“Why is he here again?”Connie asked quietly as she stopped in the doorway with a cart of books to be reshelved.She backed up and turned around, sitting at one of the desks.
“Maybe he… you know… wants to borrow some books?He returned the ones he took the last time.”Derek entered the returns in the bin into the system and handed them to Connie to add to her cart.“This is getting a little ridiculous.A guy comes in and the entire library grinds to a halt.Everyone hides and stays away out of sight.”
“I’m not going out there.I heard that he is crazy or something.I don’t know why, but my brother says he came into the Gingerbread and was acting weird and stuff,” Connie told him.“There were rumors that he got in a fight and the other guy died or something.”She shivered and paled.The Carlisle rumor mill in action, long on story and drama, but short in the detail department.
Derek sat at the desk and got back to work.It was Friday and he had the weekend off, which meant he needed to get these circulation reports finished for the board.He had started an outreach program with the schools, and he needed to prove it was having an effect.Derek was thankful that it was, and that younger people checking out materials was up over 19 percent.If the library was to survive and remain relevant, they needed to reach the next generation, help them understand that research was more than Googling.
He continued working, keeping half his attention on the self-checkout terminals just to see if anyone needed help as he worked on the reports that had to be finished.Everything was running smoothly, and he finished his report a half hour before he was scheduled to leave.
“Is he gone?”Connie asked.
“Have you been hiding in there the entire time?What do you think he’s going to do?This is a library.Just get the books reshelved before you go home.”
Connie huffed and got the cart.“Fine.But if he kills me, I’m going to come back and haunt you.”She rolled her eyes so he knew she was kidding and then left with the cart, heading to the opposite side of the library to start.Derek saved his report and looked up from his computer screen.“Can I help you?”he asked, finding himself looking into the face of the man everyone in the library was afraid of.
Derek waited for an answer, but the man just started at him, silent.He handed over his card and the books, holding one back and opening it.He pointed to the list of titles in the bibliography.
Derek understood.
“You want that title?”He checked the computer.“We don’t have it, but Camp Hill does.I can request it and it should be here on Monday.”Derek checked out the rest of the books.“Is there anything else I can do for you?”
The man turned and left without a word.Okay.Maybe he was one step closer to some sort of answer.
“What did he say?”
“Nothing at all.He wanted a book we don’t have, so I ordered it in for him.Why?”He suddenly remembered that he had never heard the man say anything… or make any sort of sound.Maybe he was shy or had a really bad stutter.Either way, he had made what he wanted plain enough.
“Oh.”Connie went back to reshelving her books as the man left the library through the back door.Derek couldn’t help watching him go.Not so much because of his size or the fact that he intimidated Derek.More like he fascinated him.There was something about the man that made Derek curious about him.Not that he would ever do anything to actually get answers to his questions.The man was a patron, and as such, deserved the same treatment and freedom from prying as anyone else.The outside door closed, and Derek returned to his work so he could leave the library on time.
Chapter 2
THE LIFEhe had now was not at all one he had ever envisioned.Not in a million years.He was supposed to have it all once he got out of the Army.Harmon Wheeler had done two tours of duty, and the plan was to go to college and build a better life, one with a real future.That had been the plan since he enlisted at eighteen.Not that he’d had many options.His parents had died in a plane crash when Harm was ten, and that was his entry into the foster care system.His father had been an only child and his mother a late-in-life baby.He’d had an aunt, but she died not long after his parents.
So after years of being the center of attention and knowing he was deeply loved, going into the foster care system had been a complete shock to him.He had been lucky with his third placement, when an older couple had taken him in.They were two men who adored each other, and Harm had grown to love them and they him.He always knew his time with them could be limited because they were both nearing retirement when they took him in, but luck had been on his side for once, and they were able care for him until he graduated high school.The three of them never had very much, so after high school, Harm enlisted and offered to send home part of his pay to help them.His foster fathers declined, telling him to save his money for his future.So while the other men went out carousing and bought expensive cars and stuff, Harm was always careful with his money and managed to save a nice amount to help with college.
But everything changed in a moment with a single bullet just days before he was supposed to return home for the final time.That shot had given his scars and taken so much: his health, his future, and his ability to talk.Hell, he had been lucky he hadn’t died, but somehow, maybe through sheer stubbornness, he had managed to survive.That was what he had been doing for months now.
His phone dinged, and Harm set aside the copy ofInca Goldthat he’d been reading.He enjoyed action stories and really loved Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt adventures.He marked his place and lifted the phone, smiling at the text from Joe.“Hey, Pops,” he sent back.Harm’s birth father had been Dad, so he didn’t reuse that term.Joe had been Pops, and Larry had been Papa.“How are both of you?”He used the app to dial their number, and Joe answered right away.
“Baby boy, is anything wrong?”Joe asked right away.That had been his nickname for him.As a teenager he had cringed, but now it reminded him that he was loved by someone.
Harm had become an expert at texting and listening.“I’m fine.I just wanted to hear your voice.I interviewed for a job at the Amazon warehouse, and I think they’re going to hire me.”He sent the message and continued typing.“They said that they were more than willing to let me communicate through text and email.It seems they have quite a few people with challenges working there, and they were very impressed with my skills.”
“I’m so pleased.”Joe was always very expressive, and pleasure rang in his voice.“Though I think you should still go to school.Colleges have the same kind of programs that Amazon does, and you know Larry and I will do everything we can to help you.You could come down here and stay with us if you like until you find somewhere.You know we’d love to have you.”He received that offer every time they “spoke,” but Joe and Larry lived in a retirement community in Arizona.He could visit, but there were rules as to how long he could stay.
“I know, and once I get settled, I’m going to come down to see the two of you,” Harm sent.“But you’ll get in trouble if I come to stay.”
“I can handle those people.Karen Ludlow had her grandson stay with her for six months and no one said a thing.I made note of the dates he came and went.”Harm snickered, and of course Joe heard it.“How could I not.He used to help her around her cottage, and he always worked with his shirt off.I swear everyone around here was sad when he left.It was nice to have a view outside the window other than old men on golf carts.And let me tell you, that young man was a view and a half.”
“No perving,” Harm sent, knowing it would get a rise out of Joe.
“Larry is more than enough for me, and I’m way too old for a kid like that, but I have eyes and I get to look.I may be old, but I’m not dead.”Harm knew what Joe was going to say before he said it.“How is everything else in our old stomping grounds?”Joe had been a history teacher at Carlisle High School, and Larry had worked in maintenance at the middle school.
“I guess it’s the same.A few restaurants have closed, and new ones are moving in.Not much changes here, I guess.”He didn’t know what else to say.“I’ve been reading a lot and hoping I hear something about a job.”Maybe he could meet new people and make some new friends as someone who wasn’t able to speak.
“Just be yourself and everyone is going to love you.You know that.The guys in your unit did.They would have followed you anywhere.”
Those times had been different.Harm knew he was big… and scary.More than once he had used that to his advantage.He had intimidated plenty of people without saying a word, and his size had defused many situations before they got out of hand.“This is not a war zone, and those men knew me.”
