Deadly Ever After by Eva Gates (distant reading .txt) 📗

I bent over and scooped him up. I tapped his little black nose. “Enough of that, you. Off you go; preschool story time will be starting soon.” I put him down. I swear he winked one blue eye at me before slowly and lazily crossing the room in the direction of the spiral iron stairs leading to the children’s library on the second floor.

“That was Charles,” I said. “Named after Mr. Dickens. He’s enormously popular with our patrons, particularly children and the lonely elderly. We welcome dogs also, provided they’re leashed and well behaved. Libraries today are much more than a place to take out books. A public library’s the center of the community, one of the last public spaces where people can gather without having to pay to get in.” I nodded to the cardboard cutout. “The American public likes Sherlock Holmes. I like Sherlock Holmes.”

Evangeline lifted her arms and held them out as though encompassing the whole of the library. “I merely meant that, as delightfully charming as this is, it isn’t exactly Harvard, now, is it? You were doing such important work at Harvard. Helping some of the most prominent men in the world with their research.”

“They have women professors at Harvard now, I’ve heard.”

Her eyes narrowed as she bit back a retort. And I realized that I was no longer afraid of Evangeline Lewiston. She had no power over me: I genuinely didn’t care what she thought of me. She gave me a tight smile. “You know what I mean, dear. You must miss it terribly.”

“Actually, Evangeline, I don’t miss it one bit. It’s nice of you to drop by, but I have work to do. If you’d like to look around, you’re welcome to.” I lifted my left hand to point toward the stairs.

Evangeline grabbed my hand. She studied my engagement ring so closely, I was surprised she didn’t dig a jeweler’s loupe out of her purse and put it to her eye. “That’s a lovely diamond, dear. And quite … large. It looks real. I’m surprised your fiancé could afford such an excellent ring on what he makes as mayor of a small town.”

I snatched my hand away. I wasn’t going to explain the gift to her. “You can bring your dog in, if you like. The view from the top is magnificent, and it’s only two hundred and seventeen steps. If you want to go up, I’ll unlock the gate for you.”

She shifted on her heels. Not exactly practical daytime wear for the Outer Banks. I suspected she’d worn them in an attempt to intimidate me. In that, as in other things, she’d failed. “That won’t be necessary,” she said. “Another time perhaps.” She coughed lightly. “You do seem … fond of this tiny place, but a few of us in the know have heard that the head librarian at the J. D. Rockenheimer the Fourth collection is retiring and they will be looking for a fresh young face to take it over.”

Now we were on to bribery. The Rockenheimer Library is one of the largest private libraries in the United States, and people say its collection of letters from and to our country’s founding fathers is unparalleled. Running it would once have been my dream job. But I have my dream job now: assistant director at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, “tiny” though it might be. I’d met my dream man here. I wasn’t going anywhere. “I’m not—”

My protest was cut off as the front door opened and a cluster of people fell in. Daisy Dalrymple came first, followed by James Dalrymple and Theodore Kowalski, laughing over a shared joke. Charlene brought up the rear, her eyes fixed on James’s slim back.

“Oh yes,” Theodore was saying. “The Lake Country. Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Always wanted to visit the Lake Country, old chap.”

Evangeline let out a small gasp, and I turned quickly to check that she was okay. She blinked rapidly, visibly struggled to control her emotions, and turned to me with a smile so fake it would embarrass a crocodile. “You do what you have to do, dear, and I’ll show myself out. Mustn’t leave Fluffy alone much longer.” She laughed a sort of strangled laugh. “Goodness knows what she’s capable of getting up to if she gets bored, and it is a rental car.”

I wondered what had caused her to so suddenly call off her charm offensive, but I had no doubt it would be back. Charm and bribery. Maybe guilt would fall into the mix next.

If it did, and if she persisted, I’d have to simply tell Evangeline that arranged marriages had gone out with Jane Austen’s era. I didn’t want to marry her son, which was fine, because he didn’t particularly want to marry me.

“Hey, Lucy,” Daisy said. “Thanks for suggesting the drive to Ocracoke. We went on Saturday and had the best day ever.”

“I haven’t been down there for years,” Charlene said, “not since I finished college. It was great fun. Teddy was nice enough to ask his mom to sit with my mother for a few hours so I could go with James. James and Daisy, that is,” she added quickly.

Theodore grinned. “Mom enjoyed it. She said she needs to catch up with her school friends more often. Did you know my mom and Mrs. Clayton went to school together, Lucy?”

“I didn’t, but I’m not surprised. Outer Banks links are long and deep and complex.”

“As we’re finding out, to our advantage,” Daisy said.

“Can I help you with something, ma’am?” James asked Evangeline.

Her entire body almost shook, and she blinked rapidly. “No. Nothing. I’m … noticing your English accents. All of your accents, I mean. Are you on vacation in America?”

“Daisy and I are here to do research,” James said.

“I’m a proud resident of Nags Head,” Theodore said, his accent a reflection of James’s. “And a proud patron of this library.”

“Time to get at it,” James said. “Coming, Charlene?”

“Be right with you. I’ll check to see if Blacklock College has