Luck Be a Lady - Cathie Linz [51]
“She responded to Smudge.”
“How progressive of you to let your cat choose her name. Just one of the many things I like about you. I also like the fact that you don’t nag me about the fact that I haven’t submitted the rest of my paperwork for the workshop at PLA.”
“Your first workshop at the Public Library Association is a big deal. What are you waiting for?”
Tori grinned. “For you to nag me.”
Megan complied. “Get a move on, girl.”
“That should light a fire under my heinie,” Tori said.
Megan laughed. “I haven’t heard it put quite that way before. Is that wording a Southern thing?”
“It’s a Holt family thing. One of my uncle Bo’s favorite sayings. He’s a real character. Every family has one, not just Southern families. Actually, some of my family members think I’m the character in the family tree.” She tugged on her pink hair. “Not that I agree with them. What about you? Who’s a character in your family? Is it your dad? I love the way you call him a ‘mathlete’ when you talk about him. I think that’s so cute. So is he the character in your family?”
A week ago Megan would have denied that. Her dad was the quiet, reliable one. Now he defied labeling.
“What are the requirements for ‘being a character’? If it’s unusual sayings, then the award would have to go to my grandmother’s fiancé, Buddy.” Megan hoped that Buddy would once again become Gram’s fiancé after they got over this bumpy patch. “He says stuff like balderdash . Or none of your beeswax.” Megan wanted the spotlight shifted from herself to someone else. Shanti Gupta, the branch’s children’s librarian, arrived just in time. “What about your family, Shanti? Is anyone strange?”
Shanti’s long, silky black hair was gathered back with a colorful hair clip. She favored wearing dark colors with splashes of color, which today were provided by a silk scarf in shades of red and purple to accentuate a black top and pants. “Everyone in my family is strange,” Shanti said.
Aisha Davis, the branch library’s circulation manager, who’d heard Shanti’s reply, joined the discussion while stashing her packed lunch in the staff fridge. “Hey, if you really want strange, then you should’ve seen the family that came in here yesterday. They were all dressed like vampires. The mom and the two tween girls.”
“Obviously big Twilightfans,” Megan said.
“Yes, but do you really have to dress the part?”
“Apparently they thought they did.”
“The thing is, they didn’t want a recommendation on vampire books. They were looking for a cookbook of Siberian pastries. I sent them over to the reference desk.”
“Because if it was an easy reference question, they’d just ask Google,” Tori said. “We get the tougher ones.”
“Yes, but we are librarians,” Megan said. “We can handle it. We can handle anything.”
“Except more budget cuts from the city,” Shanti said. “We’re already badly understaffed as it is.”
“Which reminds me,” Megan said, “I’ve got circ desk duty tomorrow, right, Aisha?”
Aisha nodded
Megan said, “But first I’ve got to get through today, including finishing last month’s report. And getting ready for the Adult Book Club meeting here tomorrow night.”
“Good luck getting all that done while working the reference desk all afternoon,” Tori said.
Megan grinned. “I’m good at multitasking. It’s a requirement here in libraryland.” She felt better being on her home turf. Here she was sure of her identity. She was confident of her place in the world.
Time went by quickly as the reference desk was busy with one patron after another. One was a fan of narrative nonfiction like Devil in the White Cityset in Chicago; another had just finished Seabiscuitand wanted recommendations on what to read next. Megan had to gently ask what appealed to the reader of each book in order to hook her up with something she’d like. Next came a complicated question about genealogy, and then a very pregnant mom-to-be wanted baby name books.
The rest of the day was a blur as Megan completed the October monthly report