Page 19 of I Met Him At The Library

Chapter 11

Ryan

After watching Emily walk into the diner to meet Meghan, who I gave a short wave to outside the window, I walked over to the bar and met up with the guys. Our conversation was mostly kept to Trey and Levi’s work, as Preston wasn’t working on anything interesting at the moment, and I was wrapped up in preparing to defend the library funding.

As they talked, my brain kept turning to Emily. I was fairly positive she was flirting with me earlier, but she did call me her buddy. “Brainstorm buddy,” to be exact. Did that make me her actual buddy and only a buddy? I wanted to be more than that. I didn’t want to be just friends, but if that was all she wanted, I’d be okay with it. I could be her friend, but I really hoped she wanted more.

After one drink, I called it a night. I still had some reports to go through in preparation for the meeting and planned to spend my evening doing that. My phone rang the moment I dropped into the driver’s seat of my car.

Seeing my sister’s name, Lacey, I answered, “What’s up?”

“Hey bro, could you help me rearrange my apartment this weekend?”

Ah, the joy of having a sister. I rarely heard from her outside of random text messages, or when she was sharing some social media post with me over a messenger. However, when I did, it was always because she needed me to help her move or carry something.

“One of these days, I hope to have a normal conversation with you that doesn’t involve a request to help you move something.”

“The day that happens you need to track my phone because I’ve been kidnapped, and I’m trying to tell you without saying it. So, will you come help me this weekend?”

Lacey moved here a few months ago, and I swore she wanted me to come over every other weekend. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, but it was to move furniture around, and at thirty-six, I was feeling the muscle aches and pains a lot more.

“Yeah. I’ll come over on Saturday after I’m done at the library.”

It wasn’t like I could decline, she didn’t have any friends in the area. Mainly because she rarely left her apartment.

“You’re the best brother ever!”

“Right back at you.”

Hanging up the phone, I shook my head. After putting on my seatbelt and starting my car, I drove toward home.

Before she moved here, my sister called me one night after she caught her boyfriend cheating on her - begging me to get her the hell out of the suburbs. She lived with me for about two weeks before she moved into her own place. I loved Lacey and would do almost anything for her, but living with her was my own version of hell. She played her music too loud, her stuff was strewn everywhere, and she left my kitchen a mess after cooking. I was happy she moved fairly quickly.

The other good thing about her living near me was it kept our mom in check too. Mom wasn’t up my ass about living so far away anymore. She even mentioned how, in a couple years, she’d retire in Maple Creek herself. With Lacey here, and my mom’s desire to retire here, I was bound and determined to keep the library running.

I didn’t want to have to move away shortly after my sister moved into town. My mom would stay in the suburbs to be smack dab in the middle of both of us. Which also meant I’d be driving to pick up mom and then driving all the way out here to see my sister during the winter. Lacey hated snow and wouldn’t drive in it, so she’d be in charge of the holidays, which could be a potential disaster in a small town where takeout was basically non-existent.

If I wanted my family in one place, I needed to do everything I could to keep my job here. Not only were the kids and people of this town dependent on me, but also my mom, sister, friends, and Emily. I mean, if the library closed, where would she write? Also, would I be able to date Emily if I was living four hours away in the city? Probably not.

“We need to make this quick, I have to leave this afternoon to drive out to mom’s.” Lacey said as I entered her apartment on Saturday.

“Why?” Concern filled my tone.

“We’re going shopping at the outlet malls,” she shrugged then turned toward her bedroom.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Mom had breast cancer a few years ago. She thankfully caught it early enough, and after surgery and treatment was in remission. For a long time she didn’t tell me, and Lacey handled a lot of the care in the beginning. I made both of them promise they’d never do it again. Still, it was always in the back of my brain it could come back, and I worried.

Mom and Lacey got together regularly to go to the outlet malls, but the last thing Lacey needed was more clothes. The entire closet in her second bedroom was jammed so tightly with clothes I was afraid the shelf was going to collapse. There were an additional four boxes stacked in the guest bedroom with items she rarely wore. I’d tried to convince her to sell some of her old clothes, even going so far as to show her how much money she could make off them, but she refused.

“I need to move the bed there.” Lacey pointed to the wall opposite the window.

“You won’t have room on either side for your night stands,” I pointed out.

“The lighting is better.”

“Why the fuck does the lighting matter?”

Lacey stammered at first before explaining, “Because … if I wake up with sunlight behind me I struggle to get out of bed. I need the light to be even so I’m waking up more easily.”

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