Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
They had a lot of customers lately. Renting books was a lot cheaper than purchasing. Over the years the closing of the library had always been met with anger from the locals, and so far they’d been able to remain open.
“Done already?” Evie asked.
“Not many books to put away and you know I like to organize them down here so it’s a lot easier when I go upstairs.”
Evie chuckled.
“Everything still going according to plan with the new books?” she asked.
“Yes, and we’ve also had a donation of books as well, which should be arriving next Friday.”
“Sounds great.”
Evie stepped away from the computer and rubbed at her eyes. “What are your plans for the weekend?”
Holly thought about last night. At the library they didn’t exactly have much of a weekend. It was Saturday, so they closed a little earlier than throughout the week, and had Sunday off.
“Not much, probably rest, read a book.”
“You’ve been divorced for a long time now. Why don’t you go out and meet someone?” Evie asked.
Holly wrinkled her nose. “I’m not interested in meeting anyone. Trust me. For now, I’m more than happy to remain single.”
“You’re a beautiful woman and trust me, you’re not getting any younger.” Evie winked at her. “You wasted way too much time on that asshole husband of yours.”
“Exactly. I don’t want to make the same mistake twice.”
“Impossible to do. You know what you’re looking for. I didn’t say you had to look for husband number two. There’s nothing wrong with going out and having a whole lot of fun.”
“You’re encouraging me to sleep around?” Holly asked.
“I’m encouraging you to have a lot of fun. If that means sleeping around, then enjoy that. I’ve seen how miserable you’ve been these past ten years. Marriage is not supposed to make you that sad. Not until you’ve been married thirty-plus years.”
Holly chuckled. “Would you know something about that?”
Evie was a married woman in her fifties. She married her childhood sweetheart, and they’d been married for thirty-two years. Married at eighteen, five kids, and still going strong.
“Not everyone can be like me and my Christopher.”
“But people like me wish for a marriage like yours,” Holly said.
“One day, Holly, you’ll have it, but to find someone you want to spend the rest of your life with, you’ve got to be willing to go out and explore. You can’t hide forever.”
Chapter Two
It didn’t take Mason long to find the library where his siren worked. Glancing through the large windows, he saw the endless rows of books. There were not a lot of people. It was a Saturday afternoon and the sun was shining. The outside was much more alluring than the inside of a stuffy old library.
He’d never stepped foot into a library.
The call of his woman was too great to ignore. He needed to see her again. Stepping into the main building, there was a sign for bathrooms to his right, and then doors leading to the first level of the library. Past the bathrooms he saw an elevator and a set of stairs. Walking into the main part of the library, he moved slow, perusing the shelves, when he was in fact looking for Holly. The beauty in red.
He’d not been able to get her out of his mind. Michael had been a genius and found her home address, but he didn’t want to startle her by turning up at her home uninvited. Walking down one long shelf, marked “Science,” along with a couple of numbers, he looked toward the main desk.
There was a woman standing behind the counter, scanning a pile of books. She was blonde, appeared slightly older than him, but she had a smile on her face. This wasn’t Holly.
Approaching the desk, the woman looked up and seemed to do a double-take. He had that effect on most women. He defied his title in the city. Whenever people met him, they always expected him to be wearing a suit, something rich and branded. He never did. He was a jeans and t-shirt kind of guy, and when it got cold, he threw on a jacket. He’d never been one to confine his body in a suit. That was not him, it would never be him.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
“I’m looking for Holly Allan,” he said.
“Holly?”
“Yes, I’ve been informed she works here.”
The woman’s badge told him her name was Evie.
“Holly is on the second floor,” Evie said.
“Thank you.” He winked at her and he saw Evie blush. He also had that effect on women.
He left the ground floor and took the stairs, stopping at the second level. He stepped into the main library section. The place was huge, which surprised him. He thought libraries were one of the many dying buildings around.
At first glance, he couldn’t see her down the main aisle, but there were five more for him to check. She wasn’t down the first three, nor the fourth or fifth, so he checked out the sixth, and there she was.