Page 96 of Woods of the Raven

“You’re a romantic, Lorne. Did you know that?”

He grunted. “Don’t get me wrong, I know back in the day things were different and a woman couldn’t just provide for herself and her children if things went south, but you always have to gamble on love, don’t you think?”

“I do,” I agreed, smiling at him.

“It sounds like Hillary was ready.”

“It was her parents who disappointed her,” I said, thinking how sad it was that she’d thought something that wasn’t true about the man she loved. He hadn’t left her, and I would need to find a way to tell her that.

Once we parked in the circular driveway of the enormous three-story Georgian colonial the Hernandezes had built when Jesus became a councilman, and were about to get out—both of our doors open—Taylor came charging down the front steps of her home, yelling at me that she wasn’t giving them back yet.

Lorne seemed about to say something to her, when I roared back, “I’m not even out of the car yet, you crazy person!”

She closed her mouth and stood up straight.

“You can’t keep maps from the reference section of the library, no matter how big of an ass Joanna Milton is to you.”

She deflated.

“But,” I went on, “you can hand them over to the chief now, and no one has to be the wiser.”

Her head snapped up at that, and she looked at Lorne all hopeful.

“Absolutely,” he said gruffly, following my lead, “if you help us with something.”

“Yes, yes of course,” she assured him.

“Go get the map, and then come back out and talk to us.”

“Why don’t you come inside and warm up,” she offered. “I have some of that amazing tea of yours and—”

“We need to do this quickly,” Lorne interrupted. “This isn’t a social call. We’re coming to you for help.”

“Oh, okay, sure. I’ll be right back.”

“How did you know she was guilty of something?” Lorne asked me the second she was gone.

“It’s because our reference librarian is a real piece of work.”

“What?”

As we got out of the Jeep, I explained all about Joanna Milton and how much she hated helping people, even though that was basically her entire job.

“Seriously?”

“Yes,” Taylor huffed out as she crossed over to the Jeep with a leather map case slung over her shoulder. When she reached us, she took the strap off her shoulder and handed it to Lorne. “She’s a terrible person, and if Xander doesn’t get back soon, I will take these permanently because someone who cares should watch over them.”

“I agree,” I told her, patting her arm. “Hopefully they’ll call me soon.”

“Call you?” she asked, perking up.

I pulled my new phone out of the back pocket of my jeans. “Yeah, see?”

“Oh, that’s amazing. Now I can just call you when I have questions about something. Gimme that.” She motioned to my phone.

Passing it over so we could swap numbers, I asked her if she had ever heard of Parker’s Ferry.

“What are you talking about? Of course I know Parker’s Ferry. You do too. We used to swim down there in the summers before—” She looked up at me. “I’m sorry my mother was so stupid back then, Xan.”