Page 22 of As They Are
Jade Clark:It was crawling on my back. Hopefully it didn’t bite me.
Kerry Winsor:@Henry Connorhelp??? Should she come into the clinic?
Kerry Winsor:@Henry ConnorHELLO
Marjorie Brown:Do you think he’s a damn spider collector in his free time? How would he know?!
Kerry Winsor:I don’t know what kind of hobbies he has!!!
Wren hauledherself to the top of the iron fence before I could register what she was saying.
“Wren!”I hissed. Thankfully, it was close to dinnertime and most of the townspeople were either in the diner or at home, but I still checked to be sure Mike wasn’t lurking around the corner. “What are you doing?”
She paused as she straddled the fence. “I told you I’m going in.”
“Breaking and entering? Really?” I didn’t know much about her, yet this seemed like a thing she would do. She had this air of capability and determination around her. If she wanted to see something, she would find a way to see it. Even if it was boarded up and left to rot.
“Just turn and walk the other way,” she said. “I won’t break or mess with anything. I just wanna see the inside.”
“It’s been abandoned for more than a decade.”
She smiled. “Exactly.”
Then she cleared the fence, landing on the grass. I could only gape at her as I quickly went over all of the things she could get herself into that would send her right to the clinic. Dust. Sharp edges. A floor could fall in and she could break her leg.
There was a reason none of us had ever tried to go in there. We had no idea what age had done to it, and none of us knew how to make a library as massive as this usable again, even if the mysterious STM grant covered costs.
Before I realized what I was doing, my foot was on the fence, and I followed her movements. When I landed on my feet, her green eyes were wide. “You’re following me? Why?”
“I’m making sure you don’t get hurt in there.”
“But you don’t?—”
I crossed my arms. “I wouldn’t let you sit on the side of the road by yourself. What makes you think I’m letting you go into an abandoned library alone?”
She blinked, mouth falling open for a second, but then she shook herself out of it. “This isnotgonna be a thing you enjoy.”
“And how do you know what I enjoy?”
She let out a bark of laughter. “All right, you have me there. But seriously, old buildings like this are gross. Dusty. Dirty.”
“Possibly filled with things to fall and get hurt on,” I added. “I’m ready for all of those things.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You are?”
“I’m a doctor. My first priority is making sure people stay healthy. You’re gonna do this whether I approve or not.” I took in a lungful of air. “So, I might as well go with you.”
“I didn’t think politeness in this town went as far as breaking and entering,” she said. “But I won’t complain if I have company. Though, you might once I get in here.”
“I can handle more than you think.”
Wren’s cheeks grew pink. She turned to the building and made a path through the tall grass and weeds until we were at what used to be the back door. It was boarded up, but I could picture this courtyard being something beautiful. A stone path used to lead to a few tables and chairs where readers would sit.
Wren tried to move the door, but it didn’t budge. I wondered if it was game over, but then her eyes moved upward. “There! One of the windows is broken.”
“That’s a second-story window,” I said.
“And I never leave home without my ladder in my truck.”
