Vicky was nowhere to be found when I got back downstairs.
I still wasn’t exactly sure what my job was. Not a single patron had stepped foot into the library all day, and I was given absolutely no direction. Vicky told me to take a few days to acclimate myself and then disappeared before we went to lunch. I was going to assume acclimating involved exploring.
Normally I would have spent a few hours getting used to the catalog system. Since there was nothing online, that meant it was time to check out the card catalog. They really had a card catalog. At first I assumed it was a joke. I found a handful of computer terminals in the teen section, but those were just for internet. There was nothing else there. It didn’t even automatically go to a library website. It went straight to a search engine.
I found the card catalog easily enough and opened the first few drawers. They were just the way they were in old movies, stocked full of little manila colored cards. I picked up one, marveling at the perfect penmanship. They didn’t even type them on a type writer? I imagined all the hours someone spent filling these cabinets. There were four of them all in a row each that specified the letters they included. Then there was a fifth on the end with no label. I tried to pull it open. It didn’t budge. Locked? Why would they lock a card catalog? As there was no one around to ask, I headed back to the break room. Grabbing a cup of coffee was part of the acclimation process too.
Six
Pierce
I felt strange walking around Mattie’s apartment when she wasn’t there. She didn’t have much of anything out, which was impressive considering she’d just moved in, but I felt like I was violating her privacy a bit anyway, especially when I signed into her laptop to set up the network. She’d given me permission to come in, but I would have preferred to have run into her on the way up. She must have been in the break room or in the stacks somewhere when I came through the library.
I hadn’t meant to do it. I’d thought it was Delpha’s computer, which would have been much less of an issue. Delpha and I knew each other so well she wouldn’t have cared in the slightest. Of all the kids I went to high school with, Delpha was one of the easiest to understand. She didn’t hide her true intentions, even if you sometimes wished she would.
The laptop had been sitting on the kitchen counter, and I’d grabbed it without really thinking. I should have stopped when I saw the background with a picture of a waterfall. Nature pictures weren’t really Delpha’s style, but that didn’t register at the time. Instead I went right into settings, and then the face time call came in. I didn’t accept it. I wasn’t that dumb, but I did see who it was from. A professor or something. A male professor who didn’t look like a professor. He looked young. The shapeshifter in me roared. My strange thought about my mom’s plans came back to me. Why was I so protective of a girl I barely knew? Because a professor shouldn’t take advantage of his student. That was it. It had nothing to do with the way she made me feel or the things I wanted to do with her. Nothing at all.
I finished setting things up on the computer, but I accidentally—or maybe not so accidentally- clicked on the new text message notification. Also from professor something or other. Please call me back. We need to talk. I know I screwed up.
Before I knew what I was doing, I deleted the message. Damn. Now I really was in trouble. I closed the computer. I knew I was going to have to fess up, and somehow I didn’t think Mattie was going to like hearing it.
But who didn’t password protect a computer when they had their phone connected? You had to be crazy. Or lazy. I wasn’t sure which one of those things she was.
She’d left the curtains open in the back of the apartment, and I looked out at my town. I knew every inch of it and almost every person. And that meant almost everyone knew me. The good, the bad, and the worst. Maybe that’s why Mattie appealed to me. She didn’t know me. I was sure that was it. Once the novelty wore off my thoughts would return to where they’d been before—on survival. I watched a few seagulls fly out over the ocean. No matter how small Willow Harbor was, nothing could beat living on the water.
I turned around at the sound of the door opening and let out a sigh of relief when Delpha walked in. “Oh, it’s just you.”
“Just me, huh?” She set down a couple of boxes.
“You have more of those to bring in?”
“No.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Mattie and I have moved everything already, no thanks to you.”
“You made Mattie do it?” I groaned.
“You don’t mind me doing it, but Mattie helping upsets you?” Delpha put a hand on her hip.
“She’s been here less than twenty-four hours, and you are already pressing her into manual labor?”
“Oh yes, I’m sure that’s why you are concerned.” Delpha slumped down in a kitchen chair.
“How did Cad take the news?”
She looked down.
“Delpha.” I knew what that meant.
“What? You think you are the only one who struggles to admit their feelings?”
“You are moving out on your boyfriend. That goes beyond admitting feelings.” I sat down in the chair across from her. Given my screw up with the laptop I was feeling slightly more understanding.
She shrugged. “It’s life.”
“It doesn’t have to be.”
“Yes, it does. You know it does.”
I looked at her, noticing worry lines on her face for the first time. “You can change things. Look at me, I’m changing things for myself.”
“No.” She rested her head on her folded hands. “You are giving up. That’s different.”
“I’m not giving up.”
“You have another month.”
“Technically, yes.” But that didn’t mean anything.
“Is our Wi-Fi set up?” She changed the subject.
“Yes.” I normally would have been thrilled with pushing the subject off of my upcoming birthday and hence my failings, but that meant admitting to the text message debacle.
“What?” Delpha picked up her head. “What did you do?”
“I kind of did something stupid.”
“You’ve done many stupid things before. What did you do this time specifically?” She started to braid a small section of her hair.
“I may have deleted a text message on Mattie’s computer. It was a personal message.”
“You were on Mattie’s computer?” Delpha’s eyes widened.
“I thought it was yours.”
“Isn’t it password protected?”
“No. It should have been.” If she’d had a password I wouldn’t be in this mess. Ok, that was low. I couldn’t blame her for my stupidity.
“Wait, back up a minute. You got on her computer because you thought it was mine?”
“I needed to test a few things for the WI-FI, and I knew you wouldn’t care if I did.”
“Why wouldn’t I care? Is my privacy un-important? That seems to be the theme of the day.” She sighed.
“I touch a nerve?”
Delpha sighed. “I’m going to have to tell her.”
“Tell her what?” Delpha had more than a handful of things she might not want a human to know.
“About us. She needs to be careful not to trust the wrong people.”
“She shouldn’t trust anyone in this town.” Not even us, and it was in her best interest to leave as soon as she could—even if I didn’t want her to. Not to mention, my mom needed her.
“Exactly.”
“We can protect her. It will be easier for her if she doesn’t know. I’d rather not have her run away screaming yet.”
“Oh yeah?” Delpha leaned on her elbow. “Want to keep her here for any particular reason?”
“Because my mom really wanted that position filled.”
“Uh uh. You both need to get better at making up excuses.”
“Both of us?” I asked as evenly as possible.
Delpha laughed. “Yup. Thanks for proving my point.”
“She’s gorgeous. It’s not a crime to think so.”
“No one said anything about a crime—although using her until you find your true mate would be pretty mean. You are almost twenty-five after all.”
“Who said anything about using her? And I realize how old I am. Didn’t we just have the birthday discussion? I’m not finding my mate.”
“So you are okay with ending the true shapeshifter line in your family?”
“You make it sound like it’s a choice, like going out to buy a new car.”
“You’ll never truly be happy with anyone else.” She returned to her braiding.
“Are you trying to make me more miserable?” I didn’t need anyone to help me with that.
“No, I’m reminding you that you still have time.”
“My mother reminds me of that enough.”
“If you don’t care, then why are you still here?”
“Here as in this apartment?” I looked out the window again. The sun was already on it’s way down, creating a gorgeous sunset.
“Don’t play stupid, you know exactly what I mean. Why haven’t you left Willow Harbor?”
“Why can’t you commit to Cad?”
“Not the same thing.” She stood up.
“Maybe not exactly, but both are questions we don’t want to answer.”
“I should probably actually work today.”
“You think?” I teased.
“Are you going to tell her?”
“Tell her what?”
Delpha sighed. “About the text message.”
“I have to.” Unfortunately.
“No you don’t…”
“Yes I do. Plus there was a face time message from the same guy.”
“Guy?” Delpha sat back down. “You didn’t say it was a guy.”
“Does that change anything?”
“Of course it does.” She pulled her chair around the table so it was right next to mine. “And don’t pretend otherwise.”
“It’s a professor.”
“How do you know?”
“It actually said ‘professor.’” Which was the only thing that made me question the nature of their relationship.
“Ok.. then was it about a school thing?”
“No, it felt personal.” Weirdly personal.
“Why did you delete the text?” Delpha ran her fingers over the uneven wooden tabletop. It was one of the few older pieces of furniture in the place. “I need to see the evidence with my own eyes.”
“What evidence?”
“The evidence. Come on, you know there has to be a reason she came here. She had straight A’s. She could have gotten a job anywhere.”
“How do you know she got straight A’s?”
“She was surprised I knew too. Come on, you aren’t the only one who knows how to hack.”
“Want to research this guy?” I asked a little bit eagerly.
“Can’t you?” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“No.” I shook my head. “I can’t.”
“Because you like Mattie and don’t want to lose her trust.” Delpha smiled. “I see how it is.”
“Because I don’t want to lose her trust.”
“You are impossible. Show me that missed video call, and I’ll look him up later.”
The door opened again, and I jumped out of my chair.
Mattie walked in. “Uh, hi.”
“Hi. Your Wi-FI is all set up.” I gestured in the general direction of where I left the router.
“Great, thanks.” She held her bag tightly to her side as if deciding whether to stay or go.
“But I had to go onto your computer to make sure.”
“How did you find my computer? I hadn’t unpacked it yet.”
Delpha looked down. “Yeah, sorry about that. I left it out.”
“Did you go on it too?” Mattie shot daggers at Delpha.
“Nope. I didn’t. Just he did.” She pointed to me.
“I swear I thought it was Delpha’s. I never would have violated your privacy that way.”
“And getting on Delpha’s computer would have been okay?” She dropped her bag on the ground.
“That’s exactly what I said.” Delpha put a hand on her hip.
Mattie opened her mouth and closed it before opening it again. “But thank you for the honesty. I appreciate it.”
“There’s something else.” I might as well come completely clean.
“Yes?”
“I may have accidentally clicked on your text message. You know it’s dangerous to have those connected to your computer.”
“Oh.” She paled.
“Yeah. I deleted it. I wasn’t sure if you had it on your phone.”
“I do.” She rubbed her temples.
“Ok, so I don’t need to relay it.”
“No. You don’t.” She dropped her hand, and her expression was icy.
“Was he your lover?” Delpha asked.
“What?” Mattie’s mouth hung open.
“I’m just wondering. Actually we are both wondering.” She gestured to me.
“No. Just her.” I shook my head. “I wasn’t wondering at all.”
“No. He was my boss.” Mattie’s eyes blazed.
“It’s none of our business anyway.” I’d messed things up, and Delpha had made them worse. I had no clue how I was going to get out of the hole I dug myself.
“I never slept with him. That’s the problem. You want to know why I’m here? It’s because he refused to give me a good recommendation. He blackballed me so I couldn’t get hired anywhere decent.” She stopped. “Not that this isn’t decent, but it’s so far away from everywhere. I have no idea why your mom was willing to hire me without a rec, but I owe her.” Mattie turned and stormed out of the apartment.
“That went well,” Delpha said deadpan.
“You are impossible.” I started after Mattie.
“Don’t follow her.”
“Why not?” I shot back.
“Because she wants to be alone.”
“Weren’t you the one who was saying she isn’t safe here alone?”
“True. Follow her but don’t let her know you are following.”
“I’m not a stalker.” She already hated me. I wasn’t going to creep her out any more.
“It’s not stalking. It’s protecting.”
“Whatever. It’s worth making sure she stays safe.” I hurried out after her.
Seven
Mattie
Less than twenty-four hours in Willow Harbor, and I already regretted coming. The free apartment sounded great, but the reality was anything but. I now had an unwanted roommate and a snooping IT guy. Wonderful. I had hoped to keep the ugly reality of the mess I left in New York secret, but so much for that. I guess nowadays you could never escape.
I was exhausted. I hadn’t slept all that well the night before, and it had been a long day. The sun was already almost gone, and it wasn’t even five o’clock yet. I hated winter.
I had no idea where I was going, but I had to get out of there. The problem was I couldn’t come back anytime soon because of the stupid party. And I was the idiot who didn’t grab my car keys before exiting. Now I was running away from the only people I even knew in town with absolutely nowhere to go. And that was only my short-term problem. Beyond tonight, I had two choices. Stay, suck it up, and hope to get a reference, or move home to my parents’ house and find a new career. Neither sounded great, but the former was the best of the two.
In addition to forgetting my keys, I had also forgotten to grab a warm coat. So much for South Carolina being warm. Sure it wasn’t freezing, but there was nothing spring-like about the wind blowing all around me.
My feet ached as they hit the pavement. My black pumps looked cute, but they weren’t the best choice for wandering around an unfamiliar town.
Most of the shop windows were still lit, but the street lights hadn’t turned on yet. There were some other people out, but I knew I’d have t
o head back to the library sooner than later.
Still, I kept walking, and before I realized it I’d reached a small foot-bridge in front of the giant willow tree I’d seen from my apartment window. It looked even bigger standing next to it than it did from a distance, and it looked really old. At the base of the tree, the roots were in some sort of marshy channel. I followed the water as far as I could with my eyes, and it looked like it may have flowed from the ocean. If it weren’t so cold out I would have followed it all the way back to the beach. For one reason or another I needed to know for sure where it led.
“Hey. I’m sorry about that.” A voice called from behind me. I’d been so intent on the tree I hadn’t heard him approach.
I turned to face Pierce. “You followed me?”
“I’m not a stalker, I promise. I needed to apologize.”
“Next time I’ll hide my computer better.” Although who would have thought I would have needed to in my own apartment.
“I’m sorry about Delpha too.”
“What part of Delpha?” I wrapped my arms around myself tighter, once again wishing I was wearing something heavier than a dress.
He smiled. “Everything, but right now I am referring to her questions. That was rude and uncalled for.”
“I guess it’s good to get that out and over with. I know it seems strange that I took this job.”
“Not strange.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
“Oh yeah? You get many New Yorkers in this town?”
He gazed up at the huge willow tree. “Not many.”
“Exactly.” I followed his gaze and took in the tall tree. “I’m guessing this tree has always been here?”
“Yeah, it’s hundreds of years old now, and it’s pretty much the heart of the town.”
“It’s beautiful.” It was. I’d never noticed trees much, but the sheer size and the beauty that existed in the willow tree’s long branches even in winter made it impossible to miss.
“Beautiful and strong.” He turned to me as he spoke. I waited for him to continue, but instead he changed the subject. “That must have sucked.”
Shifter’s Fate: Willow Harbor - Book One Page 5
