Just One Look (Castleton Hearts)

She wiped her mouth, even though there was nothing on it. Alivia was always neat and clean. She reminded me a little bit of Theo that way.

“Does it make you look forward to your own wedding?” I asked.

Alivia looked down at her ring, which was a beautiful silver band with a rough-cut black tourmaline stone.

“Charli made me promise when we got engaged that I wouldn’t plan our wedding, and I’ve stuck to that. Mostly.”

She couldn’t fool me. I knew she’d been micromanaging her poor wedding planner.

“But enough about me, what are you up to? Any cottage updates?” I thought I was boring Alivia with my updates about the cottage, but she did ask me about it and was interested.

“Oh, I finally ordered my furniture.” I’d shown Alivia the pictures of everything I wanted. She didn’t know Theo since she hadn’t grown up in Castleton like Paige and Esme, but she said she trusted my impression of her.

“Now I just have to wait for the check to clear. I mean, I know it will, because I know what’s in my bank account, but there’s still that little worry that something will get messed up and it won’t.”

“I’m sure it will be fine. I just hope you’re going to invite me and Charli over for tea sometime.”

I’d been over to their apartment a few times, but I had to admit it wasn’t as nice as my cottage was going to be.

Callie poked her head in with an apologetic smile.

“I’m so sorry, but there’s a problem and I need you,” she said.

Alivia took a deep breath in through her nose and then let it out her mouth.

“I’ll be right there.”

“I’ll get out of your way,” I said as she threw away the remnants of the coffee and tart.

“You’re coming to dinner on Friday, though, right?” she asked before we left the kitchen.

Alivia had invited me over for dinner with Charli. Paige and Esme were coming, and Charli’s cousin, Linley, who lived in the same building, might make an appearance with her husband and their new baby.

“I’ll be there with bells on,” I said. “Why do people say that? Did people walk around with bells on?”

Alivia laughed and pushed through the door. “I have no idea.”

The next few days were chaotic, and I tried to be out of the house as much as possible. I waited to hear from Theo, but there were no calls or messages from her, so I figured the check was still clearing from my bank to hers. Since Castleton didn’t have anything in the way of a bookstore, I split my time between drinking cappuccinos at the café, strolling the library, and picking through the little used bookstore attached to the library.

“You’re here an awful lot,” the librarian said to me one day.

“My house is being renovated,” I told her, and she nodded with sympathy.

“I’m so sorry. I’ve been there,” she said, sliding a book onto a shelf. One of the first things I’d done when I moved here besides go to the beach was get a library card. Sure, it didn’t have the selection that I’d grown accustomed to in Boston, but I could always get something through the interlibrary loan.

“You know, we’re always looking for volunteers, if you need something to do,” she said. I looked at her nametag and remembered her name was Beth. She was several years older than I and had the kind of no-nonsense attitude you expected in a librarian.

“Um, yeah, I wouldn’t mind. What kind of hours?”

“Well, we have a few shifts, so there aren’t a ton of slots, but I’m sure we can make something work. We’ll train you on checking out books and reshelving and so forth. I’m sure you’ll pick it up easily.”

That sounded like the perfect thing for me until I completed my dream board and figured out what the hell I was going to do as a career. I did have a fancy financial advisor and had invested a lot of the money, but I wasn’t going to ride for the rest of my life on that. I wanted something to do.

“Yeah, sounds great.” Beth gave me an application to fill out, and I sat at table and did that, dropping it back at the desk with her as a line formed to check out books, movies, magazines, and to ask for tech support on the computers.

“Looks good, we’ll give you a call to set up a training session.” Beth smiled at me, and I felt really good about myself for doing that. Even if I just volunteered for a few hours a week, it would get me out of the cottage and contributing to something.

Feeling lighter, I decided to stop at the little organic grocery store and get soup and salad for dinner. I wished I could go eat at the beach, but it was chilly, and clouds were rolling in, so I was just going to take it home.