Judah lowered the book he’d been staring at before Hope had nearly collided with him. “You okay, miss?” His eyebrows knit together in concern, and Hope couldn’t help but think he was the most handsome man she’d ever seen. His jaw was square, his nose perfectly proportioned, and his hair was a light caramel color. For a second, she forgot all about his two poor dead wives and imagined herself strolling through the park on his arm while he read Shakespeare to her. “Miss?”
“Oh, uh, yes. I’m fine.” Hope took a deep breath, wanting to kick herself. “It’s just… I’m new here, and I had no idea there was a bookstore.”
One corner of his upper lip pulled up sharply so that he was grinning at her impishly. “I see. Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but it’s actually a library.”
Hope’s eyes widened. “Even better!”
The sound of his laughter was melodic, and Hope found herself staring once again. “Mr. Canton’s a good fellow. He’ll hook you up with whatever you like to read.” He gestured at a short, balding man who was gawking at them from between two rows of bookshelves. The older man gave a little wave, and Hope’s free hand shot up in recognition. “Just don’t get lost in there.”
Hope giggled, her eyes tracing over all the shelves of books. “I think I could. I never imagined….” There was a library in Lamar, and it was one of Hope’s favorite places to visit when she was a little girl. But she never would’ve dreamed there would be a library here. Even though it wasn’t that large and probably held only a fraction of the books she’d had to choose from back home, she couldn’t wipe the smile from her face.
“I best be going. I need to get this book back to my niece before she has a conniption. It was nice to meet you, Miss…?”
“Tucker. Hope Tucker.” She propped the door with her boot and offered her hand, though as he reached out to shake it, Brady’s words danced through her mind, and Hope felt a zing of electricity when Judah’s hand touched hers. This man was dangerous, despite the fact that he was holding a copy of a children’s primer in his other hand and had the sort of smile that made a girl weak in the knees.
“Hope Tucker. The new schoolteacher.” It wasn’t a question. He continued to hold her hand a bit too long before releasing it. “I’m Judah. Nice to meet you.”
“You, too,” she said, noticing he didn’t bother to mention his last name. “Will your niece be in my class?”
“She will,” he nodded. “Ginny Pembroke. My nephew, George, will be there, too. They are so excited I don’t know how my sister will contain them for the next few days.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting them.” Hope imagined two children that looked similar to Judah bouncing around a farmhouse, eagerly awaiting the start of school.
“They’ll be happy just to know I’ve met you, and you really do exist.” He laughed again, that musical sound sending a flutter through Hope’s heart. “Take care, Miss Tucker.”
“You, too.”
He stepped aside, and she fought the urge to follow him with her eyes. Instead, she took a deep breath and walked into the library. Mr. Canton was running a cloth along the top of the shelves, and Hope thought she saw a bit of an amused expression in his eyes as he turned to her. “Good mornin’. It’s nice to meet you. We’re lucky to have you in these parts.”
“Why, thank you,” Hope replied, not even sure where to begin. There were no labels on any of the shelves, so it was difficult to tell where the children’s books might be, or where the ones she might want to read herself were located. “How long has the library been open?”
“Not long,” Mr. Canton replied, lifting the cloth and shifting it back and forth between his hands. “I figured if we was going to have a schoolteacher, we should have a library. So… as soon as they started building the school last summer, I started bringing in the books.”
“I see.” Hope’s eyes flickered over some of the volumes close by. She recognized many of the titles and authors. Swift, Dickens, Twain. Some were newer while others were well-loved. She even saw a copy of her mother’s favorite book, Pride and Prejudice. “I wonder, do you happen to know why there are no books at the school?”
Mr. Canton made a low rumble in his throat and looked away. “I’m afraid you’ll need to talk to Mr. Stewart about that decision,” he replied, and Hope got the feeling that procuring a student library might be a little more difficult than she’d initially imagined.
“Why is that?” Her fingers traced the spines of some of the books as she inhaled the intoxicating smell of old pages and binding glue.
“He’s the one who made that determination.” Mr. Canton began to walk away from her, back toward a desk with several volumes stacked atop it. She imagined these were new additions.
Since he clearly wasn’t able or willing to help her understand Mr. Stewart’s thinking, Hope decided to change her line of questioning. “Are there many people who come to check out books? Do they bring their children?”
“Honestly,” Mr. Canton said, letting out a sigh, “I’m afraid it isn’t as popular as I had hoped. Because I also have another business to run, the library is only open in the morning on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and then only for a few hours. Most people don’t have extra time to read. They’re too busy tending their farms or raising their children.”
“That’s too bad,” Hope thought aloud. “Perhaps if the library were open on a Saturday, more people could come.”
“Perhaps.” Mr. Canton shrugged his shoulders, and Hope could see that this was a problem he’d been dealing with for some time. “I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be able to manage. I was relying on donations to procure the books, that and my own money. Funds have sort of dried up.”