Page 3 of Mountains Divide Us

Her breath came out in an “oof,” and then she was glaring at me from the cradle of my arms. “You scared the crap out of me,” she griped loudly over the sound of the music in her ears, gasping and clutching at her chest. Her glasses were too big for her face, and they’d been knocked crooked. She looked at me with one eye over the top of the pink frames, yanking on the cord connecting her earbuds to her phone in her skirt’s pocket. The earbuds fell out and dangled over my arm. “Thank you, but did you have to yell at me like that? You could’ve spoken in a normal voice.”

“Pretty sure I tried that.”

I stood there, holding this woman in my arms and looking in her eyes, having just saved her from breaking her arm or a leg, and she had the nerve to complain about my efforts to prevent exactly what had just happened? “Lucky I was here,” I said, “or you’d probably be on your way to the ER right now with a broken tail bone.”

She wiggled, hinting she wanted to be put down and pushing on my shoulder with her small hand, until it slid over my polyester work shirt to my neck. “If you weren’t here, I’d still be upright.”

Her skin was soft, and I caught a whiff of her perfume, or maybe it was just the way she smelled. It was a clean, fresh scent with a hint of… cookies? No, cake. I knew the smell since I hadn’t allowed myself to eat that crap for a long time, but occasionally I dreamed about eating it. Usually, for a good day after the dreams, I smelled cake everywhere I went.

“Can you put me down, please?”

I could’ve. I didn’t though. The warm feel of her body pressed against my chest was… nice. My hand flexed involuntarily around her waist, and with her eyes locked on mine, she licked her lips.

“Who are you?” I meant it to sound like a question, but it came out of my mouth as more of a demand. And how old was she? Suddenly, the question was burning my tongue. I didn’t voice it.

She was definitely shaped like a woman, behind her eyes she was all woman, but the blue hair and the lack of age lines on her face told me she was a hell of a lot younger than me. Her skin was perfectly smooth.

“Sam Russo. Samantha but Sam,” she said. “The new librarian.”

Oh, Samantha… but Sam. Definitely not a guy. “I was expectin’ a man.”

An annoyed laugh escaped her lips. “Of course you were.” She pushed again, and I let go, and she landed on her feet in front of me, her heavy black boots thunking on the floor.

She swiped at her skirt, adjusting it, and righted her glasses. “Who’re you?”

Lifting my hand, I pointed a finger at the rank patch on my uniform, but we’d just gotten new shirts, so my name patch hadn’t been sewn on yet. “Frank Sims.”

She squinted through her glasses, then looked up. “You’re a deputy?”

I nodded. I wasn’t sure what to say, so I went with, “When you get yourself together, I wanna check out these books.” Bending forward, I picked up my books, and when I tried to straighten, blue skirt and birthday cake invaded my face. I inhaled. It had been a long time since all my senses had been flooded with femininity.

What man of my age got turned on just looking at some young thing? Well, they probably all did, but I shouldn’t have.

She turned, walking out of the aisle as she wrapped her earbuds around her phone and dropped them into her pocket. Her skirt swished behind her, and I followed.

“Do you have a library card?”

“Sure don’t.”

When we got to the checkout counter, she stepped behind it, grabbing a square card and a pen as she leaned over an antique secretary desk against the wall, balancing on one leg. She twirled around to face me. “Alright, well, I’m overhauling the system. New memberships should be done online, but I just got here, so fill this out.” She pushed the card across the counter. “I’ll have to send it to the main county library in Jackson, and they’ll mail you your card. Then you can check those books out.”

“When?” I asked, amused at her annoyance, realizing it had been a long time since I’d felt the urge to laugh at anything.

“I don’t know. Probably, like, a week. Maybe ten days.”

“You want me to wait a week?” What a crock. By then, I could’ve bought and had both books delivered. Probably could’ve read them already.

“That’s how this goes, buddy. Don’t blame me. This library is as old as dirt. Everything is ass backwards. It’ll take me some time to get it all organized and running smoothly.”

Grabbing the pen in front of her on the counter, I completed her form, shielding it from her with my hand.

“Oh, please. I’m going to have to look at it anyway.”

“You said you were sendin’ this to another library, so technically, it’s my mail. If you read it without my permission, I could arrest you.” No, I wouldn’t, but she didn’t seem to know that, and her indignation was kind of adorable.

“You— What?”

I signed the ridiculous information card and shoved it at her. Crossing my arms over my chest, I cocked my head to the side, daring her.

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