Free Firefly Hollow by T. L. Haddix Page B

get a job. I’ve been helping my mother with everything that needed done after we lost Daddy, but it’s time for me to go to work.”
    The older woman gave her a kinder look than before. “It isn’t easy to have to give up something we want for family.”
    “I don’t… I don’t feel like I’m giving up anything, necessarily. It’s more that my life has changed, and this is the path I’m traveling now. It wouldn’t do me any good to wish for what my life used to be. I can’t focus on the past. I have to move forward.”
    “Moving forward doesn’t mean the past doesn’t hurt.”
    “No, ma’am.”
    With a decisive nod, Shirley laid her hands on the counter. “I’ll tell you what. I still have to get the library director’s approval and put calls in to your references, but if you’re serious about wanting this job…”
    “Oh, I am. I promise you,” Sarah said.
    “Good. Then why don’t you plan on being here tomorrow morning at eight-thirty? Do you have a car, or do you have to get a ride to town?”
    “I have a car.”
    Shirley smiled. “Good.” She told Sarah how much they’d pay starting out, an amount lower than she would have made as a teacher, but not bad, all things considered. After a few more minutes of discussion, Sarah bid the woman farewell and left. She deposited the books in her car and went into the drugstore to tell Gilly the good news.
    “You’re kidding,” Gilly said, her eyes wide. “They offered you the job on the spot? Oh, Sarah, that’s wonderful! Are you excited?”
    Sarah laughed. “I am. I didn’t expect to be, but I am. Hopefully, this will make Mama smile.”
    “How is she?”
    “As well as you would expect. She has good days and bad. I think she’s going back to cleaning one day this week.” Sarah crossed her arms. “I can’t imagine what she’s going through.”
    Gilly’s smile was sad. “I can, at least a little. I worry so much about Jack, that we’ll never get married, that we’ll never be together. He’s such a huge part of my life; I can’t imagine who I’d be without him. And if we’d been married for what, twenty-five years like your parents were? Losing him would kill me.”
    Sarah gave her friend’s hand a squeeze. “Before we both start weeping in the middle of the dining room, how would you like to go to the movies with me this Saturday? Assuming I do get to keep my job, that is. I think we could both use a little time to catch up with each other. We hardly get to talk anymore.”
    Gilly agreed. “I’d love to. Operation Petticoat is still playing, and I know how you feel about Cary Grant. Get up with me on Friday, will you?”
    Promising she would, Sarah said her goodbyes and left. As positive as the day had turned out, she was exhausted. No, she wouldn’t be teaching. Not now, and perhaps not in the future. But she would be working in a library and would hopefully have the chance to help others, to share her knowledge. When all was said and done, perhaps not being able to teach wasn’t the end of the world.

Chapter Ten

    S ARAH QUICKLY SETTLED INTO HER job at the library. Much as Shirley had described, she did a little of everything, floating around to help out whichever department needed her. The building was state of the art, two stories with bathrooms on each level. The adult department was downstairs, and a large, expansive children’s section took up most of the second floor, along with two meeting rooms and a genealogy room. It was much larger than the previous library, and the patronage had increased to match the new facility’s size.
    To her surprise, Sarah found that she really enjoyed the work. She started to think she could accomplish the same goals at the library as she had wanted to through teaching, only with a broader base of the population. She remarked as much to Shirley one day as they were shelving books.
    “I love knowledge, always have, and that was one of the main motivations behind my becoming a teacher. I