Page 78 of Booked for Theft

NINETEEN

I chuckled at her hesitancy to discuss my health situation.

Armed with a bank card Mr. Tawnlen delivered early on Saturday morning, I logged some overtime along with Beatrice and Mickey, and we went on a rampage through every used bookstore within a mile of our branch, all of which had been approved with the bank for purchases of any amount. We loaned Mickey our family car and I drove my SUV, and we braved the city streets in search of treasure.

Parking proved to be an adventure as always, and Bradley made use of his connections, contacted someone at the Met, and received permission to use their loading zone to drop off our collection. Not only did they give us full usage of their loading zone, but they located recruits who were willing to haul carts between the Met and our branch.

Then, in true New York fashion, random passersby discovered what we were doing and joined our cause, resulting in a parade of books and unintended publicity. On our fourth such venture, I opted to stay at the Met and help with the latest trip to the branch, commandeering one of the carts and filling it to its maximum capacity for some exercise. A reporter, a woman I’d seen on television a few times, joined me in organizing the books so they could be transported efficiently. “May I ask some questions, Janette?”

I appreciated when reporters remembered my name, and I grinned at the woman. “Sure, just please remind me of your name. I have book titles and author names crammed into my head right now. I called my own fiancé ‘hey, you’ earlier, as even his name escaped.”

She laughed. “I’m Kaley. I went to the St. Patrick Cathedral website yesterday and noticed there was a TBD registration for your wedding ceremony. Is there anything you can tell me about that?”

Huh. The cathedral had posted the event? Puzzled, I paused my work to fetch my phone, went to the website, and found their page for special events. Sure enough, tucked under the heading for future events, the cathedral had made an announcement they would be hosting our ceremony. “Oh! They really did. I hadn’t thought they would. The clergy have been gracious and kind to us, and they made the offer to Bradley to host our official marriage ceremony, which he accepted. I’ve always loved the cathedral. It’s such an important part of the city’s history, and it’s such a beautiful place. They also do such good outreach work in our area.” Smiling over the whole thing, I dumped my phone to my pocket before returning to checking over my cart so no books would be damaged during transit. “Thank you for letting me know. I knew he’d accepted the offer and it was part of our plans, but I hadn’t realized the cathedral had put it on their website.”

“Are you part of the parish?”

I shook my head. “We’ll be attending services starting next week, but we are honorary guests rather than members of their storied establishment. We’re quite private people when it comes to our beliefs, but I guess word about how much I love the cathedral got spread around, and the clergy believe in actions as much as they do their religious texts and words. I appreciate that deeply. I love helping my community, and we share that common cause.”

Kaley joined me in smiling. “That’s wonderful. What is going on here today? There is nothing in the public records about an event at the Met. Is there anything you can tell us?”

I regarded the books, struggling to keep smiling at the edge of grief that crept in. “Senator Thaddens, may he rest in peace, loved old books and history.” I pointed in the direction of the branch. “We were given permission to transform one of our empty floors into a history wing, which we will be dedicating in his honor. Acquisition of non-fiction historical books from the AD era is the first phase of our project. I was gifted with some treasures, which I will be having duplicated so that the library can have a copy. I’ll also be offering a copy to the Met for display, and I will consider loaning the originals for limited periods and special events. Senator Thaddens, before his death, gave me a pair of codices that depict Emperor Hadrian’s architectural exploits. It’s a jewel of knowledge, and I want to share it with the community. I’m going to make a scale model of a villa pictured within. It’s absolutely stunning.”

The reporter bowed her head and made a gesture crossing her heart, something I recognized from the Catholic church. “May he rest in peace. I was under the impression that you worked weekdays?”

“I do. I’m putting in some overtime because Saturday is prime bookstore shopping time, and I didn’t want to lose primary hours on shopping ventures. Unlike standard acquisitions, which are done through current publishers, we’re seeking original historical titles, most of which have been long out of print. We’ll have a section for AD printings and MR printings, so patrons will be able to browse modern and historic sources for information. As the project is being specially funded through private donors, we have a lot of leeway. Funds from the government are used under strict guidelines so there are no fiscal abuses within the library system.” As the cart passed my scrutiny, I unlocked the wheels and began the process of shoving it down the street, grunting at its weight. “Private donors can tell us what they want the money to be spent on, and we do our best to respect that. Should we exceed our budget for their specific contribution, we put it in holding until it’s needed. AD books tend to have a higher price tag than normal acquisitions, so I expect to use every penny of the acquisition funds filling the floor.” To spare myself from having to cross streets more than necessary, I stayed on the Met and park side of the road until we got close to the branch, huffing and puffing away.

The reporter followed along, and we ended up taking turns pushing my prizes towards their new home. “If it isn’t an issue, may I ask how your foot is doing?”

I chuckled at her hesitancy to discuss my health situation, something I failed to understand. “It’ll be a little sore tonight, but I’ll soak it, and if it doesn’t feel normal, I’ll visit my doctor again. But so far, so good. I’ve recovered well. I haven’t tried running or anything energetic with it yet, though. I’m sure that’s coming. For the moment, I’m to walk around a lot to build strength back. If my doctor had her way, she’d have me walking two hours a day. Fortunately, being a librarian involves a lot of moving around, so I have managed to keep her appeased. I pace around at home a lot, too.”

As I had no idea who would watch the interview, as the reporter’s cameraman followed us around recording every moment, I would not be informing the woman I walked to work.

Then again, the fact I walked without pain had, a year ago, seemed more like a pipe dream rather than a possible reality. The consequences of my former disability would remain for the rest of my life, and I held some hope I might be able to better the lives of those who wore the same shoes with no hope of improvement.

Accidents could happen to anyone, and all it took was a poor choice and a split second to go from healthy to disabled. I wouldn’t remind the reporter of that, as the last thing I wanted to do was relive my painful past and the circumstances that had cost me so much.

Those same circumstances had won me a great deal as well, and I refused to question if Bradley was worth the price.

He had been worth every sacrifice then.

He was worth every sacrifice now.

“When do you think the new wing of your branch will open?”

Worrying about work beat a trip down memory lane, and I took a moment to consider my answer. “That’s a good question,” I confessed. “It depends on how quickly we can source books, get the shelving units installed, and organize the new collection. We might be able to tentatively open the section in a few weeks.” I gave the cart a pat and smiled. “This is just the very beginning of the collection. It truly depends on the acquisition process. We’ve only started, and we made our initial purchases at local used shops. I’m afraid that we cleared out all my favorite stores of their AD stock that met our base requirements for the collection.”

Kaley giggled. “Is it possible for people to donate books to the library for this collection?”

“Yes, it is.” I detailed how interested patrons might be able to donate books, the requirements for the books to be added to the collection, and how to contact the library with the list of potential books. “Books that do not make it into the collection will either be returned to the original owner or passed along to other libraries working on similar projects. Ideally, we’ll confirm if the books can be included in the collection before they’re donated, as we have rules we have to follow before a book can be added.”

We made it to the library, and after exchanging pleasantries, the reporter thanked me for my time before letting me resume my work. I retrieved a cart from inside and ferried everything up the steps.

Our location couldn’t fit a ramp even if we wanted one.

Historic buildings tended to suffer from accessibility issues, although the main branch had undergone a great deal of work to install a ramp while preserving the building’s exterior and interior. Patrons with disabilities requiring elevator access had to go to a specific wing to access the upper floors, but their ramp into the building worked well.

Our branch didn’t have the ability to install a safe ramp without completely removing sidewalk access.