Page 69 of So Right
Chapter Thirteen
Fortunately, the first half of Kelsey’s shift flew by, thanks in part to a five-year-old who’d wanted to have her birthday party at the library. They’d set up in the children’s nook, and Kelsey had read three books of the birthday girl’s choosing. It had been a welcome diversion after the craptasticness of the morning.
Craptasticness?
As a librarian, she was supposed to be good with words. Hopefully that included making them up.
She shook her head, thinking she was more of a mess than she’d thought. And damn, was she a mess. Last night—and this morning—had been so fantastic, and then, in the blink of an eye, it had all gone to crap.
Yep, craptasticness was her new favorite made-up word.
Her phone buzzed again. She looked at it vibrating on the counter in front of her. Tempting as it was to pick it up, she was certain it was Luke. He’d already texted her at least four times, asking if he could pick her up after work, asking if she had time to talk, asking if she was ignoring him.
No. No. Yes.
She’d actually driven her car this morning, which was ridiculous since she’d had to park it almost as far away as she would’ve walked from Luke’s house. But there was something far more dramatic about stalking out of a scene like this morning and getting in a car to drive away. Merely walking down an idyllic street lined with trees turning red and gold just didn’t send the right message.
Had she been trying to send a message?
She had no idea. She’d been surprised and hurt and disappointed. And scared. She knew, of course, that relationships didn’t come with guarantees. She’d been in a relationship that had pretty much scared her off relationships forever. Or so she’d thought.
Luke challenged everything she thought she knew. He was kind, considerate, sexy as hell, and so caring. But it was all so new. This morning had proven that. Apparently, his ex still thought she had a shot with him.
Kelsey had come out of the bathroom and nearly tripped when she’d seen Paige’s arms around Luke. Then she’d kissed his cheek, and Kelsey’s gut had twisted. There was plenty of jealousy, but also anger. She’d let down her guard and gotten kicked in the face for her trouble.
She straightened her shoulders. Time to stop wallowing and get back to work. She picked up the books she’d just unboxed from yesterday’s late mail delivery and took them to the Spanish-language display she was creating. There were a lot of migrant workers in the area, and Kelsey hoped to encourage them to come to the library. Her Spanish wasn’t great, but she was working on making some signs and flyers and had an old college friend in Washington who was fluent who would ensure she got them right.
An older gentleman who’d been browsing the nonfiction area walked by her on his way to the door. “Don’t know why you need those books.”
She smiled at him as she propped a picture book on the table. “We have a good-sized Spanish-speaking population in the county. I’m sure they’d love to come in and find books in their language.”
He scoffed. “They need to learn English if they want to live here.”
Kelsey’s adrenaline spiked. She didn’t want to have an ugly confrontation, but this guy was a jerk. “They do learn English. They also want to hold on to their culture. I think that’s great. America is a melting pot, after all.”
He rolled his eyes. “You young people and your PC garbage.” He turned and left while Kelsey stared after him.
A couple in their thirties walked up to her. “We overheard your conversation,” the woman said. “You were amazing for standing up to him.”
Kelsey began to relax. “Thanks. I just couldn’t let him say that.”
“We would’ve backed you up if he’d kept on,” the man said, returning her smile. “Good job. And we love the library.”
She’d seen them in here before, usually on Sundays, she realized. “Thanks. I appreciate hearing that. Anything I can help you find today?”
“Actually, we’re looking for a documentary. It doesn’t look like you have it, but maybe it’s checked out.”
“I can certainly look. And I can try to find a copy at another library too.” She turned toward the counter. “Come with me.”
Kelsey immersed herself in work until it was just about closing time. As she eyed the clock, she wondered what she was going to do after she left. Go back to Luke’s? She still wasn’t ready to talk to him. Go home? She could…but more and more, she loathed the idea of spending time there at all. It was just so small and dingy, and after the water pressure at Luke’s house, she thought she might cry if she had to shower at her apartment.
Pulling her phone from her pocket, she texted Gram and asked if she had dinner plans. A few minutes later, Gram responded with an enthusiastic invitation for her and Luke to come eat at George’s with her. Kelsey accepted without bothering to clarify that it would just be her.
At last it was closing time, and she went to the door to flip the sign and lock up. As she got there, the door pushed open, and all she could see was a giant bouquet of flowers.
Luke’s head popped out from behind it, and he gave her a smile that normally would’ve melted her socks. However, her gaze went back to the flowers and stayed. Anxiety curled inside her, and ice chilled her spine.
“I brought you these,” he said, holding them out. “I wanted to apologize—profusely—for what happened this morning.”
