Page 13 of Chasing Fireflies

“Yes, thank you,” I say, wiping my brow.

“Good. You were having a panic attack?”

“Yes.”

She nods. “I used to get those all the time over the strangest things when I was pregnant.”

“They do come at the worst times.” I take another sip of my water.

“One time I had one at the Dairy Queen drive-thru because I couldn’t figure out what kind of ice cream I wanted.” She laughs, and I smile. “My name’s Maci.”

Oh crap, now I’m extremely embarrassed.

“I’m Sara.” I wince.

“Oh, the Sara that Anne called about?”

“Yep, panic attacks and all.” I look down at the floor, waiting to crawl into a black hole.

“Please don’t think any more about that,” she says and I look up. She smiles. “It’s nice to meet you. Come on. Let me show you around.” She tucks a piece of her red hair behind her ear. “This place is old as dirt, but I think that’s what gives it character. It used to be a house way back when so we actually have a full kitchen here.” She points toward the back. “We host book fairs and try to encourage people to donate old books they no longer want. We also have reading time for the kids.” She shows me the area with big colorful pillows. “Our restroom has a small leak in the roof, so we try to keep a bucket on the floor. Don’t wanna make the floor bad, too. Mark says he’s going to fix it, but life gets busy. Have you met Mark and Leigh Phillips yet?”

“I’ve met Mark, but not Leigh.”

“Oh, Leigh is great, but watch out. She’ll try to send you home with a stray animal.” She laughs. “She works at the animal shelter downtown, always trying to give those babies a home.”

“I’ve heard,” I say, smiling.

“Mark must have told you.”

“Yeah, he came over and helped my husband replace some old boards on our porch. Said Leigh had ten dogs at their house, and he had to get out of there.”

Maci laughs. “That sounds about right. But like I said, Leigh is really great. When I was pregnant, she made me a baby blanket filled with pictures of children’s books on it.”

“How old is your kid?” I ask.

“I lost our baby.”

“That must have been hard,” I say sadly.

“It was.” She looks down for a moment and then clears her throat. “So, anyway, Anne said you needed to be paid under the table?”

“Yes, but if that’s an issue, I totally understand.”

“No, I’m just glad to have some company around here.” She smiles and links her fingers together. “Now it’ll only be part-time and the pay won’t be great, but it’ll give you something to do. So if you want it, the job is yours.”

“I do. Thank you.”

“Okay, good. That’s settled. Let me show you how everything works. It’s very easy. I’m sure you will get it quickly.”

I smile as I follow her around to the desk. Cash will be happy about this. It doesn’t seem like it will be full of people often, so I think I can handle it. I’m doing this for Cash. I want to be something he can be proud of and not so much of a burden on him. He would never say it, but I know sometimes he wishes I wasn’t so messed up. I wish I wasn’t so messed up.

“What does your husband do?” Maci asks, taking me away from my thoughts.

“He’s a deputy. Works with Chief Rogers now.”

“Oh, good. We don’t have much crime around here, thank God, but it’s good the chief has some extra help. He’s getting older, been the chief as long as I can remember.”

“You grew up here?” I ask.

---