“Now I don’t have to try to track down your number. Although I doubt there are many Divines out there.”
Crap, I blushed even more now. What was wrong with me? “You were going to look up my number?”
“Your friend dropped her bracelet at the club. I figured she’d want it back, but she didn’t tell me her last name. But yours was hard to forget. I’ve got the bracelet in my bag in the back. Remind me to give it to you before you leave.”
“Oh, okay.” A little rush of relief calmed the burning in my cheeks. Of course he hadn’t wanted to call me just for the sake of calling me. “So where are we headed anyway?”
“I’ve got about twenty boxes of donated books in the back of the van. We’re taking them to the library on Tidwell Street. Most of their books started falling apart about a decade ago.”
“That’s it?”
“What, not exciting enough for you?”
“I don’t know, I guess I expected something a little more hands-on. I don’t really get the point of me being here just to help deliver some books.”
“You’re here because I’m supposed to teach you the finer points of helping your fellow man. Charity work isn’t always glamorous. Yeah, some weeks we get assigned to feed the needy or help build a house in a weekend, but half of what I do is just deliveries.” He adjusted his hat. “But don’t worry, we’ll get pretty hands-on eventually.”
I shot a surprised look at him even though my face blazed more than before.
“What?” He smirked. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid to get your hands dirty? Because if you’re one of those kids who gets freaked out by homeless people or is too worried about breaking a nail to swing a hammer, I should just turn this van around right now and ask for a new partner.…”
“What? No. First of all, I’m not a kid. I’ll be eighteen in three months. And I am most definitely not afraid to get my hands dirty.” I didn’t know why, but I felt the urge to justify myself to Talbot—prove myself or something. Maybe it was because Gabriel had made so many assumptions about me after our first meeting, and I didn’t want Talbot to do the same. “Charity work isn’t exactly new to me. My dad’s a pastor. We used to do stuff like this all the time. You know how many hours I used to spend helping out with food drives and volunteering at the shelter?”
“Used to? Why do you say used to?”
I stared out the window, watching the pedestrians on the street. We were in the city now, so I wanted to keep my eye out for anyone who might look like Jude. “Things have been complicated lately. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to make a difference to anybody.”
“Well, now’s your chance.” Talbot pulled into a deliveries-only parking place outside the library. We each got out, and I met him at the back of the van.
Tidwell Library sat only a few blocks from Markham Street and The Depot. I checked out the faces of every person on the street. I knew Jude could be somewhere nearby, but if this place was anything like Markham, the neighborhood would be deserted by the time the sun went down.
Talbot opened the van’s back doors. “Come on, let’s get started.”
I pulled out a box and almost fell over because of the weight of the thing. I finally steadied myself and looked over at Talbot. He had three boxes of the same size stacked in his arms.
“You can do better than that, kid,” he said, with a little goading jab in his voice on that last word.
“Yeah, right.”