Page 45 of Love By the Book
“OH MY GOD YOU DID!” Her squeal makes me hold the phone away from my ear. “Look at you, living your best romance novel life! I’m so proud. My unchangeable, perfectly organized brother, falling head over—” She pauses, then laughs. “You went to Magnolia Cove to find some dusty signed book and instead you found love.”
“Can we change the subject?” But I’m smiling so wide my face hurts. The truth is, Piper’s not wrong. I came here chasing Cyrus Whitlock’s signature, searching for meaning through bold choices in a life that suddenly felt fragile, convinced both would change my life and the former might become the crowning achievement of my academic career. Now that feels almost trivial compared to finding Rhianna. “It’s just… Piper, she’s incredible. She has this way of making the most mundane things fascinating. Did you know there are nine different ways to categorize romance novels based on the protagonist’s journey? She spent an hour explaining it to me last night and never in my life would I imagine me even thinking about the topic but… I don’t know, Pipes. Man, and when she laughs?—”
“Wow. You’ve got it so bad.” Her voice softens. “I haven’t heard you this happy in… maybe ever.”
“I know.” I sink into my desk chair and run a hand through my hair. “It’s just, I can’t stop thinking about her. Everything reminds me of her. It’s irritatingly distracting. My department head is going to be so displeased with the lack of work I’ve done this summer.”
“Oh, so you plan to come back home?”
The question lands like a physical blow, as if someone’s yanked away my chair. My stomach drops and the warm, floaty feeling that’s carried me through the morning vanishes. Suddenly I’m acutely aware of my surroundings—the stack of untouched notes, the grant proposal I haven’t even started, the rare book inquiries I should have sent weeks ago.
“I… well. That was always the plan.”
“Eli?” Piper’s voice is soft. “You went quiet on me.”
I thumb through papers, trying to find words that won’t make this feel more real. “I did, didn’t I?” A weak laugh escapes me. “Sorry, Pipes. I just… I haven’t thought about leaving. At all. Which is bizarre. My old life is waiting just around the corner for me. The old me would have a countdown calendar on the wall.”
“And the new you?”
“The new me is a ridiculous sap who sings at karaoke bars and watches meteor showers in the middle of the night and is getting an unhealthily low amount of sleep.”
“Sounds like the new you is actually living a little.” Piper’s smile carries through her voice. “Who knew all it would take was a cute librarian to get you out of your head.”
“She’s not just—” I stop speaking. What I wanted to say was that she’s not just a librarian. Not just some cute girl. She’s Rhianna Wilder. She’s the moon itself, magic embodied.
But we haven’t even had a real conversation about the future yet.
“Eli?”
“Sorry, I think the connection isn’t very good. Magnolia Cove’s internet service is this side of non-existent.” I try to laugh and make it sound like a joke but it’s pitiful even to my ears. “Can I call you back later?”
“Okay, Brubba.” Her tone is low, doubtful. She doesn’t buy my excuses, but she doesn’t push it either. We hang up, and I stand there for a moment, then release a breath that echoes around the apartment.
The walk to the library feels longer than usual, the quiet streets giving me too much space to think. Two and a half months. Ten and a half weeks. Seventy-five days. How is that possible? It feels like I just got here, like I just met her. Like we’re just getting started.
I pause at the corner where Main Street meets Seabreeze Avenue, watching the morning crowd filter into The Whimsical Whisk. The thought of returning to my old life, to endless faculty meetings and rigid schedules, feels wrong now. Like trying to squeeze back into clothes I’ve outgrown.
Maybe…. Maybe I don’t have to go back, not completely. I could apply to teach virtually next semester. The internet here is abysmal—I’d probably have to rent an office space in town just to hold lectures—but it’s possible. The thought settles something in my chest, making it easier to breathe.
The truth is, my priorities have shifted. I came here seeking academic glory and a chance to live life differently for a season. Instead, I found something better. Someone better. And for the first time in my life, I want to be reckless enough to choose love over logic.
I need another bold move. Something to keep this feeling alive, to distract from the countdown ticking in my head. To push away the fact that Rhianna still flinches away from anything permanent, hiding behind library facts and folklore stories whenever we edge too close to talking about the future. I enter the library’s foyer and smile at the bulletin board that led me to Rhianna. That’s when I see it—a bright yellow flyer that ripples with the breeze as the door closes.
Experience the Ultimate Adventure!Slanted, dark words splash across the top.Skydiving this Tuesday Evening!
The irony almost makes me laugh. When I first came to Magnolia Cove, this was exactly the thing I thought I’d do. Jump out of planes. Learn to surf. Climb mountains. Instead, I’ve been free-falling completely differently, terrified and exhilarated and unable to stop.
Oh god.
I’m in love with her.
A breath rushes out of me. I’m in love with Rhianna Wilder. I’m in love with her book pun pins, with the way sheplays Fleetwood Mac every single morning in her AirPods toset a positive tone for the day.I’m in love with how she insists on carrying extra bookmarks in her bagjust in caseand the way she sings off-key when she thinks no one’s around. I’m in love with the way she looks at me—like maybe, just maybe, I’m the best plot twist she’s ever read.
My hands tremble as I snatch the flyer and stride into the library, my heart pounding. Rhianna is at her desk, sorting through returns, bopping to whatever Stevie Nicks’ song will set the right tone for this morning. She’s pulled her hair back into a messy bun secured with a pencil and she’s wearing a cardigan covered in tiny embroidered books.
She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
I slap the flyer down on the circulation desk.
