Checked Out (A Ricki Rydell Mystery Book 1)

by Abby Matthews

  As she stood in line at the circulation desk, waiting to pick up the books she had on hold, she answered the usual questions: When was the next book coming out? In about six months, she’d said. Exciting, they’d said, can’t wait to read it. And then they went on their merry way. Quick and easy. She handled it well.

  She fished her library card out of her purse and passed it off to the library associate standing behind the counter. “Hey, Melanie. I’m here for my holds.”

  “I thought I saw your name earlier. Give me one second.” As Melanie scanned the bookshelf behind the circulation desk, Ricki noticed a flyer posted on the wall. In large block letters, it said, Volunteers Needed!

  Her mother would call this moment providential. She would say it was a hint from the universe telling her exactly the next step she needed to take in life. And because Ricki worshiped the ground her mother walked on, she always believed what she said. She did take it as a sign, no pun intended. And what perfect place for a writer to volunteer than at the library?

  Two

  “How do I go about becoming a volunteer?”

  “You would need to speak to our volunteer coordinator.” Melanie pushed a small stack of books toward Ricki. “She’s in her office right now, if you’re interested.”

  Without hesitation, Ricki nodded. “What can it hurt?”

  Melanie disappeared in the office behind the circulation desk as Ricki stepped out of the way of the line of people standing behind her. Within a few seconds, an older lady with short, gray hair came out, smiling, hand extended. “Victoria Sterling. Nice to meet you. My daughter is a big fan of your work. I heard you were interested in volunteering.”

  “I am, if you’ll have me.”

  Victoria jerked her head slightly as if taken aback by Ricki’s eagerness. In fact, she almost laughed. “Sorry. It just seems… I never imagined someone like you would want to… Never mind. I’m making a fool of myself.” She cleared her throat and composed herself. “We have a great many volunteer opportunities. I’ll give you an application. It’s a minor formality, nothing more than your name, address, and phone number, that sort of thing. After you finish filling it out, just bring it up to the circulation desk and we’ll talk more.”

  “That doesn’t sound too painful.”

  As she waited for Victoria to return with the application, Ricki hovered at the end of the circulation desk, watching people watching her. It seemed a simple enough solution to her boredom problem. She could certainly give the library a couple of hours a week, and it wouldn’t interfere with her writing one little bit. Plus, she could be around books all day. She could see when the latest mysteries came out and get her grubby little hands on them before anyone else did. Because she wrote romance, the advanced copies she received from her publisher were usually romance, not giving her many opportunities to read other genres.

  “All right. Here you are.” Victoria handed her an application and a clipboard to write on. “You can sit over in the reading area next to the coffee bar.”

  Ricki’s gaze followed to where Victoria pointed. Coffee? Yes, please. The smell of a freshly brewing pot made her mouth water and her stomach growl for an almond croissant. But she quickly remembered she was picking up lunch for the family and would have to wait before she could satisfy the beast in her belly. She sunk into an overstuffed chair covered with the most unfortunate looking brocade fabric and took a moment to people watch—a pastime she had neglected over the last few months while writing her latest book. Because it was summer, and school was out, the library was abuzz with the noise of kids laughing, parents reading picture books to their young ones, and older couples in search of audiobooks to take on the vacation road trip.

  She filled out the application quickly and went to meet Victoria at the desk but found her busy with a patron. It didn’t look like the conversation was going to wrap up any time soon, so instead of waiting, she sneaked off to the mystery section and scanned the shelves for some good old Agatha Christie. Titles like Death in the Clouds and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd made her skin tingle with an excitement she hadn’t felt in a while. When she thought about the books she had put on hold, His Burning Desire and Loving the Captive Heart compared to the ones she was about to check out, she had lost interest in them completely. As much as she hated to do it, she would have to return them. There was no point in taking them home with her when she had already lost interest in them.

  As she grew engrossed in the titles of all those wonderful mysteries, a woman jumped out of nowhere, startling her. She was tall with short, blonde hair and the most intense look in her eye. Ricki automatically assumed she was the one who bumped into her and felt the need to apologize. “I’m sorry, didn’t see you there.”

  A smile crept across the woman’s face as she clutched her hands together as if trying to stop herself from pouncing on Ricki. “You’re Ricki Rydell, aren’t you?” She let out a squeal. Was that allowed after the age of forty, which was what Ricki guessed her age to be. “I’ve read every single one of your books probably ten times over. My name is Jennifer Barnes, and I’m your number one fan.”

  Ricki’s fans were mostly gracious and kind and appreciative, and she loved them. But every once in a while, she’d run into someone like the person standing in front of her: a little too eager, a little too scary, a little too much. And since people scared her most of the time anyway, these interactions left her feeling even more vulnerable. She had worked for hours at a time, training herself on how to handle situations like this, but it didn’t matter how much she prepared, she was always caught off guard. Ricki took a deep breath. “It’s really nice to meet you, Jennifer. Thanks for your kind words. I appreciate your enthusiasm for my work.”

  “So what’s the next book? When is it coming out? Are Tyler and Liana going to get together finally? I have to know. I just have to know.” By this time, she was in Ricki’s face and wasn’t getting out of the way. The woman wouldn’t let her move anywhere even as she made small attempts to get around her. “I just want you to know I’ll be so disappointed if Tyler and Liana don’t get together. No pressure or anything.”

  Oh, of course, no pressure. “Well, you’ll just have to wait and see until the next book comes out. No spoilers.”

  “Can’t you even give me a little hint? I promise I won’t tell.”

  “You know I can’t do that.”

  Luckily for Ricki, Victoria tracked her down in the stacks and saw what was going on. “Jennifer, I was about to talk with Ricki.” Her voice was cheerful, but there was a hint of impatience to it. “She doesn’t have time, so if you’ll let her go, we can wrap this up and she can be on her way. All right?”

  Jennifer’s face turned sour, but she moved out of the way so Ricki could pass. “I’ll talk to you later,” the woman said, as a parting shot.

  It sounded more like a threat than an invitation, but Ricki shrugged it off. She followed Victoria through the maze of the back office, fascinated by the inner workings of a library that most people never got to see. There were desks piled high with books and papers. Carts of books stacked on both sides and on the bottom shelves. Workers staring intently at computer screens. She never got to work in an office before and always thought it would be a cool job to have.

  In Victoria’s office, Ricki slunk down in a more fortunate looking chair than the scratchy brocade one near the coffee bar and let out a sigh of relief.

  “Jennifer is enthusiastic, but she’s harmless,” Victoria said. Something in her tone made Ricki think she was being kind instead of being honest. “I apologize on her behalf.”

  “Do you mean she works here?” She must have asked the question a little too forcefully because the expression on Victoria’s face swiftly changed to concern.

  “She does. Is that a problem?”

  The last thing Ricki wanted was to come across as a special snowflake, demanding to have her needs catered to especially since she was only going to be at the library a few hours a week. She would have
to learn to be around other humans if she wanted to get over this boredom thing. “No problem, but, um, maybe I could work on certain days and not on others.” Subtle while still speaking up for herself. In a roundabout way.

  “You can pick the days you want to come in. They don’t have to be when she’s here.”

  Hallelujah, Victoria took the hint.

  “She only works part-time.” Ricki could have sworn she heard her say, Thank, God, under her breath, but she may have been projecting her own thoughts into her words. “In fact, you don’t have to see her at all if you don’t want to. She’s always off on Thursdays. Plus, some volunteer duties are more behind the scenes, if that’s what you prefer.”

  Ricki leaned forward in her chair. “That would be perfect.”

  “You can start off doing shelf reading or cleaning. We can teach you how to pull and trap holds, or you can work the circulation desk if you want. We’ll get you familiar with the software program we use in the library, but I can’t see that that would be much of a problem for someone like you. Does any of that sound appealing?”

  “The one that doesn’t require a lot of contact with other human beings.”

  Victoria smiled. “Minimal human interaction would be everything but the circulation desk. If you like, we can start you out doing shelf reading. That’s purely a solitary endeavor.”

  “What does that entail?”

  “You pick a section in the stacks and make sure everything is in the right order by call number and author name. It requires some concentration, but it’s not difficult once you get the hang of it.”

  That sounded like something she could do, so she agreed to do shelf reading as her first job as a volunteer.

  “And don’t worry about Jennifer. I’ll take care of that. So, when would you like to start?”

  Ricki checked the calendar on her phone and picked a day free of meetings and deadlines, remembering that Jennifer Barnes didn’t work on Thursdays. “How does Thursday morning at nine o’clock sound?”

  “Perfect. I’ll give you a tour of the library before I hand you over to one of the library associates who will teach you all about shelf reading. You can park at the back of the building where the rest of the employees park. Just ring the buzzer and someone will let you in. It’ll be good having you here.”

  After the meeting with Victoria, Ricki marched back out to the stacks to pick up the mysteries she had found interesting and headed toward the circulation desk once again.

  “You forgot your books,” Melanie said, pushing them toward her. “Oh, I see you found some more.”

  “Would it be too much trouble if I returned those and checked out these instead?”

  “No trouble at all.”

  As Melanie worked her circulation desk magic, Ricki scanned the body of the library. A twitch of excitement tickled her stomach at the thought of volunteering her time to something other than tapping away on her laptop. But it also may have been hunger. Whatever it was, she had a welcomed diversion and couldn’t wait for Thursday.

  “There you go. Is there anything else I can do for you today?”

  “I think that’s it, thanks.” She scooped the books up in her arms, turned around, and found herself face-to-face once again with Jennifer Barnes. Instead of allowing her to get in her way, she found the courage to push toward the door, unapologetically. Jennifer didn’t seem to take the hint and followed her, anyway.

  When Ricki first met her, Jennifer was wearing a blazer, covering her upper body. Without it this time, she noticed just how toned the woman’s arms were. What she wouldn’t give for shoulders like that. When she worked out, all she got was sore. It made her a bit envious. One thing she didn’t notice before was that Jennifer had five gold chains draped around her neck and large diamond earrings hanging from her earlobes. The gold draped against a colorful tank top and her tanned skin made everything pop like a sparkler on the Fourth of July.

  “Could I talk with you again?” Jennifer said, eagerly, almost desperate.

  “I’m running behind. I have to pick up lunch for my family. Maybe another time.” Not only did she have to pick up lunch for her family, she knew if she left Rumpus with her father too long she’d never get him back.

  Undeterred, Jennifer followed her out the door. “I apologize for being so rudely interrupted by Victoria. She’s known for that. Anyway, I’m a writer, too.”

  Uh-oh. She knew what was coming next. In about three seconds, she was going to ask Ricki to read something she had written. Ready? One. Two. Thr—

  “I wrote a book. Can you read it and tell me if it’s any good?”

  Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner. Ricki was about to reach for her standard reply of how she couldn’t read it because it was a conflict of interest, but she had a feeling she wasn’t going to get out of this. Call it a hunch. Or call it what it really was: Jennifer was pushy, and Ricki wasn’t good with pushy people. She tried anyway. “I’m sort of under a deadline right now so—”

  “It won’t take long. It’s only 300 pages. You can finish that in one evening. I know I do. I finish one of your books in about two hours.”

  There was a compliment in there somewhere. “No, honestly, I’m finishing up my latest book, and I’m under a deadline.”

  “Great, so you’ll do it, then.”

  “Well, I just said I couldn’t.”

  “Of course you’d like to help an aspiring writer. I’ll bring it in for you to read the next time you come in. K? Thanks, buh-bye.”

  And just like that, Jennifer Barnes successfully put Ricki Rydell in a difficult situation in less than a minute. That was a new record for her. She really needed to work on her assertiveness training. If this woman was what she had to put up with as a volunteer at the library, she could see this being a short-lived venture.

  Three

  Since Ricki had to volunteer on Thursday, she hunkered down on Tuesday and finished the line edits on her next book before handing the manuscript over to her editor. By six o’clock that evening, her eyes were on fire and her head felt like it was going to pop off her shoulders. Her best friend, Becca, ordered her to meet up at Asbury Park on Wednesday morning “to shake the dust off themselves” and rejoin the land of the living.

  Becca’s baby, Megan, was only two months old. As a new mom she was looking for any excuse to get out of the house. She and Ricki had a strange relationship. In high school they hated each other. Becca was the loud metal head, rebellious, and always in trouble. Ricki was the bookworm who blended into the background. Because of that, Ricki was usually Becca’s target when she was itching for someone to tease. She was never a bully to her, but she did pay an awful lot of attention to her in a negative way. After they graduated high school, and time had passed, Becca confessed that she only wanted to know what book Ricki was reading that week. She didn’t come from a family of readers, so she thought it was uncool to read even if she wanted to in the worst way. By senior year, she was sneaking books in study hall when she was supposed to be catching up on her homework or during detention when she was supposed to be doing whatever it was kids did in detention.

  By Wednesday, Ricki was restless and anxious to get away from anything that had to do with romance and relax a little. “Leash, Rumpus.” His ears pricked up when he heard the L word. There was no way she could leave her dog at home when she was going to the park for a walk. He would smell fresh air on her clothes and never forgive her. “Want to go for a ride?” He jumped off the couch, ran to pick up his leash by the door, and carried it around in his mouth, whimpering and shaking his entire body. He dropped the leash at her feet and faked a sneeze. “Do you promise to be a good boy at the park? If you are, I’ll stop and get you a hamburger.” He raced toward the door, dragging the leash across the floor, and waited for Ricki to hook him up.

  On the way to the park, she stopped at her favorite coffee shop, The Bean, and bought a cappuccino and an almond croissant for herself and a caramel latte for Becca.

  Afte
r a nice rain the night before, Wednesday turned out to be the perfect day for a walk in the park. Ricki needed this so badly, and she was lonely for her friend. Becca had been so busy with her baby, and she had been so busy with her book, that they hadn’t had any quality girl time and only kept in touch through phone calls and text messages.

  Becca was already at the park with stroller ready to go when Ricki parked her car. Rumpus carried on when he saw the park, or maybe it was because he saw Becca. It was hard to tell. He liked both Becca and the park almost as much as licking his backside. Both women let out a loud squeal when they saw each other. They hugged a while. Then they cried a while. And then they said how much they missed each other. People walking by gawked at the two of them carrying on.

  “I bought this for you,” Ricki said, handing Becca her latte.

  “Oh, caffeine, where have you been all my life? I’m so glad I pumped. I have enough milk to last the rest of the day so she won’t catch a buzz.”

  Ricki popped her head under the blanket covering the stroller. “And how is baby Megan today?” Rumpus jumped up to check things out for himself, but she pulled him away before he got his dirty paws on the clean baby blanket. “How is she sleeping?”

  “She’s getting there. Unfortunately, Mama isn’t sleeping.”

  “You know, if you ever need me to, I can babysit. Just give me enough bottles to feed her, and you can have some time to yourself.”

  She threw her arms around Ricki, careful not to spill her precious latte. “God, I love you. You would do that for me?”

  “I just turned in another book, so yeah. For a few hours at least. You look exhausted.”

  “Thanks for noticing.” She gave Ricki a pinch. “Let’s walk and talk. Tell me all your exciting news, and don’t spare any details. I’m bored out of my mind.”

  The two of them made their way to the sidewalk that led to the path that circled Asbury Park. It was situated right in the heart of Unionville, next to the library and the firehouse, about a quarter of a mile from Main Street. During the summer, the park was always a hive of activity—families having picnics, artists curled up under hundred-year-old oak trees sketching picturesque settings, dudes passing football, cheer squads enthusiastically shouting out motivating cheers, and runners checking their pulse. Ricki scanned all this activity with a bit of envy. For a brief second, she realized what she was missing out on by locking herself away in her house writing all day. Even introverts get lonely. A tug on the leash snapped Ricki out of her reverie.