This was the library? Jack eyed the two-story building and double-checked the address he’d written down that morning. Yep, he was in the right place. The structure in front of him was much newer than he’d expected. In an older town like this, you’d think the library would be in a historic building downtown, perhaps made from brick or stone. This building was modern, with walls of glass, the shelves of books visible even from here.

People were going in and out of the revolving door and Jack followed a woman and her young son into the library. Inside, the vaulted ceiling brought light into the foyer. To his left was a small café—Kismet Coffee and Tea. At 9 a.m., the café was buzzing with business. Almost every table was filled with people chatting and enjoying a pastry and drink. Behind the café were double glass doors, leading to what he assumed was the main part of the library. He made a note to stop by later for a cup of coffee, as the single cup he’d had at the B&B that morning wasn’t cutting it.

He almost whistled in amazement as he stepped onto the hardwood floors of the main room. This was like no library he’d ever seen before. It was almost like being in a large bookstore, complete with overstuffed chairs and coffee tables piled high with books, as patrons sifted through them. He figured that he’d most likely find Laney Lindstrom at the information desk, or at the very least be able to ask where he could locate her.

He approached the desk and greeted the older woman behind it. “Hi.”

“Good morning,” the woman said pleasantly. “What can I help you with today?”

He leaned his arms on the countertop and smiled at her. “Actually, I’m trying to find one of your librarians. She left a message for me at my office, and I was hoping to meet her in person.”

“Oh? Which librarian were you looking for?”

“Laney Lindstrom.” He smiled at her again.

The woman looked him up and down, and grinned. “Oh. Sure. I’m sure she’d love to help you.” She pointed to a corner of the library on the second floor. “She’s right up there.”

From her reaction, he wasn’t sure if he should be expecting a lecherous old woman or someone who’d chat his ear off as soon as he said hello.

Jack walked up a flight of stairs to the second floor and looked around. Near one of the windows, a woman knelt on the floor, stretching her arm out to fish around underneath the bottom of a bookcase. With every movement she made, her rear end wiggled in her tight pencil skirt.

“Argh,” she exclaimed, as she scooted even lower to the ground, imitating a pretty good inchworm crawl. She obviously had no idea he was there.

He probably should have said something, but he couldn’t help watching with interest as she continued her efforts to retrieve whatever it was she sought, deep under the bottom shelf. Her long brunette hair cascaded over her back and onto the floor as she moved her head closer to the shelf to peer under it.

One of her black high heels fell off her nylon-clad feet. Jack stifled a laugh and approached her.

“Do you need some help?”

The woman sat up quickly, knocking her head against one of the shelves.

“Ouch.” She rubbed the sore spot on her head and glared at him. There was something familiar about her.

He stepped back when he realized that it was the woman from the park, Marshmallow’s owner. What were the odds that he’d run into her here?

“Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to startle you.” He plucked the high heel from the ground and held it out to her. “Here you go.”

“Thanks,” she said sarcastically as she placed it back on her foot. She stared down at her skirt, which was riding up on her thighs, and quickly stood, straightening the skirt down to its normal length—right above the knee. “Were you watching me?”

The woman glanced down to the base of the bookshelf and then her face flushed in embarrassment as if realizing all that he might have seen. She recovered quickly and brought her gaze up, but didn’t quite look at him. She still seemed distracted by whatever she’d been trying to do.

“Well, yes and no. I saw you over here and thought you might need some help.” He nodded his chin in the direction of the bookshelf.

Her face clouded over and she held up a broken gold chain. “My necklace broke and my grandmother’s locket slipped off and rolled under the bookshelf.” She frowned in the direction of the floor near the shelves. “I was trying to get it out, but my arms aren’t long enough to reach.” She cocked her head to the side. “Hey, aren’t you the guy from last night?”

“You mean the guy who saved your dog from being run over?” he said dryly.

She glared at him and stiffened her posture. “Marshmallow never would have run into the street. He’s too smart for that.”

“His name is Marshmallow.” It seemed obvious to Jack that her dog wasn’t the brightest, and he was pretty sure that he would’ve run into the street if Jack hadn’t caught him.

She swept her hair back behind her ears. “Is there something I can do for you?” Her irritation was apparent and her offer didn’t sound terribly genuine.

“I’m looking for a librarian here—Laney Lindstrom.” His gaze darted around the area. The woman at the information desk had said Laney would be up here but he only saw an old man sitting at one of the tables across the room.

She eyed him warily. “I’m Laney.”

He snapped his head back to look at her. Of course she was. “You’re Laney?”

“Yes,” she said tightly. “Can I help you with something?” Her voice had grown even more irritated than before.

He’d really stepped in it this time. It seemed like everything he did increased her annoyance with him.

Jack held out his hand to her. “Let’s start over. I feel like we may have gotten off on the wrong foot.”

She looked from his hand to his face, but didn’t return the handshake. “I’m sure we did, but I still don’t know who you are.”

Yeah, he had forgotten to mention that. “I’m Jack LaFlamme from—”

“Ambright College,” she finished. She scanned him from head to foot, then gingerly took his outstretched hand and shook it with the force of a jellyfish. “I didn’t recognize you without the beard. I left a message for you yesterday but you never called back. I didn’t expect to hear from you for a while because of Spring Break. Did you come all the way out here to talk to me?”

“Yes, my secretary said that you had information about a shipwreck off the coast of Agre Island. I called yesterday, but all I got was voicemail.”

“Oh.” She sighed. “The reception here is horrible. My phone never rang or registered that someone had called.” She picked a stray book up from a table and shelved it between a few other books on a nearby bookshelf, before looking backing at him. “But why didn’t you call me after you arrived in town instead of just showing up here?”

He shrugged. “It was late in the day when I arrived in Fortune’s Bay and I didn’t want to bother you.”

She eyed him as if she thought he was lying.

“Look, it sounded important, so when I couldn’t get ahold of you, I came out here.” He looked around. “Is there somewhere we can go to talk about the shipwreck?”

“Yeah, I guess.” She bit her lip and glanced back at the base of the bookshelf.

Things weren’t going well between them. He seemed to have offended her, but he wasn’t sure how. Maybe a gesture of goodwill would smooth things over.

He smiled at her and motioned to where she’d lost her locket. “How about if I try? My arms are little bit longer than yours and I might be able to reach it.”

She considered his idea and then shrugged. “If you can get it, that would be great. Otherwise I’ll have to figure out something to snag it with.”

He lowered himself to the floor where she’d been sitting, flattening his body to the ground. He twisted his arm around to reach underneath the bookshelf. Between chasing after dogs and fishing for lockets in a library, his trip had been anything but ordinary. He hoped that would extend to her information about the shipwreck.

“I must have looked pretty silly doing that,” she observed from above. “Because you look ridiculous.”

He grinned to himself with his face pressed against the shelf and stretched his fingers out, sweeping them under the bookshelf along the dusty floor. Finally, the tips of his fingertips touched something solid and metallic. He pushed his shoulder as close to the shelf as he could and managed to catch the locket with his index finger. He pulled it toward him, dislodging a family of dust bunnies in the process.

“Did you get it?” she asked anxiously, now crouching close to him in her skirt.

He wriggled away from the wall, the intoxicating scent of her rose perfume making him realize how close in proximity they were. He sat up and brushed the locket off before handing it to her.

Her face lit up. “Oh, thank you. I was so worried about it. It’s a family heirloom that my grandmother wore every day.”

“No problem. I’m happy to help.” He jumped to his feet and cleaned the remaining dust from his hands.

She tucked the locket into a pocket of the fashionable cardigan sweater she wore over a silk camisole and then looked up at him, her smile extending all the way to her eyes. He sucked in his breath. He’d thought she was pretty the night before, but when she smiled—there was something about her that enchanted him.

“Are you ready?” she asked, checking her wristwatch. “I can spare a few minutes to fill you in on the details, but we’ll have to meet up later if you want to see the book I found the notation about the shipwreck in. I wish I’d known you were coming.”

He nodded. “Of course. I’d be happy to make an appointment with you for later, but anything you can tell me in the meantime would be great.”

She jerked her thumb at a table surrounded by bookshelves in the corner of the library. The old man had packed up and left, leaving them alone on the second floor. “It’s pretty quiet in the history section. We can chat over there.”

“Lead the way.” He was chomping at the bit for information about this shipwreck and it would have been nice to see the historical text now, but he’d have to make do with a quick chat and a more extensive discussion later. Besides, as he followed her to the back of the library, he couldn’t help but think that she might be someone he’d like to get to know a little better.