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Then he realized Hester was holding a book out to him. “Yes,” he said, flipping the book over to find the title. “A wonderful story called…
The Borrowers.
” He had never heard of it. He felt his nerves spike, and the feeling reminded him of how he had felt his first time walking up to the plate. 

Well
, he thought with a surge of confidence,
I hit a home run then. I can damn well swing for the fences now.

Slowly, he lowered himself into the rocking chair Hester read from. Some of the kids tittered, seeing how he had to squeeze himself into the chair where Hester fit easily. Charlie felt like all elbows and angles as he tried to find a comfortable position. “All right,” he said, clearing his throat, “
The Borrowers
…”

A boy sitting on the floor shot his hand in the air, like he was in class. 

Surprised, Charlie said, “Yes?”

“Why do you have that stick?”

Charlie looked down at the cane he had left resting against his thigh. He should have expected this. “It helps me walk. One of my legs doesn’t work so good.”

“Is it gonna get better?” asked a girl. She had a thumb in her mouth and a toy rabbit clutched to her chest.

“No, it’s not,” Charlie said matter-of-factly. 

The impact hit him after the words were out. It really was that simple. 

“But that’s okay,” he continued as he opened the book. “There’s more to life than legs.”

The Borrowers
turned out to be a delightful read. It took him a couple of pages to get his rhythm, but he found that if he let his own reactions to the story infuse his voice the children were enthralled. He started doing special voices for each character, and the children giggled wildly whenever he used Arrietty’s falsetto. He was so engaged that Hester had to tap him on the shoulder when the hour was up. “Children, let’s thank Charles for reading for us today.”

“Thank you, Charles,” the children chorused. 

Charlie ducked his head with pleasure when they clapped for him. 

“Perhaps Charles will be here next week to continue the story,” Hester said.

The kids applauded. Charlie smiled, wide and proud. “I’d like that.”

By five o’clock, the library had emptied out as people went home for dinner. Hester had entrusted Charlie with closing duties, and he was spending the last hour they were open going over the checklist. He pushed the cart through the twisting aisles, re-shelving books, enjoying the return to quiet and calm. It gave him a chance to think about what Hester had said. 

Hester wasn’t retiring anytime soon, and it would take the approval of the town council to give him the job of head librarian. Nothing was set in stone. But Charlie couldn’t help but imagine it. Working with books all day, going home to Briar at night. His salary would be modest, but it would be enough. They could get married, get an apartment, and start the rest of their lives. Could it be so simple?

Neither one of them had to join the army.

Somehow, he was even more torn.

There was a part of him that really wanted to join up. He missed the camaraderie of sports, the brotherhood. He missed pushing himself physically in pursuit of a goal. Besides, there was the money to consider. He wouldn’t get rich as a librarian, and his looming medical bills meant he had to consider the army’s offer of a cash bonus. He could serve, finish college, and maybe the library would still be waiting when he got back. 

But then there was Briar. She loved him, but did she love him enough to wait? To get over her fear of how he might change?

He was thinking of her as he pushed his cart into the medical section. Some young boys must have snuck over here to take a look at the anatomy books, because the titles on the shelf were askew. As he straightened them, a title caught his eye. 

Congenital Word Blindness
was little more than a pamphlet, published nearly forty years ago in 1917. Charlie flipped it open. He didn’t understand the medical jargon, the diagrams and charts, but the introduction described a phenomenon where patients saw letters and numbers reverse themselves on the page. 

He read on with a dawning understanding. Patients also had difficulty with reading comprehension and spelling. Though they may be intelligent, they struggled in traditional school environments, where their disability wasn’t properly recognized. 

Certainly, no one had recognized the symptoms in Briar.

He set the pamphlet on his cart so he could check it out to himself later. He wanted to read it through and show it to Briar. It sounded like the author was describing the same difficulties she had with reading. Maybe there was a treatment, or some exercises. At the very least, it would prove to her that she wasn’t alone.

He started back to the desk when he heard the heavy oak doors wheeze open. Lucy came in, looking flustered. Charlie smiled, eager to thank her for the book, but just as the door began to swing closed another person followed her in. 

It was John Carmichael, who Lucy had dated all through high school. They had been engaged until Lucy broke it off. “Please, Lucy, just listen to me for a second.”

“I’ve made my decision, John.” Lucy’s voice quavered, despite her firm words. It seemed neither of them had noticed Charlie standing just inside the stacks. Charlie froze there, unsure if he should give them privacy or let them know they weren’t alone. 

“You don’t understand, Lucy. I know you’re upset, but I swear, it will never happen again.”

“That’s right, it won’t.” Lucy sounded as if she was on the verge of tears. “I’m not going to give you another chance.”

“Come on. Can’t you see you’re embarrassing yourself? Our families want us to be together.”

“That’s not a good enough reason to overlook what you did.”

John grabbed Lucy’s shoulders and shouted, “Haven’t I apologized enough already?”

Charlie cleared his throat loudly. John dropped his hands. Charlie didn’t like the way Lucy shrank away from John, as if she was genuinely afraid of him. “We’re closing in twenty minutes,” he said, looking pointedly at John.

“Fine. We were just leaving, right, Lucy? Let’s find someplace we can talk.”

“No. I have to return my books. And I don’t want to talk to you.”

John stepped closer to Lucy with his brow lowered. 

Charlie abandoned the cart and stepped toward them. “I think you should go, John.”

“This is a public place,” John argued. “You can’t kick me out.”

“Try me.”

John scoffed and put a heavy hand on Lucy’s shoulder. “I’m not going to be pushed around by a cripple. Come on, Lucy, let’s go.”

She squealed in pain and tried to pull away from him. 

Suddenly a book flew off the shelf to his left. “Ow!” shouted John as it slammed into the side of his head. 

Another book came from the right. Then another. With a flutter of pages, the books pecked at John like a flock of angry birds. 

He tried to knock them away but they came right back. The books were steadily herding him out the door. “This isn’t over,” he yelled, then covered his head and escaped. 

“Okay, that was really cool,” Charlie said, turning to Lucy as the books thudded to the ground.

She was pale as a ghost. 

“I shouldn’t have done that,” she said, swaying on her feet.

“Don’t faint,” he said, hobbling toward her at top speed.

She blinked at him. “I won’t,” she said woozily, “but I should probably sit down.”

He offered his shoulder and helped her to a large wingback chair. For lack of anything better to do, he made her a cup of chamomile tea from the cart Hester kept behind the desk. 

When he offered it to her, she accepted it weakly. “I just wanted to get my books back before I got a fine.”

Charlie snorted. “Consider your fees waved.”

“I really liked
Wuthering Heights
, but it took so long to read,” she said apologetically. 

“I didn’t have that problem with the book you suggested to me,” Charlie said. “I finished it in no time. I read her first book too.”

“Really?” Lucy’s smile lit up her face.

“Really. I was wondering if you had any other recommendations.”

“Oh, yes! Let’s go look. I think you would like Daphne du Maurier,” she said, rising, only to sit back down with a thump.

“Why don’t you just sit for a while,” he said. He hesitated. It wasn’t like him to dig into someone else’s personal life, but the confrontation between Lucy and John worried him. He was beginning to feel a brotherly affection for her. “Do you want to tell me what that was all about?”

Lucy’s smile dropped away. “I wish he would just leave me alone.”

Something in her eyes reminded him of the way Briar talked about her father. “Did he hurt you?”

Lucy’s gaze flew to his so quickly he was certain he had hit the mark. But after a moment, she shook her head. “No. No, of course not. He’s just angry because I ended things. And he’s going to be even angrier now that I used my power on him.”

Charlie wasn’t sure he believed her. If Briar were here, she would know. 

Charlie was struck anew by how hard it must be to live with her powers. Briar was burdened with the knowledge of all those secrets, all those things people couldn’t bring themselves to say. 

He glanced at his watch and realized he needed to get a move on if he was going to get ready in time for their date. Still, Lucy was here, looking so vulnerable. Maybe he could boost her up a bit. “Your power is incredible. I had no idea you were so strong.”

To his surprise, she seemed to shrink further into herself. “I’m not. I don’t even know how I did that. I can barely do it most of the time. I don’t even like doing it. But he made me so mad.”

“Remind me not to get on your bad side,” Charlie said.

Lucy’s smile was weak, but it was there.

“You know,” Charlie said with a chuckle, “It didn’t even occur to me to use my power.”

“Really?” 

“Yeah,” he said with a chuckle. “Some superhero I am.”

If he joined the army, he wondered, would they expect him to use his powers as more than a scout or a lookout? Would they want him to attack people as a mountain lion? 

The very idea of spilling human blood with his claws or teeth made his stomach roil.

Lucy took a last sip of her tea. “I should be going.”

Charlie pushed to his feet. “Wait a few minutes while I close up. I’ll give you a ride home.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Lucy said, glancing nervously at the door. “I’m sure John is gone by now.”

Charlie shrugged, as if John’s violent behavior didn’t concern him in the least. “I was hoping you’d pick out some books for me. I’ve been wanting to ask you for days.”

As he expected, she lit up again. “I can do that,” she said, and dashed off to the romance section.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Briar

Briar checked her reflection in the window of the empty store beside the dress shop. Her white cotton tea dress was a simple shape, but it was made special by the colorful embroidered butterflies swarming up from the hem to the bodice. She had topped it with a delicate cap-sleeve cardigan that had tiny roses picked out of the stitching. 

It wasn’t vanity that had her scrutinizing her outfit. Briar was on a mission to get a job, and her clothes were her résume.

Briar had never tried to get a job at Mimi’s Dress Emporium. The bustling shop dressed half the ladies in Independence Falls, with both a ready-to-wear and commission department. Mimi always had several seamstresses working for her, and Briar knew she could match their quality of work. 

The problem was the paper. 

Mimi’s shop was awash in notes. She wrote everything down, from measurements to fitting dates, and the seamstresses used those notes to make dresses. But Briar had seen Mimi’s cramped handwriting and known there was no way she could puzzle out the instructions. 

When she was sewing for herself or Norine or Patrice, she used a system of color-coded tabs to keep her organized. But she could hardly ask Mimi to change her entire business to suit Briar’s needs. Besides, Briar had always said she bought her clothes in Denver, so she couldn’t show her talents without exposing her lies.

Now, she had no choice. If she didn’t start making money soon, she wouldn’t be able to pay Patrice rent at the end of the month. If she didn’t get a job today, she might as well start packing her things.

She took a bolstering breath, pushed her shoulders back, and walked into the shop. 

Mimi was behind the counter, taking notes as Annette Powell described a dress. “A very strong shoulder, I think. Possibly with epaulets.”

“In khaki?” asked Mimi.

“With red, white, and blue piping,” confirmed Annette. “When can it be ready? I’d like it by tomorrow, if possible. I’m throwing a little party to honor my June, who just became one of the very first women to become an active-duty soldier.”

“Already?” Briar blurted out. “Recruitment just started yesterday.”

“She’s very headstrong,” Annette said with a sigh. “I blame that Russian boy she insists on seeing. He’s signed up as well.”

Briar had a sinking feeling in her chest. Would it have made a difference if June had known Cavanaugh was lying about the rockslide? Or perhaps it was as Charlie said—he might have been telling a half-truth for simplicity’s sake. The whole thing made her feel so lost and confused.

Then there was the nagging thought that kept coming back to her. Cavanaugh had mentioned a signing bonus. If Briar came clean about her abilities, her financial problems could be eliminated.

But she wasn’t licked yet. She put on her best smile and said, “I’m sure you’ll look very festive at the party. Were you interested in a flared skirt, or more of an pencil skirt look?”

Annette warmed to the subject. “You know, I’m not certain. I wonder, is it possible to combine them? Could I do a narrow flat front with more of a poofy back?”

Mimi and Briar looked at each other, equally shocked by the idea. “It’s possible, I suppose,” Mimi said slowly.