Page 40 of Charlotte

“That is why there are two of us.”

For a moment, Delly looked at her across the table with something so fond and startled that Lottie’s throat tightened. Then her sister sniffed and drew the first column in the ledger.

“We shall begin with order,” Delly said.

“We shall begin with welcome,” Lottie corrected.

Delly’s pencil paused. “Both, then.”

That was a gift so large Lottie did not tease her for it. They worked through the morning. Cornelia sorted by usefulness first and category second. Delly created columns, rules, and a borrowing system strict enough to protect the books from every hazard except the Busy Bees. Lottie unpacked each volume with a care that felt almost like introduction.

“This is Mr. Shakespeare,” she told a wary young logger who had only come in to deliver a plank and now appeared trapped by politeness. “He is not as frightening as he looks, unless someone assigns him to you in school.”

The logger backed toward the door. “I’m not much for plays, miss.”

“Then perhaps not Shakespeare. What do you like?”

He blinked. “Like?”

“Yes.”

“Fishing.”

Lottie brightened and turned to a small stack of practical books. “Then try this one. It has a chapter on river fish. You needn’t read the whole thing. Books are not offended when a man visits only the useful parts.”

The logger looked as if this were a new and merciful doctrine.

Delly leaned in. “Name?”

“Olsen.”

“Full name.”

“Peter Olsen.”

Delly wrote it down.

Mr. Olsen accepted the book in both hands, as if it might either improve his life or explode, and left quickly.

Lottie watched him go, warm with triumph.

“The first loan,” Cornelia said softly.

“Not counting the Tennyson,” Lottie said.

Delly glanced at the book lying near the botany volume. “That one has not been loaned.”

“Not yet.”

Delly followed her gaze. “You are waiting for Peterson.”

Lottie busied herself with a stack of household guides. “I am holding it in reserve.”

“For Mr. Peterson.” It wasn’t a question.

“For a reader who may appreciate it.”

“You know very little about his reading habits.”