Elizabeth shifted in her seat, jerking in alarm when her mug teetered for a second on the wide arm of the chair. She steadied it quickly, glancing at her book as she did. She'd just lost her page, not that she'd been super focused on it. She knew she should have been thankful for the quiet morning but it was a little unpleasant to have the house to herself. Neither Michael nor Sam had woken up yet and she'd had a lonely breakfast. Grandpa had been tinkering away in his workroom since before she got up, and she'd been awake bright and early at 7am.

She had awoken feeling happy, satisfied. Ready to take on the day but she'd quickly found herself just waiting for the night.

Waiting until she could see Dwayne again.

She shook her head a little and looked down at her book. It was one of Lucy's novels, a funny, romantic comedy of errors but she just couldn't get into it. As she considered whether to choose a new book or find her lost page, Elizabeth carefully dunked a butter croissant into her hot chocolate. Grandpa had left an enormous batch of hot chocolate bubbling dangerously on the stove and she'd turned it off after filling herself a mug full. She'd also found a huge bag of individually wrapped croissants in the cupboard and had assumed, as there wasn't a sign saying otherwise, that she could indulge. She'd gone through four already, dunking each one in her drink.

That had been her morning. Read a page, dunk a croissant. Read a page, take a sip. Forget what had happened and turn the page back a few flicks, take a sip of rich coco.

Read, drink, dunk, repeat.

The radio - which Grandpa had tuned to his favorite channel and left a scribbled, "don't change" memo pasted to half of the speaker - played some fifties hits quietly. It really should have been the most perfectly calm morning but she just couldn't seem to appreciate it.

She just wanted the day to be over.

She was well and truly waiting for the night.

There were no brothers to distract her, no Nanook to try and wheedle food from her, no Grandpa to make them laugh.

She was beginning to see that it was a problem, having no TV to kill the time.

"What am I doing?" she mumbled to herself, closing the book with finality. She put it on the crowded windowsill behind her.

She smiled, rolling her eyes at her stupidity.

Her thoughts had drifted to Dwayne once more. Of course they had, they'd been doing it all morning.

She sighed again. She couldn't spend her entire day doing nothing but thinking of him.

Slinking off the chair, she picked up the near empty mug and the bag of croissants.

Sammy and Michael can have them when they wake up, she thought, plopping the bag in the center of the kitchen table, unless Grandpa gets to them first…

She washed the chocolate stained cup, flicking out the sodden crumbs of croissant as she did, and left the mug to dry on the draining board. As she left the kitchen, she heard the weather forecast interrupt the music. It was going to be another pleasant afternoon.

She expected nothing different from Santa Carla.

Ascending the stairs two at a time, Elizabeth knocked firmly on Sam's bedroom.

Silence.

She knocked again, louder this time.

It was past ten. Time for him to get up, she thought to herself, waiting for a response.

"Nghhhhhhh" she heard, muffled trough the wooden door.

Invitation enough.

Cracking the door open lightly, she poked her head through the crack. Sammy was tucked up under his sheets. His window was open just a little, giving the room a fresh feel despite the closed curtains.

"Good morning" she said, her voice not a whisper but not super quiet either.

"Go away" he groaned.

"But I'm bored…" she told him, stepping into the room.

It was very neat, very organized and orderly aside from the chaotic spread of posters scattered around the walls. She wiggled her feet on his handmade rug, enjoying the different textures under her toes. He'd chosen it from a consignment store back in Arizona. It was woven with different scraps of fabrics and the overall affect was striking.

"I'm sleepy" he muttered through a yawn, "go away"

"You could have said, 'hi Bored, I'm Sleepy' you missed a trick there!" Elizabeth chortled but Sam was having none of it.

His eyes were closed.

"Aha, so the tables have turned?" Elizabeth teased, still stood on the rug.

Sam tutted, a little but said nothing.

She was tempted to jump and bounce on his bed, "you still mad about yesterday, huh?"

"Liz I'm so tired" Sam groaned.

"Oh?..." Not mad? That was good. "That's good! So…what did you get up to?" she asked, eyeing the pile of neatly folded clothes on his dresser. Of course Sammy would never just dump his clothes into the dirty laundry hamper.

"Lots of stuff. Movie...games….."

Elizabeth nodded, "sounds fun, we should go one day?"

No response.

"Do you maybe wanna go to the boardwalk? I was thinking to check out the library or-"

Sam yawned.

"You know it's gone ten?"

No response.

"What time did you come home, anyway?" she asked, fiddling with the hem of her blouse.

"It's like a twenty four hour place...home about 3am…" Sam replied thickly.

She was losing him but to be fair, he was usually an 'early to sleep, early to rise' kind of guy so it wasn't too surprising that having such a late night had knocked him off kilter.

"Oh.." she nodded, looking around his room, wriggling her toes again.

"Liz" he shuffled deeper still into his blanket, his head no longer visible, "sorry"

"Oh, no, it's totally OK. I'm good. I'll head out and get some lunch and see what kind of condition the library is in.." she assured, speaking more than she needed to but kind of enjoying just speaking after a morning of nothing, "I'll just see you later? We could get a late lunch or somethi-"

"-don't wait up.." Sam advised through another yawn, she could see him roll onto his side and curl up into a ball under his duvet, "gonna hang with the Frog Brothers.."

"…OK…", without a parting goodbye, it seemed like Sam was already asleep anyway, Elizabeth shut the door quietly.

She bit back a satisfied smile. Her little foray upstairs had been an unintentional success. Sure, she was a little disappointed at her lonely day but at the same time, she was ecstatically pleased by the implication.

Sam was away for the night.

How perfect.

She knew Michael would be, too, that was a given. Even Grandpa did his own things, she was sure he would be out and about, too.

It's like it's meant to be, she thought, biting her lip through a smile when she realized exactly what she intended to do.

She moved to Michael's door, knocking quietly. There was no answer, but she wasn't surprised by that in the slightest. She knocked again but unlike Sam, he didn't respond at all.

No groan, no mumble.

She opened his door and spoke quietly, "Mike?"

She peeked her head inside and saw him, sleeping solidly on the top of his duvet.

"Michael…" she whispered.

His windows were shut firmly, giving his room a kind of stale, slept in smell. She tried not to breathe too deeply.

He was wearing pajamas, an old set he'd been given last Christmas. They were buttoned up, all the way to the top, and he was wearing a fluffy pair of sleeping socks, too. He looked oddly wholesome. Even his hair had been combed…

She shook her head and closed the door. She didn't smell alcohol, she didn't smell cigarettes or drugs and he looked bright, from what she could see in the darkened room. No dark circles under his eyes.

Shrugging, she turned away from his door.

Michael looked fine and Sammy was still sleeping.

There was no way they could fight with each other today, there was no reason to.

Setting off down the stairs once more, she paused. She glanced at Grandpa's workroom and walked to it, tapping on the door gently, "Grandpa?"

There was a small clang from inside and she stepped back as the doors opened.

"Kiddo?"

"Oh hey, hi Grandpa" she wasn't actually expecting him to be in. He was wearing a stained shirt and apron and his hair was a little wild, "I was going to head to the library or something and I thought, I don't know. Just wanted to check in…"

He rubbed his hands over his apron. It was hopelessly stained, "brothers not up?"

"Sleeping" she told him and he nodded knowingly.

"You must be really bored if you're searching me out, huh?" he chuckled.

"No, no!" she laughed, shaking her head.

He laughed again, "terrible liar, kid! It's a boring day indeed when the young seek out the old"

She grinned.

"I'm a bit busy… " He told her, peering into the kitchen behind her before regarding her again, "gonna see The Widow tonight and this project is taking longer than it should, plus there's Nanook-"

"-what?"

"My project. I can't get the eyes quite right, it's driving me insane. It's all the eyes, you know, Lizzie? They really are the window to your stomach. You have to get them just right and at the moment they all look like they came from some cutesy little teddy bear-"

Window to the stomach? Whose eyes? What about Nanook?

So many questions.

"No, I meant about Nanook" she shook her head.

"What about Nanook?"

"You said something about Nanook?"

"Yes..."

"I..what about him?"

"I gotta go pick him up"

"Pick him up? Why?"

Grandpa tilted his head, "why do I have to pick Nanook up? Well..he lives here, Lizzie"

"No" she shook her head, a slow smile creeping over her face at their ridiculous interaction, "I mean why do you have to pick him up? Where is he?"

"Oh" Grandpa nodded, "well, why didn't you ask me that?" he asked, moving past her and ambling towards the kitchen.

Elizabeth grinned at him in disbelief as he walked away.

One thing was for sure...she didn't feel bored anymore and what had he said? Before the nonsense? Gonna see The Widow tonight.

That confirmed it.

The house was hers.

Theirs…

She couldn't wait for the day to be over.

All she wanted now was to see Dwayne.

Grandpa brightened as he looked at the table, "Oh croissants…" he looked into the bag and pulled one out, taking a bite, "Lucy must have bought these…"

"Sorry..so whats the deal with Nanook?" Elizabeth asked, leaning against the door, trying to stop thinking about her date.

"Oh, right. She loves dogs, so I brought Nanook on our da-"

"Huh?"

"The Widow loves dogs"

"Grandpa! You took Sammy's dog on your date!?"

"Yu-huh" Grandpa scrunched up the plastic wrapping, shoved it into his pocket and then opened another croissant. He wiggled his fingers with delight as he observed the fluffy looking pastry and Elizabeth laughed in disbelief, "Grandpa you gave her Nanook?"

"What kind of a guy do you think I am, Lizzie? He's just on loan..." his eyes twinkled, "Why? You think Sam would be OK with that?" he asked, and she had no idea if he was joking.

She couldn't believe that Grandpa had brought Nanook on his date, she couldn't believe that he had left him and she couldn't believe that Sammy wasn't kicking up a fuss. He loved his dog more than anything, even comics and fashion.

She laughed again and shook her head, "no way!"

Grandpa hitched his pants, "yeah, that's what I thought..."

He shoved the croissant into his mouth and then crumpled the plastic into his pocket.

He grinned at her, his eyes twinkling, and she shook her head with love. There was a trashcan just to his right but here he was, hoarding the wrappers instead.

"Is Nanook OK?"

"Happy as a clam" Grandpa told her, hitching his pants again, "The Widow has a freezer full of bacon. We'll walk him together tonight.."

He spoke so easily as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"I think Sam likes to walk him.."

She just had so, so many questions. Elizabeth grinned, boredom well and truly gone. He was such a wonderful, wild man, "Grandpa, did you want to get lunch with me a little later?" she asked.

He was crazy, he was totally off his rocker but she loved him.

"Well, now any other day and that would be a real treat" he told her, opening the fridge. He cracked open a root beer, "but I'm working on a little present now, actually..aside from my project and I wanna get it done"

"OK" she smiled at him. It would have been nice, "well, I'm just gonna head to the library.."

He nodded, "thanks for telling me. Sammy and Michael don't tell me anything. Say, did you speak to your mother?"

"No, why? Did she call?"

"Nah, some fancy lawyer did, I swear this divorce is tough for her...hey-" Grandpa frowned into the fridge, "-did you take a cookie?"

She shook her head, "no" and he grunted, pulling a packet out. He weighed it in his hand with a frown, "feels like someone's..no maybe not.."

"OK. Well, I'm gonna head out, Grandpa" she told him, smacking the door frame lightly.

"Be safe" he advised with a warm smile.

"I will. Does Sammy know you left Nanook with your date?"

"Sure, sure" Grandpa nodded with a wave of his hand and she wasn't entirely sure she believed him, "but my project..just between us, this is…I'm working on a Border Collie. Sammy can have that"

Elizabeth flinched a little at the idea of Sam being presented with a stuffed dog. He already had a stuffed chipmunk, raccoon and some kind of flying bird and that's what she knew of. She had no idea if he'd snuck her brother extra presents. She laughed and shook her head "...I think he wants Nanook"

"Have a nice day, Lizzie" Grandpa patted her shoulder with a wide smile as he ambled back to his workroom.

She watched him go with an affectionate smile. He was totally and utterly off his rocker but she loved him.

'Checking out the library. Have a good day, guys' Elizabeth jotted down a little message to her brothers, plopping it beside the bowl of keys. She was sure they would see it on their way out, whatever they planned to do.

She smiled, setting off down the drive.

The clouds had largely emptied the beach despite it still being fairly warm. Small groups lingered on the sand as opposed to the throngs of people from days past. The boardwalk itself felt incredibly subdued and, if she was with her brothers, she thought it would be the perfect time to enjoy the rides.

With a shrug, Elizabeth turned away from the boardwalk and headed towards the imposing library.

It didn't matter.

She could enjoy the rides with Dwayne, tonight.

She smiled.

It took her twenty minutes to sign up for a library card, assisted by a kind yet stern old woman but she didn't care. It was good to kill time. Time was the enemy…

"There's a water fountain between the land survey section and the town record room" the woman told Elizabeth in a very dramatic whisper while slowly escorting her to a staircase.

The library was almost empty and deathly quiet. It seemed like she was the only person in Santa Carla who chose to spend her day there. Elizabeth smiled, wondering just how strict the librarian was. Maybe everyone knew something she didn't?

She stifled a grin, thinking that if Paul was here, he would definitely make an inappropriate joke.

An old man was reading a thick book at one of the long, dark oak tables and she thought she could see someone browsing the shelves on the second floor, just beyond the balcony but otherwise the building was still.

"Drink from the fountain. No drinks allowed-" Elizabeth nodded and held her hands up, trying to show that she hadn't brought anything. Her purse was stuffed tightly into the back pocket of her jeans, bulging against the material, "-no sassing, either. Now. You can borrow ten books at a time, which is very generous but only three from downstairs, those are difficult to get hold of. A lot of first editions, some are one of a kind...oh yes, we may be a small beach side town but we do have our treasures..."

The carpet in the library was an ugly, thin red number but the tables, shelves and balcony were all original wood. The stairs leading down to the basement looked to be original, too. They had come to stop before it. There was an ugly metallic handle going down the length of the concrete wall and the woman clung to it, despite having no intention of going down.

Elizabeth guessed the library had suffered many renovations during its life.

"Library closes at seven and I can't come down and get you" the old woman began to turn away, "on account of my knees"

"I'll be out before then" Elizabeth assured, only to be shushed by the retreating woman.

Well before then. She had a lot to do before her date.

"Shhhh! No loud voices!" the woman hissed.

Descending the stairs carefully, Elizabeth took a deep breath. It smelled like old books and, despite being quite a vast space, it was an oddly comforting area. Passing shelves upon shelves, she saw a row of tables pushed towards the back and set her purse down on one of them.

It felt better not having it shoved in her pocket.

Perusing the sections quietly, stopping now and then at an interesting sounding title, Elizabeth frowned at a fairly thick hardback book. It was the only one on the shelf without writing on the spine. It looked quite old and as she heaved it from the shelf, having to wriggle it a little to dislodge it from the row, she saw the title was completely faded. It was leather bound and the once gold title had peeled off, leaving just a tattered and cracked 'S' to be seen.

She bounced it in her hands quickly, it wasn't too heavy. She took it back to the table and set it down, pulling out the old, metal framed chair as she did.

"God this place is a mishmash of style" she muttered quietly to herself, shifting her weight on the saggy, flat chair.

She flicked on the vintage table lamp and pulled the light towards her book, opening the cover.

"A History of Santa Carla" she read to herself, following the print. She turned the next page, was it written with a typewriter? Machine? She frowned at a section of cursive text scrawled in the margin. The pages were sturdy but had water stains and brown circles in places.

She looked but couldn't see a publication date.

With an interested twitch of her lips, she began to read, hunching over the old book as the silence enveloped her.