Lois, the librarian in charge of the reference section, met me as I walked past the circulation desk. She was breathing hard from scurrying so quickly from reference, which was located at the back of the building.

Lois held her hand on the edge of the circulation desk, leaned forward and gulped in several deep breaths.

“Lois, what on earth? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost or run a marathon or maybe run one with a ghost.”

“No ghost,” she said on the tail end of another long breath. It seemed her heart rate was finally returning to normal. “It’s David.”

“Oh, I don’t want to see him.” That comment garnered the complete attention of all the people behind the circulation desk. Lois was rendered speechless for a moment. After our fiasco of a Saturday night, I’d gone home to my apartment and reflected on the whole relationship with David. And I’d decided I wasn’t happy. He didn’t seem too enthralled with the thought of us anymore either. I’d been upset enough to find another way home, but his main concern had been that his work table would be reserved on Monday.

I sighed. “Is this about the table?”

Lois nodded and her glasses slipped down to the tip of her tiny nose. She pushed them back up. The thick lenses made her eyes giant. “Two women were sitting at the table he likes, the one near the—”

“Yes, I know which one you mean.”

“Well, he asked them to move. And it wasn’t in a gentlemanly fashion, otherwise I think they would have acquiesced. But since he was rather rude about it, they told him no.”

“What did he do?”

“He just piled all his things on the table next to them. Then he grabbed all his reference books off the shelf and placed them next to the women, totally encroaching on their space, of course.”

“Jeez, what a pompous ass. I’ll go talk to him.”

“Actually, it’s all over now. The two women were angry enough at him that they wanted nothing to do with sitting at the same table. So they moved.”

“Sounds like the spoiled brat got his way. What did you need me for?”

“Need you for?” She blinked at me.

“Lois, you just came running through the entire library as if Mark Twain himself had stepped out from between the stacks. What did you need me for if everything was already resolved?”

A pink blush covered her cheeks, and she shrugged her rounded shoulders. “Just thought you’d want to know.” The people running the circulation desk all snickered behind their computer monitors.

“All right then. Thanks, Lois. I haven’t been to my office yet, and I need to check all the acquisition orders.”

I headed off in the direction of my office, relieved that I wasn’t going to have to talk to or, for that matter, see David. He’d texted twice since Saturday night, but I never responded. There just wasn’t anything to say.

I walked into my office and closed the door behind me. I circled behind the steel desk, shoved my purse into the drawer and plopped down on the chair. It was a small, unimpressive office, but I’d covered it with art and photos and books to make it my own space. I was so thrilled to make it to head librarian, they could have put me in a crate and I would have been fine with it.

I turned on my computer and waited for the desktop to appear. My phone rang. It was the reference desk. “Yes, Lois?”

“Just wanted you to know that the two women stopped by my desk to say that they would be lodging a complaint with the library director because of what happened with David this morning. Apparently, one of them is Ursula’s acquaintance, neighbor of some kind.”

“Damn that David. What an inconsiderate ass. Have the women left already?”

“They walked out just now.”

“All right, thanks, Lois. I will call Ursula and explain to her what happened. And I’ll be over there in a few minutes to give David a proper ear chewing.”

“Boy, this has been one of the more interesting days behind the reference desk,” she said with just a little too much enthusiasm before she hung up.

I took my anger out on my computer mouse, tapping it harder than necessary. An unbidden website popped up. A pink and gold banner with the words ‘Silk Stocking Inn—where every heart’s desire is filled . . . and then some’ scrolled across the top in an old-fashioned font. A picture of a cool, early century house complete with roses climbing up its exterior was splashed on the corner of the site. It was clear I’d inadvertently clicked open some random website. I clicked the corner to close the site. It stayed glued to my screen.

“Argh, what a morning.” I ran through my list of spam removers, including task delete and turning the darn thing off completely. But the moment my computer powered up, the Silk Stocking Inn popped back up with it.

A text box appeared, and I nearly fell backward on my chair as letters filled the box. “Well, Emmie, it seems you need my help. You need a man who will make you happy. David is definitely not that man.”

I laughed. Julia, my extremely tech-minded roommate, was up to her tricks again. This was an elaborate one too. I had no idea how she’d managed to create a website that couldn’t be closed, but she was talented. I’d spent a better part of Sunday morning whining to her about what a dud David was turning out to be. She knew how I was feeling about him.

I sat forward and placed my hands over the keys. “Oh really, and you think you can help me with that?”

“I would like to give it a try. What kind of man are you looking for?”

I, of course, had no time for goofing around, but a small, amusing diversion was what I needed on a morning like this. “Oh, my list isn’t too lofty, just a guy who looks like Charlie Hunnam and rides a Harley. You know, the fearless, dangerous and completely irresistible type.”

“You wouldn’t be the first to want that. However, completely dangerous might be a little out of your league, don’t you think, librarian, animal shelter volunteer, all around nice girl? I mean, just this morning, you swerved to miss a moth that was heading toward your windshield.”

I stared stunned at the screen. “How on earth did you know that, Julia?”

“Who is Julia?”

I shook my head. I needed to get on with my morning. “Right. Who is Julia. Hey, I’d love to mess around like this for the rest of my morning, but I’ve got to get started on my work day.”

I clicked out, but the site remained.

“Just one more question. What is your favorite kind of cupcake?”

A laugh shot from my mouth. Julia’s baking skills were the exact opposite of her tech skills. But maybe my thoughtful roommate was going to stop by a bakery on her way home. She knew sweets were a perfect way to brighten my mood. “Well, I have a few but I’d say anything salted caramel is high on my list. See you later.”

“Yes, you certainly will.”

The site disappeared. I had to hand it to her, she’d definitely helped cheer me up. My phone rang as I opened up the folder of acquisition orders. It was Julia. I picked it up. “Well played, my friend. I will be looking forward to that cupcake tonight. And if you can swing it where Charlie Hunnam is the one delivering it to me in a cute pink box, then you’ll get bonus points.”

“What the heck are you talking about, Emmie? I just called because I was stuck in traffic. Big accident on the freeway. It’s like a parking lot.”

“Sure you are.” A car horn blasted in the background. “Jeez, nice sound effects.”

“Whoa, roomie, you are sounding a little nutty. Maybe we should go out to dinner tonight, so you can talk about it. This David thing has you more upset than I thought.”

“It’s not the David thing, Julia, and you know it. It’s that crazy ass web site you just sent to me. The Silk Stocking Inn? Remember?”

“Seriously, Emmie, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m sitting on the freeway. I’ll send you a picture. We can talk more tonight.”

Seconds later a photo of the gridlocked freeway came through.

I stared at the picture. She had to have been behind the mysterious website. There just wasn’t any other explanation for it.

There was a knock on the door. Tyler, the children’s librarian, popped his head inside. He pointed to his throat and tried to speak. “Laryngitis,” he rasped. “I need you to take the story time hour this morning.”

“That’s fine. Pull a book for me. I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Tyler left and I sat back in my chair and stared at my computer. My usual desktop gleamed back at me. It had to be Julia.

I brushed off the bizarre morning and got to work.