Free Leaving Liberty by Virginia Carmichael

shoulder and let out a squawk of surprise as it
continued into the air.
               
“Let me take that. And that.” Lane stooped to take Nita’s tote and nodded at
her. “Morning, Nita.” He’d come up on the grass beside them, footsteps muffled
by the damp earth. Sammy ran to greet them with bright eyes, mouth open, tongue
lolling.
               
“Morning, Lane.” Nita turned and headed up the steps as if a man in full police
uniform was the obvious answer to their problems.
               
“You don’t have to do that.” Daisy looked up at him, noting the cap pulled low
on his brow, narrowing her eyes against his too-handsome face. Hero complex all
the way. He probably would have had nightmares if he’d been forced to walk on
by a woman in ‘need’. Well, newsflash, she was perfectly okay with carrying her
own bag, even if it did weigh about forty pounds.
               
“You want it back?” His voice was deeper than she remembered. One side of that
perfect mouth was lifting up, eyebrows raised.
               
“Yes, actually.”
               
But he didn’t hand it back. Lane stood there, head tilted to one side, both
totes balanced easily. “Why?”
               
“Because you don’t think I should be here. You don’t want the library to stay
open. This,” she pointed at the tote, “might be against your principles.” She
couldn’t help the edge in her voice. It still niggled that he’d wanted to deny
her that cabin.
    Sammy nudged her leg with his big golden
body, as if to say she should get over it so they could all be best friends.
She lowered a hand and scratched his head, unable to resist his dog friendliness.
Resisting his owner was no problem.
               
 “True, I don’t think we should prolong the process, but I can certainly
carry a bag of books without an attack of conscience.”
               
“Huh.” Daisy crossed her arms over her chest. Maybe she was pushing her luck.
If she really wanted him to stay out of her business, to not give her any help
at all, that would apply to the pretty little place she’d just signed papers on
for the summer. He could cancel the lease, make her life harder than it already
was. But somehow she knew Lane wasn’t that type of guy.
               
“You’re stubborn.”
               
“Why, thank you.” She didn’t budge.
               
He lowered the tote to her level, waiting for her to grab hold, keeping Nita’s
on his other shoulder. He touched the brim of his hat, not moving it much, more
of a reflexive gesture than an adjustment. “So where do we draw the line? Does
this mean I can’t check out any books?”
               
“I would never do that.” Daisy looked up quickly, ready to launch into a
description of how much she believed in libraries, but caught the flash of
laughter in his eyes. He thought this was all just a joke and she was the punch
line. Irritation bloomed in her chest. “But how about we skip the
hot-cop-rescues-stranger-in-town part and just get on with our lives.”
               
As soon as the words were out of her mouth she wanted to snatch them back.
Geez. If this wasn’t her life in Liberty in a nutshell.
               
His eyebrows rose and he looked like he was searching for something to say.
“Hot cop?”
               
“Sorry. Inappropriate. I’m not getting a lot of sleep. Rhonda’s basset hound
barks from the moment the sun comes up. He’s like the dog version of a
rooster.”
               
“When are you moving to the cabin? Do you need any help?” He looked genuinely
concerned.
               
Again with the helpfulness. “Thanks, but I don’t really have anything. I think
I’ll return the rental and buy a bike to get to the library and back. My
clothes will be shipped from home soon.”
               
He