Page 1 of My Book Boyfriend
Chapter one
Lily
Myphonerings.Thelibrary is relatively empty today, just a few patrons. Bella, my best friend, is practicing her stand-up comedy routine for our resident septuagenarian, Mr. Devi. I step away from the front desk to the back to take this call.
“We received a cease and desist letter from Strive Developers. It says Oasis Garden doesnothave the right to its land. Strive Developers wants its lot back now,” Mrs. Potter says, her voice rising.
“What?” I sink into a chair.
Twenty years ago, this lot was an abandoned eyesore full of rats and weeds and broken glass. Mrs. Potter crawled through the opening in the rusted, wire fence and slowly turned it into a space full of green trees and yellow flowers. It’s been five years since Mrs. Potter asked me to be her co-director, and I’ve spent all my extra time working with her to create the community it is now.
My body is shaking.
“They can’t do that,” I say. My stomach feels queasy.
Mrs. Potter reads me the letter. “We have to stop our activities in the garden.”
“We’re not going to do that,” I say. “It’s our land now.” I try to sound reassuring. But I can’t stop shaking.
“I’ll call my friends,” I say. “Tessa is a lawyer. She’ll know what our legal rights are. Don’t worry. I’ll see if they can all meet tonight. They can’t take the garden away.”
I hang up the phone and stare at the poster on the bulletin board across from me, which invites families to come to the Oasis Garden to plant vegetables.
Bella comes around the bend. “I just realized I lost my earring. What’s wrong? You look ill.”
“Strive Developers sent us a cease and desist letter. They want Oasis Garden back.”
“Well, they can’t have it.” Bella hugs me, and I hold on to her.
I pull away and text the rest of my friends that we need to hold a Save the Garden meeting after work at our local bookshop café, Banter & Books. My hands are still quivering.
“You sit here,” Bella says. “I’ll man the desk.”
Get it together, Lily. You pride yourself on being a master at compartmentalizing. Here’s your chance to prove it.
Somehow,thenormalactivitiesof my job as a librarian—suggesting books to patrons, helping teens find the information they need, shelving—were just what I needed. My body has finally stopped shaking. Thankfully, my story time with the toddlers was right after Mrs. Potter called. Their rapt attention and warm hugs took my mind off the letter and its threat to demolish the Oasis Garden. And Bella has stayed here the whole day to help me when she should be home practicing for her stand-up gig tonight.
As I peer under the counter, searching for Bella’s lost, gold hoop earring on the library floor, the wood floor hard on my knees, enormous dust bunnies abound. Maybe we haven’t had any water bugs or mice lately because the clumps scare them off.
At the sound of the smoothr-r-rof the wheels on the shelving cart, I look up to see my best friend steering into my space behind the library counter.
“No luck?” Bella asks. “I didn’t see my earring anywhere on the floor either. But I did pick up the last of the books left on tables.” She pushes her red glasses up on her nose and gets down on the floor on the other side of the book return bin. “Maybe it fell off when I reached in here earlier.”
“Thanks again for staying to help me out.” I swallow the lump in my throat.
“What are roommates for?” Bella’s voice is muffled. “Are you feeling better now?”
“I’m over the initial shock.” I am.
I swipe my hand gingerly over the floor under a shelf to see if Bella’s earring slid into this hidden cavity.
“You’re not really going to ask Aiden to the Lions Gala, are you?” Bella asks from the other side of the book bin.
My facade of normalcy must be working if Bella feels free to harangue me about my crush on Aiden.
“I asked him this morning, and he said yes.” I crawl over to peer under the bookshelf where we store the books transferred from other branches around New York City in case the gold hoop slid under there.
“I know you guys can talk books for hours, but do you actually feel any electricity with him? Like you can’t breathe because he’s the one? Spine-tingling kisses?”
