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us, is so unordinary. And it’s almost like a TV drama having you come in and throw Miss Grundler out on her tuffet.”
    Another giggle escaped the small woman. D.J. was pretty sure that sound would get very old in a hurry.
    “I’m not throwing anybody out. We’re a small staff and we’re going to need to work as a team.”
    Suzy’s expression immediately changed to wide-eyed worship as she grasped D.J.’s hands once more. “I love being on a team,” she stated with great drama. “I was on cheerleading squad for four years in high school. In my whole life so far, it’s the thing I’m most proud of.”
    D.J. was sure the woman must be joking, but there was nothing in her expression beyond solemn sincerity. At a loss at how to respond, she was rescued by the arrival of the other bookmobile operator, a stoic man who also appeared about her own age. He was as big and quiet as Suzy was tiny and animated. He shook D.J.’s hand very formally and introduced himself as Amos Brigham.
    “I haven’t had a chance to look at the bookmobile schedules,” D.J. admitted to them. “But I am hoping that you two have time for a short staff meeting this morning before you head out.”
    “A staff meeting.” Suzy repeated the phrase wistfully, as if it were some strange exotic vacation locale. “We’ve never had a staff meeting.”
    “Miss Grundler typically leaves a note in our mailbox when she has something to say to us,” Amos verified.
    D.J. wanted to roll her eyes, but managed to maintain professional decorum. “Notes in the mailbox are fine, too,” she weaseled slightly. “But staff meetings bring in every voice and build team unity.”
    Suzy turned to Amos and informed him in a whisper. “We’re on a team now.”
    No reaction showed on the man’s face. Instead he answered D.J.’s question. “I have to be in Hadeston by ten o’clock.”
    That meant nothing to her.
    “I’m loaded up, gassed up and ready to go,” he continued. “So if we could get through the meeting in the next half hour, I’d be okay.”
    “I’m in Elmira and Brushy this morning,” Suzy piped in, “but I can get there real easy. I wouldn’t miss the staff meeting for anything.”
    D.J. nodded. She glanced at her watch. Amelia Grundler had yet to show up, but perhaps it would be better to have their first meeting together privately.
    “Okay, let’s get started,” she said. “Shall we sit at the table in the break area?”
    “Did you want James at the meeting?” Amos asked.
    “Of course,” she answered and then turned toward the shelves behind her. “James, I need you to attend the staff meeting.”
    There was no immediate response, but a moment later a book slammed shut loudly.
    “Maybe we’d better have it out here,” Amos said. “That way he can hear what you’re saying. He won’t go to the break room if anyone is in there.”
    The idea of meeting in the middle of the dark, depressing space in front of the circulation desk wasn’t going to enhance the quality of the meeting, but D.J. didn’t argue when Amos began bringing chairs for them.
    “James is an odd duck,” he said to D.J. by way of explanation. “But he’s a good worker.”
    Suzy was nodding with agreement. “You’ll get used to that slamming-the-books-closed thing,” she assured her. “The shelving he does is perfect. Every month or so, I ask him to do my bookmobile. I just tell him I need it and leave it unlocked. I never see him go in or come out, but the next day, the books will be absolutely perfect.”
    “He never takes a day off. He’s never sick. He’s been working here since he was a kid, really. They hired him on staff maybe thirty years ago.”
    “You’ll never get three words out of him,” Suzy explained. “But he’s very dependable.”
    Having his co-workers defend him so adamantly, D.J. realized she was going to have to give the guy some latitude. Still, she worried.
    “As long as he does his job and doesn’t upset the patrons,