SEVEN
Assiduous
Alex had his sites going, so far generating mostly useless tips, and between Harper and Brian, they had called every single person they could think of. Nobody knew where Gemma was, and there really wasn’t much more that Harper could do.
So she went to work on Thursday. Brian had been reluctant to leave the house unmanned, but Harper pointed out that if Gemma came home, she probably wouldn’t leave just because nobody was there. Besides that, Harper had her cell phone on her, and Alex was sitting in the house next door, keeping watch for his girlfriend.
“Have you figured out how to kill the sirens yet?” Marcy asked when Harper sat down at the front desk of the library.
“Not yet,” Harper said.
She’d just punched in for the day, and she had to get ready to read a story to toddlers in twenty minutes. Marcy stood behind the desk, organizing the piles of recently returned books onto a cart so it would be easier for her to put them away.
“You could try holy water,” Marcy suggested, and Harper looked back at her.
“What?”
“Holy water,” Marcy repeated. “Although the sirens do love water. But it works on demons and vampires, so it should work on a couple of skinny little sirens.”
“Maybe.” Harper turned back to her desk, flipping through the calendar to see what story was scheduled for today. “But I’ll have to find them first before I try it out.”
“No luck on finding Gemma, then?” Marcy asked.
“Not yet.” Harper sighed.
“That sucks. I was hoping that since you called in yesterday, maybe you had a lead on her.”
“I have to go get ready for story time,” Harper said, eager to change the subject. “Do you know if Where the Wild Things Are is on the shelf?”
“Uh, I think so,” Marcy said. “It should be, at least.”
“Thanks.”
Harper pushed out her chair and hurried over to the children’s corner. There were already a few little kids waiting with their moms or older siblings.
This was part of the summer reading program at the library. Harper or the librarian would read a book aloud to little kids a couple times a month, acting out the voices and engaging the audience as much as possible. Since the librarian was still traveling the world on her honeymoon, that left Harper to do it.
She didn’t mind, though. In fact, she usually enjoyed interacting with the kids. It was fun getting them excited about reading, especially when they were so young. They didn’t care if it was cool or not—they just liked a good story.
Today Harper liked it for a different reason. It kept her distracted. She needed to get her mind off Gemma, although the book Where the Wild Things Are didn’t help much. It had been one of Gemma’s favorites when they were kids, and Brian used to read it to them almost every night, acting out the parts.
At least she had that going for her. Harper already had her father’s dazzling renditions of the characters to use as inspiration. This should be her best story-time performance.
She got the book off the shelf, then settled into her chair in the children’s corner. As more kids came in, they sat around her in a circle. From where she was, Harper could see Marcy at the desk, loading up the book cart and directing children to story time as they came in.
When it was time to begin, Harper threw herself into her performance. All the kids came here today to have a good time, and it was her job to deliver, no matter how worried or distraught she might feel.
And as she read, Harper found herself having fun despite herself. She had the kids join in, and when they were gnashing their terrible teeth and roaring their terrible roars, she couldn’t help but smile.
It was all going well until she was nearing the end of the story and heard the front door open. She lifted her head, expecting to see a late-arriving child, but instead it was Daniel, striding up to the front desk.
Her heart skipped a beat, and for a second Harper forgot how to read. She fumbled over the words, but she’d recovered by the time Marcy pointed back to the children’s corner and Daniel turned around to smile at her.
Harper quickly averted her eyes, forcing a smile down at the little kids in front of her, and tried not to think about how foxy Daniel looked today.
What Harper found even more unnerving than her own feelings for Daniel was his banter with Marcy. He leaned against the desk, apparently waiting for Harper to finish the story, and chatted amiably with her.
Nobody chatted amiably with Marcy. Not even Harper, and Harper was pretty much her best friend.
It wasn’t that she was jealous, but she couldn’t imagine what they were talking about. Her real fear was that they were talking about her and Marcy might spill some hideously embarrassing secret.
Of course, Harper knew that it shouldn’t matter what Marcy said to Daniel. In fact, it would be better if Marcy told him something that would turn him off of her forever. She didn’t have time to get involved with him. Since he hadn’t called and told her he’d found anything about Gemma in a voice mail, Harper thought it was a safe bet that this was a social call, and it probably would be better if Marcy got rid of him for her.
But then … Harper didn’t want that, either. She knew she didn’t have time to like him, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t like him. She just wished she didn’t.
Harper did a slipshod job of the last quarter of the book, and she made a promise to herself that she would make it up to the kids at the next story time. But none of the kids complained. They seemed happy just to have an excuse to roar.
Some of the children and their parents tried to talk to her after she’d finished the story, and Harper did her best not to rush them. She smiled and reminded them about the next story time in July. When a mother told her how much she loved Maurice Sendak, Harper even recommended other books she should check out.
But the very second she could, Harper extracted herself from the children’s corner and went over to the front desk, where Daniel was still talking with Marcy.
“No, I don’t doubt that,” Daniel was saying, laughing at something Marcy had said.
Marcy, for her part, wore her usual blank expression, giving Harper no indication of what they could’ve possibly been talking about.
“Hi,” Harper said, and her voice sounded oddly high-pitched to her own ears, so she rushed to correct it. “Hi. Um, were you looking for a book?”
Daniel had been leaning forward, his arms resting on the desk, but he turned so he could face Harper, leaving one elbow on the counter. His smile widened when he saw her, and she noticed the fading cuts on his cheek.
When Penn had been that awful bird-monster on Bernie’s Island, Daniel had rushed in with a pitchfork to defend both Harper and her younger sister. But Penn had lashed out, scratching him across the cheek with her claws.
That memory both tightened her heart and warmed it. The horror of the monsters still frightened her, but knowing that Daniel had put himself in harm’s way to protect her … it was hard not to feel something for him.
“What book were you reading them?” Daniel asked, pointing to where she’d been for story time. “Because that looked like a lot of fun.”
“Where the Wild Things Are. I can get it for you, if you want.” Harper moved like she meant to, and Daniel reached out, gently putting his arm on hers to stop her.
“Nah, that’s okay,” he said, letting his hand fall back to his side. “I think I’ve read it before. It is a good one, though.”
“Yeah, it is,” Harper agreed.
“I have to come clean with you,” Daniel said gravely.
She swallowed hard. “Oh?”
“I didn’t come in for a book,” he admitted, and one corner of his mouth turned up slightly.
Harper glanced over at Marcy, who was standing on the other side of the desk, unabashedly watching the two of them talk. Harper raised her eyebrows, trying to give her friend a knowing look, and Marcy sighed.
“I guess I have some books to put away or something,” Marcy muttered, and started pushing the cart out from behind the desk. “Because it’s not like I don’t have all day to put away twenty books. I need to do it right now.”
Once Marcy was out of earshot, Harper turned her attention back to Daniel.
“What is it that brought you here, then?” Harper asked, hoping she didn’t sound as nervous as she felt. Daniel had a way of making her completely flustered.
“I wanted to see why you’ve been avoiding me.” Daniel was smiling when he said it, but he couldn’t hide the hurt in his hazel eyes.
“I haven’t been—” Harper began to protest, but he waved her off.
“You’ve been ignoring my calls, and you haven’t been down to the docks to bring your dad his lunch,” Daniel said. “The poor man is probably starving.”
Brian worked down at the docks near where Daniel lived on his boat. Her father was notorious about forgetting his lunch, and Harper saw Daniel a lot when she brought it to him.
“My dad didn’t work that much this week,” Harper said. “He is today, but I honestly can’t tell you if he remembered his lunch or not. I forgot to check.”
“Oh,” Daniel said. “Well, that makes sense. But that doesn’t explain you ignoring my calls.”
“I…” She stared down at the floor, unable to meet his gaze. “Daniel, you know what the situation is. Things are so strange right now, and I really don’t have time for anything.”
“I wasn’t suggesting we run away together,” Daniel said. “I know how crazy things are. That’s why I was calling. I wanted to see how you were doing.”
“Oh.” Harper licked her lips and tried to think of something to say. “Well. Things are…”
“Why don’t we go talk about it?” Daniel asked. “Let’s go across the street to Pearl’s and grab some lunch. I’ll even let you pay for me.”
“I can’t just leave.” Harper gestured to the library, which was now almost empty aside from one mother and her child looking through the kids’ books. “I’m working.”
“I can cover for you,” Marcy said, poking her head out from behind a nearby bookshelf. “If you want to go have lunch, I’ve got it.”
Harper sighed. “Thanks, Marcy.”
Of course Marcy had to go and be helpful the one time Harper didn’t want her to be. She knew Marcy was making a concerted effort to be nice, since Harper was going through a rough patch with Gemma missing, but still. This was insane.
“You may not have time to run off with a ruggedly handsome guy like myself, but I know you still have to eat,” Daniel said. “And Marcy says that she has this under control. You have no reason to say no.”
“Okay,” Harper relented, because he was right. She couldn’t think up an excuse, no matter how hard she tried. “But it’s a little early for lunch.”
“We’ll have brunch, then,” Daniel said.
He stepped back from the desk and waited as she prepared to go. When they left, he held the door open for her, and she smiled politely but tried not to let her eyes meet his.
“So, have you heard from Gemma?” Daniel asked as they waited on the sidewalk for a break in traffic.
“No.” Harper shook her head. “Not yet.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Daniel said, and it sounded like he really meant it.
“Me, too,” Harper said, and they crossed the street.
“It’s a terrible situation,” he said. “But I think she’ll get through it and come home. She’s a good kid. She’s tough and can handle herself.”
They’d reached Pearl’s, and Harper grabbed the door so she could open it before he did.
“You always say that,” she told him.
“And I’m always right. You don’t give Gemma enough credit.”
“I think this time I actually gave her too much credit.” Harper slid into a booth in front of the window. “I never thought she’d get into any real trouble, and now she’s turned into some kind of mythological beast.”
“Mythological beast?” Daniel raised an eyebrow and leaned back in the seat across from her.
“Yeah.” Harper glanced around to make sure that no one was close enough to hear, but they were early for lunch, so the diner was pretty empty. “Sirens. Alex and I did some research, and that’s what we think they are.”
“Sirens?” Daniel asked. “The mermaids that sing?”
“Something like that.” Harper signaled him to be quiet because Pearl was approaching.
“How are you doing today?” Pearl asked.
“Good.” Daniel grinned broadly at her, and even Pearl had to feel the effects of it. When he smiled, it was a truly stunning thing. “How is my favorite waitress doing?”
“Better now that you’re here,” Pearl said, laughing a little at her own joke. “What can I get for you two today?”
Daniel looked to Harper, waiting for her to order first. Pearl’s didn’t have menus. She had a few specials written on a chalkboard hanging behind the counter, but with everything else, customers were just supposed to know what was served. It helped keep locals in and tourists out.
“Um, just a Cherry Coke and a cheeseburger,” Harper said.
“I’ll have the same,” Daniel said.
“Coming right up.” Pearl winked at them both before walking back to the counter.
“So.” Daniel leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “You’re not ignoring Alex’s calls, then?”
“That’s different.” Harper shook her head and stared out the window at the traffic passing slowly by.
“How is it different?” Daniel asked.
She groaned and rubbed the back of her neck. “You know how it’s different.”
“No, I don’t. I can help you. I want to help you.”
“But…” She sighed. “It’s complicated with me and you.”
Daniel laughed a little. “No, it’s really not. You’ve made it perfectly clear what you’re open for right now. I get it. You don’t have time for anything more than friendship. But Harper, I’m not offering anything more than that.”
She bit her lip and tentatively looked up at him. Hearing him say that actually stung a bit, and she was surprised. All this time she’d been saying she didn’t want to get involved with him, and it hadn’t really occurred to her that he might not want to get involved with her.
“Your sister ran off with some weird-ass bird-monsters,” Daniel said. “Can you really afford to turn away somebody that wants to help you get her back? Especially someone that doesn’t think you’re insane for believing in weird-ass bird-monsters?”
“No,” Harper admitted, smirking a little at his description of the sirens.
“Good.” He smiled wider at that and relaxed more in the seat. “So, what’s your plan for finding Gemma?”
“I don’t have one.”
“That’s okay,” Daniel assured her. “We’ll come up with one.”