“I don’t think anyone meant to keep it a secret. Honestly, your aunt and uncle probably both thought it wasn’t worth mentioning to your cousins because, it was just a summer fling.”
They exchange a look.
“What?”
“Toward the end, I guess Aunt Carol had a different perspective,” Thyme answers slowly and then falls silent.
I turn to Sage, who says, “She told the cousins about you and Uncle Nick because she thought you might end up together after she was gone. She wanted them to understand your history.”
My stomach drops and I open my mouth, but no words come out.
Sage babbles, “We shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry. You know, she was on a lot of pain medication. She was probably just, confused, or maybe they misunderstood.”
“No, it’s fine. It’s really nothing,” I lie lamely.
“Right.” They give each other another worried look.
“Really,” I insist.
After an awkward moment, Sage says, “Well, I guess we should get back to the workshop and help the Stillwaters print the rest of these ornaments.“
“Is it okay if we monopolize your printer for the next few hours?” Thyme asks.
I drop into my chair, give a vague wave toward the stairs, and mumble, “Yeah, go ahead.”
They leave, and I lower my head into my hands, mortified.What was Carol thinking? Did she really believe I’ve spent the past twenty-five years pining for her husband? Then an even worse, more humiliating thought rises up. What if she said as much to Nick? What if he thinks I showed up at the cabin because I have feelings for him?
I let out a strangled groan and lift my head. My gaze fallson the clue. Finding the next clue will take my mind off this embarrassing mess, and there’s no way I’m sticking around to face Nick now. I grab the note card from the desk and call over to Farah, who’s helping a patron check out a wood chisel from the tool library, that I have to run an errand. Then I race out the back door to the parking lot.
CHAPTER 18
Nick
Iscour the library for Noelle. She’s not behind the circulation desk. I check her office, the kitchen, and the children’s wing, pausing for a moment to watch little Sunny Min carefully constructing some sort of towering tile structure. No Noelle.
I retrace my steps to the lobby and stop in front of the bulletin board to pull out my phone and text her. A magazine article hanging on the board catches my eye. There’s a picture of Noelle, beaming, as she cuts a red ribbon with a pair of ridiculously oversized scissors at the grand opening of the new children’s wing. I scan the text. Apparently, she put Griselda’s donation to good use. According to the article, the design and philosophy behind her revamped program garnered international recognition in the library world for its ‘holistic, integrated approach to child and adolescent development through community spaces.’
My chest fills with an irrational swell of pride for her. Looks like she was right—our little town is big enough to hold her big dreams, after all.
“Uncle Nick! Yoo-hoo!”
I look up to see Sage hanging over the railing outside the Wonder Workshop on the second floor. I wave back and mount the stairs to join her.
“What are you doing here?”
She displays a mistletoe dangling from a ribbon, then jerks a thumb toward the glass wall behind her. “Clem Stillwater and his grandson are helping me and Thyme 3D-print favors for the open house. See?”
I wave to Thyme and the Stillwaters inside the workshop, then lean forward to examine the ornament. “Very nice. Have you seen Noelle?”
Her eyes light up. “Oh, are you ready to go to the strip club?”
I mean, that’s what itsoundslike she says. I’m obviously mishearing her. I shake my head like a wet dog. “Come again?”
“Crud.” She clamps a hand over her mouth.
Watching us through the glass, Thyme seems to sense trouble. She slips out the door to join us.
“Did you tell him she opened the clue without him?” she hisses at her sister through clenched teeth.