Page 6 of As They Are (Strawberry Springs #2)

HENRY

Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch

Jade Clark: Just found this spider. What kind do you think it is?

Comments:

Dale Garrett: A dead one, that’s for sure!!!

Kerry Winsor: It was smaller in person, right? Where did you find it?

Jade Clark: It was crawling on my back. Hopefully it didn’t bite me.

Kerry Winsor: @Henry Connor help??? Should she come into the clinic?

Kerry Winsor: @Henry Connor HELLO

Marjorie Brown: Do you think he’s a damn spider collector in his free time? How would he know?!

Kerry Winsor: I don’t know what kind of hobbies he has!!!

Wren hauled herself to the top of the iron fence before I could register what she was saying.

“Wren!” I hissed. Thankfully, it was close to dinnertime and most of the townspeople were either in the diner or at home, but I still checked to be sure Mike wasn’t lurking around the corner. “What are you doing?”

She paused as she straddled the fence. “I told you I’m going in.”

“Breaking and entering? Really?” I didn’t know much about her, yet this seemed like a thing she would do. She had this air of capability and determination around her. If she wanted to see something, she would find a way to see it. Even if it was boarded up and left to rot.

“Just turn and walk the other way,” she said. “I won’t break or mess with anything. I just wanna see the inside.”

“It’s been abandoned for more than a decade.”

She smiled. “Exactly.”

Then she cleared the fence, landing on the grass. I could only gape at her as I quickly went over all of the things she could get herself into that would send her right to the clinic. Dust. Sharp edges. A floor could fall in and she could break her leg.

There was a reason none of us had ever tried to go in there. We had no idea what age had done to it, and none of us knew how to make a library as massive as this usable again, even if the mysterious STM grant covered costs.

Before I realized what I was doing, my foot was on the fence, and I followed her movements. When I landed on my feet, her green eyes were wide. “You’re following me? Why?”

“I’m making sure you don’t get hurt in there.”

“But you don’t?—”

I crossed my arms. “I wouldn’t let you sit on the side of the road by yourself. What makes you think I’m letting you go into an abandoned library alone?”

She blinked, mouth falling open for a second, but then she shook herself out of it. “This is not gonna be a thing you enjoy.”

“And how do you know what I enjoy?”

She let out a bark of laughter. “All right, you have me there. But seriously, old buildings like this are gross. Dusty. Dirty.”

“Possibly filled with things to fall and get hurt on,” I added. “I’m ready for all of those things.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You are?”

“I’m a doctor. My first priority is making sure people stay healthy. You’re gonna do this whether I approve or not.” I took in a lungful of air. “So, I might as well go with you.”

“I didn’t think politeness in this town went as far as breaking and entering,” she said. “But I won’t complain if I have company. Though, you might once I get in here.”

“I can handle more than you think.”

Wren’s cheeks grew pink. She turned to the building and made a path through the tall grass and weeds until we were at what used to be the back door.

It was boarded up, but I could picture this courtyard being something beautiful.

A stone path used to lead to a few tables and chairs where readers would sit.

Wren tried to move the door, but it didn’t budge. I wondered if it was game over, but then her eyes moved upward. “There! One of the windows is broken.”

“That’s a second-story window,” I said.

“And I never leave home without my ladder in my truck.”

She was gone before I could process the fact that she always had a ladder and intended on using it.

There was a clang as she launched it over the fence and then followed.

“Wait a minute,” I said as she leaned it against the brick. “How do you know it’s safe in there?”

“I don’t.”

“Wren—” Before I could talk some sense into her, she’d gotten the ladder to where she needed it and was scrambling up to the window.

Wren was an explorer.

And a danger to herself.

“There’s no shame if this is where you stop.” She peered down at me as she was halfway up. “If anyone asks, you saw nothing. And if I disappear ...” She shrugged. “Well, tell everyone I died doing what I loved.”

Correction: She was a danger to me . Just listening to her had my heart racing.

There was no way I was letting her do this alone.

That was the only logical reason I had for climbing up onto the ladder behind her. I didn’t love heights, but at least I could make sure she didn’t get hurt in there.

“Wren, slow down,” I said. “At least make sure it’s safe.”

She turned with wide eyes. “You’re coming with me?”

“You’re determined to do this. I’m determined to make sure you don’t fall through something.”

“You could call the cops to stop me, you know.”

“You’re overestimating how much the local sheriff here can do. If anything, he’d wait outside.”

“So, you’re telling me you’re braver than the sheriff?”

“I don’t know about that ?—”

She tilted her head to one side. “You wanna see inside of here too, don’t you?”

The second she said it, I knew she was right. I’d stared at this place since I first moved here. Instead of giving her an answer, I turned to make sure no one was walking down the sidewalks. “We need to get moving before someone catches us.”

She laughed. “You are not what I expected.”

Neither was she.

Wren barely fit through the window. I had a bit more trouble, but made it inside too.

The air was musty, and the old carpeted floors were probably the culprit. Wren used her phone as a flashlight to illuminate rows of metal shelves. This was a massive space, and the shelving stretched as far as the eye could see.

I’d never been in a building that had sat empty as long as this. I thought I knew what to expect, but this was still so much darker than I assumed.

“This was huge ,” she said.

“People said it was.” Still, it didn’t do it justice. How much information had been in here? What all had been lost?

“This is in incredible shape for how long it’s stood empty.” Her voice was quiet as she walked, but I could barely make out her words. She was in awe, just like I was. “It’s got good bones.”

Wren walked along the empty hallway, shining her phone’s flashlight down each pathway. I followed and pulled mine out, doing the same. This was once a bustling library. Who had walked these floors? What books were here?

It was empty. Forgotten to time.

The opposite of haunted.

Eventually, the shelves ended, leaving an open space that looked down onto the first floor.

“What are the odds that I fall if I get close to that?” she asked.

“It’s an overhang that was abandoned for ten years.”

“I’m willing to risk it.” She walked forward. My gaze followed the old wood and saw the way it leaned. Even the stairs buckled.

I grabbed her arm and pulled her back to me before I could stop myself. “Bad idea. That can’t support you.”

She was silent, and I regretted how firm I’d been. “I think you’re right. I should’ve caught that. I’m too distracted by everything in here.”

Wren walked off and I shook my hand. It tingled from where I’d touched her.

I didn’t do this. I didn’t touch women without their permission. I didn’t tell them what to do.

Then again, I didn’t break into abandoned buildings either.

Still. It needed to be a fluke. A single mistake.

“There has to be another way down, right? A back staircase?”

“You’re asking the wrong guy,” I said. She headed back to where we came from and I followed her.

“I’m gonna hunt for it.”

“I’ll go with you.”

The surprise from me following her must have faded, because she turned with a smile. “That’s what I was hoping for.”

We came to another clearing where there was a wooden desk taking up a corner.

“Cool,” she said. “I wonder if anything was left behind.”

We walked around it. Nothing physical remained, but there were markings in the wood.

“M and H,” I said to myself. “Marjorie and Henrietta.”

“What?” Wren asked.

“Two of the ladies that live here. They used to run the library. Marjorie and Henrietta. They left a mark.”

I could practically see them here. Marjorie would have been the one to do it while Henrietta scolded her.

“Wow,” she said. “I’ve seen a lot of things like this, but I never get to hear about the people who did it. What’s left behind is usually a mystery.”

“It’s still here.” I looked out over the empty space. “I wish more was.”

Wren took everything in and an eerie silence settled over both of us. “We haven’t seen it all yet. Come on, there has to be another staircase somewhere.”

It took a bit of exploring to find another way down. The stairs were tucked into a corner that was darker than everything else. Dust specks drifted in the air as we slowly headed toward them.

Most everything was in good shape, but these steps were wobbly at best. They appeared to be wood underneath the old carpet, and time hadn’t been kind to them.

Wren was quiet as we moved, but I kept an eye on her. She had started descending in front of me, and I assumed she was taking it all in.

Then, a step collapsed underneath her.

My hands wrapped around her waist before she could fall, and I pulled her flush to my front.

“Careful,” I said in a low voice.

“Jesus. It’s been a long time since that’s happened to me. I’m off today. Thanks for catching me.”

Her body was warm against mine, and it took me a second longer than it should have to let her go.

Something pressed into the back of my mind. It had been bothering me since I grabbed her upstairs. A detail from today that I needed to remember.

Wren wasn’t single.

Horror climbed onto my cheeks, shame making them hot.

Wren didn’t seem to take note of it. She continued her trek downstairs, stepping far more carefully this time.

“Are you still coming? Or do you sense more danger?”

I blinked out of my thoughts. Wren had gotten to the bottom of the steps and had turned to look at me with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m still following.” I caught up with her. “But about the stair ...”

She’d opened the door at the bottom, eyes going wide. “Hold that thought.”

She waved me forward, and suddenly, I was too busy marveling over the first floor to finish my thought. It was much more open, with meeting spaces and a colorful kids’ section. The tiles were faded, but we could tell they matched all the colors of the paint on the buildings in the square.

“Holy shit,” Wren whispered. Her eyes were on the wall behind us.

I turned and saw the remnants of a mural of the entire town. Bennie Grove Farm was on it, as well as every single building in the square. Things had changed over the years, like store names, but this was a snapshot of the town from years ago.

“All of this,” she said as she walked up to it, “it’s just standing here empty .”

“Like an eyesore,” I added.

“God, I bet the people here miss it.”

“ I miss it and I wasn’t even here for it.

I’ve heard it was more than a library. The town hall was connected to the back.

People had parties. The government offices were here, but it all closed when the library did.

I wish there was something to be done, but even if we had the funding, a project like this would be massive. ”

“Way bigger than a mansion,” she muttered.

I would have let her stay as long as she wanted, but my lungs were already burning from the musty air, and I knew hers had to be too.

“We should go,” I said. “It can’t be good for us to stay in here too long.”

“You’re right. I have a few calls to make anyway.”

We made it back up the stairs, but my thoughts were no longer with the library. They were on Wren. If she was going to be calling people, I wondered if her costar boyfriend was one of them.

After we were in fresh air and on solid ground, I knew I couldn’t leave it.

“Hey, about what happened in there ... I’m sorry.”

She turned. “What are you talking about?”

“The stair breaking. Me grabbing you. Twice. After what Kerry said, about you and ... Jude, was it? I didn’t mean anything by that. I don’t make moves on women in relationships.”

Wren raised an eyebrow. “But you just saved me from falling.”

“Still,” I said. “It matters to me.”

Wren huffed out a laugh. “That’s very sweet of you, but ... you don’t have to worry about apologizing.”

“But Kerry said you and Jude are?—”

“Jude and I aren’t ... anything.”

My brow pinched. “Did Kerry misunderstand something?”

She shuffled her feet. “No, the show says we’re together. But it’s show business. They want a couple for people to root for. And that’s all it is.”

“You’re not really . . .”

“Nope.”

Was that a thing people did? Pretended to be together?

“I see,” I replied. “But if there are rules about this thing, or I ever cross a line, let me know.”

Despite her newfound rigid posture, she smiled. “I will. But I don’t think we’ll have an issue with that. You’re probably one of the most polite people I’ve met. Thank you for exploring the abandoned library with me.”

She thought of me as polite. Good. I hadn’t messed this up that badly, then.

“You’re welcome,” I said, giving her one last smile before she walked off.

It then hit me that it was way past my usual dinnertime, and I needed to get home or else my whole night would be off. Messing with the routines that kept me together wasn’t something I did easily.

After I made dinner, I hopped in the shower to scrub off all the dust. Then I checked social media to see if anything was happening in town. I answered something Kerry tagged me in before going through my feed.

That was when I saw it was Norah’s and Ace’s two-year anniversary. She’d reposted the picture of their wedding where they were surrounded by family and friends. Both of them had always been like that. They loved being the center of attention. I tried to like it, once upon a time ...

And then I couldn’t anymore.

Mom had been at the wedding, though I wasn’t invited. With how things had been left, I wasn’t surprised. I was shocked they’d even sent me friend requests on Facebook.

With a sigh, I liked the post and shut off the phone for the night. I hadn’t followed my routine closely since Wren’s arrival, and I knew I would regret it if I didn’t get back to my usual. I’d done well in Strawberry Springs. People saw me as a dependable doctor.

If that facade shattered, I wasn’t sure if they could get past it.

Ace and Norah sure hadn’t.