Beauty and the Beastmaster - Linda Winstead Jones Page 0,22

Springs for months by that time, she still counted the librarian as her first real friend here. They’d bonded over books, at first. Reading in the evening after Mia went to sleep was a part of Gabi’s normal routine. Marnie had been thrilled to suggest books, when Gabi hadn’t been sure what she wanted. Romance, mysteries, classics. Anything but true crime or horror. She really should read at least one of Clint’s books, but she just couldn’t make herself do it. As far as she was concerned, there was enough horror in real life.

Marnie was much more outgoing than Gabi had ever been, and if she wanted you to be her friend you might as well give in because you would be. Sooner or later.

“Sure. Have a seat. We’re almost done here.”

Marnie sat in one of three chairs in the waiting area. Just past her first trimester, you could hardly tell she was pregnant. The way she rested her hand on her very slightly distended stomach told it all, though.

“How’s the morning sickness?” Susan asked as Gabi spun her around to face the librarian.

“Better.” Marnie frowned. “I never knew being pregnant could change you so much.”

Gabi smiled. “If you think pregnancy changes you, wait until the baby is born.” Becoming a mother had certainly changed her.

“So I hear.”

“It’ll be nice to have a few babies in town,” Susan said. “We’ve had a bit of a drought in that department, but we seem to be making up for it. I never had children of my own, but I do love my nieces and nephews. They’re almost grown, now.”

Like so many Springers, they’d all moved away. Or so Susan had told her. People did tend to talk while they were getting their hair cut, colored, and curled. Kind of like they’d talk to a bartender.

Harry Milhouse was Mystic Springs’ only bartender. There’s no way Gabi would tell that man her secrets or innermost thoughts. What a grump.

Susan paid, said goodbye and waved, and Marnie took her place in the chair. Gabi looked at Marnie’s dark, wavy hair, ruffled it with her fingers, and said, “I just cut your hair two weeks ago and it looks great. Why do you want a trim?”

Marnie pursed her lips, then said, “Okay, I don’t really need a haircut. I just wanted to talk and asking for a cut was my excuse.”

“You don’t need an excuse to talk to me,” Gabi said.

She spun Marnie around, offered a hand, and together they moved back to the chairs intended for waiting customers. The area was rarely used, but Gabi wanted it to be as nice as possible. She didn’t want to spend her money on new chairs, but she had repaired a too-short table leg. One day she’d repaint it and replace the old magazines. She’d added an artificial flower arrangement, which was like putting lipstick on a pig, as well as a couple of pillows for the chairs. The pillows didn’t help much. They added a splash of color, but didn’t make the chairs any more comfortable.

One day, if she had her own business, she’d make it as welcoming and comfy as possible. Here, in a place she could never call her own, she did the best she could.

“I could use a break,” Gabi said as she sat. “Talk away.”

Marnie Maxwell was never at a loss for words. What followed was a fast, wild accounting of her pregnancy to this point, including morning sickness that sometimes lasted well past the morning, occasional cravings for large servings of meat, and a new and weird urge to go hiking in the woods that surrounded her home. Even late at night, or in the pre-dawn hours.

None of that sounded too alarming to Gabi. She’d craved ice cream and french fries. Together. She’d slept twice as much as she ever had before. She hadn’t been compelled to walk in the woods, but maybe in this case that was nothing more than a need for fresh air. Oxygen. The smell of the forest.

Marnie looked as if she had something else to say. She opened her mouth, closed it, pursed her lips and then leaned back in the chair. “I hear you’re going out with Silas tonight.”

“Does everyone in town know?” Gabi asked as she sat straight up in her chair.

“Pretty much,” Marnie said. Then she waggled her eyebrows. “When I set y’all up before, I knew you two would be right for each other. I’m not sure why y’all waited so long for