Chapter 10
Griffin
“I’m guessing her ex didn’t mention a pregnancy,” Griffin said, heading up the ranges en route to the freeway. No point taking the scenic route tonight.
“He did not. This post is a couple of months old, not long after Vivien moved out. She was still talking to me then, but she hadn’t mentioned the breakup. I keep replaying our conversations in my head. I knew she was broke, but who isn’t? How did I not pick up that something bigger was going on? If I’d known about this, I’d have taken out a loan, I would have figured something out. And our parents would have helped. Was this why she disappeared—she started showing? It’s not like it’s the 1950s.”
“But if she didn’t want anyone to know, including her ex? If she was working onGods and Mortalswhile obviously pregnant, word would have gotten back to him—Hollywood’s a company town, everyone’s linked up. You have his number?”
“No. And I don’t know where he lives—or what he’s working on.”
“Social media?”
“I’m not connected.” She tapped on her phone for a while. “Okay, I’ve reached out, but doesn’t look like he uses it much.” She placed a hand over her heart and took an audible breath.
“Need me to quote some library numbers?”
She grinned, her teeth gleaming in the moonlight, and the sight filled him up. The relaxed vibe they’d settled into earlier had been solidly blown. Which was probably just as well—he’d been uncharacteristically attracted to her. Still was. Was he so starved of easy company that he was seduced by the first genuine smile he’d seen in what felt like forever?
“Can you quote the number for any book?” he said. She wasn’t the only one who could use a distraction.
“Most of them. It’s my party trick. Well, it would be if I went to parties. And they’d have to be librarian parties.”
“A Brief History of Time. Go.”
She laughed, and again, it was a nice thing to hear. “Okay, that’s five-hundred thirty, for natural sciences-slash-physics. Then point … one-one for theoretical physics-slash-relativity. And then H.A.W.K.”
“Diana: Her True Story.”
“Ooh, buckle in. Nine hundred for history and geography, then forty-one for Europe-slash-British Isles. Then point zero for historical periods and…” She made a ticking noise.
“You can do it.”
“I’m gonna say … point zero-eight for the Victorian period and House of Windsor, and then … five? For 1945 to 1999. There, boom.”
“Feel better?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“I feel like this is a talent you could make money from.”
“I do. It’s called a job in a library.”
“Oh, shit, sorry. Of course you do.”
“To be fair, it doesn’t pay much.”
“Did you become a librarian because you liked reading?”
“It’s okay, I’m feeling calm again. No need to ask me about my job.”
“I’m genuinely interested.” He could feel her side-eyeing him. “I am!”
“Why did I become a librarian?” she said to herself. “You could say I was inspired by my middle-school librarian, Miss Coleman.”
“That’s cool. Does she know that?”
“I hope not.”
