The Book Charmer by Karen Hawkins

Author:Karen Hawkins
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery Books

CHAPTER 11

Grace

The following Thursday, Grace was just locking the door of town hall when a deep rumble of thunder rippled through the air and rain began to pour. It sluiced through town in great sheets, spraying a fine mist onto the porch and pearling on her expensive suit. “Great.” Muttering to herself, Grace fished her umbrella from her satchel, opened it, ducked under, and hurried down the sidewalk toward her car.

She’d only gone about ten steps when a big pickup truck rolled by. The fat wheels hit a deep puddle at the edge of the road and with a whoosh sent a wall of water raging toward Grace.

Grace only had time to tip her umbrella in the direction of the wave before it hit her, soaking her skirt and filling her shoes, and leaving her sputtering in outrage. She stood there, staring down at her sopping-wet clothes, icy red rage misting over her.

She didn’t know how long she stood there, her umbrella still held in a defensive position that left her head uncovered while the rain poured down on her hair and shoulders, but slowly her vision cleared. She raised her umbrella and wiped the water from her eyes with a wet hand, suddenly realizing that Sarah stood on the sidewalk opposite.

The librarian wore a bright yellow raincoat with matching boots, and carried her usual tote bag, the umbrella over her head printed with a huge, happy ladybug.

Grace, cold and embarrassed, didn’t move. Water continued to seep through her clothing and hair and ran down her face and shoulders, joining the rain. She was as wet as a drowned rat.

Sarah looked Grace up and then down, and then, without a return wave, she turned and walked away.

A moment later, Sarah drove her truck out of the library parking lot and, without sparing Grace a glance, sped off.

It was the perfect ending to a perfectly wretched week.

Grace couldn’t blame Sarah for just leaving. Grace hadn’t spoken to the perky librarian since the last meeting. In fact, the short ride home that day had been painfully silent for them both. After that, Grace had made no secret of the fact she was avoiding Sarah. It was childish and Grace knew it, but she’d felt a very real sense of betrayal by Sarah’s effort to get Grace back into the chairman’s seat. It was one thing for Zoe Bell and Kat Carter to pull such a manipulative prank. To be honest, Grace couldn’t have cared less about them. But for some reason, it hurt that Sarah had been a part of it.

Grace sighed, suddenly so tired she could have cried. What a lousy, lousy week. Mama G’s restless evening behavior was getting worse. She got up several times a night, and Grace with her. Each day had left Grace a little more tired than the night before. Then, this morning, while groggily brushing her teeth, Grace had suddenly remembered that Mama G had an appointment with Doctor Bolton at nine. Panicked, Grace had

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