Chapter 1
“HE’S HEREagain,” Connie whispered from behind his back as she rushed out of the book reshelving area in a real dither, which was so unusual for her.Usually nothing bothered her and her get-it-done attitude.All the ladies who worked or volunteered at the library had been freaked out about him for days, and Derek Willow had truly wondered what on earth they had been talking about.But now he saw it.The guy was huge, and his arms barely came to his sides as he practically lumbered into the building.
“The man is a patron just like anyone else, and he deserves not to be gawked at or tittered over.”He rolled his eyes at Connie before turning to watch the man from behind the safety of the library desk, though he was pretty sure the man could lift the entire thing and throw it across the room if he wanted to.Derek continued watching the giant of a man.He had to be nearly six foot six, and damn, he was all muscle.The thing was, there was something about him that shoutedlethality.
“But Derek, do you think we should call the police?”she asked in her softest voice.It was approaching nine in the evening, and the library would be closing in fifteen minutes.“What if he decides he doesn’t want to leave, or….”She actually shivered and returned to the reshelving room without another word.Derek sat down behind one of the computers and got busy with his closing work.He had plenty to do since library director retired two months ago and he had been named the interim head librarian until a decision was made on a permanent replacement.Derek had put himself forward, and he was determined to make sure everything went like clockwork on his watch.Calling the police on a patron who scared them, but hadn’t done anything in the least provocative other than exist, was definitely not an example of clockwork.
“Finish up the deposits and put the money in the safe.Stay near the phone in case it’s needed, but do nothing else.Okay?”he told her, and Connie nodded her agreement.
Most of the people who worked at the library were volunteers.There was an entire organization that raised money for the library as well as coordinated volunteers for library programs.There was also the Bookery, which was a store inside the historic section of the library that sold used books and other media to raise money.There were usually plenty of people in the library, but tonight the Bookery was closed, and due to a bout of stomach flu, it was just him and Connie on the main floor, with two others at the desk on the second.
The man wandered the fiction stacks and there didn’t seem to be any trouble, so Derek got to work.There were reports to complete and books that needed to be checked in, but in the morning, a fresh batch of volunteers would handle that.Derek let himself settle into his task as the hands on the clock in front of him ticked around closer to closing.At five minutes ’til nine, he saved his work and got up, wandering through the shelves to remind any lingering patrons that it was time to check out their books.He found a few regulars who nodded and got up, but instead of heading to the desk where they could use the self-checkout, their attention lingered, watching the fiction area, as though they had his back.
“He’s still back there,” the patron said quietly.“We’ll be ready in case there’s trouble.”He pulled out his phone, and Derek was starting to wonder if something had been put in the water.Yeah, the patron was huge, but he hadn’t done anything other than come in and look for books, like anyone else.Derek was a little embarrassed to even think that he was grateful for their help.
“We close in five minutes,” he said a little more loudly than he needed to.Patrons wandered up front to the self-checkout, and Derek hoped the man in question had heard what he said.
A sigh, deep and rumbly, went up, and then the man emerged from the section with four books that almost looked tiny in his large hands.He rocked slightly from side to side as he moved.The other patrons had finished checking out as he reached the counter.Derek hurried behind him.
“Can I help you?”he asked.“Do you want to check these out?”He took the man’s card from the Simpson library in Mechanicsburg and scanned it in.Since the system was county-wide, it was no issue.He scanned the books, doing his best to be professional and not show any nervousness.He slipped the due date receipt between the pages and handed him the books with a smile.Then the man turned and, without a word, headed toward the door.The final other patrons hurried out ahead of him, and Derek strode over, to lock the door after them.
He breathed a soft sigh and went back to the desk as Jane and Steve came down the stairs.“Is everyone out?”
“We’re clear,” Steve said.“Didhecome in?”
“Yes,” Connie answered.“Just like he has for the last three weeks.Every Wednesday.He takes out a pile of books each time.Usually adventure stories, stuff like that.”At least that explained why he had never seen him before.Derek usually didn’t work Wednesday evenings, but with people out sick, he’d filled in.
“Please.No gossiping about the patrons.They all deserve a certain amount of respect.”He made sure there was no heat in his voice.“It doesn’t matter what he reads.I know he looks… intimidating.”That was an understatement, to say the least.“But we need to treat him with the same respect we treat all our patrons.”
“Last week he seemed puzzled, so I asked him if he needed any help, and he looked at me as though I were crazy and didn’t say a word.”Steve shook his head.“That guy gives me the creeps.”He headed toward the back door.“Night, all.”He hurried out, with the others following.Derek switched the security system to night mode through the console near the back door and left the building, locking it up before going to his car.In two minutes, the lights would dim and the alarms would set for the night.
Out of habit from six years in New York, where he’d done his graduate work and then landed a position at the university library, Derek checked the area around him and hurried to his car.He climbed in and pulled out of the now empty lot, heading home.
Derek had been very lucky in some ways.Right out of college he’d landed a position with the library at NYU.He’d graduated at the top of his class, and they had needed an assistant librarian, so he’d been offered the position.It was all the jobs everyone else hadn’t wanted to do, but Derek was okay with that.After four years of good work, his life took a U-turn.His mother, who was still in the house where he’d grown up here in Carlisle, developed cancer, and Derek had wanted to return home.There was an opening at the Bosler library, and he’d applied.After being hired, he’d moved back into the house to help take care of his mother, whose battle lasted over a year of hope, followed by disappointment again and again, until the cancer finally won over her steely will and determination.She’d left him the house and everything else she had, and slowly he’d been turning the house into his home rather than hers.
After pulling into the garage, he closed the door and went through the fenced yard to the back door of the house.The yard that his mother had once cared for to the point that weeds just seemed to stop bothering to sprout was now rough around the edges and in need of care.He knew he had to get out there and clean it up before winter set in.Maybe this weekend would suit.He didn’t have to work, and a few hours outside would probably do him good.
He unlocked the back door and went inside.The kitchen looked exactly as his mother had left it, mainly because it needed a complete renovation and he was still saving up to have it done.He carried his bag to the extra bedroom and set it on the chair.His mom had used this as her project room, but he’d moved out her sewing machine and a myriad of other craft stuff, painted it, and set it up with the computer and his game console.The front two downstairs rooms, the dining and formal living rooms, he’d pretty much left as they were.His mother had collected some amazing antique pieces over forty years.So other than removing the wallpaper and painting the walls to lighten and freshen up the rooms, along with refinishing the worn floors, they were pretty much as his mom had left them.She had painted the fireplace mantle at some point, and Derek wanted to strip it back to the bare wood, but that was an “eventually” kind of project.
The thing that Derek hated most was the loneliness.He knew people in town, but it wasn’t like New York, where he had friends he’d hang out with on a regular basis.He still missed Sunday afternoon coffee at Java Hut and drinks at the Silver Shaker on Friday evenings.He could always count on his friends for dinner or just to spend time with when things got rough.Derek didn’t have that kind of support group here.The people from the library were nice, but they had families of their own and lives that didn’t necessarily intersect with his.He was finding out that there was a huge difference between being alone and lonely.After being on his own, he knew the beauty that came from the quiet of being alone.But loneliness sucked.
He made himself a sandwich and grabbed a beer from the fridge before sitting in front of the television in the living room.He tried to find something interesting.Most of his friends in college had thought him a little off when it came to his TV habits.They all looked forward to the next season of whatever streaming shows they were watching, so they talked excitedly about the next season ofBridgertonor whenPoker Facewould finally get a release date.Derek watched documentaries and series on the History Channel.So for tonight, he found one on the tangled web that made up the conflict in Afghanistan before settling on his new sofa.
He woke with a start, maybe halfway into the show, wondering where he was for a second.Derek’s dream had been so real, the documentary converging with the man from the library who everyone had been afraid of taking center stage.The documentary had explained about roadside bombs, and in his dream, the huge man had stood between him and an explosion.Of course the whole thing had been his mind wrapping the documentary around the happenings of his day and coming up with something weird.Still, why was this man showing up in his dreams, and for the love of god, why was he shirtless with skin glistening with sweat in a damned war zone?
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he began to laugh, because damn it all, his brain had decided to take a trip to la-la-land in a huge way.He had barely caught a glimpse of the guy who struck fear into everyone at the library just by walking in, and now he was starring in Derek’s dreams.Maybe loneliness was really getting to him and he needed to call his friends in New York and go up to the city for some fun.He figured he’d start with Danny and sent him a text.
“We’d love you to come, but Claude and I are going to be out of town,” his friend replied to his text.Three dots appeared at the bottom, so Derek waited for the rest of the message to come through.“Deann and Shirley are in Vermont for a women’s retreat, and Blair is with his family in Florida.”
“Thanks.I’ll have to come up some other weekend,” he sent and tossed his phone on the cushions.So much for a trip to the city.He could go, but it seemed everyone was out of town.How much fun was it going to be if no one was there?He had been hoping for a cure for some of his loneliness, not just a change of venue.Derek sent that he hoped Danny and Claude had a great time and left it at that.They didn’t need to know that he was climbing the walls.
Maybe what he needed was to get a dog.He’d thought of that a few times.He could go out to the animal rescue he passed whenever he went west of town and see what they had.It would be nice to come home to someone happy to see him.He wasn’t sure that was fair, with the hours he worked.He could come home at lunch to look in on a dog, though.It was only five blocks from the library.
Derek sighed and turned his attention to the documentary, watching the last portion of it before turning off the television and heading to bed.
“THAT GUYis here again,” one of the volunteers said.“And it isn’t even Wednesday.”The huge man came in through the back, and it was like the mood in the building shifted in an instant.Everyone scurried off to get busy and out of sight.Granted, the guy was big, with close-cut hair and lips in a straight line, like he was angry.
He lumbered past the desk, dropping his books in the return and heading to the fiction section like he had the other night.
