Most people were good. He was just a person who needed a book from the library. It was my job to help him and to make him feel welcome. He hadn’t been anything but polite. But I couldn’t see his shadowed face clearly, and something about him made my stomach tighten and my head dizzy. I wished I could just hide out in my corner of the library watching over the kids until he was gone instead of following him into the stacks.
“Here we are,” I said professionally. “It’s on the second shelf, alphabetized by the author’s name.” I beelined to its spot, more than ready to be finished with him. My heart dropped as I scanned the titles and didn’t see it. He looked at the books, too, moving closer. Too close. Thick, suffocating energy swirled between us, sucking all the oxygen out of the air. Out of my lungs. Forcing myself to focus on the call numbers, I found two books that should’ve been on the bottom shelf. I squatted down, hoping it was an easy swap, and the correct book would be right there on the bottom. He leaned in, looking over my head at the books on the middle shelves. Nothing wrong with what he was doing. But it felt so, so wrong. I fought the urge to adjust my skirt. I was on and off the floor all the time with the kids, and I knew the long maxi skirt was pooled around me, showing nothing. But with him standing over me, I felt exposed.
It wasn’t down there either. There was a book from the next section over, though. A chill ran through me. Could he have...?
No. That was ridiculous. I started to stand, scanning the shelves on my way up. He stepped even closer into my space, towering over me, his scuffed, black boots nearly on my skirt, his big hand reaching down for me, and in my half-squat, I was helpless to get away.
His hand, cold and clammy, grabbed my arm. I yanked back, scrambling, practically falling, and finally clambered to my feet. “Don’t touch me.”
He held his hands up. “I was just helping.”
“I don’t need help.”
“I see that. Pardon me.”
“It’s okay,” I said, but my gut clenched as his words pulled at a fuzzy memory.
A couple of weeks ago, while walking Thor in Atteren park, a man had blocked my path, then he’d brushed against my side as he passed. I’d felt uneasy, and his murmuredPardon mehad somehow made it feel more ominous. Thor had even growled at him.
I couldn’t pull up a mental image of the man from the park, although he’d seemed older than this guy. Then again, I had no idea how old this guy was. Nothing about the way he looked, spoke, or moved was congruent.
Pull it together, Jenna. I might be a scaredy cat, but I had to be a professional scaredy cat.“Pardon me” wasn’t a commonly used phrase, but it wasn’t that unusual either. Besides, even if it was the same person, unlikely as that was, it wouldn’t be the first time I’d seen a library patron out in the community.
“My apologies, I didn’t mean to overreact.”
He nodded and looked at my feet, his hood covering even more of his face. It hit me again how much I hated that I could barely see his face. I hurried to the next section over and, thank goodness, found the book there. “Here it is.” I handed him the book and stepped back.
“Thank you, Jenna. I truly appreciate your help.” He lifted his head, and for the first time, I got a slight look at his face. Small, dark, cold eyes. A thin, tight smile. Seeing his face did not make me feel any better.
“My pleasure. You can bring it over to the main circulation desk to check out. Have a great day.” I backed away, smiling as I kept him in my sights to mitigate the offensiveness of not turning around and walking like a normal person.
Every inch of my body shook as I made my way back to the children’s section. I slid behind the desk and busied myself on the computer. I would’ve loved a minute of privacy in the bathroom or the empty activity room, but it was safer out here. If he followed me into an empty room…
“Jenna?”
I jumped before realizing it was just Izzy.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
She raised an eyebrow, disbelief in her dark brown eyes.
“Really, I was just caught up in this. Look what I found for Mother’s Day.” I turned the monitor to face her, glad the picture I’d been staring at for way too long was still there. “Handprint flowers, because you know I love kids’ handprints.”
“That’s adorable. And it’ll be easy to change the wording to be grandma or mom or anything else.”
Thank goodness the distraction worked. “Yep. All we’ll need is paper, paint, paintbrushes, and markers.”
“Love it! But I’m glad you’ll be the one dealing with the kids and their paint-covered hands. Now, tell me what’s really?—”
“Jenna! Isabella!” Robert, the library director, shouted out as he barreled into the children’s section.
Izzy and I shared a look and hurried over to meet him.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“It’s wonderful! Remember that grant you won for the sensory room? The board just awarded SJZ Construction the bid and accepted their final plans. They’re moving forward with the construction next week.”