Page 1 of Running Into The Grump

Chapter 1

Jacqueline

“Did you hear about Betty? Her poor husband was caught having an affair.”

I rolled my eyes at the older women who were currently gossiping in the romance section.

Was that unusual?

Nope.

And that was the problem.

I hated how my place of work, the place I loved and devoted so much time to, was the center of gossip. Somehow, rather than people reading about drama, they talked about it. Excuse me, that was not what the library was for.

But no matter how hard I tried to get things to stop or turn around or…anything, it never happened. People would still come back in and gibber away as if it was okay.

It wasn’t.

I hated it, if you couldn’t tell.

And why not?

I’ve been talked about, especially as a thirty-eight-year-old woman who had not one single prospect or child. Though I had dogs, three of them. Instead of the cat lady, though, I was the lonely librarian with dogs.

Of course, the fact that I never had makeup on, always wore my hair back, and wore clothes that drowned my size eighteen body, didn’t help men glance my way.

Even more so in the small, simple town that we lived in of Maple Lane Falls, IL. Trust me, you won’t find a lot of men here. The ones that were born here end up moving away, and I can’t blame them.

I mean, I never wanted to. I love the seasons that I get to see, even the freezing cold of winter. Because there’s no car that needs to be had here, so I can walk to wherever I need to go.

“Excuse me?”

I turned around, pasting on a smile as one of the older ladies walked over.

“Yes?” I asked.

“I’m trying to find a book, and The Book Nook Bookstore doesn’t have it in. She’s not sure if she’ll get it. Can you look it up to see when it’s releasing? And do you think you’ll get it?”

“Of course. As far as getting it, I’m not sure.” I put my stack of books down and walked back to my desk, waking my computer from sleep mode. I loved how everyone always assumed that I would carry books here. It’s rather funny, if the bookstore didn’t have it, chances are I wasn’t going to either. Because Ms. Shelly carried everything.

And the library, well, we got what they said we got. It wasn’t like I had a magic wand to wave and got what I wanted. Otherwise, there would be far different books and that patrons wouldn’t use it as gossip central.

“Let me see, it looks like it’s releasing in two weeks. As for receiving it here, I can always put in a request to ask for it. But I know I won’t be getting it soon.”

“Thank you anyway dear.”

I gave the older woman a smile, wishing I could help her more. With a sigh, I went back to restocking my shelves, glad when the group of ladies actually started browsing for books.

Mentally, I rolled my eyes.

I loved my job, I really did. It wasn’t much, but it was quiet. And it’s what I always wanted to do. Either have my own bookstore, or work in the library. A lot of kids in school thought I was stupid to want that, but honestly, it was my dream; crazy though it was.

And I managed it.

I didn’t want the headache of owning my own business, which was why I didn’t take on the bookstore, though I could have.

“Oh, Jacqueline, you’re here.”