Free Leaving Liberty by Virginia Carmichael Page A

nodded, still looking thoughtful. “Well, let me know if you need anything.”
               
Daisy hefted the bag one more time and headed up the stairs. Sammy trotted by
her side, and Lane followed behind. “I will.”
               
“Liar.” He didn’t even both to say it under his breath.
               
She turned, pushed past the point of politeness. Two steps above him and they
were eye to eye. The expression on his face was mischievous, teasing,
heart-stopping. She’d sucked in a breath to give a snappy retort, but whatever
she’d meant to say evaporated into thin air. His half smile turned to a full-on
grin at her angry expression.
               
He seemed to be waiting for her to say something. One part of her wanted to
lean forward and inhale that scent of soap and pine, to put out a hand to see
if his lips were as soft as they looked. Fortunately, there was another part of
her ready with a large stick to beat back the crazy impulse.
               
“Lane, let’s be honest.” She watched his smile slip, a little satisfaction for
the way he’d chased the thoughts right out of her head.
               
“Again? Once a week is my limit.”
               
Daisy couldn’t bite back a surprised laugh. “That’s a bad trait for a cop.”
               
“Agreed.” He shifted the bag on his shoulder. “But I know what you’re going to
say.”
               
“Really?” She tried to sound interested and it came out closer to skeptical.
               
“Really. You want me to stay out of your way while you run the library for the
summer. Because we disagree, you don’t want to accept any help at all.”
               
“That’s about it.”
               
“Sorry, not possible.” He stepped to the side and continued up the steps, Sammy
trotting alongside.
               
“Excuse me?” It wasn’t easy to keep up with him and Daisy felt her shoulder
muscles complain under the strain.
               
Lane motioned her inside. “Since you’re determined to stay, there’s nothing I
can do to change your mind. But I can’t ignore the fact you’re here in town, or
that you might need help once in a while. I won’t pretend you’re not here.”
               
She didn’t want him to ignore her. Not at all. The thought of him walking by
her without a glance made her feel a little sick to her stomach. He wasn’t
quite a friend, but whatever he was, she didn’t want to be invisible.  
               
He pointed to a point just inside the door and said, “Stay”. Sammy took up his
post with only a hint of disappointment. He probably would love to run through
the library, smelling all the books he could reach.
    “Fine.” She wanted to be stubborn, not
moving on until they’d hashed out their differences but common sense and the
threat of a sore shoulder made her settle for a glare as she swept on past.
Another set of steps, this time much more slowly. She really needed to get some
steady exercise.
               
“Thanks, Lane, dear. I have your books all checked out.” Nita was at the desk,
stamping due date stickers. She pushed a pile of hardback mysteries to the
corner.
               
“My books.” He repeated her words slowly, wondering. “Marie must have ordered
these from the main library in Denver after I said I liked this author.” It was
almost as if he was talking to himself.
    “Did she do that a lot?”
     He lifted the tote to the counter
and started to unpack the books before he answered. “She did for me. I’m not
sure about anybody else.”
    Nita nodded, already scanning barcodes
to check the books in to the system. Her eyes were sad but her tone was light.
“She sure enjoyed finding books for people. It was like she was ordained to by
God to place the right books in the right hands.”
    For the first time, Daisy