sold their little house, all the furniture, just about every damn thing. And he cut me loose and moved to New York to get rich and famous.â
âIt wasnât as cut and dried as that,â Malory commented.
âMaybe not. But it felt like it. He said he had to go. That he needed something, and it wasnât here. If he was going to writeâand he had to writeâhe had to do it his way. He had to get out of the Valley. So thatâs what he did, like the two years we were together was just a little interlude in his life.â
She downed the rest of the wine in her glass. âSo fuck him, and the bestsellers he rode in on.â
âYou may not want to hear this, at least not now. But part of the solution might be to resolve this with him.â
âResolve what?â
âDana.â Malory laid both of her hands on Danaâs. âYouâre still in love with him.â
Her hands jerked. âI am not. I made a life for myself. Iâve had lovers. I have a careerâwhich, okay, is in the toilet right now, but Iâve got a phoenix about to rise from the ashes in the bookstore.â
She stopped, hearing the way her words tumbled out. âNo more wine for me if I mix metaphors that pitifully. Jordan Hawkeâs old news,â she said more calmly. âJust because he was the first man I loved doesnât mean he has to be the last. Iâd rather poke my eye with a burning stick than give him the satisfaction.â
âI know.â Malory laughed a little, gave Danaâs hands a squeeze before she released them. âThatâs how I know youâre still in love with him. That, and what I just saw on your face, heard in your voice when you took me through what you had together.â
It was appalling. How had she looked? How had shesounded? âSo the wine made me sentimental. It doesnât meanââ
âIt means whatever it means,â Malory said briskly. âItâs something youâre going to have to think about, Dana, something youâre going to have to weigh carefully if you really mean to do this thing. Because one way or the other, heâs part of your life, and heâs part of this.â
âI donât want him to be,â Dana managed. âBut if he is, Iâll deal with it. Thereâs too much at stake for me to wimp out before I even get started.â
âThatâs the spirit. Iâve got to get home.â
She rose, then ran a comforting hand over Danaâs hair. âWhatever youâre feeling or thinking, you can tell me. And Zoe. And if thereâs something you need to say, if you just need someone to be here when you have nothing to say, all you have to do is call.â
Dana nodded, waited until Malory was at the door. âMal? It was like having a hole punched in my heart when he left. One hole ought to be enough for anybodyâs lifetime.â
âYouâd think. Iâll see you tomorrow.â
Chapter Three
T HE odds of finding a magic key tucked in one of the thousands of books at the Pleasant Valley Library were long and daunting. But that didnât mean she couldnât look.
In any case, she liked being in the stacks, surrounded by books. She could, if she let her mind open to it, hear the words murmuring from them. All those voices from people who lived in worlds both fantastic and ordinary. She could, simply by slipping a book off the shelf, slide right into one of those worlds and become anyone who lived inside it.
Magic keys and soul-sucking sorcerers, Dana thought. Incredible as they might be, they paled for her against the power of words on a page.
But she wasnât here to play, she reminded herself as she began dutifully tidying the stacks while keeping an eye on the resource desk a few feet away. This was an experiment. Maybe she would put her fingers on a book and feel somethingâa tingle, a hint of heat.
Who knew?
But she worked her way