Page 5 of The Lonely Hearts Book Club

“An echo with nothing and no one to call her own,” Arthur announced without preamble. Clearly, this was a subject he’d given some thought to. “A friendly facade. An empty smile. A scared little girl without an opinion of your own, latching on to other people’s bigger and brighter lives because you’re not willing to fully live your own.”

It was difficult to say which one of us was more shocked when he was done. His face had gone gray, his shoulders shaking in a way that seemed to zap him of all his strength. I felt sure I looked the same.

“Arthur,” I gasped.

“Don’t—” he began, but I had no way of knowing what he wanted.Don’t start crying? Don’t take me at my word? Don’t expect to ever see me in this library again?Before the words could be uttered, Mateo had an arm around my shoulders and was guiding me to safety, leaving Arthur to stand there, glowering at nothing, until he turned and stomped away.

“I warned you what would happen,” Mateo said as he led me away. “His kind is always the same—only happy when everyone around him is miserable. My mom is like that. Yours, too, now that I think about it.”

“Your mom is the nicest woman on the planet,” I said, but there was no point. Especially since Mateo was determined to see me safely tucked away behind the reference desk, out of harm’s—and Arthur’s—way. “And I’m not upset about Arthur. Not really. It’s been a long day, that’s all.”

“Sloane, you’ve been here less than an hour.”

“Fine. It’s been a long week.”

“It’s literally Monday.”

I heaved a sigh and let myself sink to the decrepit swivel chair saved for whichever unfortunate librarian was posted at this desk. I didn’t know why all the worst furniture found its way to the Reference section, but it did. In the age of digital dictionaries and Wikipedia, people just didn’t respect research like they used to.

“This is about the library acquisition seat, isn’t it?” Mateo prodded. “Your meeting with Octavia this morning? That’s what’s really bothering you?”

If news traveled fast in a small town, it went at lightning speed inside a public library. “You heard about that?”

His wry smile was all the answer I needed. “If it means that much to you, I’ll turn it down,” he said. “Lincoln was planning on taking me out to celebrate tonight, but—”

“Wait.” I blinked up at Mateo through annoyingly damp eyes. “You got the job?”

Mateo beamed and nodded, his whole body lighting up.

“Can you believe it?Me.Octavia says I have a good eye for what’s inside people’s hearts.”

If that was even a little bit true, he’d have realized how much his words were causingmyheart to seize and give up right then and there. I’d been vying for that job for years, putting in the hours and biding my time until a spot finally opened up. A seat on the acquisition board wasn’t just an opportunity to help select which books the library would buy and shelve, though that was how most people saw it. For me, it represented a way to shape the community, to dig deep and have a real impact on people’s lives.The protector of wisdom. The good fairy of literature.I got goose bumps just thinking about it.

If I was being perfectly honest, it was also a way to prove I was more than just an echo, but I wasn’t going to admit that out loud. Not while Arthur McLachlan was still somewhere inside this building.

“Mateo, that’s fantastic!” I wiped my eyes and threw my arms around his neck. Like me, he smelled of printer toner and antibacterial hand wash. “You should have told me straightaway. Congratulations.”

From the way he started to vibrate all over, I could tell he was pleased. “You mean it? I was a little afraid to tell you, but it was going to get out eventually. You should come celebrate with me and Lincoln tonight. He’s always happy to see you.”

Mateo spoke nothing more than the truth. His boyfriend, Lincoln,wasalways happy to see me, but that was because he was always happy to see everyone. He was a chainsaw artist, which meant he spent most of his days in his shop transforming logs into decorative woodland creatures—and he had the good-natured humor to match.

“Thanks, but I have a dinner thing with Brett’s family after work,” I said. “His sisters will be there.Allhis sisters.”

Relief rendered Mateo even more sympathetic than before. “No wonder you let that grouchy old man get to you. The last time you had dinner with your in-laws-to-be, you were prostrate for three days.” He grinned and handed me a stack of magazines that needed to be processed before they were tossed out. “Your problem, Sloane, is that you only seem to attract people with personalities that are stronger than yours.”

His words, though well-meaning, still hit hard. I could almost picture Arthur sitting on his shoulder and prodding the words out of him with his cane.

“Do I?” I managed, faking a smile. I was good at that. I’d certainly had enough practice.

Mateo winked. “Then again, I have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t make you run screaming for the hills. You might just have to start getting used to it.”

2

Believe it or not, I was engaged to be married to a doctor. Technically, he was a chiropractor, but I’d learned early on in our relationship that to introduce him as anything but Dr. Marcowitz would end in a battle royal.

Since one of my primary life goals was to avoid battles of all kinds—especially royal ones—I was quick to adapt. He might not have been a medical doctor, but he had a doctorate degree, and that was more than enough for him. Brett was really good at things like that. No one treated him with anything but respect for the simple reason that he refused to accept less.

“Brett says he’s going to be late.” His mother, a round woman with round cheeks, a round helmet of steely hair, and a will almost as strong as his, hung up the phone with a sigh. “You’ll have to get used to this sort of thing, Sloane, if you’re going to be a doctor’s wife.”