Page 5 of So Right
Chapter Two
Though it had been three days since Kelsey had picked grapes at the winery on Saturday, her back and arms were just getting back to feeling normal. She’d been surprised when her muscles had hurt the next day—a lot. Given her schedule, she wasn’t great about hitting the gym, but she’d thought she was in pretty good shape. Now she had to reassess that opinion. She’d add that to her insurmountable list of things to do. Right after finding a new place to live that wasn’t a crap hole.
She glanced around her tiny one-bedroom apartment with its dingy walls and buckling floorboards and, as usual, quickly fled. Thankfully, she worked so much that she was barely home. But then, working so much made it impossible to find a new place in town, since rental property in Ribbon Ridge was tough to come by. In another year or two, she’d hopefully be able to buy a small town house, right after she paid off her student loans. Okay, maybe a year or two wasn’t all that realistic.
She jogged down the creaky stairs and pushed out the door, nearly colliding with one of the hair salon customers beelining for the entrance, which was right next to Kelsey’s. Living above the salon meant noise and odd smells. It also meant she’d become friendly with the staff, and they gave her a discount.
Probably the best thing about her apartment was that it was close to the library and even closer to her other job at The Arch and Vine pub, where she waited tables. In less than five minutes, she stepped into the library and went about her morning routine, which today included continuing the work she’d started upstairs yesterday.
The library was currently entirely housed downstairs, with the upstairs serving as storage and a meeting space that was available to the community during library hours. It had been used only once or twice, which was a good thing since Kelsey and her friends had sort of commandeered it as their headquarters while they researched the history of Ribbon Ridge for the exhibit that would open in January. Nearly half of the upstairs was dedicated to the exhibit space, and the display tables—generously donated by the Archer family—had been delivered on Friday.
Kelsey had spent all of yesterday here setting up the displays beneath the glass in the tables. Mondays were typically her day off, but she nearly always worked here. Hmm, maybe her sore back wasn’t just a result of picking grapes. She quickly picked up where she’d left off, organizing a series of photos.
Thankfully, she’d remembered to set an alarm on her phone so she didn’t miss opening the library. The groovy synthetic sound interrupted her activity, and she jumped up. Grabbing her phone, she went downstairs to unlock the door. There was already a pair of moms, each with a kid in tow who were literally bouncing as they waited to come inside.
“Good morning!” one of the moms said, smiling. “We’re early for story time. They couldn’t wait.” She gestured to the kids, who were already dashing to the children’s reading nook, which Kelsey had set up with a grouping of bean bags as well as two small tables with chairs. The kids plopped onto the bean bags and waited expectantly.
Kelsey laughed. Story time wasn’t technically for another thirty minutes, but she understood their excitement. Going to the library had been one of the highlights of her childhood. It was the very reason she’d become a librarian in the first place. “Who am I to keep them waiting?”
“Oh, you don’t have to start now,” the other mother said, blushing. “We can wait.”
“It’s no problem,” Kelsey said.
“But what if other children come? We don’t want them to miss out.”
“They won’t,” Kelsey assured her. “The one thing I can just about guarantee is that we won’t run out of books to read.” At least not before the kids grew antsy and needed to go home for lunch.
Kelsey went to the children’s nook and sat in the rocking chair situated in the corner. The books she’d chosen for today were on the table beside her.
One of the children, a girl with bright blonde hair in pigtails, pointed at the book on the top of the stack. “I love that one!”
Holding it up, Kelsey nodded. “Me too.”
The boy stuck out his tongue. “It’s about a princess.”
“She’s a very good princess,” the girl said rather haughtily.
“She’s still a princess,” the boy muttered.
“Never fear,” Kelsey said, giving the boy a sly smile. “The next book is about a dragon.”
The boy’s eyes lit, and both kids’ attention grew rapt as Kelsey began to read.
A few more children joined the group, and by the time the official story time was over, she’d been reading for almost an hour. She needed some water.
After hydrating, she got caught up helping a few people, and before she knew it, her volunteer helper for the afternoon had arrived. Which meant it was one o’clock. No wonder her stomach was growling.
It was also time for Alaina, Crystal, and Brooke to arrive for their meeting. Brooke Ellis strolled in right on time, her blonde hair pulled back into a sleek ponytail. She whipped her sunglasses off and smiled at Kelsey. “Hi! You recovered from Saturday?”
“Barely,” Kelsey said, her gaze drifting to the new sparkly diamond on Brooke’s left hand. “Areyou?”
Brooke saw where Kelsey was looking, and her smile widened. “Sort of. It’s still a bit surreal. I did manage to give notice at my loft, though.” Her eyes rounded. “Oh! You should rent it. I know you’re looking for a place.”
The loft was a bit out of Kelsey’s price range. She could afford it, but she wouldn’t be able to save enough to buy her own place. She preferred to put up with her lousy apartment in the short-term in exchange for the long-term gain. “Thanks, but I’ve decided I’m good at hair salon central.”
“Okay, but if you decide to change your mind, do it fast. The loft won’t last.”
Kelsey and Brooke had been friends for a couple of months, but Kelsey hadn’t told her that she lived in the apartment due to financial necessity. Kelsey was by nature a private person, and even more so after what she’d gone through two years ago.
