I'll Stop the World (58)

After showing their passes to the librarian, they picked a table in the back corner of the library, dropping their stacks of books onto it between them. Lisa leaned forward, folding her hands on the table. “So tell me about him. How did you guys become pen pals? What did you talk about in your letters?”

Rose bit her lip. She really didn’t want to dig deeper into her lie. She knew the truth wasn’t an option, but the idea of concocting a whole complex history that didn’t exist created an uncomfortable pit in her stomach. Was there anything she could be honest about?

“We talk about fate,” she said finally, hoping Lisa wouldn’t press her on the question of how they’d met. “You know, like whether there is a purpose for everything.”

“Oh.” Lisa blinked, tilting her head in thought. After a moment, she said, “I believe in fate.”

“You do?” That was surprising. Of course, Lisa attended church along with the rest of their family, but she’d never given Rose the impression that she bought into any of it.

“I mean, I want to, anyway,” Lisa said. “It would be nice to believe there’s a reason why things are the way they are. That it’s not all just pointless and cruel.”

Rose smiled. “You sound like him.”

“Yeah? Maybe we should hang out sometime.”

“No,” Rose said quickly. She winced at Lisa’s hurt expression. “I mean, you’re just always so busy,” she amended. “And he’s not going to be here that long.” I hope, she added to herself.

Part of her wanted to introduce Justin to her friends. He seemed so lonely, and she didn’t think he had many friends at home. Maybe he’d fit in better here than he did in his time.

But that would create a whole pile of problems on top of the ones they already had. Justin barely knew anything about the time he was living in and was constantly mentioning things that didn’t even exist yet. The more people he interacted with, the more likely someone was to notice something about him that didn’t add up.

Plus, there was a little part of her that selfishly wanted to keep him for herself. Right now, she was the most important person in his world. She’d never been that before, to anyone, and she wanted to hold on to it as long as possible.

“I’m actually . . . not that busy right now,” Lisa said, studying her hands.

Rose raised an eyebrow. “Lisa, you practically live at Charlene’s.”

“No, I don’t,” Lisa said. “If you’d been around this week, maybe you’d have noticed.”

“If I’d been around?” That was rich. “You’re the one who’s never around.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lisa snapped. Her lower lip trembled slightly and her hands balled into tight fists on the table, causing Rose to wonder if something could be wrong.

“Lisa,” Rose ventured, “is everything okay?”

Lisa was quiet for a long moment, then pushed her chair back, standing abruptly. “You know, I actually just remembered,” she said, a little too loudly, “I have a question for Mrs. Thompson, so I should probably get to Calc a few minutes early.” She scooped her books into her arms. “I’ll see you later.”

“Oh,” Rose said, deflating. Had Lisa even heard her question? “What do you need to ask her about?”

“Um, you know, the current lesson,” Lisa said hurriedly, pushing in her chair. “I don’t really get it.”

“Really?” Rose was surprised to hear Lisa was struggling with math, since that was one of her best subjects. “What part? I could—”

“Oh, you know,” Lisa said, waving the question away without answering. “See you later!”

“Wait—” Rose started to say, but realized it was no use. Lisa was already gone.





Chapter Thirty-Four


VERONICA

“Diane.” Veronica hurried over to the front desk of the library, taking advantage of the brief lull between patrons. She’d been waiting for an opportunity to talk to Diane all morning, but between books needing to be shelved and people asking to use the copier and a slight cataloging disaster in the microfiche section, her first chance didn’t arrive until after lunch.

Before running Diane’s campaign, Veronica had never considered how difficult it was to run for public office while also holding down a full-time job. No wonder most people didn’t want to do it. Must be nice to be rich like Franklin Gibson, who was able to devote himself to his campaign full time while his employees ran his car dealership. “I need to talk to you for a minute.”

“I know, I know,” Diane said, slipping her reading glasses off her nose as Veronica approached. “I talked to Lloyd again and he swears those buttons will be ready by Saturday afternoon, which I realize is cutting it close, but I think—”

“It’s not about the buttons,” Veronica said hurriedly, although that did check one more thing off her list. She made a mental note to call Lloyd at the printshop later to confirm. “It’s kind of delicate.”

“Oh?” Diane arched an eyebrow.

“It’s actually about Rose.” Nervously, Veronica twisted her wedding ring around her finger. She didn’t like getting involved in family matters, but she had to say something. “I have some concerns.”