behind her. Clementine was watching her, his eyes reflecting the lamps.
‘Did you feel that?’ she asked, as though expecting the cat to respond. She rolled her shoulders and passed the shelf, ignoring what may or may not have been a beckoning in the shelves.
She thought she felt something in the air shift, almost like the library itself was sighing in disappointment. The thought made her feel daft, and she chuckled to herself as she grabbed some books for Eric. All of them were, determinedly,notglowing.
She left the bookshelves behind, deciding she was too busy to be looking at glowing books again.
CHAPTER FIVE
‘HERE ARE SOMEmore,’ she said brightly, setting down a pile of books for Eric to input. He was sitting on the stool, bent over and almost cross-eyed with concentration as he tapped in the book information.
‘I’m just cleaning the feeder, dears,’ Mrs Cook called to them.
With Eric and the librarian both busy, Chloe checked around the library for customers. Some loitered, too shy to ask for help. Others needed to see that she wasn’t too busy before they could approach her and ask about recommendations. Chloe had worked in retail shops during her time at university, and every now and then people would regard her with faint loathing if she dared to greet them, as though suspicious she was going to try and force them to buy something. It was one thing Chloe loved about working in the Wellbridge Library. She could offer help without people assuming she was trying to pitch a sale.
She smiled to herself. Libraries really were a blessing.
Her thoughts strayed to the man she’d met the other day, the grumpy one who had borrowed the fantasy book. He wasn’t sitting on the armchair where he was earlier. He must have left. She found herself relieved; he hadn’t openly begrudged her help but her first impression of him hadn’t been all that great.
First impressions . . .
The library turned out to be empty on this quiet morning, so Chloe arranged the shelves, making sure the books were in the correct places and in the right order. She thought of the book she had passed earlier, recalling the way it had glowed, how she had ignored it. The strange sense of warm air washing over her.
Would the book still be there, waiting for her to open it? Before she could stop herself, Chloe went over to check.
The glowing tome this time was in the historical romance section, a thick paperback with that strange orange hue around it. She wasn’t imagining it, then, and there was no way she could blame the lighting. No other books around it were glowing. It was like the pages themselves emitted their own light, separate from the electric lanterns above her head. Chloe glanced around, making sure there was no one else lurking around the shelves. Then anticipation rose in her as she snatched it from the shelf. The book felt warm in her hands. Almost alive.
She thought of the man in the old-fashioned garb she’d met that rainy night, how oddly like a certain book character he had seemed. Maybe she should test this, see if what had happened was real. She had almost convinced herself it had been a joke or a prank, but somehow that didn’t make any sense. And now she held a different book in her hands, one that almost shivered with hope.
Swallowing, Chloe opened the book. She knew this story. It was a series about time travel in Scotland, with battles and strong men in kilts and heartbreaking romance. Chloe read a random line aloud, then listened closely.
At first, nothing happened, and she stood there holding the book. The air was silent except for the sound of her own breathing.
