The clicking of heels on the tile floor had Zach lifting his head. Lauren strode toward him, but a somberness covered her usual smile. Seeing what the evil of the world did to innocent people pulled the glow out of her eyes.
“Thanks so much for waiting. Can you still take me to the library?”
Zach stood but kept his chin down. “Sure.”
The library looked a lot different in the daylight. It could have been any other building in Blackwater, but driving into the parking lot had sweat beading on Zach’s neck.
Lauren hefted her purse onto her shoulder as she opened the truck door. “Come on in. I’m not sure how long this will take.”
“I’ve never been in a library before.”
Lauren was already walking across the parking lot when she shouted over her shoulder. “There’s a first time for everything.”
Zach groaned and got out. Sitting inside wouldn’t be as much of a reminder of that unfortunate time when he’d kidnapped her from this exact spot.
A musty smell hit him as he stepped through the double doors. There were rows and rows of books in every direction. Some were even laid in neat rows on tabletops and on rolling carts. How did this many books even exist?
Lauren had already disappeared, but a small, frail woman with curly gray hair and glasses folded her hands on the counter.
“Hello. Welcome to the Blackwater Public Library.”
Zach tipped his chin at her. “I’m just waiting on Lauren.”
“Oh. She’s in the back with Denise. Feel free to browse.”
Right. The selection of boring literature that was rotting in the stale air. With nothing else to do, he walked through the rows one after the other. Flowers, mental health, politics, economics, folklore. This place had a little of everything. He finally stopped and picked up a book about prohibition in the United States. Claiming one of the oversized chairs in the corner, he flipped through the pages, scanning for anything interesting.
“Find something you like?”
Lauren was standing with one shoulder propped on the nearest shelf. Her smile was back, and she was getting a kick out of catching him with a book.
Zach closed the book and stood. “Not really. I have no idea which shelf I got this from.”
Lauren took it from him and placed it in one of the bins located around the room. “No worries. Let’s get out of here. I’m starving.”
The bright sunlight hit them as soon as they stepped outside. It was a stark reminder of the return of Lauren’s smile. She went to the shelter and came out looking bleak, but she spent thirty minutes in thelibrary and got her joy back. How did that even work when she clearly loved both jobs? Nothing about the woman was cut and dry, but not everyone loved a job that made them sad.
Lauren buckled her seatbelt and turned to face him. “So, what do you want?”
That was a loaded question. One minute he wanted the familiarity of his old life back. The next, he wanted to find out what it would take to make Lauren Vincent give him a second look.
He wanted her. He wanted what she had. He wanted her glow and her outrageous optimism. He wanted her happiness and self-assurance.
But he didn’t want to take any of those things from her. He wanted her to keep them and use them to brighten the world.
Lauren pointed at a Mexican restaurant. “I’m thinking tacos.”
Oh. She was talking about food.
Zach turned toward the restaurant. “Yeah. Tacos sound good.”
16
Lauren
“Hadley, I don’t think I can do it.”
“What?” Hadley shrieked from the other end of the phone call. “But he’s all dressed up. He asked for time off work.”
