“I mean, not the sexy part, that’s obviously a huge hassle with the crowds of admirers and everything. But the librarian part is good. I’ll admit it’s not the easiest job in the world, taking care of something people are constantly trying to starve. Every few weeks, some genius somewhere says something about how there should be a Netflix for books, and I have to buy a new night guard so I don’t grind my teeth down to little stumps.”
“Yeah, I read the other day about a start-up that said they wanted to create, you know, ‘green spaces with fitness equipment,’ and ‘staff who could preserve the natural resources’ in return for modest monthly fees, and I honestly wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d said they wanted to have a bear as part of their green branding who would send out push alerts to say that only premium subscribers can prevent forest fires.”
He laughed. “Exactly. On the other hand, I was Calcasset Citizen of the Year last year.”
“Get out of here!” she said. “That’s awesome.”
“I mean, they get around to a lot of people eventually, but it made my mom very happy.”
“I assume she has also been Citizen of the Year.”
“Four times. My dad three times.”
“Wow, a dynasty. Your parents are going to be the Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell of Calcasset Citizen of the Year. What did you get?”
“There was a dinner at the Pearl. Very nice, very tasteful, my grandmother wore her silver jacket.”
“Of course.” She took a sip of coffee. “So you never think about getting into a different line of work?”
“Oh, once every six or seven minutes. But then I get to stop some guy who’s working on his résumé from dropping Girl Scout cookie crumbs into the keyboard, and I tell myself it’s all worth it.”
“That’s what makes it worth it?”
He shrugged. “He has to work on his résumé somewhere.”
Just then, the doors opened, and a couple came in laughing. The woman spotted Nick and waved. “We finally got finished,” she called out. “You’re my hero.” Nick threw her a thumbs-up.
“Who’s that?” Laurie asked.
“That’s Bruce and Shelly Foster-Forester. They’re building a tea shop in that place over by the fire station that used to be a stationery store, and then it was jewelry? Anyway, they checked out a Shop-Vac from the library the other day.”
“You can check out a Shop-Vac?”
“You can,” he said. “We have a tool library. Started it a few years ago, right after my mom retired.” Nick’s mother and father had run the library together since Laurie was a kid, and he’d started working there in high school. “That way, everybody doesn’t wind up with bolt cutters taking up space in their garage because they had to cut a lock one time.”
“I’ve been with you for like five minutes and two people have literally yelled out to thank you. In public.”
“Oh, yes, I’m very important,” he said, putting his hand over his heart. “I am the man to speak to if you need Beyoncé information or a floor buffer.”
“I think it’s great,” she said. The espresso machines hissed, and Laurie thought about how Nick used to sit behind her and give her backrubs when they were waiting for a movie to start, then scoot around the end of the row to come sit next to her when the lights went down. “It’s good to see you,” she said.
“It’s good to see you, too. I’m sorry you’re not back under better circumstances. I know how much you loved Dot.”
“I appreciate that,” Laurie said. “I wish I had seen her more. Not that she was sitting around waiting to be visited. She had a lot of adventures, I think.”
“And a duck,” he added.
Laurie repeated it: “And a duck.” She felt herself start to bounce her knee the way she did when she worked on crossword puzzles.
“That duck is really bugging you,” he said.
“It really is.”
“Sass,” Nick said, looking at her hard, “I think you have to keep that duck.”
“Nick,” she said, nodding slowly, “I think you’re right.”
Chapter Five
Back at Dot’s, she googled “antiques dealers near me” and found a place that mentioned hunting and fishing memorabilia on its website and was just a couple of towns over in Wybeck, about a half hour away. She hopped into the car, with the duck on the seat beside her in a small box, wrapped in a blanket.