Page 24 of Two’s A Charm

Effie checked her watch. The library awaited. And she needed an hour of peace and quiet before the patrons started filing in to ask about a book with a green cover by an author whose name possibly started with a T, or to insist that the library needed a donation of their outdated encyclopaedias.

‘I’d better get to work,’ Effie said, apologetically. Hopefully apologetically enough that Theo would get the hint and find something else to do with his morning. There was plenty to do in town: the parks, the hikes, the hot springs at the Toto Hotel. Even if it was pouring out.

As she hefted her book bag (the one that said The Contents of This Bag Are Dangerous to Small Minds ), Bonnie’s friends looked faintly relieved.

This shifted to amusement when Theo grabbed his sausage-dog planter and made to follow her.

‘Let me know about the house!’ called Hannah.

Effie shouldered open the door, awkwardly juggling the coffee cup and book bag as she tried to reach for her umbrella.

If she were somewhere quieter, she’d use magic to protect herself from the rain, but she didn’t want to run that risk in the busy town square, especially not with Theo in tow.

She’d almost revealed herself a couple of times already, and Theo seemed perceptive.

There’d be a point where he quizzed her about the green glow that seemed to show up whenever she was around.

Theo stooped to grab the umbrella.

‘Not this time.’ Effie snatched it off him, giving him a light jab with the not insubstantial spike on the top.

‘Oof,’ said Theo, feigning the weight of a mortal wound. ‘Did you just stab me? On purpose?’

‘Would you prefer I whack you with the handle?’ Effie brandished the beady-eyed carved duck that comprised the other end of the umbrella.

It was quite sturdy, and very good for whacking.

In fact, she’d used it as an improvised croquet mallet during Tessa’s Alice in Wonderland -themed twenty-first birthday party.

‘You’re going to whack me for my gallantry?’

‘Clearly,’ said Effie. ‘Besides, you have your hands full.’

He did, somewhat, between the dog planter and the coffee cup.

He sighed. ‘Who am I to argue with a champion fencer? Let’s get this library of yours opened up.’ Pulling up the collar on his jacket, he followed her out into the rain.

As they crossed the square and headed down the street towards the library, a gust of wind turned Effie’s umbrella inside out.

Her wrists glowed green beneath the cuffs of her cardigan, but she quelled her magic.

Any other time, she would’ve quickly turned the umbrella back, but she didn’t want to invite more questions from Theo.

All right, so she did. Just not about her magic.

‘Here.’ Theo took the umbrella and turned it the right way. He passed it back to her as though it were a bouquet of flowers.

Effie flushed at the gesture. Figuring she was in his debt, even in a small way, she squashed her inner prickliness and asked him about his experiences in the town so far.

His green eyes sparkled as he described the routes of his morning runs and the long chats he’d had with Bruce Dickens about hair metal music.

‘That little bakery is good, too. The one Bonnie’s boyfriend works at?’

‘Bonnie’s boyfriend?’ Effie frowned. ‘Oh, Bobby! He’s not.

..’ She paused, not wanting to say that Bonnie was single, actually, and that even though she and Bobby would actually make a lovely couple, she’d never consider it.

That, in fact, Theo was more Bonnie’s type.

‘Bobby’s our neighbour,’ she finished, lamely.

‘Ah,’ said Theo thoughtfully. ‘A good neighbour to have. You must be swimming in day-old pastries.’

‘We’re very popular with the ducks.’

They arrived at the library, which sat stately and quiet beneath the morning drizzle.

Effie loved this time of day, even when the clouds sat dark and heavy.

The morning sun still found a way to break through and sparkle on the leadlight windows, gleaming against the freshly painted railings and the planter that Effie had installed in honour of Mom.

Lyra had spent every free Saturday morning here with Effie, picking through the vintage picture books at the shop where the library sold off its old volumes.

‘Here, let me take Thomas his pastry first,’ she said. She went round to the back of the library, where Thomas was huddled in his old truck in the parking lot. She popped the treat on the hood and gave him a thumbs up.

‘I need to fill up the food pantry, too,’ she told Theo, as she made her way up the steps that led to the front entrance, before shaking out her umbrella. ‘The Friends are always after canned and boxed food for that. And snacks for the kids on weekends or when school’s out.’

Theo nodded, waiting for her to unlock the door and disable the alarm. Then he frowned, pointing at a tear in the screen on one of the windows near the door. ‘There’s one to report to maintenance. A gust of wind must have got to it.’

Great. Mentally adding the torn screen to her list of things to deal with, Effie opened the door, gesturing for Theo to go ahead of her.

As he went past, she was painfully and awkwardly aware of his proximity to her, and how they were both equally drenched from the morning mizzle.

Theo removed his jacket, revealing a shirt that was see-through where it clung to his abs.

What’s more, the hair at his collar was damp. Jane Austen would have wept.

Maybe Theo wasn’t so bad after all.

But then...

‘What on earth?’ she whispered.

‘Oh shit,’ said Theo.

Books and magazines were strewn all over the floor, in the children’s reading area, between the stacks, around the circulation desk.

And not just books. Effie’s rock display was scattered all over, and the crocheted turtles were on their backs on the tables.

Derek and George’s chess pieces rolled sadly about on the carpet, with the board upended on a beanbag.

The library ghost had struck again.