Page 20 of Last Call at the Doghouse

The autumnal equinox would arrive in a matter of days, and there would be yet another celebration. Springers loved any excuse for a party. The gathering wouldn’t be what anyone would call peaceful, she suspected.

Duncan parked in front of Eve’s Cafe, which Armi knew from Aunt Helen’s emails was no longer being run by Eve Franklin. Eve Benedict, now, cousin Travis’s wife and a new mother. Likewise Ivy’s Bakery had been bought out by a newcomer, a Springer returnee, since Ivy had married a baseball star and stayed on the road most of the year. Everyone in town bemoaned the fact that the new baker did not have the ability to make decadent, calorie-free treats.

They crossed the street; the library was straight ahead. “I’m going to introduce you as Mitch and leave out the Duncan,” Armi said as she kept stride with him.

“Why?” he asked.

“According to Aunt Helen, your cousin isn’t exactly the most popular woman in town. Might as well not ask for trouble by making a connection right out of the gate.”

“What did Molly do?”

“I don’t know, Aunt Helen wouldn’t share specifics. She just advised me to steer clear, when I was here in June. Are y’all close?”

He laughed. “I haven’t seen Molly since she was a kid, so that’s a big no.”

She wished he’d been more specific about what he was looking for today. He said his father had suggested he check out the library for more information, but that in itself wasn’t helpful. They were looking for a book, she knew that much, but she didn’t have a title or an author, much less a Dewey Decimal Classification. That would be far too easy.

Nothing about her post-divorce life had been easy. Why should this be any different?

Recent growth or no, Mystic Springs remained a small town. Kids should be in school. Even Springers had to support themselves somehow, so many would be working, either at home or elsewhere. There probably weren’t more than two or three people in the library…

Duncan opened the door for her and she stepped inside. Yeah, two or three people would’ve been nice. Instead there was Aunt Helen, her new beau, three of their elderly friends—two women and a man—and cousins Travis and Luke. She could outrun Helen and her bunch. She wasn’t sure about the cousins.

If Mike had been here all three of her interfering cousins would be present. Thank goodness one of them had an actual job they couldn’t bail on at a moment’s notice.

“There you are!” Helen said. “I’d begun to think my abilities were failing me more drastically than I realized.” That statement was followed by a hug, a good one, and a quick re-introduction to the elderly friends Armi had met in June. Travis and Luke stared at Duncan in the calculating way a protective relative might. She rarely saw her cousins, but they kept in touch on social media and managed the occasional phone call or text, especially since her move back to Alabama.

Still, she was a grown woman, not a teenager. When she’d been a teenager, they’d been annoying little kids! Cute kids, but still… She mouthed back off at them both, and they smiled.

“Where’s the librarian?” Armi asked. The only people she saw, gathered there near the front desk, were her relatives and residents of the town’s retirement home, The Egg.

“Oh, we sent Marnie home for a bit, told her we’d watch the library for her so she could have lunch with her husband and little boy. Monday isn’t a particularly busy day, and besides, we don’t need a nosy parker listening in on our family business. I love Marnie, but she is more inquisitive than most.” With that, she looked pointedly at Duncan.

“This is my friend Mitch,” Armi said, glancing at the man who stood beside her. “We can trust him.” She didn’t really want to get into the shield, protector, servant thing, not now or, well, ever.

“How do you do, young man,” Helen said, offering her hand.

Duncan took that hand, gave Helen a wicked, crooked smile, and said in that gravelly voice that made Armi’s insides quiver, “It’s a pleasure, ma’am.” Then he kissed the hand he held. Helen grinned like a girl.

Her beau Tobias didn’t like it much.

“You knew I was coming,” Armi said, looking down at her aunt.

“Well, of course I did. You need me.” With that she turned, took her suitor’s arm, and walked away. Armi followed. So did everyone else. They formed a little parade, moving slowly down one aisle and then another to the back of the library. Where there was… nothing. Talk about a dead end!

Until Helen and her two female friends joined hands and whispered words Armi could not identify. If it was a foreign language, she’d never heard it before now. If this wasn’t Mystic Springs she’d be concerned about their mental stability.

When things in the back corner seemed to melt, she forgot all about the odd words. Armi was no stranger to magic, but it had been a long time. To watch a section of the library shimmer and melt and change was a shock to the system.

Duncan muttered a foul word, which made Helen’s friend Ramona scowl at him. The obvious disapproval only lasted a moment. Even she was charmed when he apologized and nodded his head in her direction.

Helen stepped into the enchanted area of the library. Where moments ago there had been nothing sat a huge, old desk, and wooden shelves filled with books. Old books. Ancient books. Tobias stayed close to Helen as she chose a shelf and reached up to scan the spines with her fingertips. “I know it’s here somewhere,” she muttered.

Ramona shook her head. “I did think I’d remember…”

Ginger joined her friends, looking at yet another shelf. “I think it might be over here,” she said. “Wasn’t it near the werewolf history and the banned potions cookbook?”

“Oh, I think you’re right,” Helen said. “Your memory is so much better than mine.” She and Tobias joined Ginger, and in moments they came up with a thin, red leather book with gold embossing on the cover. There were no words on the cover, just a large, gold, elaborate shield.