A Time to Heal(47)

"Ready to go?" Chris said as he walked up.

"Yes, sure." She gave his book a curious glance. It was a book that looked to be about a soldier, with unforgiving in the title.

They walked to the circulation desk and Chris waved at Hannah to go first. She checked out her books and then waited for him to get his.

But the clerk frowned when Chris asked if he could apply for a card to check out his book. "If you could please step over here so other people can check out their books, sir."

He did as she asked and Hannah moved out of the way also.The librarian handed him an application. Chris dutifully filled it out and handed it over. When she asked for identification he pulled out his driver's license.

"This isn't local."

"No. I'm from Kansas."

"Are you living here? Can you supply me with some proof of residence here?"

"He's staying with us."

"Can you give me proof of that?"

Hannah shook her head.

Chris pushed the book toward the librarian. "Thanks anyway."

"No, here," Hannah said, holding out her card. "I'll check it out."

"You do realize that you're responsible for the book should it not be returned, ma'am?"

"Of course."

The book was duly checked out and Hannah accepted her card back. She and Chris walked out and climbed into the buggy.

"Maybe I should go buy the book at the bookstore," Chris told her as Hannah called to Daisy to get them moving.

"Why should you do that when we have the book now?"

"'You do realize that you're responsible for the book should it not be returned, ma'am?'" he mimicked the librarian.

She smiled slightly. "She was just doing her job. It's her responsibility to make sure the rules are followed. You'd understand since you're a keeper of the rules, too, wouldn't you? As someone who'd served in the military?"

He eyed her oddly. "That's an interesting way to put it.You mean, like I'm used to following the rules, obeying authority?"

Her left hand slipped inside her pocket to feel the folded paper there.

"Yeah, I guess so. Where's this going?"

"Nowhere," she said. "Nowhere at all. Thanks for going with me today."

"It was fun. Really."

"You didn't enjoy the visit to the quilt shop."

"Sure I did. Well, until all of you ganged up on me."

She grinned. "You mustn't mind them. They love to tease."

"It's a nice shop. You really enjoy making quilts and teaching there, don't you? I could tell from the time we walked inside."

She nodded. "At first, I did it to help out—"

"Because you always help when someone needs you."

Frowning, she looked at him. "Of course, that's not a bad thing."

"No, it's not," he said slowly. "You're a good person. But I wonder how much you do for yourself."

"And what about you?"

"Me?"

"You're a good man," she said. "You could be having a vacation instead of helping Matthew."

Their glances locked and something passed between them, unspoken but powerful. When Hannah looked away, she saw that they had traveled several blocks. Good thing Daisy knew her way, she thought. If she'd been driving a car, Hannah knew she'd have gone off the road.

"You've already thanked me. Everyone has. It's no big deal.I had plenty of time off when I was in the hospital."

That shuttered look came down over his face again and he was silent for the rest of the journey home. When they alighted from the buggy, she gathered the library books in her arms and he carried the package of quilting material to the front door for her.

When he went to turn away, she stopped him, her hand on his arm. "You forgot your book."

"Oh yeah, thanks."

Their hands touched and she quickly pulled hers back, causing him to bobble but catch the book.





11





Hannah approached the library computer with some trepidation.

Her computer skills weren't the best. She'd learned what little she knew from Jenny. She supposed she could have asked Jenny for help in looking up more on the article. But what she was looking for was information on Chris and talking to Jenny about it felt like a violation of his privacy. And computers and such were just supposed to be used for work . . .

She shook her head at the thoughts, especially the privacy issue. The fact was, it felt like a violation of privacy for her to do it. It was a failing of hers that she wanted to know about him, wasn't it? If he wanted her to know this about him, he would tell her. She didn't know why she was so intrigued by him. When she'd seen him walking to town, she'd been upset, thinking he was leaving town. But he'd stayed longer than he'd probably intended to as it was.