Chapter9
“I want to make it up to you,” Kevin said. It was a sentence that Molly heard too often. She would go racing into his arms to fulfill her obligations as the girlfriend of an up and coming lawyer but she never got any actual time with him. The night of the gala, Molly spent most of the time sitting at the table ordering water and listening to his colleagues’ wives talk about how neglected they were. It was a depressing look into her future.
Of course, it had been a couple of months since the gala. She hadn’t seen Justin since their ATV date and – while she welcomed the distraction – she was happy that she didn’t have to explain the awkward child bearing situation to him. Not to mention, she was starting to show and she was beginning to feel a little self- conscious.
“What do you mean?” she said as she flipped the channel again.
“I missed our date last night. I want to make it up to you.”
“We didn’t have a date last night,” Molly said, annoyed. “We had a date last week that you forgot about though.”
“Last week already? I’m sorry. I don’t know what day it is – ever. You know that. If it wasn’t for you, I probably would just live at my office.”
“It’s like you already do,” she said, under her breath.
“I heard that.” He plopped next to her on the couch. “Listen. I’ve got some vacation time. I’ll take tomorrow off. I’ll even put you in charge of my phone.” He handed it to her.
Molly took it in her hand and sat up straight. “Really?” It was a new gesture. Did he have another phone that she didn’t know about? A business phone or something?
“I know that look,” he said. “I’ve seen that look often. I’m not trying to pull anything, I promise. It’s just… You’ve been a little down lately. I wanted to make you feel better. Being depressed can’t be good for the baby. That negativity probably seeps into his skin.”
It’s not a he, she thought. If you had gone to my OB/GYN appointment like you said you would, you would have known that. We’re having a girl. Unfortunately, she was too scared to actually say those words. She didn’t know how he would react. Would he blame her? Would he tell her that he wasn’t eating right and that she made a girl? Would he tell her that this was her baby and that she would need to “make a boy” next? Or would he just tell her that the ultrasound was wrong? The possibilities had gone through her head for a week already.
Molly felt like she was in one of those movies where the queen had to beget her king a son or she would be beheaded. What was the modern day equivalent to being beheaded? Being cut off? It had been months since she had a job. She wasn’t sure that she would want one once she had the baby. Sure, she had considered working but she didn’t really know what she wanted anymore. Justin had messed with her brain. All of her wants and needs were all messed up now.
“You’re probably right,” she said instead - instead of all of the things that she wanted to say. “I’ll try to change, babe.”
“Thanks, hon. I’ll do my part too. I’ll take you out tomorrow, okay?” He motioned toward the phone. Just put that somewhere safe. Don’t lose it. I know how you can be these days.”
How I can be, she thought to herself. How I can be? How about, how YOU can be? You can be a misogynist. You can be a jerk. You can be controlling. You can treat me like I’m a six- year- old. You can stop being those things and start acting like a father. Start acting like a man. Because if you want a son so bad, how is he going to learn how to be a man if he’s being raised by a mother and a condescending a-hole?! Molly took a deep breath. It has to be the hormones, she thought. She took another deep breath. “I can’t wait for dinner.”
* * *
Molly was surprised to see his phone in her dresser drawer when she was getting ready for dinner the next night. He hadn’t asked for it all day. In fact, he was being so nice, she just assumed that he had swiped it and was secretly keeping in contact with work. He was never this content or happy when he was home all day. He was usually a whiny baby. Molly took another deep breath. Hormones, she thought to herself. She left the phone in the dresser so she wouldn’t be tempted to give it back to him during dinner. Then she made sure that her phone was charged in case of emergency. These days, it was silly not to have a phone on you, after all. That’s what horror movies were made of.
Kevin had made reservations to Philippe’s. He knew that it had her favorite Chinese chicken salad and rice pilaf. He was watching what she ate closely these days at, while it normally upset her, she forgave him enough that night. She just wanted to spend time with her fiancé.
They sat at the table under the chandelier, it was the coveted table where all of the most prominent guests sat. The light glittered over their water glasses, making the table shine with gold flecks of radiance.
“How is the wedding planning coming along?” Kevin asked after taking a sip of his wine.
Molly watched him set his glass down. She missed wine. “It’s okay, I guess. I’ve got colors picked out and I’ve narrowed it down to a few venues. I’d really like to decide on a date though.”
“Before the baby is born,” he said. “What does that give you? like six months? You can do that, right?”
“Plan an entire wedding in six months.”
“I thought you had been working on it.”
“Well, I have but I haven’t sent out any invitations yet or…”
“Do we need a big wedding?”
She dropped her shoulders. “I guess not.”
“That would make it easier, right? Keep it less than a hundred people. I trust you. It’ll be great.”
Molly’s head began to spin. Between the finishing touches on the house, the baby planning, the baby proofing, and now a wedding. She counted the months. A spring wedding. That should make it easy because all of the flowers I want will be in season…
“Well, you don’t have to plan it all right now,” he said. “Talk to me. About something other than just the wedding. How was your day?”
“Good.” She shrugged. “You were with me all day.”
“Well how are you feeling?” His eyes squinted. “What’s it like to be pregnant?”
Jeezus, has he always been like this, she wondered. “I don’t know. It doesn’t really feel all that different. I mean, it is kind of weird knowing that someone is growing inside me.”
“I bet it’s pretty magical. Does it feel amazing knowing that you might have the next president of the United States growing in your stomach?”
“In my stomach…” she repeated, trying not to laugh. “Yeah. I guess it does.” She took another sip of her water.
Unfortunately for Molly, dinner didn’t get much less awkward. It almost felt as if they were going on their first date again. Of course, if this was their actual first date, she wouldn’t have seen him again. When he paid for dinner, he ordered an extra dessert to take home. “You liked it so I figured that we could splurge this one time. It’s mostly fruit anyway, right?” he asked.
Molly grinned. “Yeah.” There was something different about Kevin. Maybe if she stripped away all of her anger and resentment toward him, all that was left was this sort of pity. He was handsome and rich. She remembered him being more charming but it had been a few years and he hadn’t needed to be charming for her in a while.
“Why are you looking at me funny?” he asked as he walked her out of the restaurant.
“What do you mean? I haven’t been looking at you any different than I had been in the past…”
“Seriously. You’re looking at me different. In fact, this whole dinner seemed a bit awkward.” His eyes glistened when he looked into hers. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” she said. There it was again. Pity. Why did she pity him? She wasn’t going to leave him after all. “It’s nothing. Come on. Let’s just go home.” Molly put her head down and looked at the sidewalk. She couldn’t bear to look at him anymore. Pity. Anger. These weren’t the feeling that she wanted to feel for the man that she was going to spend the rest of her life with it was-
“Hey, watch where you’re going,” snapped Kevin.
Molly looked up. Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
“I’m sorry, man, I didn’t realize,” said Justin. He looked at Kevin then turned to Molly. His mouth opened, then shut again.
“Don’t apologize to me,” said Kevin. “Apologize to my pregnant fiancé.”
“I didn’t even touch her, man,” Justin said. “I ran into you.”
“Yeah, well you could have just as easily ran into her.”
“That’s the most ridiculous th-” Justin started but his voice cut out. It looked as if he was choking on the words. “What did you say?”
“I said you could have just-”
“No, I’m sorry. I mean, pregnant. Did you say pregnant fiancé?”
“Yeah,” Kevin pulled Molly close and placed his hand on her stomach. “She’s glowing isn’t she?”
Justin and Molly’s eyes locked onto each other’s. She tried to apologize with her stare but he wasn’t having it. He blinked hard and looked down at the sidewalk. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I should watch where I’m going.” And with that, he sidestepped and walked around them.
Molly’s eyes followed him but she wanted to do more than that. She wanted to call out his name. She wanted to run after him and explain. Did he think her baby was his? Because she was – Molly just knew it. She had been trying to tell Justin since she found out that she was pregnant but she always stopped short. She wondered if he put two and two together.
“Come on,” Kevin said. “Let’s go home.”
* * *
“Wait, you had a fight via text message?” Nattie repeated. She walked ahead of Molly and pulled aside a couple of onesies on a tiny clothing rack. Pulling out a pink one with an elephant, she held it up for Molly to see.
Molly nodded. She continued to push the cart through the store. “Not necessarily. It was more of a one sided argument.”
“I’m not quite sure that I know what you mean by that,” Nattie said. She took a baby bathing blanket from a stack and unfolded it, holding it up in the air. It was green and yellow and had a small stuffed giraffe’s head on the hood. She looked over at Molly, who nodded again. Nattie cocked an eyebrow before tossing it into the cart with the pink onesie. Blindly, she grabbed something else off of the stack and held it up. Molly nodded again and waved it off. “Molly,” she snapped. Her best friend snapped out of it and looked up at her. “Since when are you so involved in your thoughts that you can’t shop at the same time. And look around you. Literally everything is adorable.” She picked up a small shoe and held it up. “This is so cute, I want to put it on a little keychain so I can have it with me always.”
Molly cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. “I’ve got a serious problem for once. I used to only have superficial problems and now that I’ve got a real issue, you don’t seem to be taking it seriously.” Her heart felt like it was going to explode. If she couldn’t confide in her best friend, what would she do? She couldn’t talk to her fiancé. Her parents were useless. She realized then that her life was filled with superficial people and relationships.
“Oh stop,” Nattie said. “Stop being so melodramatic.”
Molly sighed and dropped the subject. There was no point in arguing with Nattie about this. Arguing about this wasn’t going to make her care. She just had to realize where the boundary of their relationship was. “Whatever,” Molly said. “I don’t feel like shopping. Let me buy the stuff in the cart then can you take me home?”
Nattie stopped and stared at her. “Really?”
“Yeah. I’m just not in the mood. Sorry.” She waved her hand. “Maybe tomorrow? Um, you mind taking me home? If you’re just going to stay in town, I can call Miguel and have him pick me up.”
“It’s fine. I’ll take you home.” She grabbed Molly’s arm as she tried to walk past with the cart. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t see how this was a big problem.”
“We’re talking about my future here. And the future of my baby.”
“Molly, it’s just a fling. Don’t you see that? You and this Justin guy. You’re not meant to ride off into the distance together. This is just a pit stop. Don’t make it any more than that. That’s how you’re going to get your heart hurt and that’s how you’re going to overcomplicate everything. You have to end this with him.” She gently placed her hand on Molly’s stomach. “It would be different if you were having his baby but for gawd sakes, you’re having Kevin’s kid. You have to think about that.”
Molly looked down at her stomach. I am thinking about that, she thought. That’s when she realized that she hadn’t told Nattie that the baby wasn’t Kevin’s. Was it best to tell her? Was this something that no one else needed to know? Who was supposed to make that decision? Molly let out an exasperated and very audible sigh. “Thanks…” she said, her voice lackluster.
“I know that it’s not what you wanted to hear but it’s something that you needed to hear because, let’s face it. Justin’s kind of a loser. Like, he may be fantastic in the sack and you might think that you’re in love with him but… Do you really know what love is? I think you’re just infatuated with him because you’re so scared of marriage. I have to admit; it’s a little too permanent for me even.”
What? What do you mean too permanent? Molly wasn’t sure if she said it out loud or just in her head but it was the last thing that she needed to hear. She needed to clear her head.
* * *
It was still early in the day when Molly arrived home with her shopping bags full of infant and toddler attire so she asked Miguel if he would do her a favor.
“Pine Falls?” he said, meeting her at the breakfast bar. He leaned against the marble countertop and cocked his head to the side. “What are you going to do there?”
Molly was sitting on a barstool. “Yeah, I got my bicycle from my mom’s place the last time that I was there. I just want to ride around in the little town and hit the book store. It might sound a little silly but this’ll make me feel better and help clear my mind.”
She was lying and she had a feeling that he could tell. “Oh?” he said, his eyes twinkling. “I see. That’s fine. I can do that. Are you staying with your parents again? Or…”
“No, it’s just for the afternoon. I just need some time to think. Besides, mom doesn’t live in Pine Falls. She doesn’t even like it out there. Way to rural and small town-y for her.” She let out a forced laugh. “Well, anyway,” she started, trying to change the direction of the conversation. “Do you mind?”
“It’s my job,” he said with a grin. “Of course I don’t mind.”
Molly laughed. “Oh, that’s right.” She straightened her posture and placed her hands on her hips. “Go put my bike in the back of the car, please,” she said.
Miguel smiled and nodded curtly. “Yes, ma’am. Whatever you say, ma’am.” He bowed deeper now and backpedaled out of the room. Molly laughed. She needed this. She also needed this trip. She needed to see Justin to straighten things out. About the pregnancy, seeing each other, and what they both wanted to do. She laid her head in her arms, which were folded on the table.
“The stress getting to you?” asked Miguel when he came back into the room.
Molly lifted her head up from the counter only to realize that her neck was stiff and her arms were rigid from that position. She stretched. “I’m fine. I’m just a little tired. Is the car ready?”
“Yeah, come on. It’s about an hour until we get there. I’ll let you sleep in the car.”
Unfortunately, it only took the time between the barstool and the passenger’s seat of the car for Molly to fully wake up. Her stomach was teaming with butterflies that also awoke.
“Are you sure that you want me to drop you off here?” Miguel asked her as soon as they got to the little bookstore.
“Yeah, I just need some time to myself in my happy place. Would you help me unload my bike from the back?”
Miguel hopped out of the Explorer (it was Kevin’s gift to Molly – the parenting edition of a sports car) and pulled her sea foam green bicycle out of the rather large back section. “You do love this place, don’t you?” he said.
“The Book Stop?”
“You’ve mentioned it a lot lately. About how impactful it was to your childhood. For me, that’s always been family. Since I’ve been learning about your upbringing, I’m just glad that you had this place to turn to.”
“Yeah,” Molly said. She grinned. Miguel suddenly felt more than just a personal assistant. He was the best friend that she really needed. “Mr. Yaeger is the proprietor. He’s had this place for forever. He’s like the father that I never had.”
“Well good. In that case, I’ll leave you in his very capable hands.”
“Consider it like taking the afternoon off. Just come back here and pick me up around seven tonight, okay? That’s when his shop closes. I’ll even take you out to dinner after.”
“Will Mr. Tyler be expecting you for dinner?”
“No, Kevin’s got a late meeting or something.” She shrugged. “So he won’t even know what time I get home tonight.”
Miguel nodded, then got back in the car. Molly watched him leave. It wasn’t until he disappeared around the corner that she hopped on her bike and headed in the opposite direction. She had looked it up online when she got home. There was only one mechanic in Pine Falls and it was called, “Shaw & Sons”. The address put it on the far side of town, which wasn’t as bad as it sounded because Pine Falls was about the size of a big city mall.
As she made her way down the road, the roads got dustier and the shops were more sparse, divided by larger sections of trees. In the short distance was a gas station and beside it sat a rather sloppy looking shop. The “Shaw & Sons” sign that hung over the two garage doors was a faded yellow with black block lettering. She recognized the jeep that was parked out front and parked her bike next to it.
In the garage was a small space but big enough for two full sized trucks and room around the vehicles to work and store large tools and machines that Molly had no idea about. She looked around and recognized little to nothing except for a few tires sitting in a stack and an old Chevy truck with a pair of legs sticking out from underneath it. Molly knew those legs. She glanced over at the car next to it, an older style Mini Cooper. It was red with white stripes. That one didn’t have a pair of legs sticking out from underneath it. On the other side of the truck was a door with a window that led to a small office. There was no one in the office either.
“Justin?” she called.
The clanking from underneath the truck stopped and he wheeled himself out, on his back. He wore a pair of black boots and jeans. As he slid out she realized that he wasn’t wearing a shirt. His chest and arms were shiny with sweat. He sat up on the creeper and looked up at her. “Hey,” he said, pulling a shop towel out from his pocket. He wiped his hands and stood up. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to talk. I needed a chance to explain myself.”
“Explain yourself?” he asked. “Why?”
“Well,” she said. Her gaze moved down toward her stomach. It was evident that she was pregnant.
“I totally understand. You need to focus on your growing little family now, right?” he said. There was a hint of resentment in his voice. She could hear it, despite his apparent effort at trying to hide it with a smile.
“It’s not that simple,” she said. She didn’t want to look him in the eye. He was smart. He would understand what she meant. She just knew it – and because of that, she didn’t want to look at his face. Would he be angry? Distraught? Upset? Happy? Curiosity got the best of her and she opened her eyes, and looked up at his.
He stood perfectly still and stared at her stomach. “Oh,” he finally said. “The baby. It’s mine?”
“I think so. I haven’t done a paternity test or anything but I’m sure of it. I can just feel it. She’s ours.”
“Our...” He couldn’t even finish repeating the whole word. “She…” he said. A small smile appeared on his face and he finally looked into her eyes. “She’s a girl? We’re going to have a girl?” The smile grew and his eyes began to twinkle. “I’m going to be a dad?”
Molly’s heart soared. He had been a father for less than a minute and already she saw more sincerity and happiness in his voice and in his eyes than she had seen in Kevin for the past couple months.
“Wait,” he said. Justin shook his head. “Kevin. He said… He thinks that she’s his.”
“Well, he is insistent that it’s a boy but the ultrasound said-”
“Molly,” Justin said, snapping her out of that train of thought. “He thinks that the baby is his?”
“Yeah. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I didn’t think it was his but I couldn’t hide the baby from him either. I just… I don’t know what to do. I just…” What am I doing here? Molly suddenly thought. “I guess I thought that you had the right to know that I’m having your baby.”
Justin nodded. “Well, all right,” he said. “Um, so what are we going to do now? I mean, are you going to tell Kevin?”
“Why would… I mean, do you want to get together now? Are you going to be a dad? Do you want to provide for our baby?”
“Of course,” Justin said. “What kind of person do you think I am?” As his eyes gave away that he had come to some kind of realization, his face softened, then stiffened again. “Oh,” he said. “I see.”
“What do you mean, ‘I see’?” Molly sputtered. She was glad that no one else was at the garage to hear this. She could feel the tension rise in the room, like the pressure in a tea kettle.
“Listen, I’m not big on the whole commitment thing anyway. I’m just not good for you,” he finally said. He gritted his teeth. “you would have a better life with Kevin anyway so why don’t we just call this thing off.”
“This thing?” she asked.
“Yeah. Us. Whatever you want to call it. Just go home to your rich fiancé and leave me alone. Don’t worry. I’ll lose your number.”
“What? I thought you said that I couldn’t find happiness with Kevin.”
“What are you talking about? You took that seriously?” He gritted his teeth again. His eyes were piercing and his brows furrowed. “I just said that so you’d sleep with me. I can’t believe that you feel for that line. You must have been really desperate. Well, it’s all over now. Sorry, babe.”
“Babe?” she repeated. “Since when do you call me babe?”
“Since you’re pregnant with some other guy’s baby and since it’s time for you to go home.” His voice began to squeak. He cleared his throat and looked past her.
Molly turned around. There was no one there. When she turned back around to face Justin again, he was looking at her baby bump. His eyes had finally softened and his brows relaxed. “You’re living for two people now,” he said. Molly had heard the beginning of this speech before and she didn’t like how it ended. “Happiness matters but now you have to think about your happiness and the happiness of our little girl. I mean…” His voice had changed from five seconds prior. “Of course happiness matters to me. But what about you? You’re the one playing two guys after all. You need to make up your mind before you ruin your life. And before you ruin hers,” he said. “I can’t make this decision for you.” He looked away. “Go home.”
“But I came here to tell you about our baby. If I didn’t want to be with you, I would have just kept it to myself and continued to let Kevin think that she was his.”
“That’s the thing though. If you really wanted to be with me, you would have told him that she wasn’t his in the first place. You wouldn’t be here asking me what you should do. You’d be here telling me that you chose me over him. But a part of you knows that he’s got the money and the means to make you happy in a way that I never could. That’s the happiness that you prefer.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
He sighed and looked at her, but not in her eyes. He couldn’t make eye contact, no matter how hard she stared at him. “I don’t want you. You already chose him, you’re just not admitting it to yourself. Now that you really know how I feel, you can just go running back to your fiancé and not feel like you’re missing out on anything.”
“Of course you want me,” she said.
“Oh my gawd,” He raised his hands up in the air and looked up at the ceiling before turning back to her. “Are you listening to yourself? Who are you to tell me who I want and who I don’t want? Pfft, and you? You’re a fucking mess.”
Molly could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. She kept telling herself that he was only saying this because it was easier to push her away than to try and form a legitimate bond but the more words spilled out of his mouth, the harder it was to convince herself of this. “You don’t mean that. I mean, of course I’m a mess. So are you. We’ve talked about this before. This is what makes us great together.”
“Seriously, go home. I never want to see you again.” He struggled to get those last words out but when he did, he finally looked her in the eye. She could feel something in his glare but it wasn’t hatred like he would like her to believe. It was something else.
Justin sat back down on the creeper and laid back. He turned to look at her again, one more time but stopped himself at the last moment and ended up staring back at the ceiling instead. He rolled himself under the truck once again and the clanking sound began, just as it was when she first got to the garage.
Molly rode back to the town square on her bicycle. She moved slowly despite the fact that she really wanted to speed through town and let the breeze wipe the rejection off of her. Her eyes filled with tears. They had yet to break through and she didn’t want them to. She knew that if they finally did, they would be like opening the floodgates. Thousands of tears were begging to be let free but she didn’t want to give them the satisfaction. There was no point in crying. Justin didn’t want her. It made sense. It wasn’t like he would try to contact her on a regular basis because he missed her. It was sporadic at best and even then, she wouldn’t answer half the time and he didn’t seem to mind that at all.
Pine Falls felt nostalgic before but there was something special about this feeling of neglect and sadness that made her feel especially sentimental. There was a regretful yearning that filled her heart as she rode through town in this state of being. The situation felt as though she was back in junior high and high school, trying to get away from her parents after an argument. She would ride her bike into the town square, heartbroken. As soon as those two wheels felt the Pine Falls dirt beneath them, she was overcome with a feeling of comfort and happiness.
Even back then, the town streets always felt deserted. It wasn’t a bustling city. She passed by a few townsfolk but nothing that felt anywhere near as busy or claustrophobic as the city. No, this was like the moment in a Western when the midday showdown was supposed to happen in the middle of town square. The smart citizens would go inside and hide in case of a rogue bullet. But in Pine Falls, nothing like that ever happened. They didn’t have to hide indoors from the heat or the chaos. No, this was just a sleepy town.
Molly parked her bike in front of the bookstore and walked inside. The bell rang but something felt wrong. As soon as she walked in, the air felt a little different.
“Hey, sweetheart,” said Yaeger as soon as he saw her. “I’ve seen you so many times already this year. It’s almost like you’re back in high school again.”
“I get that feeling more and more these days,” she said, flashing him a forced smile. “What’s different in here?”
“Nothing’s different,” he said, his voice sounded flat.
“You can’t hide anything from me, Mister,” she said giving him a hug. “What’s going on? It doesn’t feel the same in here. Something is different.” She looked around at the stacks of books and the shelves that overflowed with literature. “I mean, everything looks the same but… the feeling is off.” Her gaze moved from shelf to shelf, from bookcase to bookcase, until it went full circle and she found herself looking at Yaeger’s face. “You okay?”
His brows relaxed. “You know this place like the back of your hand, don’t you?” he asked. “I bet, if I told you to find a specific book, you’d be able to find it in this big mess, in…less than five minutes.”
“Challenge accepted!” she said, looking forward to the distraction.
“I’ve been looking for a book on local laws and documentation. We’ve got a few disputes amongst the businessmen here. If you could find it for me, I’ll let you walk out of here with a couple of free paperbacks. I’ve been looking for this thing all morning and it’s been driving me crazy.” He let out a sigh. “I’m just not as young as I used to be, I guess.”
“You got it,” Molly said. “Grab a chair.” She walked over to one of the bookcases at the front of the store and began scanning the leather bound books. “Where’s your hired help?”
“She went off to college soon after your first couple visits,” he called from somewhere behind the counter.
Molly ran her fingers across the spines of the books as she scanned the titles. There was something about the smell and texture of those spines that put her at ease. Leather bound literature always seemed so sophisticated. I definitely want an expanded encyclopedia collection for my little girl as she grows up. I used to have one when I was a kid. What happened to those? “Do you know anyone that uses a hardcopy encyclopedia anymore?” she asked, as she finally found the law section.
“Not these days. That’s what the internet is for after all.” His voice sounded strained.
She quickly found a couple different copies of law books, one on local laws and regulations and the other on general business practices. But when she got back to the front counter, Yaeger was nowhere to be found.
“I found it,” she called, looking into the hallway next to the secret back office. The hallway led to a small bathroom and a small storage area. Her eyes moved up to a small loft – which also looked like a storage area. “Well, I found a couple of books because I didn’t exactly know what you were looking for,” she admitted. “If you could tell me specifically what the problem is, I can probably find a better book for you.” She set the books on the counter and started down the hallway.”Yaeger?”
She walked down the hallway and knocked on the bathroom but the door wasn’t latched. It swung inward, into the darkened room. Nobody. She turned and knocked on the door that led to the storage for overflow books but that room was locked and no one replied. “Yaeger?” she called again. No response. She made her way back down the hallway, into the storefront when she caught a glimpse of something on the floor behind the cash register. It was Yaeger, lying on the ground in a heap. “Oh my gawd,” she screamed and ran to his side. Placing her fingers on his neck, she felt a faint pulse. He was still alive. She pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed 911. “Help, I need help. It’s Yaeger. He’s collapsed. I don’t know if it’s a… Please… Please come quick!”