“Don’t tell me. White cotton, right?”
“Don’t ask if you don’t want me to tell you. And there’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Of course not.” Hailey rolled her eyes. “Just think, you can be a spinster like me.”
Katie almost choked on a mouthful of hot chocolate. “Spinster? Seriously, does anybody even use that word anymore?”
“Spinsters do.”
“You are not a spinster, Hailey.”
“Even better, I’m a spinster librarian.”
Katie shook her head. “I’m pretty sure spinsters have to be virgins.”
“Oh, maybe. That would disqualify me, I guess.”
Ava stopped by with their mac-and-cheese and beef stew, which ended the spinster conversation, even if Katie suspected it was only a temporary reprieve. She hadn’t realized she was hungry until the smell of Gavin’s stew hit her. Not even bothering with salt and pepper because he seasoned everything to perfection, Katie dug in.
“It’s best for me if Josh isn’t seduced by your comfy white cotton, you know,” Hailey said after a few bites.
Katie frowned. Hailey knew Josh was off-limits to her, plus she’d never shown any interest in him, anyway. “What do you mean?”
“Paige married Mitch. Lauren’s not only marrying Ryan, but she’s moving away. I need you to be whatever spinsters who’ve had sex are called with me.”
“You’re forgetting something. Even if Josh temporarily succumbs to my irresistible white cotton, I’ll still be a spinster who’s had sex, because Josh is going to leave the second he can. I’ll just have had sex more recently than you.”
“Maybe when he realizes he’s been a blind idiot all these years, he’ll stay.”
Katie shook her head, some of her appetite for the stew gone. “He won’t. All he’s ever dreamed about is leaving Whitford.”
“Fine. Seduce him, use the hell out of him and then send the oversexed, possibly dehydrated husk of him out into the world.”
“That’s a little harsh,” Katie said, but she laughed anyway. “And if he hasn’t noticed me by now, he’s never going to.”
“But—”
“Let’s change the subject.” Katie was tired of thinking about Josh and sex and white cotton. “Does Max Crawford use the library?”
Hailey blinked, obviously thrown off. “Uh, yeah. Sure.”
“What kind of stuff does he read?”
That earned Katie a wagging finger and a tsk-tsk sound. “Sorry, love. I never date-stamp and tell.”
“Dammit. I need to know what he does for a living.”
“I heard he’s a serial killer.”
“You should go on a date with him.”
Hailey stared at her for a few seconds, her eyes wide. “I’m just going to sit here while you replay that last bit of conversation in your head.”
Katie did, and then she laughed. “You know Max isn’t a serial killer. I’m at his house all the time.”
“Alone?”
“No, but—”
“Have you ever been in his basement?”
“No, but—”
Hailey jabbed a finger at her. “See?”
“I’ve never been in your basement, either. Or Lauren’s. Really, that would be weird. ‘Hey there, wanna see my foundation?’”
“Good point.”
“I have to find out what Max does for work before Josh does or I’ll have to wash his stupid truck for a year.” Katie gave her best smile. “I bet if you went on a date with Max, he’d tell you.”
“If it was oral for a year, I might take that bullet for you, but washing vehicles? No.”
“You’re always complaining there are no good single guys in Whitford. Max is hot and he has a really great couch. You could have sex on it and cement your non-spinster status. You know, just in case there’s a time limit on the had-sex thing.”
“I hate sports,” Hailey said, and Katie had to admit that could be a problem. “And he never talks to me when he’s in the library. He’s really…awkward.”
“Really? I don’t think he’s awkward.”
“Well, maybe if I was just one of the guys, wearing white cotton underwear while screaming obscenities at the television because some dude didn’t throw a ball right, he wouldn’t be awkward with me, either.”
“I don’t think he knows what kind of underwear we have on.”
“The point is, I’m not banging Max Crawford in his torture chamber in the basement so you don’t have to wash Josh’s truck.”
“When you put it like that, I guess it does sound a little out of bounds, favor-wise.”
Hailey laughed. “Just a little. Why don’t you go on a date with him? Find out what he does and make Josh jealous at the same time.”
“I’m not allowed to use feminine wiles, as Josh called it.”
“It’s so cute he thinks you even know how to do that.”
Katie managed to look offended. “Hey, I have feminine wiles.”
Hailey downed the last of her hot chocolate and set down her mug with a thump. “Prove it. If you’re wily enough to get Josh Kowalski into those white cotton panties, I’ll wash his truck for a year.”