Fay’s and then turned back. Dusty wasn’t the only one who needed the outhouse. She visited the one behind the library. As she headed for the road, she glanced through the library window at the dark space. Emmett planned to unload the crates this evening. If the lamps were lit, it would simplify things for him. She hadn’t been able to help lift those crates into the back, but she could certainly help by lighting the lamps.
The library door was closed, but it wouldn’t be locked. When Emmett had moved in, he’d removed the string-and-crossbar system and added a doorknob, but the latch kit lacked a locking mechanism. A little hook and latch on the inside secured the door when he closed himself in for the night, but otherwise the building remained accessible to anyone who came along.
Addie opened the door and stepped over the threshold. She blinked rapidly, willing her eyes to adjust so she could find her way to the table, where a lamp and box of matches always waited on the corner. She took a hesitant step in the direction of the table, and her foot connected with something. She stopped and squinted at the floor. A book lay open and facedown in front of her. She blew out a little huff of aggravation. Such a careless thing to do. Addie bent over to pick it up and drew in a horrified gasp. The entire floor was littered with books.
She abruptly straightened and stared at the mess. A groan grew in her chest and emerged as a whimper. “Oh, Bettina…Why would you do such a thing?” But she already knew why. Retaliation. Addie shouldn’t have gone to Lynch with Emmett.
Boone’s Hollow
Emmett
LAMPLIGHT GLOWED BEHIND THE LIBRARY windows. He hadn’t lit those lamps, but he could reason who had. A feeling he couldn’t define swooped through him, and his feet sped up without conscious thought. Kermit Gilliam, Ned Belcher, and Preacher Darnell double-stepped to keep up, Gilliam grunting under his breath.
Emmett gave the wagon’s side a light slap on his way to the library’s stoop. “Gimme a minute, fellows, to decide where to stack these crates in here, and then I’ll—”
Addie blocked the doorway. She wrung her hands, and her eyes were sheeny with unshed tears. Another feeling captured him, but this one he recognized. Concern. For her.
“What’s the matter?”
She glanced beyond him to the men, then settled her watery gaze on him. “I came in to light the lamps for you, and I…I found…” Her lower lip sucked in, and she took a slight step to the side.
Emmett peered in, and his heart seemed to fire into his throat. He crossed the threshold, placing his feet in the patches of floor between scattered books and magazines. Whoever’d been in earlier hadn’t been so careful. Boot prints marred the covers of several books. Some had lost their covers altogether, and magazine pages littered the floor like the leftovers from a ticker tape parade. A stone seemed to drop into his belly. Dozens of questions cluttered his mind, and he didn’t know which to ask first.
“I’m so sorry, Emmett. It’s all my fault. If I’d stayed at Nanny Fay’s today and helped her make blueberry jam, none of this would have happened.”
He paused and looked over his shoulder at Addie, who remained near the doorway, hugging herself. “What are you talking about?”
She blinked several times, and one tear let loose and rolled down her pale cheek. “Bettina. She thought I was trying to steal her beau, so—”
“I already told you I’m not her beau.” The harshness in his tone startled him.
Her eyebrows dipped together. “I know, and you know. But I don’t think she knows.”
The preacher stuck his head in. “Hey, Emmett, I’d like to—” His eyes widened, and he came all the way in. “What happened in here?”
Addie scurried out. Emmett wanted to go after her, to assure her she wasn’t to blame. But he couldn’t. His legs had turned to concrete and refused to move. Some director he’d turned out to be. Sending out a rider who didn’t deliver a single book in ten days of trying. Failing at maintaining peace among the employees. Now allowing the destruction of government-owned materials. He had no business being in charge of anything.
Emmett bent over and picked up a book. The rumpled pages hung by threads. He tucked them back into the binding. “Reckon a storm blew through.” He turned his gaze to the preacher. “It’ll take me a