Six months later
The hammer struck the nail on its head with a resoundingthwackthat traveled all the way up his arm. This had been a long time coming, and after several trips to the library, they finally had a good stash of books to build Marley’s little free library. The exact location had been up for debate for several weeks before Marley decided the best spot would be on the walking trail at the edge of their property and by the lake. Marley was in charge of registering their little free library and coordinating with the librarians and the community to donate books for it. Jake was in charge of gathering the materials needed to build it—and then, of course, building it.
“I think it’s crooked,” Marley groaned.
“No, it’s not,” Gia said from behind him. “I think it looks perfect.”
“You think so?”
Jake grunted as he nailed another piece together, pretending he couldn’t hear them talking.
The sound of approaching footsteps made him look up.Quynh waved excitedly at them while Griffin offered a tip of his chin.
“Hey, guys! What are you doing out here?” Quynh asked when she was within a few feet of them.
“Jake’s finally putting up the little free library,” Marley answered.
Jake huffed out a laugh, rolling his eyes. Marley had been on his case about putting it up for months, but the winter had been long and cold, which made the ground too frozen to work with. With spring approaching, the ground had thawed enough for the next stage of the project.
Today was the first day the ground was soft enough to build the damn thing.
“Oh, that’s so cute! Can I put my book in there?” Quynh clapped her hands together with excitement.
“Yes!” Marley exclaimed.
“We would love to have your book in there!” Gia said.
“Great, let me run back to the house…” Quynh’s voice trailed off. Jake looked up to see Griffin already walking away. “Or not. Guess Griffin will get a copy.”
Jake tuned them out as he put the finishing touches on the wooden box. The girls walked along the trail while Griffin tossed a stick and played fetch with Rover, his dog. At some point, Ben, Emily, and their two children joined the crowd. Everyone was glad to be outside after being stuck indoors for the past few months.
Dusting off his hands, Jake stood up with a groan, knees protesting as he pulled himself to a standing position. He took a step back, admiring his work. Marley had painted it blue to match their house, and he admitted it looked adorable, having a near replica in front of the real thing.
His phone vibrated in his back pocket.
Weird, he thought. Everyone who would be texting him was standing behind him.
Pulling out the phone, he noticed a text from an unknown number.
UNKNOWN
You see the news yet?
You’re welcome.
Tell Gia I said she did a good job. We got the bastard.
Good job?What are they talking about?
Suddenly, his phone pinged with breaking news alerts. He caught sight of the headline before an incoming call from Minh changed his screen.
“Hey, Minh. What’s going—” he started to ask, but Minh’s screech had him pulling the phone away from his ear.
“Where is she? Has she seen it yet?”
“Um…” Jake turned around and saw Gia, who was drawing something in the sand with Charlotte, Emily’s daughter. “She’s with me.” He smiled fondly at the pair, thinking that, one day, this could be their future.
“She needs to see this!” Minh huffed, sounding out of breath.
