Forever Love on Fireweed Island (Island County Book 4) Read Online Free Page B

quickness the stack of papers to the metal newsstand, snagged the top copy off the pile, and folded the paper back quickly to the editorial section before shoving it to her. No need for her to see the embarrassing front page right away. Val worked part-time, mostly in the children’s section of the library, and had a sense of humor that was great as long as it was pointed in the opposite direction.
    “How exciting,” I said a tad too exuberantly. “What’s the letter about?”
    Val eyed me suspiciously and swiped the paper from me, her eyes running down the editorial section.
    “The plans for the marina expansion. He thinks they’ve underestimated how much the cost of construction will be.”
    “He’s probably right about that,” I said, slowly moving in front of the newspapers to hide the photo from her direct view.
    “He writes so eloquently,” Val continued, satisfaction spreading across her face. “See?”
    I took the newspaper back and quickly read Rob’s letter, nodding my head in agreement. “Makes sense to me. I think they should raise the overnight moorage fees on visitors to pay for the expansion. He sold me on the bid.”
    “Mind if I take a stack home?” she asked, her eyes falling to the papers behind me. A grin slowly grew to the size of the Joker’s, and I let out a huge sigh of defeat.
    “You made the front page?” She closed the paper in her hand and refolded the pages to get a better look at me dangling from the tree before reading the headline aloud. “ Fireweed’s Own Head Librarian Takes Rescuing Animals to Dangerous New Heights . Well, I don’t know about the danger part.” She tapped the photo. “That’s the tree you hung from? Why didn’t you just let go?”
    “The photo distorts the distance between my feet and the ground,” I assured her.
    “Sure it does.”
    “What concerns me is who was snapping the picture? Couldn’t they have tried to help instead of making me front-page news?” I pointed out.
    “Journalists are there to witness, not interfere with historical events. It’s more fun this way.” She wiggled her brows.
    “This wasn’t historical.”
    “It is now.” She grinned, and the front door opened, letting in a rush of warm evening air along with the Morton family. All six children and two exhausted parents made their way to the magazine section, grabbing the latest issues of their favorite periodicals to settle in for a Friday night at the library. Since it was summer, the fire wasn’t blazing in the fireplace, but the reading nook still felt cozy. Between the exposed timbers above and the warm slate accents throughout the building, it felt like a rustic retreat for our patrons, and I couldn’t imagine a better job or place to be.
    “They’re so sweet,” she whispered.
    I nodded and walked over to the return bin to empty out and get sorted, hoping my fifteen minutes of fame had fallen from her memory.
    “So what was Jake like?” she asked, moseying over to offer a hand.
    “Jake? Jake who?” I asked, hauling the books out of the bin.
    “The man who apparently whisked you to safety.” Her brows quirked.
    “He seemed nice and capable.” I walked the stack of books to the front counter and began scanning them back in and placing them on the rolling rack behind me. “Probably just like Rob.”
    “Did you talk to him?” she pried.
    “Not really. He had a call to go to. Why?” I asked, bringing my gaze to hers as she pulled out the children’s books from the stack.
    “There’s a lot of rumors about Jake. I can’t imagine he’ll be happy to see himself on the front page of the paper, as much as he hides out.”
    “It wasn’t the highlight of my day either.” I smiled, feeling my heart rate putter a little too fast at the mention of his name. “But why do you think it’ll bother him?”
    “He moved back after a nasty divorce and bought about twenty acres at the south end of the island. I’m not even sure there’s a road to get to