Mad, Bad and Blonde - Cathie Linz [91]
“You could take a day off. Don’t you need some time to recover?”
Faith really needed time to figure out what to do next. And not just regarding her relationship with Caine but the rest of her life as well. Last night she’d dreamed she was back at the library, and she felt happy. She woke this morning wondering if she’d tossed the baby out with the bathwater by leaving the library.
“I may have made a mistake,” Faith said. “I mean, I’ve made plenty of them, but . . .” She shook her head. She didn’t have the words yet, because she hadn’t made a decision. Once again she was the Queen of the Question Mark in the Punctuation Hall of Fame but lacking any answers. “Never mind. Come on. Walk down with me.”
They stepped into the elevator together. “Did you hear that Alan showed up yesterday?” Faith said.
“No. He had the nerve to come here?”
“I didn’t let him in the building.” Faith pushed the button for the lobby. “I’ve got to say it felt really good to kick him to the curb.”
“Good for you.” Megan shared a fist bump with her. “You go, girl!”
Faith arrived at work to find Gloria waiting for her. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” Gloria hugged her tightly before standing back to look at her outfit approvingly “Red. Good for you. Show the world who’s boss.”
“Her father is the boss,” Abs said as she joined them. “I heard you had a busy day yesterday. Wilder than story time at the library, I’ll bet. I can understand how a hostage situation can spook you.”
“I’m not spooked,” Faith said. She wasn’t having second thoughts because she was afraid. She was having second thoughts because she thought she was going to die at Fred Jr.’s hands, and that made her reassess her life. All this time, Faith had wanted to be more like Abs. But looking at her now, Faith suddenly realized that was no longer the case. She didn’t want to be permanently emotionally detached like Abs . . . And that’s how Faith would eventually become if she stayed here on a full-time basis.
Talk about an aha moment. She’d just had one, big time. She did still have a few questions for Abs, however.
“Why did you warn me off investigating Karl Hunter’s case?” she said. “What was your stake in this?”
Abs eyed her with newfound respect. “You’re suspicious. Good. That’s a good thing.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“You kept going on about intuition and trusting your gut. I don’t work that way. If the case was flawed, that meant your intuition stuff was right, and I’m not happy with that. I prefer the world based on facts. It may not always be right, no system is. But it works for me.”
“It doesn’t work for me,” Faith said.
Abs nodded. “Yeah, I figured.”
“A gut feeling?” Faith teased her.
Abs smiled. “Something like that.”
Faith wasn’t looking forward to telling her father about her decision. And it was now a decision. She was a children’s librarian at heart. That didn’t make her weak. It made her strong. She loved watching kids’ eyes light up at story time or finding a new book for a beginning reader. Hooking books with kids gave her a sense of satisfaction that she’d found lacking in her new job.
Sure, finding that missing money for Candy Haywood’s divorce case had felt good, but those moments were too few and too far between all the other nasty stuff. And, yes, she enjoyed research, but she’d rather research what a sixth-grader who loves horses should read next.
It turned out she was more like Jane Austen after all. A new kick-ass version of Jane Austen.
Her dad showed up in the office later, right after lunch.
“I thought the doctor said you were supposed to take it easy,” Faith said as she trailed after him.
“I am taking it easy. I took the entire morning off, during which time your mom and I booked a trip to England for our anniversary.”
“That’s great.”
“So how are you holding up today?” he asked.
“We need to talk.