her bag to act as a bookmark. Then she closed the book, cradling it under one arm.
She climbed the stairs two steps at a time, her boots making a clomping sound that echoed with each step. Celestine sat behind her desk licking stamps and placing them on envelopes when Brenna approached.
“It’s silly,” Celestine started, “I’m supposed to mail out these letters telling people their books are overdue when most of their houses are only a five-minute walk from here!”
She moaned as she licked a stamp and placed it onto an envelope addressed to Jeff Cod. “Oh, Jeff has an overdue book? Overdue for two months now!” Celestine looked disgusted.
“May I ask what he likes to read?”
“Sure. Let me see.” Celestine moved the mouse on the computer and clacked away on the keyboard. “Here we are. He hired a book on American Muscle cars.”
“Hmm. I haven’t seen any cars parked at the motel.”
“He had a mint condition 1956 Chevy once, nice car. Had to sell it when his business started to go down the tubes. Shame, he’s a nice man.” Celestine shook her head.
“How much does he owe for the book?”
“Ten dollars.”
“I’ll pay it for him. I’ll bring the book to the Herbery tonight if I can find it.”
“That’s nice of you.”
“Can I take this book with me?” Brenna showed Celestine the book from the basement that had mysteriously fallen open on a page she was looking for.
“Sure, just don’t tell anyone. We’re not even supposed to let people look down there.”
“No problem. Thanks so much, Celestine.” Brenna paid for Jeff’s overdue book and walked out the library’s front door. She sighed. Still raining. Placing the book into her bag and zipping it up to stop it from getting wet, she started to rush down the stone steps shielding her face with her hand and ran right into the chest of a tall man. Feeling her cheeks grow hot, she raised her eyes beginning to apologize and stopped. The man’s tanned skin and long raven black hair shone in the rain. His dark eyes peered into hers. “You,” Brenna sputtered, “Ronan?”
“Brenna.”
Larger than life, the man from her dreams (man of her dreams too?) stood before her, rain running off his broad shoulders in rivulets. She found it hard to talk.
“Come to dinner with me tomorrow night. I will explain everything.” Ronan’s voice drowned out the heavy rain that plastered her now saturated hair to her face. Something inside of her yelled out YES to this handsome yet mysterious stranger, but she didn’t want to seem too eager.
“How do I know I can trust you? That thing in the woods is a shifter.” Brenna tried hard to stand still but couldn’t help her legs from wobbling.
“I’m here to help you. Tomorrow you’ll understand.” Ronan turned and headed down the street. It was only then she noticed the wolf at his side.
“Wait!” Brenna called out to him, “where will I meet you?”
“I’ll pick you up at eight.” Ronan calmly walked away and turned a corner, disappearing from her sight, the wolf keeping pace with him.
Brenna stood for a few minutes still seeing Ronan’s intense eyes staring at her. She shook her head, trying to drown out the deluge of thoughts. Was Ronan telling the truth? Could she really trust him? How come she felt so drawn to him? This final thought was the one playing most heavily on her mind as she finally dropped behind the wheel of her car and drove through the pouring rain back to the hotel.
It was four o’clock when she arrived at the hotel carrying two brown paper bags full of Indian food. She didn’t bother using the umbrella for the walk to her hotel room as her hair and clothes were already soaked through, clinging to her skin. She couldn’t wait to get into a hot shower and a change of clothes.
The staircase leading to her room creaked as she climbed the steps, her soaked trousers clinging to her thighs. When she reached her room, her legs were numb from the cold. She thrust the key into the lock, entered the room and gasped. Jeff had tidied the whole place. Her clothes that had been strewn around the room were neatly folded on top of her suitcase, wet towels were hanging to dry above the porcelain bathtub, the bed was made and the carpet was freshly vacuumed. She slid off her boots and pushed them under the bed finding her other two pairs of shoes neatly sitting