Death in the Stacks

by Jenn McKinlay

  Whatever he’d been about to say was cut off as Angie said, “The point? It’s Desk Set. Hepburn and Tracy? Takes place in a library?”

  “‘I don’t smoke, I only drink champagne when I’m lucky enough to get it, my hair is naturally natural, I live alone . . . and so do you,’” Mel said.

  “‘How do you know that?’” Tate continued the dialogue.

  “‘Because you’re wearing one brown sock and one black sock.’” Lindsey finished the movie quote.

  The group of cupcake bakers turned to look at her, and Lindsey smiled. “Big fan of that movie.”

  “Lindsey Norris, library director, these are the owners of Fairy Tale Cupcakes,” Willow said.

  “That’s 398.2,” Lindsey said as she shook hands with each of them in turn. “I like it.”

  The bakers looked confused, except for the young man. He nodded, and his shaggy hair parted to reveal a pair of pretty eyes. “Dewey Decimal number for fairy tales. Nice.”

  The group all turned to look at him with expressions that ranged from impressed to disbelieving.

  “Oz, how did you know that?” Angie asked.

  “What?” he asked. “You guys don’t know your Dewey Decimal numbers? That’s just sad.”

  “That’s not it, bro,” Marty said. His bushy eyebrows lowered. “I mean, I could understand if you knew 641.8, you know, baking cupcakes? But fairy tales?”

  A slow flush crept up into the young man’s face, and he said, “Lupe likes the happily-ever-afters.”

  “Ah, his girlfriend schooled him,” Tate said. He shared an understanding look with Joe.

  “That explains it,” Joe agreed. He looped an arm around Mel’s waist and pulled her close. “It’s amazing the things a guy will do for his gal.”

  They shared a look, and Lindsey noticed the sparkly rock on Mel’s finger. Huh. It looked like weddings were in the air.

  “If you’ll come with me, I’ll show you to your table,” she said. The group followed her to table four, right next to the hat-shop people. Lindsey suspected the two groups would likely become fast friends.

  She passed Carrie, who was escorting Sully’s parents to the table they were sharing with some neighbors. Sully had grown up on Bell Island and his parents still lived there. Lindsey quickly exchanged greetings with his parents and noted that Mr. Sullivan held out Mrs. Sullivan’s chair for her, and Lindsey realized it was small wonder Sully was such a considerate man. He’d had a terrific role model.

  As she left them, she scanned the room and noted that most of the tables had filled up. It looked like they’d be starting the event any moment. She tried to ignore the butterflies in her belly that threatened to flutter off with her powers of speech. She could do this. She’d done it before, several times now. No big deal. Really.

  The feel of a malevolent gaze on her back caused Lindsey to turn around, and she found Olive Boyle staring at her as if hoping she’d trip, walk into a wall or fall into a black hole and never return. When she met Olive’s glare with a hard stare of her own, Olive smirked as if she knew exactly how much Lindsey hated public speaking and she was going to enjoy every moment of her suffering.

  A sense of foreboding washed over Lindsey, making her heart race and her palms sweat. She couldn’t help feeling that something bad was going to happen. She tried to tell herself that she always felt that way before getting up in front of an audience and that nothing bad ever did actually happen. It was cold comfort.

  She began to obsess about Olive’s smirk. Was there something wrong already? Did she have lipstick on her teeth? Visible sweat stains? What if she said “um” too much? Truly, it was a nightmare. Lindsey tried to shake the dark feelings off, but this felt different. It felt dangerous, and she didn’t know what to do about it.

  6

  “Oh my God,” a woman cried as Robbie took the stage to start the festivities. “That’s Robbie Vine, yeah?”

  Lindsey turned her head to see Fee, one of the hat-shop girls, staring wide-eyed at Robbie as he took the stage to assume his master of ceremony duties. The rest of the group at the table looked equally gobsmacked, especially Nick, the man in the purple velvet.

  “I’d read in the Daily Mail that he was living in Connecticut, but I had no idea he was living here. He’s here! It’s really him! How do I look? Is my tie crooked? What about my hair—is it holding up? Oh, why didn’t I wear my red satin suit? Mrs. Parker, why didn’t you tell me he was going to be here?” Nick cast her a fretful look.

  Nick’s partner, Andre, shook his head. He looked like he was trying not to laugh.

  “Oh brother,” Sully said. “Having his own countrymen fawn over him is going to pump the ham’s humongous ego up into the stratosphere.”

  “Maybe,” Lindsey said. “But don’t forget, he has Emma now. She can be very grounding.”

  They both glanced over to where the police chief sat. She was at the same table as Mayor Hensen and several other department heads for the town. The head of facilities leaned over to say something to her, but Emma was so focused on Robbie, she didn’t hear him.

  “Or not,” Sully said. His tone was dry, and Lindsey grinned at him.

  “And now I’d like to bring up the lady of the hour, Lindsey Norris,” Robbie announced from the stage.

  “What?” Lindsey’s head snapped up. She hadn’t been paying attention. She wasn’t ready! She felt as if her entire circulatory system had morphed into Splash Mountain and her blood was sloshing all over her insides, making her feel faint.

  “Hey,” Sully said, cupping her chin and holding her gaze with his steady blue one. “Just talk to me. You’ve got this.”

  Lindsey blew out a breath and nodded. She stood on legs that had the consistency of overcooked noodles and made her way to the stage. She feared she’d trip and pulled her skirt out of the way to navigate the three steps up onto the dais. Charlie and his band were hanging out toward the back, and he nodded at her in encouragement as she approached the podium.

  She put her hand on her stomach. There was no doubt about it. She was going to throw up. She’d probably make the front page of the weekly Briar Creek Gazette. She could see the headline now: Local Librarian Blows Chunks at Fund-Raiser!

  “There now, love, you can do this,” Robbie said softly so that the mic didn’t pick up his voice. “Just picture them all naked.”

  She frowned at him. “Not helping.”

  He grinned. “Really? The mental picture of me naked does nothing for you?”

  Lindsey laughed, which she suspected was exactly what he was going for. She drew in a deep breath and stepped up to the mic.

  “Good evening, everyone,” she said. “Welcome to the library’s annual Dinner in the Stacks.”

  Her voice wobbled with nerves, so she cleared her throat and then scanned the crowd until she found Sully. He winked at her and gave her a slow smile that curved his lips up and crinkled the corners of his eyes. Suddenly, nothing seemed so terrifying.

  “I’m delighted to say we have guests in attendance from as far away as Arizona and Great Britain. Who knew the love of books could cross continents and oceans? We did.”

  Sully nodded, letting her know she was doing just fine. She felt a genuine smile on her lips as she continued speaking about the library, the programs and equipment that the money from the dinner would provide, as well as some of the library’s larger achievements over the past year, from the number of attendees at the story times, to the teens’ makerspace creations, the programs for seniors offering help with medical paperwork, and so forth. She tried to keep it short but heartfelt and was relieved that she didn’t hear any snoring at the end of it.

  The applause when she finished seemed genuine and not just polite, so Lindsey took it as a win and turned the podium back over to Robbie.

  “Well done, ducks,” he smiled at her. “You may have a place onstage as yet.”<
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  “No, thank you,” she said.

  Arriving back at her seat, she allowed herself to melt into Sully’s side for comfort, and he placed a swift kiss on her head.

  “You were terrific,” he said. “The library couldn’t ask for a better advocate.”

  “Thanks,” she said. “Focusing on you made all the difference.”

  Robbie entertained the crowd for a few more minutes and then dinner was served. Ian and Mary had outdone themselves with their signature clam chowder and a variety of seafood dishes, from bacon-wrapped scallops to stuffed cod. Their volunteer waitstaff moved quickly and efficiently through the room serving all of the tables, making Olive’s observation that they were too pedestrian for her completely ridiculous.

  The knot of nerves that had tied up Lindsey’s insides began to loosen. Charlie and his band were playing soft background music. The sound of conversation, the clink of silver on plates and laughter swelled around the room. She thought they just might get out of this event unscathed.

  A murmur in the room was the first indication that something wasn’t right. Lindsey glanced at the tables to see what was happening. Out of the corner of her eye, she tracked motion and turned to see Olive Boyle moving toward the dais. Without breaking stride, Olive climbed the steps and approached the podium.

  She glanced over her shoulder at Charlie and his band and made a slashing motion across her throat. They did a quick halt to the music, which felt abrupt and awkward. She then tapped the mic, making it squeal and everyone cringe. This did not deter Olive in the slightest.

  “Good evening, everyone.” Her voice boomed into the mic. The room fell quiet as the guests turned to see what was happening. “Sorry to interrupt your dinners, but as I am the president of the library board, I felt it was important for me to address you, even though I was not formally invited to do so.”

  The rebuke was clear, and Lindsey glanced across the table at Carrie Rushton, whose eyebrows had risen up to her hairline.

  “Now I want to extend my deepest thanks to our director, Lindsey, for all of her . . . er . . . hard work. It really is a remarkable achievement for her to be here working in our public library when she has absolutely no background in serving the public.” Olive’s gaze found Lindsey in the crowd. While her expression was benevolent, Lindsey could see the calculating glimmer in her eyes. “Isn’t that right, Lindsey? You were an academic librarian, weren’t you?”

  It was true; her specialty had been rare books. Feeling cornered and not liking it one bit, Lindsey gave her a vague nod. Olive seemed to take this as a victory.

  “What is that miserable cow up to?” Beth hissed from across the table. She looked like she was about to get up and storm the stage, but Aidan had his arm about her, keeping her in her chair, for which Lindsey was grateful. If they could just get out of this without a scene, she’d be happy to take the hit for the team.

  “Of course, when you flee your career because you discover your fiancé in bed with one of his students, well, rash decisions do happen, like taking a job you’re not qualified for,” Olive continued. She gave a feigned laugh, and the only ones who joined her were her mean-girl friends.

  Lindsey felt a hot flush stain her face. It was common knowledge that she had come to Briar Creek on the heels of being laid off, due to budget cuts, and a bad breakup. She felt her heart pound in her chest, and angry tears began to well up in her eyes, not from sadness but from impotent rage. Olive was trying to humiliate her, but Lindsey would be damned if she’d let her. She blinked and forced the tears back and her chin up.

  The blanket of awkward hanging over the room was positively suffocating. The dinner guests were dead quiet, and Lindsey could feel people looking from her embarrassed face to Olive’s triumphant one in confusion and dismay. This was clearly payback for Lindsey’s insistence that Olive leave her staff alone. Fine. She made eye contact with Olive and gave her a challenging look. Bring it.

  “Is that all you did? Get a new job after a man did you wrong?” a voice piped up from the crowd. “Oh, sweetie, you’re not even in the big leagues.”

  Lindsey turned her head to find Scarlett Parker addressing her from two tables over.

  “I had to flee the country when I found out my boyfriend was cheating on me with the wife he said he’d left! I threw his anniversary cake at him, and the incident was filmed and went viral,” she said. Her entire table was laughing as she pantomimed throwing a cake like a pitcher on the mound. “I’m well known as the party crasher. Maybe you’ve heard of me?”

  A ripple of whispers spread throughout the room. Of course everyone knew who she was. Lindsey had watched the video herself when she was mad at her ex, like, fifty times. It was very cathartic. Someone in the room began to clap, and soon the crowd joined in. Scarlett rose from her seat and gave a deep curtsy.

  Olive, realizing she had lost the room, shouted into the microphone, “Of course, with no supervisory experience, it was only to be expected that Ms. Norris would make rather poor hiring choices.”

  “Is this a roast?” Robbie asked in bewilderment. His stage voice carried to every corner of the room. “It’s not on my program as such, plus, I thought they were supposed to be funny.”

  Olive glared at him, and he raised his hands in surrender.

  “These unfortunate hires have brought outsiders into our community,” Olive said. “But that’s why we have a library board to protect the residents of Briar Creek.”

  Uh-oh. Lindsey glanced over at Paula. She looked as if all of the blood had drained from her face. Hannah leaned over and took her hand. Lindsey wanted to assure her that it would be okay, but she had no idea where Olive was going with this and she feared the worst.

  “For example, we have a town employee with no experience working in a library, who doesn’t even look the part of a mild-mannered librarian.” Olive paused as if she was planning a big reveal.

  Sully patted Lindsey’s hand and then slipped out of his seat. He stealthily worked his way toward the front of the room. Lindsey was half afraid he was going to bodily haul the woman offstage and half afraid he wasn’t.

  “They make the most wonderful employees, don’t they?” another voice interrupted Olive.

  This time it was Mel, the cupcake baker from Arizona. She gestured at the two men seated at her table, Marty and Oz, who worked in her bakery.

  “My best employees had little to no experience and look nothing like cupcake bakers.” She lifted her glass of wine in Lindsey’s direction. “Way to think out of the box. Clearly, this community is lucky to have you.”

  To Lindsey’s bemusement, the rest of the room lifted their glasses to her as well. She gave a small, nervous smile and glanced back at the stage.

  Two bright spots of color were blazing on Olive’s cheeks, and it was clear she was about to lose her composure completely.

  “No, no, no,” she shouted. She glared at Lindsey and then at Scarlett and Mel as if furious with them for ruining her moment. “I’m the president of the library board. Me. I am the one who decides who is hired and who is fired and how things—”

  Pop! The sound cut out on Olive’s microphone. Sully was standing beside the dais with a power cord dangling from his grip. He nodded at Charlie, and the band kicked in much louder than they had been all night.

  The audience, uncertain of where Olive had been going with her speech, began to applaud as if she’d gracefully ended her rambling talk instead of being unplugged mid-tantrum.

  Olive whipped around and glared at Sully, who twirled the plug in his hand and glared right back.

  “If you don’t kiss that man when he gets back to this table, I will,” Ms. Cole said.

  This startled a laugh out of everyone, including Ms. Cole’s boyfriend, Milton, and the tension that had been ratcheting up eased. Olive had been effectively shut down, and it was clear to Lindsey that she had to get that toxic w
oman removed from the library board—the sooner the better.

  “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go have a chat with our library board president,” she said.

  Lindsey put her napkin on the table and strode across the room to where Olive was stepping off the dais, looking furious.

  Lindsey did not care. She grabbed Olive by the elbow and half carried, half dragged her to the side of the room.

  “Let me go or I’ll file an assault charge,” Olive spat.

  “Just helping you when you appeared to trip,” Lindsey said. “Because I’m nice like that.”

  Olive yanked her arm out of Lindsey’s grip and turned to face her.

  “What do you want?”

  “An explanation,” Lindsey said. “What was that?”

  “That was me, looking out for this library and this community,” Olive said. Her black beaded dress sparkled under the lantern light, and Lindsey was momentarily dazzled.

  “From me?” Lindsey asked. “What did I ever do to you that you feel the need to come after me and my staff in the guise of a concerned board member? I’ve been here for over two years, and you never came into the library, not once, until you got yourself appointed to the board. What gives, Olive?”

  “I don’t like you,” Olive said. “You bicycle through town with your long, flowing blond hair, and everyone talks about how wonderful you are. Well, I know better. I know your kind. You’re just a little princess, letting everyone think you’re so nice and sweet when you’re really just a husband-stealing tart!”

  Lindsey stared at her and blinked. Then very carefully, she said, “I’ve never stolen anyone’s husband. Ever.”

  Olive waved a dismissive hand. “Doesn’t matter. That’s your type.”

  Lindsey clasped her hands to keep herself from strangling Olive. “That’s no excuse to go after my staff.”

  “Actually, it is. Because if I can prove that you hired someone who is potentially dangerous, then I can get rid of you, too.”