The librarian looked so happy to see her, Liz couldn’t help but return her smile.
She and Hailey Genest hadn’t been close friends growing up, but they’d known each other. And Hailey had been at Mitch and Paige’s wedding, as well. From what Liz understood, she was very good friends with both Paige and Lauren.
“Liz! I heard you’d come back to town. I was going to let you settle in before I started hounding you to get a library card. The trustees love when I find new victims. Especially if you’re in the habit of paying overdue fines.”
Liz laughed. “Not too many, I hope. But I’m going camping and, from what I’m told, part of camping is sitting around reading.”
“Camping? Ah, yes. I heard Rose and your aunt in New Hampshire decided to make your family reunion a trip into the woods.”
“I’ve been promised s’mores.”
Hailey gave her a thumbs-up. “I’m a big fan of s’mores. Especially without the marshmallow and graham crackers.”
“I’ll be bringing a private stash.”
“Kind of a bummer to go on vacation and be related to every single guy there. Well, except Drew, I guess. And his dad.” Hailey paused in copying the info from Liz’s freshly minted Maine driver’s license onto a big yellow card to look up at her. “If there’s only going to be one single guy available, Drew’s not a bad one to have.”
Liz wasn’t sure what to say to that. “He’s a great guy.”
“He really is. I guess you’re off-limits because of Mitch, which is sad. He’s off-limits to me because I’m friends with his ex-wife. So much opportunity lost.”
Liz wanted to ask why everybody seemed bound by rules left over from high school, but sometimes it was best to let sleeping dogs lie. “I don’t think a family camping trip’s the place for romance, anyway. I mean, Rose and Aunt Mary both told me if I had sex it would ruin my life forever. Granted, I was probably thirteen at the time, but that kind of conviction can stay with a girl.”
Hailey’s laugh echoed through the quiet library and got her shushed by a guy using one of the computers. “Oops. Embarrassing when the patrons have to tell me to be quiet. Okay, so tell me what you like to read so I can help you find some perfect camping books. Fun stuff, though. Books that go well with s’mores, like romance or horror.”
“Both,” Liz said, though she had no idea how either corresponded to s’mores.
“And you’ll be there how long?”
“A week. I was thinking maybe four books, but I might start reading one before I even leave, so maybe five.”
On a mission, Hailey perused the new release shelves, her head cocked sideways to read the spines. She must spend a fortune at the chiropractor if she did that every day, Liz thought.
Hailey would make a noise and pull out a book, handing it to Liz. She then looked at the cover and skimmed the blurb on the back before either handing it back or holding on to it. In no time at all, she had a half dozen books in her arms, ready to keep her company on vacation.
“Did Paige talk to you about movie night?” Hailey asked as they walked back to the checkout desk.
“Yes. I guess women are coming to my house to watch a movie?”
“Awesome. It’s always fun to go to a new house.”
Liz set the books down and slid them toward Hailey. “You guys know I don’t have any furniture, right?”
“We’ll have food and drinks. Who needs furniture?”
Liz shrugged, still not sure about this new turn in her social life. Fran had mentioned movie night when she was in the market the day before yesterday and Paige brought it up, but how it got to be Liz’s party, she wasn’t sure.
“That’s a lot of books,” Hailey said once she was done stamping the return dates for all of them. “You know, for only ten dollars you can have an official Whitford Public Library tote to carry them in. All the cool kids have one.”
With her reading material tucked away in her new tote bag, Liz hurried back to the car. She wanted to get the chocolate bars into her fridge before they became chocolate blobs.
A car sitting in a parking lot across the way caught her eye and she smiled as she let the Mustang crawl out onto the main road. She stopped completely at the stop sign, counting all the way to five, and then gave Officer Durgin a friendly wave as she passed by.
“Maybe next time, Bob,” she said to herself, and then hit the gas when she was safely out of his sight.
*
The Fourth of July had been a lot more fun before Drew was personally responsible for the safety of Whitford’s population, but it was still one of his favorite holidays. It was a day for barbecues and beer and lemonade and fireworks, and most of all for friends.