“Not an issue any longer. We’ve filled almost all the empty shops downtown, and rents are coming in regularly.” Hannah slides her phone into her back pocket. Concern fills her eyes as she grips my shoulder to give me a comforting squeeze—she’s back to being my bestie now, not the mayor. “Besides, this is about you. I don’t want you burning yourself out.”
“No worries about that,” I say, patting at my hair nervously. My platinum-blonde retro hairdo holds firm, locked into place by a generous application of hairspray. “It’s not like the library’s that busy. Lots of people use the online apps to check out ebooks these days.”
“Not the point.”
Hannah’s so together, so competent as mayor of our small town. Tall and thin, she radiates an easy confidence, even dressed in nothing more complex than dark jeans and a simple sweater. Here I am, wearing my retro 1950s pinup-girl dress, heels, and hair. It’s a bold style that looks good with my curves, but it’s kind of the only bold thing about me—underneath it all I don’t feel like I have a single ounce of her confidence. How do I admit I don’t know what to do with myself without work?
Glancing down, I run my hand across one of the old wooden library tables, a solid slab of oak darkened by time and decorated with over a century of pen scratches. It always gives me such a feeling of history and purpose, imagining all the generations of kids working on school projects, all the people finding books they love.
Being a librarian isn’t simply my job—it’s who Iam. I’mnothing without books.
“Time off is exactly what you need.” My friend gives my shoulder another squeeze. “You might even figure out your magic!”
“IfI have any.” I sigh. I’m supposed to be a witch, but I have no idea what powers I have. Hannah can talk to animals, Naomi teleports, and Autumn has wish magic, but me? Zero fudging clue.
“Of course you do. You can sense magic like I could before I got my powers.” Hannah pulls me into a hug, and when she steps back, she waggles a finger at me. “You’ve got ten minutes until your vacation starts, and once it does, I don’t want to see you in here for two whole weeks.”
“But—”
“Nope.” She pops the P. “Two weeks off, and off meansoff.” Promising Bumbleboots will cover my work, Hannah hurries back to her office in Town Hall, leaving me alone in the library.
The old Victorian building wraps around me like a hug, the rows of perfectly organized wooden shelves holding a thousand worlds to escape into. A familiar grumble comes from the backroom as the ancient furnace kicks on, hot air pouring through wrought iron vents to keep the place toasty warm.
I walk slowly around the room, my fingers trailing over the wooden shelves, breathing in the comforting scent of ink, leather, and paper. Ferndale Falls is too small to have a very big library, but I’m proud of the work I’ve done. I’ve used every cent of our small budget to improve the collection, updating it from one stuck in the lastmid-century to something people of today want to read. Almost all the new books are part of our digital collection, but I still love what physical books we have.
I might dress like I’m from the 1950s, but that doesn’t mean it was the pinnacle of literary accomplishment or anything. I shudder at the thought of living without my personal addiction: spicy romance.
Speaking of which… I shove the book I just ordered into my purse. Usually, I read paranormal romance with monsters and witches and magic, but this one’s a spicy rom com about a woman who talks her new neighbor into doing a dance competition on Valentine’s Day. I’ve always secretly wanted to ballroom dance with a partner, so I can’t wait to start it.
After shrugging into my coat, I take one last look around the library before flipping off the lights. It feels unreal to think I won’t return for two weeks. Not when I’ve spent almost every day here since I got the job four years ago, right out of college. Being Ferndale Falls’s librarian is all I’ve ever wanted to be.
Who am I without it to fill my days?
The next morning, I leave home at the same time as always, drive downtown, and park in my usual spot behind the library. Then I stand in front of its front door and force myself to turn my back to it. Ferndale Falls spreads out before me, full of promise. Early morning sunshine sparklesover the snow covering the town green like a fluffy white blanket. The shops lining Main Street beckon, each painted in fanciful colors and decorated with contrasting gingerbread trim.
How should I spend the first day of my staycation? Normally on my one day off each week, I visit the aunts, all of us baking up a storm, but I can’t do that for two weeks straight. If I’m going to do this vacation thing right, I need to try something new. I pop a cinnamon heart candy into my mouth, the familiar spicy sweetness invigorating as I consider what to do. I can get a coffee at Grounds for Celebration and a pastry from Cake My Day and eat while reading my book. I could visit my friend Autumn at Your Bubbly Charm and see what special soap she’s made for Valentine’s Day. I could do a little window shopping at Bling It On, maybe find a cute necklace that’s not too expensive, or I could finally visit Haute & Bothered. The fae dress shop specializes in flowing creations of Faerie silk, which aren’t anything like my retro 1950s style, but maybe they’d make me a custom dress if I asked.
Instead of moving, I stand there, uncertain, like an unmoored balloon waiting for a breeze to push me in a direction. The fact that I have endless possibilities means I don’t know what to do first. As the last of the candy dissolves on my tongue, I spin back toward the library, my feet moving before any conscious decision is made. Surely it’s okay for me to visit as a patron—that won’t violate my promise to Hannah—and if I rearrange a book or two while I’m there, well, I’m just being a good citizen.
Right as I reach for the library door, it swings inward,making me stumble. My hands plaster against a deliciously firm chest. Shock skitters through me, setting my heart racing, and I look up into the gorgeous face of the last person I expect to see. Lukendevener.
Snickerdoodle! I knew this vacation was a mistake. Of course, the first day I’m not here is when my crush visits the library, and now I’ve missed my chance to finally talk to him.
Strong hands clamp my shoulders and lever me upright and away from him.
Luke’s six-and-a-half feet of weredragon, made even taller by the black horns spiraling upward from his head and the red wings tucked close to his back. Bronze skin stretches over chiseled cheekbones and a square jaw, framed by long auburn hair. He doesn’t have on a coat in the winter cold, wearing only a dress shirt and dark-brown leather pants so sinfully tight I can’t look at them for long for fear I’ll get caught ogling him, all the other witches’ innuendos about dragons having two dicks swirling through my head.
Oh, god, he’s so…everything. Power radiates from him, and his handsome face holds the kind of cool disdain mixed with high intelligence that’s like catnip to me. Knowing he’s a renowned magical researcher with a huge library only makes it worse.
“Ms. Summers, I was looking for you.”
“Me?” I squeak, then clear my throat, trying to sound less like a little mouse faced with a large bird of prey. “Why were you looking for me? And, um, call me Skye.”
“I am Lukendevener, but you may call me Luke, since humans find our superior dragon names difficult.” His golden eyes bore into mine, full of intensity. “I have one ofthe largest libraries in all the realms. Multiple people have told me you are an excellent librarian. I want to hire you to catalog it.”
My mouth falls open, my heart skipping with shock. I’m one hundred percent certain that when Hannah ordered me to take a vacation, she expected me tonotwork. But how can I refuse getting to spend time in one of the biggest libraries of Faerie?
Better yet, how can I refuse to work forhim?
