Page 2 of Never To Forever

I mean, I never planned on leaving Blue Ridge Falls, anyway.

However, I guess life doesn’t always give us what we want.

It’s been nine years, and I’m no closer to opening my shop than I was at eighteen. Between my busy schedule and my student debt from my Master’s program, I just haven’t had the time or resources to make it happen.

Forcing my gaze away from the store, I turn and shuffle down the sidewalk, desperate to grab hold of the contentment I was experiencing right after the coffee shop. By the time I reach the library, I’ve had some success in bringing my mood back up. Yes, I wish I’d made more progress on the shop by now, but I’ve been busy. That doesn’t mean I’ll never have my shop… I just have to be more patient.

Reaching the library’s front desk, I set my coffee down next to my computer and shrug out of my jacket. As I get settled, a figure steps out of the Employee Only area behind the front desk, catching my attention.

“Oh, good morning, Marie. How are you, dear?”

I smile up at Kathy, the head librarian for the Blue Ridge Falls’s public library. “Good morning, Kathy. I’m good. How about you?”

She waves her hand and shakes her head, looking irritated.

“Oh, I’d be so much better if the city council wasn’t filled with idiots.”

I fight to keep from smiling in amusement. There’s nothing that can piss Kathy off faster than the town’s city council. It’s even funnier because she’s usually such a kind, loving woman with the patience of a saint. She looks like a stereotypical librarian with a sweet, softly-wrinkled face and warm brown eyes. Her hair is even pulled back into a neat ballerina bun, and she wears silver spectacles, which are usually parched on the end of her nose. She’s cute, approachable, and doesn’t look like she’s got a mean bone in her body… which she doesn’t.

Unless you try to fuck with her library. Then she’ll cut you.

“What’d they do this time?” I ask, plopping down in my chair. “Try to trim our budget again?”

“They wouldn’t dare,” Kathy growled. “No, no, nothing like that. They want to put a statue out front of the building… some explorer that had a hand in founding the town or some such nonsense.”

That makes me chuckle. “A statue? You’re pissed off about a statue?”

“Of course!” Kathy exclaims, hands on her hips. “Why should they choose the library, of all places, to put the statue in front of? What do we care about who founded this town? This is that Fred Wallace’s doing, mark my words. He’s still sore that I convinced the council to shut down his proposal of selling off half our collection to pay for new computers in city hall. As if such a thing makes any sense! That man goes out of his way to be a pain in my backside.”

“Keep fighting the good fight, Kathy!” I cheer, knowing it doesn’t really matter what I say right now. She’s in library-protection mode, which means she might as well be the Terminator. Nothing will distract her from her mission.

To kill Fred Wallace… Well, his political career. Not Fred Wallace himself.

Probably.

“Thank you, dear.” Kathy releases a long breath and then shakes her head. “I don’t want to talk about that curmudgeon anymore.”

“Then who will we talk about?” I tease, waiting for my computer to boot up.

She claps her hands together, “Oh! I know who. Garrett Young.”

I instantly tense at the name and my heart drums harder against my ribcage.

“What about Garrett?” I don’t bother hiding my blatant curiosity and excitement. Kathy is all too aware of my massive crush on Garrett Thomas Young.

“I saw him yesterday.” Kathy waggles her eyebrows as she eyes me knowingly. “Such a handsome young man. Tall, dark, and my-oh-my, those green eyes of his! A girl could get lost gazing into them.”

She gives me a wink and I can’t help but chuckle.

“I’ll win him over one way or another,” I joke. “He can’t resist this forever.”

Running my hands down my sides, I wiggle a bit and give Kathy an exaggerated duck face. She laughs and I join her, though deep down, I feel a pang of longing thinking of Garrett. I’ve had feelings for him since I was eighteen, and I tried to ask him out when I was getting my Masters, thinking I was finally mature enough for him and that our age gap didn’t matter anymore, but he turned me down. It hurt so bad, and I was so embarrassed, I never asked him again… but my feelings for him have only grown through the years.

Which is pretty pathetic if you ask me, but I can’t help myself.

There’s just something about those green eyes that make my heart race.

However, it’s pretty clear Garrett has no interest in me and doesn’t see me as more than Haven’s best friend. I’m nothing but a kid in his eyes, and the ten-year age difference between us doesn’t help that fact at all.

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