In spite and in fury,
Valentine Rychek
Wow, Val's ancestor didn't see much need in restraining himself, she thought, and with a kind of gasp, she realized what it was she was looking at. Along with the shock that she had just stumbled upon exactly what they were looking for, there was a sudden sense of intense disappointment and dismay. Without the search for the letters, there'd be no reason for Val to stick around, and that thought sent a deep ache through her chest.
Then the door opened and without thinking, Norah shoved the letters back into the box, turning to see Val in the doorway.
“Is everything all right?”
She knew that she should hand him the letters immediately. She should give them to him and be happy that his search was at an end. She would, too, but not right now.
“Everything's fine,” she said, slipping past him. “I should just open up again. I'll come back and help when I can, though.”
Val's smile was as warm as the sun, but at the back of her mind, she could too clearly imagine the letters she had shoved back into the box and what they meant..
CHAPTER SIX
∞∞∞
Another day was ending, and while Val still hadn't managed to find the damned and damnable letters, he couldn't be too unhappy about it. Throughout the afternoon, Norah came back to pick up a handful of letters to sort at her desk in the front, and twice, he had coaxed her into a kiss, leaving them both red and breathless. He was only happy that she was the one who had to go running back to the front when the bell over the door opened. It would have been much more awkward for him.
I'll tell her tonight, he thought, setting aside a letter that seemed rather angry at The Millbrook for its interest in foreign affairs. It doesn't matter what I've found or what I haven't found. I'll tell her tonight over pasta. We could eat at that restaurant she likes this evening, and we can watch the sunrise in Tuscany if that's what she'll allow.
Even as he reached for another pile of letters, Val had a brief shiver over what Norah might want. She was his chosen mate Of course he was going to give her the world, but judging from what she had said the night before, she wasn't thinking of world travel or gold.
All of it, he thought, I'm going to give her all of it, as much as she wants.
But he still needed to find his damn letters, and with an angry puff of air that was all right, a lot warmer than it should have been, he opened the next envelope. It turned out to be from a Mrs. Siddons, who seemed to have mistaken The Millbrook for some kind of housekeeping journal and was rather put off by the serialized novels they had started putting out.
Somehow, he managed to get back into the groove of carefully opening ancient envelopes and scanning minuscule text in the hopes that he would find his prize. Thoughts of Norah simmered at the back of his mind, but he was very pleased that they didn't boil over more than a little.
Val was actually startled when she rapped lightly on the doorway, a slight smile on her face. Her smile was utterly adorable, and he still couldn't quite get over that she had shown up to meet him in a dress emblazoned with red dragons. Some things were fate, and others were just perfect.
"Hi," he said, sounding shy in his own ears.
"Hi. So the library's shut down. How about if I join you for an hour or so, and then you can buy me way more garlic bread than you think I can eat?"
"How much garlic bread can you eat?"
"All of it. There is no such thing as too much garlic bread."
"Well, you're not wrong."
He wanted to sweep her away immediately, but the sooner he found his letters, the better.
Norah took a seat beside him, but he wondered if there was something a little off about her expression, something more reluctant and worried than she had been earlier.
"Norah? Are you all right?"
"Oh yeah, just a little distracted, I guess. You know. The whole thing with the thief has everyone up in arms."
"Ah, yes."
It was fine, but there was more there. He resolved to get the rest out of her over a mountain of garlic bread if that was what it took, or perhaps she would tell him what was the matter as they left town together. He liked that idea a lot.
They worked companionably for an hour, and then it was Val who stood, shaking his head and cracking his back loudly.
"All right, that's enough overtime," he said. "We're leaving now."
"We are?"
"Executive decision. We cannot proceed without food."
"Man after my own heart,” Norah said with a sigh.
"Come on. You work here, you don't live here."
"I think I kind of did while I was doing my master's degree," she said, but she went to get her things. "I know I spent more than a couple nights crashed out in the student's lounge. There's a pretty comfortable couch down there."
"All the more reason for us leave. This place has gotten enough of you."
He hadn't been able to park in the employee lot, but after what had happened last night, he insisted on walking her to her car. She gave him the directions to the restaurant, and then she paused before getting into her car.
"I just want to tell you," she said, more shy than he had ever heard her, "I like you. I like you so very, very much."
It was the best thing he had ever heard, and Val laughed.
"I think I'd give a hoard of rubies to hear you say that again."
"Oh, well, I'm
