Loving the Lawman

* * *

Fifth disease.

Gianna hurried across the road, turned left at the first of two traffic lights and climbed the steps to the library. Warmth greeted her.

She barely felt it.

Children laughed in a semicircle off to her right as the librarian held up a funny-looking puppet and squawked, “Hi! I’m Skippy Jon Jones!”

The children giggled as the librarian continued the story. The puppet interrupted regularly, his raucous voice teaching on a kid-friendly level. Their joy of learning without knowing they were learning flooded Gianna with anticipation, but the thought of this childhood disease concerned her.

She sat at one of the computer screens, clicked it on and waited until she could do an internet search, then sighed in relief when she saw that most people contracted the virus as youngsters and carried that immunity into adulthood. A simple blood test would tell her if she was susceptible to the disease or had already had it.

That meant she needed to find a doctor, and that was something she would do first thing Monday morning. She’d relocated her grandmother and herself by promising her family that she’d look after Grandma. None of them were aware that Grandma was currently the caretaker of the two.

They’d know soon enough. She shut down the computer, then grabbed a couple of books so she wouldn’t look like a complete idiot when she walked back into the shop. She signed up for a new library card and headed back down the road, wondering if Seth would think she was totally whacked.

Some days she wondered herself.

“You’re back!” Her grandmother’s bright smile said everything would be fine. Just fine. “Jenny has brought us homemade bread, and I just put on water for tea. And I do believe there’s a tray of chocolate-walnut brownies in that pretty basket.”

“My weakness. Well. One of them,” Gianna admitted as she slung her jacket back onto the hook. She set two books down on the counter, trying to make it look like her trip to the library had been crucial.

“Raised Bed Planting and Turn-of-the-Century Patterns, Volume 2.” Seth surveyed the books once he stood up. He pulled out a chair for her, then carefully slid it in behind her as she sat. “No time like the present to ponder June’s gardens, I guess.”

His gaze skimmed the snow-filled front window.

He wasn’t buying her library excuse for ducking out. He might not know why she’d left in a hurry, but he wasn’t about to believe it was to grab two obscure books before the midafternoon library closing.

He probably thought she was darting away from him. And since that was exactly what she should be doing, she let it go. “This looks wonderful,” she told Jenny as she reached for a thick slice of fresh bread. “And Grandma made herbed oil to dip it in? This is a treat.”

Seth started toward the door.

Gianna turned, surprised. “You’re going back to work already?”

He indicated the wall clock with a jut of his chin. “Play-off game today at four. I’ve got a date with my recliner.”

“Of course.” She smiled, and didn’t think of how nice it would be to spend the late afternoon watching football with him while the current storm blustered outside. She wouldn’t think about the coziness of a shared afghan or steaming hot coffee and a big bowl of chips.

She’d sew.

That was what she’d come here to do after all. To build a business with her grandmother’s help, to work toward summer with one eye on the clock and one foot on the sewing machine treadle. She had goals. Timelines. Objectives. Nothing could get in the way of that. But seeing Seth move into the shop area to continue his work made part of her wish she’d been invited to watch the late-day game with him.

Would she have said yes?

Probably not, although she’d like to.

But she would have enjoyed knowing she’d been welcome.

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