Page 14 of More Than Nothing
“You were the best at creative pranking, too.” The corner of Milo’s mouth quirked. “Remember the time we filled Principal Skellingthorpe’s convertible with table tennis balls?”
Roman’s lips lifted. “Oh, yeah. That was fun.”
“We even put them in the glove compartment and trunk. It cost me all my lawnmowing money for a month, buying those.”
“My favorite was the food dye in his wiper fluid,” Roman said with a contented sigh.
“We were little shits.”
“D’you think he ever knew it was us?”
Milo grinned the wide, contagious grin that made him look fourteen years old again. “Oh, he knew. Poor guy just couldn’t prove it. Probably why he retired as soon as we left. We wore him out.”
Chapter 7
Elenie
It was a five-minute walk to the library and the sidewalks were quiet.
Pine Springs was rarely buzzing. The town didn’t attract tourists, other than those passing through. But somehow Diner 43 stayed busy, due to a lack of competition from anywhere other than the single coffee shop, next to the hardware store. Main Street wasn’t so much of a street as a row of buildings, with a gas station at the top end (which charged more than the one a couple of exits down the highway) and the library—Elenie’s home from home—at the other, next to the fire station. In between, there was a bank, post office, pharmacy and a small handful of businesses that made life comfortable for the townspeople.
She’d asked after a job at the library more times than she cared to remember, but they were never hiring. Or never hiring a Dax, more likely. The head librarian—Elfrida Alberty’s daughter, Josephine—had even turned down her offer of doing volunteer work.
Pushing open the large wooden door, Elenie stepped inside. She slid her backpack from her shoulder, unzipped the main compartment, and returned a couple of books. The only other person in evidence was a young woman with an enviable mass of long dark hair, sitting at a nearby table. She had her nose buried ina book and was scribbling notes on a pad resting alongside. Elenie craned her neck but couldn’t read the title.
It was so peaceful in here. No sound except the rise and fall of indistinct voices drifting in the air from across the room, one lower than the other, both hushed.
Elenie checked out the “New In” section, found nothing she hadn’t already read and crossed to the “Crime and Mystery” shelves. Sometimes a well-written police procedural could make even her own life seem mainstream.
“Hit me with your best plot twist,” she muttered to herself, her head at an angle to read the spines.
“That’s a brave request.”
Elenie startled.
“My English teacher in tenth grade said it’s the unexpected that changes our lives. No idea why those words stuck with me when so much else didn’t. I must have been concentrating that day.” Roman Martinez leaned casually against the end of the bookshelf, his legs crossed at the ankle. He tossed his car keys from hand to hand, toned arms flexing under rolled-up shirtsleeves, and Elenie straightened. The whole unnerving picture was too delicious to view on a tilt.
“It’s a good quote,” she said, surprised at how measured her voice sounded. “Makes the unexpected more inviting somehow.”
“It does.” He studied her in silence.
Well, this wasn’t awkward at all. Elenie tried not to chew her lip as she automatically scanned the area for an audience and came up empty.
She had yet to decide what she thought of the new chief of police, other than him being the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. And possibly the most dangerous, too. But looks could be deceiving, and the jury was still out on whether the former Golden Boy would be an improvement on Chief Roberts in the long run.
“I came in to see Miss Alberty, but I’m glad I spotted you. We need to speak.” Martinez straightened, and in a handful of fluid strides, he was towering above her.
“Why?” Elenie couldn’t keep the worry from her question. His face seemed to soften a little, but it was hard to tell, backlit as he was by the afternoon sun streaming in through the windows.
“You’re not in trouble. It won’t take long. Do you mind if we sit?” He gestured to a worn leather couch nearby.
Elenie gave another quick glance side to side but couldn’t think of a legitimate reason to refuse. “OK.”
Uniform impeccable, tanned and lean, a pair of sunglasses tucked into a breast pocket, Martinez dazzled her. As he had done every time she’d seen him. Elenie sat down carefully at one end of the couch, tugging at her skirt to cover her thighs. He took a seat as well, leaving as much space between them as the furniture allowed. A dozen possible reasons why he might be wanting a few moments of her time ran through her mind. None of them good.
“I think I owe you an apology.” He looked around at the rows of shelves.
“Oh?” Internally, she cuffed herself around the head for her pathetic conversational skills but surprise had stolen her words.
