Chapter Seventeen

"Two hours and forty-seven minutes," Tarryn said as I blinked my eyes to see her clearly.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"That's how long you've been gone." She waved the stopwatch in front of my face. "It's been so long, Jennie. I thought you were dead, except for the fact that you were breathing. Oh God, Jennie, it's awful sitting here watching you."

She grabbed me before I knew what was happening and hugged me, hard. I could feel her trembling as I hugged her back. She was terrified, the poor girl.

"I'm so sorry I scared you, Tarryn. But look at me, I'm fine," I said gently. She pulled back and nodded as a tear escaped her eyes. "I am all in one piece. But I'm famished."

She laughed and said, "Let's go get food into you then. And I want to hear about it all.

I had to drive to Larrison, the next town over, to deliver my college essay in person and to sit for a test. Larrison Community College was not a prestigious school nor was it anything like my old school, but it was all I had here.

Bay Ridge didn't have a college so driving here, even if it was forty-five minutes away, was my only option. Gram's truck took the twists and turns with ease, but I couldn't go over fifty in this old beast. She was still running, just not as well as she used to. Winter gave way to spring as the wet icy roads melted and brown trees turned green. I loved this time of year when animals woke from their lazy slumber and flowers blossomed. I just wished I could escape the library more often to enjoy it.

I hadn't seen Lisa for over a week and I was itching to travel soon. The library demands were keeping Tarryn and me from finding a free night to ourselves. Rose was over almost every night lately since her and the guy from work ended their relationship. Rose was the one to finally call it quits because she found out he liked the nurses just a little too much. He hadn't cheated, but according to Rose, he might as well had.

I didn't ask or pry for more; instead I played my best friend role and supported her. While she was with me, traveling was impossible. Unless I wanted to involve her in my secret, and I wasn't going to do that. She was my best friend, the one I told all my secrets too, but I couldn't tell her this one. Not only was it forbidden in the guide, but she wouldn't understand if she even believed me at all.

So for now, it was me and Tarryn, and I was okay with that.

My cell rang as I pulled into Larrison's parking lot. I put the truck into park and answered.

"Hello?"

"Oh, hi! Miss Kim?"

"Yeah." I didn't look at caller ID when I probably should have.

"This is Lili at LM builders. I'm glad I got ahold of you, finally. We haven't had time to talk recently, and I wanted to know if you have been getting my messages."

Ugh, its her again! I had been dodging her calls for months. I didn't want to sell Gram's property to her or to anyone.

"Listen, I told you before that I'm not selling, and I meant it. Please stop calling me."

I poised my finger over the end call button as she said, "Please reconsider, Miss Kim. Our family has been in this area a long time. My great-great grandfather founded Bay Ridge in 1897."

My mouth dropped open as I pulled my finger back.

"What…what did you just say?"

There was a pause before she repeated herself.

"I said my family founded Bay Ridge. Over a hundred and twenty years ago. So we've been trying to preserve the land."

"By building freaking malls on it! You disgust me! I'm sure they would have been so angry to see what you tore down and built over it with. You know, I have an eye for beautiful things, Ms. Whatever-your-name-is, and I can tell you that your shopping malls are not beautiful."

Her laugh sounded through my phone so loudly that the speaker crackled. It wasn't funny at all, and the fact that this jerk-wad was laughing at me, made me as angry as a hornet.

She wasn't doing her family proud. They had come here, from God-knows-where, and they started a life. They started a home for many and this lady was making money off of tearing down those homes.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, Lili," I said clearly, with no shame. "You say you're trying to preserve Bay Ridge, but you want to take away a piece of history. My Gram's library has been around for several generations. Mr. Harold Lockhart was the first to own it, and he was magnificent. You should do your homework."

"Oh, should I? And what, Miss Kim, should I research?"

"Try the term asshole first. Then after you learn a bit about yourself, learn about what real historical preserving is. Now goodbye!"

I ended the call with a fierce slap so hard the phone went flying. I didn't care. I was so flustered, and late for my class, that I fumbled out of the truck and left it behind.

My hands hadn't stopped shaking until I finished my exam. I should probably have skipped it all together after that phone call. Her arrogance was a little too much for me to handle, so I texted Rose, asking her to meet me at the coffee shop for some much needed advice.

She got there before me, and I could see her inside talking to Tarryn. I put the truck into park and got out. The sun was shining, but it did little to brighten my mood.

"Hey! How did the test go?" Tarryn asked, handing me a cup of coffee.

I sighed. "I'm not so sure I passed. It was brutal."

With Rose here, I couldn't go into too much detail about the reasons why. I just really wanted to see my friends and see some semblance of a light at the end of the tunnel. With LM Builders on my back constantly, I found it hard to want to stay in Maine. I could preserve the stories anywhere. I didn't need to do it in Gram's library. As long as I had her ring, I could follow my dream and move to England like I always wanted.

"So, I have been hounded to sell the library," I blurted before taking a sip of my coffee. Tarryn's face fell but not Rose's.

No, her face looked almost happy. Rose always supported my passion to fly free of this place, but for her to look delighted at me selling the library shocked me.

"Are you happy about that, Rose?" I found myself asking her sarcastically.

She nodded and her mouth fell open slightly. "Don't get me wrong, I will miss the old place, but it's such a great location."

The old place?

I knew that I wanted an out, but I also wanted someone to fight to keep me here too. Was that wrong? I wasn't sure.

"A good location for what exactly?" Tarryn asked bluntly. I could see in Tarryn's face the same look I wanted to give my friend.

Rose fumbled for words before finally saying, "I didn't want to say anything to you after your Gram's death. It wasn't the right thing to tell you after that. But I want to open my own office here in town. I have my own dreams too, you know."

Rose did have her own desires, but I had no idea they included knocking down my library and building a strip mall and a doctor's office for her.

"I'm the best cardiovascular surgeon in this region, not to mention the youngest and the only one for miles. I want to open my own office to see patients outside of the hospital. These heart patients have to drive two hours to see a doctor in an office."

It was true; she was the best. But"it was also true that the library helped residents. Not on the same level of course, but we were the only entertainment for many.

"You don't even want to be here, Jennie. Don't pretend like you wanted to come back to Bay Ridge. If your Gram wasn't dying, you'd still be in California with all those snobs you called friends!"

Whoa! That was it.

"Rose, I'm going to pretend like you didn't say the last part because I've had a really shitty day," I stated as I stood up to gather my purse. My hands shook slightly as adrenaline coursed through me. "I understand that you want things for this town, but I do too. I wanted to help this town after Gram died. I had a duty to fulfill and I'm doing it. I refuse to sell it to anyone so they can build a strip mall and ruin one of the last historic buildings in Bay Ridge."

Tarryn stood then as well and gathered her things.

"I may not have had plans to move back here, but I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere," I said. "Oh, and as for those snobby friends of mine, I wrote them out of my life like that." I snapped my fingers and Rose's eyes blinked. "I can do that with just about anyone who calls themselves my friend while at the same time stabbing me in the back."

I left with Tarryn and didn't give Rose a second glance.