She had been in his dreams last night. In the dreams, he ran through his house, chasing the subtle scent of her perfume and the sound of her laughter, but never able to catch her.
“Merry Christmas to all,”Miss Caroline read with a smile, holding up the last page of the classic picture book. “And to all a good night.”
The semi-circle of toddlers responded to the ending by applauding, laughing, crying, or wandering off, according to their personal instincts.
Miss Caroline smiled warmly at the assembled grownups and launched into her usual two sentence speech thanking them for coming and reminding them of next week’s schedule. Henry had decided to make a break for it, so Jensen nodded to the good-humored librarianand took off after him, down the half-dozen steps to the main section of the library.
“Hey, Webb,” a familiar voice called out just as he managed to catch the boy by the hand.
Jensen looked up and spotted Ransom coming in the main doors, a child on each side of him.
The boy was older. Jensen knew that his name was Travis, and his little sister was Mae.
“I heard about you and Willow,” Ransom said. “I talked to Chris.”
Jensen’s heart nearly stopped beating.
He’d figured Ransom might hear they’d been spotted together at some point, but he’d assumed that he’d probably make it past the very next morning before they had a confrontation about that long-ago pact.
At least we’re in the library,he thought stupidly to himself.He probably won’t take a swing at me in front of the kids.
“He told me the old folks were saying you got her a tow truck and everything,” Ransom went on. “That was nice of you, man.”
Jensen breathed a sigh of relief. Natalie and Chris owned Carla’s Place together. If Willow was renting the upstairs apartment, it made sense that the older folks who hung out there knew about her car troubles. The regulars probably enjoyed keeping an eye on all her comings and goings.
“It was no problem,” he told Ransom. “It’s really good to see you. And the kids.”
“This is Travis,” Ransom said, lifting the hand Travis held. “And Mae. Say hi, guys.”
The children politely said hello and Jensen introduced himself and Henry, feeling like he was in a dream.
“Listen, we should get together soon, but the kids have activities right now,” Ransom said. “Why don’t you come by on Christmas, like old times?”
In Jensen’s experience, men didn’t generally overly discuss the past and their feelings. But there was no better sign that his best friend was willing to let bygones be bygones.
“Sounds good,” Jensen said, nodding and allowing himself a half-smile.
He might not be letting it show on the outside, but it felt a lot like a missing puzzle piece in his heart had just clicked back into place.
Ransom nodded back with a similar look of satisfaction.
“Come on, Daddy,” Mae yelled, tugging his arm. “We’re gonna miss story time.”
Helen, the head librarian, frowned at them on her way past, but didn’t say a word.
“We’ve gotta use our library voices,” Ransom reminded his daughter. “See you, Webb.”
Jensen watched in amazement as the three of them headed up the steps to the children’s section. He might have stood there all morning if Henry hadn’t tugged at his hand.
“Sorry, buddy,” he said. “Come on.”
He scooped his boy up in his arms and headed out to the lobby, still feeling amazed.
It might have taken years, but it looked like Ransomwas finally ready to let their past troubles be water under the bridge.
It’s good that I didn’t fight Willow on ending things last night…
But somehow, his stomach still twisted at the idea of seeing her around town or at family events like old times, and not being able to tell anyone the truth about how he felt.
