But he couldn’t live without food. The only food left in the house was cereal and sour cream, a combination he’d been desperate enough to sample at lunch. A choice he regretted immediately. Beckett pulled the hooded sweatshirt over his head, hoping to go unrecognized in downtown Blue Moon. It was a risky move while it was still light outside, but he had no other choice.
He called in a to-go order from Peace of Pizza to be ready in half an hour and took a deep breath as he stepped out on to his front porch. He could do this. He’d swing by the library to check out the space for Evan’s Debate Club — if Evan still wanted him to be the advisor. And then he’d sneak into downtown to pick up dinner.
In, out, no need for anyone to talk to him about how great Paul Fucking Decker was.
Luck was on his side and he was able to avoid all human contact besides friendly waves and “hey theres” on the way to the library.
It was one of the oldest buildings in Blue Moon. Originally a school, the brick three-story building now housed the town’s eclectic collection of literature. There was an entire section dedicated to tie-dye crafts.
A man on a mission, Beckett quickly walked past the front desk. Usually the combination of scents of old books and the new carpet the board had installed last year made him feel nostalgic, but today he had no room for nostalgia. Taking the stairs in the atrium at the center of the building, he jogged up to the second floor.
There were more books here, including a special wing dedicated to Woodstock and the rest of the sixties. The back half of the floor was still cordoned off into the original classrooms that were now used as meeting spaces.
He picked a door at random and opened it. And stepped into a fresh hell.
Willa, Rainbow and Gordon Berkowicz, Bruce Oakleigh, Bobbie from Peace of Pizza, and Wilson Abramovich, the town jeweler, sat around a conference table listening intently as Ellery walked them through a three-point plan for something.
The TV screen on the wall had two pictures on it. Gia’s and Paul’s. There was a hand-written timeline on a white board behind her with the last event listed as Happily Ever After.
There were iced heart-shaped cookies on a platter in the center of the table. Everyone had a ruby red notebook in front of them with the initials B.C. embossed in a heart on the covers.
“Oh my God.”
All eyes flew guiltily to him. Gordon was the first to react. He jumped up and tried to cover the TV screen with his slight build.
“Oh, hey there, Beckett,” he said, lacing his fingers behind his head and spreading his elbows wide.
“Ellery?” Beckett’s betrayal was complete. He sagged against the doorframe. “You, too?”
She looked like a little kid caught stealing cookies. “I’m sorry, Beckett. I thought this is what you wanted. You broke up with Gia so she could get back with Paul and he’s such a great guy.”
The table murmured their agreement.
“You know Paul?” Beckett asked.
“Sure, he came into the office today.” Guilt turned to excitement. “Oh my God, did you know he opened for the Flying Spiders?”
She must have taken Beckett’s blank look as permission to keep going.
“The Flying Spiders are the hottest goth grunge band this side of the Mississippi. Paul was opening for them and ended up playing a set with them when their drummer was too strung out —”
He cut her off. “You all should be ashamed of yourselves, meddling in people’s lives. What if they don’t want your help? What if there’s someone else out there, better for … someone?” He wasn’t making any sense now.
“But Beckett, we were just following your lead. Getting Paul and Gia back together. It’s what you wanted,” Ellery said, her dark eyes wide and sad. She looked like a kicked puppy and Beckett felt like the victim of an elephant stampede.
He glanced at the whiteboard again. Within the bounds of a red heart the numbers 27-0 were written. The Beautification Committee’s record of wins in love. They had never failed in a match. Why did he want them to fail this time? This was the right thing, wasn’t it?
He backed out into the hallway, shutting the door with a click, without another word and missed the satisfied grins around the table.
Beckett left the library under a cloud of doom. With the involvement of the B.C. it was only a matter of time before Gia and Paul were remarried and working on baby number three. Most likely in his backyard.
He wanted to throw up.
But it was what he wanted or at least what was right — wasn’t it? Then why did he feel like shit? And how had he not known that Ellery was a member of the B.C.?
Maizie at Peace of Pizza told him it would be another couple of minutes and rather than wait inside with people, he chose to head across the street to the solitude of the park. If he stayed on this end of it, he wouldn’t get too close to the yoga studio, wouldn’t witness Paul doing some flying swan handstand pose or something equally awesome.
He was just stepping up onto the curb when a little flash of red flew at him. “Bucket!”
Aurora, bundled up in a purple coat, launched herself at him. Without thinking, he swooped her up and held her high until she giggled.