Chapter Eleven

It was hard enough putting Lisa's book back into the floorboards, but staying out of the library's secret lair was impossible. I had too many questions. Too many mysteries surrounded these Librarians. So that's why the night before the library re-opened, I spent my whole night inside the hidden room while Tarryn was out partying like an eighteen-year-old should.

I sipped a cup of tea and read as much as I could about these ladies. I learned more than any college could teach me about this subject, and my head hurt. I wasn't any closer to understanding why these women traveled through books, but I did know that they all did. They were a secret society of Librarians stationed all over the East Coast, and they traveled through books and time.

Yes. They traveled through time. In the past, not ever the future.

Their time was defined by books. Books written based on real people. So Lisa was real, not fictional. Huge bonus for me and my sanity, but if she was real, that meant she was dead and gone by now. Long gone.

Each Librarian had a formula written that helped them travel. I'm not unconvinced that Harold Lockhart had tons to do with that. He was a scientist, and I know that he was with Grace when she traveled to Lisa's time.

I wasn't sure how he could have helped them all, but if he could travel, that would mean he could go to their time period and help write the formula.

And there was another thing; all these women were my relatives. Yep. They were all my family. Family I'd never meet, but still, they were somehow related to my bloodline. They were Kims.

Tessa Kim. Alice Kim-Carter. Laura Kim.

Grace Kim.

I put the teacup down and pulled the picture out of them all. I didn't see any resemblance, but there was one thing that pulled my eye to the photo. I pulled the light closer to make sure. I saw it there.

Each woman had a ring, brooch, or necklace that was the same as my great-grandmother's ring. Rose gold leaves surrounding a round cut diamond. Everything about it was exact, except for the way it was worn. That seemed to depend on the wearer.

Now, it was a ring. The same ring my great-grandmother Grace wore on her right hand.

I wished she were here now and that I could ask her who these women really were and what role they played. Why our family?

Why me?

"What are you doing up?"

I froze staring into Tarryn's eyes as she saw me in my grandma's secret room. I practically threw the photo that I held in my hand as I stumbled out of the room and tried to act casual, as if having a secret lair was totally normal.

Maybe for Batman.

But for me, it wasn't, and it showed as I tried to be cool, without really pulling it off.

"What's in that room?" Tarryn asked looking over my shoulder.

My cover was blown.

"Um, it's my Gram's room. It's where she holds her old photographs."

Smooth, Jennie, like silk.

"Uh…why not just put them in the attic? That's where my mom puts them."

She knew something was up, but I couldn't make any more excuses for this room or for my secret. Maybe it would be nice if someone knew about this besides me. I could tell her everything, and she'd be okay with it. I decided how lame that was, and I grabbed her by the arm, gently, and shut out the lights.

"I think we should go out tonight to celebrate. What do you say?"

She struggled a little, but then relented. I knew I could get her to give up on that room with a night out.

"We'll go to Smitty's! I have a fake ID," she chimed in.

"That works perfect." My fake ID was still in my wallet, but I figured the staff there probably didn't even know who I was anymore. No one ever paid any attention to me anyhow.

It actually sounded horrible, but I needed to get Tarryn away from the library. And I could use a drink…or two.

Smitty's was packed with the usual suspects. Sailors coming home after their full week or two of fishing or townspeople missing the sunshine. Our town was lonely at times, and the bars were the only place to go to have decent conversation. If you didn't own a computer, you were in Smitty's. Most people came here to drink and wallow in their self-pity.

I pulled Tarryn to the back of the bar and text Rose to meet us. Tarryn tried Becca, but she was stuck working still. I ordered a shot and gave it to Tarryn, who took it and downed it faster than I expected her to. I did the same to mine and ordered more.

Not shy about drinking, I could hold my own. I owe that talent to my year of college and sorority life.

There were many times that I woke up in the bathtub with puke in my hair, but those were the early days. The trick was to not mix hard liquor and beer or to drink hard liquor and frilly drinks. You started with a few shots and finished the night with something calmer, finally ending with a large glass of water and a pain killer. Worked for me every time.

We downed our second shots, and I ordered us Malibu and Cokes. Tarryn was beginning to loosen up and talk about what she liked to do when Rose walked in.

"Started without me, ladies?" Rose teased as she sat down. She pulled off her winter coat and hung it on the coat hook. "Still got that same fake, Jennie?" I nodded and showed her my old ratty fake ID that I got senior year.

She wasn't wearing her scrubs, which meant she was off duty and not on call. Rose would never drink if she was.

"I'll have what their having," she told the bartender. "So ladies, what are we celebrating?"

"The opening of the library," Tarryn said holding up her drink. I did a quick introduction between Tarryn and Rose and left out the fact that Tarryn was underage, too.

Afterwards, I lifted my glass and toasted with them. I felt a foreboding within me. I wasn't celebrating; I was avoiding confrontation and trying to not think about Lisa.

It was almost Impossible not to think about her, especially when I watched people hooking up all around us. As the night went on, it got worse. I got more alcohol in me and I felt sadder.

"Rose," I started, "tell me about the guy."

Her eyes widened and she turned a bit red. Rose didn't like to kiss and tell, and I knew I was putting her on the spot. She didn't really date much either, which made her mother sad. If her family had the choice, they would have found a nice guy for her and married her off years ago. Her mother's traditions didn't rub off on Rose. She wanted a career first like her father.

"He's a doctor at the hospital, and he's a little amazing. But I feel like we're keeping this huge secret from the staff. You know how much I hate that," she said to me.

I did indeed know that. Rose was honest and direct. She never kept anything from me or anyone really. It wasn't annoying but rather endearing.

"How did you get involved?" Tarryn asked.

Rose went into their story of how they met and I tried to listen, to give her my full attention. I couldn't help but think of my story with Lisa. Lisa was real, but she was gone now. If I tried to find her in my time, I'd find a grave. I took a drink of my Malibu and Coke and found the bottom. I was doing what I never did, letting someone take over my thoughts. I was letting her into my high brick walls that surrounded my heart.

I never dated.

I never fell in love.

I absolutely never drank at a bar while thinking about some stranger.

There were lots of times the girls in school would tease me and tell me I must be gay if I never had a boyfriend. What could I say? I never met the one who made my knees weak or made me want to commit. I had tons of friends who I would hang out with from time to time or go to school dances with, but never a commitment.

They all tried to make me their girlfriend; I think it was a challenge for most of them. Who would be the one to make Jennie Kim fall head over heels for them? None of them would win that title, until now.

Of course, it was someone in a book. A dead person, who I had to time-travel to see. I put my drink down and leaned over toward the girls.

"I'm feeling a little tired. I'm gonna head back."

"I'll drive you," Tarryn said as she grabbed her purse.

I put my hand on hers. I needed to be alone and she didn't need to be driving.

"I'm going to walk," I said, giving her a reassuring smile. "I'll be okay. Just don't drink too much and do not drive. Our big day is tomorrow."

She gave me a sad smile, and I hugged Rose, who promised to come see me tomorrow at work. I nodded and grabbed my coat. I buttoned it tightly and braced for the cold breeze from the ocean. Once I hit the outside, it didn't come. The wind was absent from the cold night. I was thankful. The moon lit the street enough for me to see where I was going. I needed to be outside in the crisp air. I had to think of what I was going to do with my responsibility, of not only the library that Gram entrusted me with, but with the books. They truly were special, and I had to keep them safe. I couldn't let anyone get to them.

I finally got to the library and unlocked the doors. Letters scattered across the floor from the mail. They must have fallen from my stack I carried in yesterday. I picked them up and absently walked, not to the apartment, but to the library.

I looked down at the letter in my hand and saw it was, once again, a letter from LM Builders. These guys were relentless. They wouldn't stop, would they?

I threw it in the trash and turned on the light above Gram's desk. I looked at the library and at all the books in each row. So many stories to be told and adventures to be had and an idea came across my mind.

Could I travel through them all if I tried? There was only one way to find out.