Richard Harrow for the twentieth time this morning tapped his jacket pocket to make sure the book was still there. Assured it was he opened the door to the café and stepped inside, a quick assessment of the establishment determined that she wasn't there yet. He ordered a coffee at the counter and settled down at a table facing it. A waitress brought it over to him and he unfolded his newspaper and held it up to read as he waited.

His untouched coffee was cooling in its cup as the cafe door swung open, the wind blowing in a gust of briny air off the Atlantic. He lowered his paper. The attractive, lithe blonde woman that sauntered in, hips confidently swaying as she moved, was not the woman he was waiting for. Regardless he continued to observe her as Joey the manager offered the woman a table by the window. He was no doubt hoping that her classic beauty and expensively cut outfit would procure him some more custom. Window dressing. Richard thought. Joey pulled out a chair and she gracefully sat down. Richard saw the fat man discreetly brush some errant crumbs off the table cloth with one hand as he offered her a menu with the other. She glanced briefly at the menu, smiled and asked for coffee, passing it back to him. Joey, hot footed it back over to the counter snapping the order to the girl behind it who all but saluted the man as she got the drink ready. The woman as if sensing she was being observed turned her head slightly in Richards direction. Her blue eyes could not disguise her jolt and revulsion as she took in his masked face. Richard quickly pulled up his newspaper to save her any more distress. Besides she wasn't of anymore interest to him. She wasn't the woman he was waiting for.

No, the woman he was hoping to see could look at him straight and whilst at times he could detect a little apprehension there was never any disgust. He suspected the apprehension may have stemmed from what folks had been saying to her about the man she offered her kind smiles and small talk to. He felt the book he was carrying in his jacket pocket become heavier, as if reminding him of its purpose today. He was going to return it.

He'd started coming to the café as a way to kill time when he wasn't needed for killing anything else. It was situated near the end of the Boardwalk and did well with families, selling ices for kids to take out on to the beach. The hatch where mothers and fathers would queue up to buy the ice cream had closed now that Labor Day weekend had come and gone but the locals still came for the breakfasts and coffee. Richard had come for the peace and now he came for her. For Abby.

Abby was a waitress at the café. And Richard liked her very much. That surprised him. He wasn't used to it and that bothered him at first. Had no business liking a woman like Abby. He knew he couldn't offer her anything and surely he was a monster in her eyes. And yet she smiled at him, shyly made jokes, her laughter delighted his ear and caught his heart out. And she was beautiful. He found he wanted to unpin her chestnut hair and run his fingers through the waves, to see if it was as silky as it looked. Richard could get lost in her big brown eyes that promised of a goodness he had no right to. How he felt, it unnerved him but he found he couldn't forget her, nor stay away. He knew it would all end, the smiles, the tentative beginnings of friendship. As soon as she really knew, really knew, what he was and what he did it would stop.

There was a lot he didn't know about her too. She wore no wedding ring nor had he heard her or the other girls talk about a sweetheart. He didn't know how she spent her time of an evening but he'd never seen her at any of the Speakeasies or supper clubs in the city. Sometimes he'd observe her in a daydream as she dried the cups and she'd seem sad but she'd shake it off as soon as anyone asked her if she was ok.

But Richard knew she liked to read. And that is why he'd been carrying about this book all morning. Two days ago she'd ran into him, literally, on the Boardwalk. The collision ended up with her on her backside on floor, the books she had been carrying, strewn about her. He had immediately offered her a hand to help her up.

"Are you. Alright?" he'd asked as he pulled her up gently.

"I'm fine. I'm so sorry, my momma always told me I never looked where I was going. Ow", she replied rubbing her backside. As soon as she was righted Abby knelt down and began to retrieve her books.

"Let me, hmm, help you", he crouched down and picked up a book.

"Thank you" she replied as she was kneeling and then looked up. Their faces were inches from each other. The close proximity momentarily startled them both, embarrassed Abby exhaled and Richard could feel her breath on the good side of his face. He was lost in her brown eyes. She recovered and smiled softly, a little colour blooming on her cheeks. Abby took the book from him. "I'm real sorry Mr Harrow" she apologised again. "I better go. Thanks again". And then she left. It was then after he watched her disappear into a group of people he noticed that they had missed one book on the ground. He picked it up.

Idylls of the King. Lord Alfred Tennyson.

He pocketed the book, glad of its presence there because returning it gave him further reason to see her.

"I thought it was only my coffee you didn't drink", said the accusing voice from behind Richard's paper. One moment he was thinking about Abby, the next she appeared. He folded his paper and set it down on the table.

"Hmm, it usually is yours. I got lost. Reading the paper", he replied. Abby laughed, holding up a coffee pot.

"Well you'll definitely not want a refill because l made this pot", she joked. The lips on Richard's good side curled up in a smile. "You want anything else? Ham and eggs is good?"

"No. Thank you Miss" Richard answered. He reached into his pocket to retrieve the book.

"Just the bill huh?" Abby said, assuming he was reaching for his wallet.

"Hmm. You left this, hmm, the other day. I kept it. For you", he held out the small book and she reached for it. Her fingers touching his for a second. Abby set down the coffee pot on his table as she thumbed through the book.

"Thank you, I thought I lost it. Did you read it?" The question surprised him. He was embarrassed to answer. He felt guilty because he had.

"I did. You like poetry?"

"Sometimes", she replied. "I like King Arthur", she shrugs.

"Knights in. Shining armor", he remarked skeptically.

"Well its only myth right?" Abby replied a little sadly and pushed the book down into the pocket of her apron. Afraid she might go too soon he spoke again.

"What else, hmm, do you like. To read?" he asked.

"Anything I can get lost it", she answered seriously. Abby nodded to him, picked up her coffee pot and moved back to the counter.

Moments later Joey came over with his bill. Richard paid and made to leave but he was stopped by a gentle tap on his arm.

"Mr. Harrow, I have an abundance of books at home. If you ever want to get lost in one, you can borrow some", Abby offered. Again she had surprised him.

"I'm not much, hmm, of a reader anymore" he admitted reminding himself of something he had said to Jimmy the first time he spoke to him.

"Oh", she replied, seemingly deflated.

"Where do you. Like to read?" he asked her.

"Sometimes at home but if the weathers nice I like to read on the beach, just down there" she leant on his body as she reached over and pointed to a spot across the way. Richard enjoyed the sensation of her small frame next to his. He just hoped she could not feel the gun he kept hidden under his jacket on that side.

"Hmm. I hope I might. See you there sometime. And I might say hello".

"I would like that Mr. Harrow" she said, almost in a whisper.

"My name is. Richard".

"Abby!" Joey called for her.

"I have to go. It was nice talking with you Richard. Thank you again", Abby let go of his arm and went back to work.

Richard walked along the Boardwalk with a smile on his half ruined face.