“No,” she admitted in a rough whisper.
He didn’t trust her quiet lilt.She was a runner and far better at hiding than expected.“You’re going to stay put.Right here?Right outside this door?”
“Yes.”
Still, she didn’t meet his eyes.He scrutinized her as best he could.The longer he studied her, the more she avoided eye contact.That could mean deception.Then again, his red, swollen eyes and irritated face probably weren’t offering much comfort.
Callum backed against the door to the men’s room without entering.“I’ll be back in three minutes or less.”
She studied the posters on the wall above the water fountain.“I’ll be here.”
He didn’t trust her but needed to wash his face.After one last look, he stepped inside.
The bathroom sinks had spigots with barely enough room to stick his face under the stream.He managed and let the cool water run over his skin until his eyes didn’t weep continuously.
His shirt had seen better days.It was gross enough to scare Grace away if he tugged it back on.Good thing for the change of clothes in the truck.
“Better?”she asked when he emerged.
Callum nodded.“Much.”
The librarian stood a few feet behind her like a bodyguard.He held up his hands in a show of good faith.Clearly, she knew Grace well enough to mama bear her, though Callum suspected she would throw office supplies at any man asking for a woman that set off her internal worry meter.
“Much?”The librarian stepped closer to Grace.“Then you must have been pretty bad to start with.”
“She got me good.”
The woman continued to assess him.“Must have, because you look a hundred times worse than when you strutted up to my desk.”
“I don’t think I strutted, but…”
Grace quietly snorted.
“I want to grab a change of clothes.Then can we talk?”
The librarian crossed her arms and lifted her chin, not hiding her glare.“Are you sure this is your old neighbor?”
“It’s him.”Grace twisted her fingers together.“Callum is my older brother’s best friend.”
“I knew Grace for as far back as I can remember,” he added, wanting to lessen the librarian’s dislike for him.He wasn’t a people pleaser, but this lady was the ticket to Grace’s trust.
“Grace says you serve in the military with her brother?”the woman asked.
“We did.”Callum pressed his molars together.The how and why they didn’t anymore wasn’t up for discussion.“I work for a private company now.I’m based out of Virginia.”
“I did my undergraduate at the University of Virginia.”She extended her hand and shook like she meant to impart her willingness to go to the mat for Grace.“Alicia Jackson.”
Alicia Jackson.He gritted his teeth but managed, “Nice to meet you.”
She offered a slight shrug, brushing off their initial meeting when she laid no claim to her name.
“Good school,” he offered like a peace branch.
“Great school,” she corrected, stubbing out his goodwill as if she’d tossed a cigarette to the ground and smashed it under her shoe.“We’ll stay here.You get your clothes, and then we can sit down in a study room.Are you okay with that, Grace?”
Grace nodded.
The women entered the library.Callum made a quick run to his truck and changed clothes.A minute later, he spotted Grace in a small study room.Its glass wall had the privacy shades drawn back, offering a direct line to the circulation desk.Alicia saw him and moved in like a heat-seeking missile until she blocked the door.
