Book of Love Read online

  * * * *

  Tuesday morning Janice went to her appointment to see Dr. Bedford. He looked at the MRI, and then had Janice lie back in the chair so he could examine her mouth more thoroughly. He also did a complete head and neck exam. After spraying the back of her throat with numbing medicine, he conducted an indirect pharynogoscopy and laryngoscopy.

  When the exam was over, he said, “There is a red patch at the base of your tongue and according to the MRI, it looks like it may be a minor tumor about the size of a pinhead. The only way I can determine what it is for sure is to do a biopsy of it. I’ll need to do a panendoscopy.”

  “What is that?” Janice asked.

  “I use an endoscope and pass it down the mouth or nose and this allows me to examine your mouth, oropharynox, largnx, esophagus, trachea and bronci. In this case, because it’s so small, I’ll remove the tissue so it can be looked at under a microscope.”

  “Will this be done here in your office?”

  “No, I’d have to have you admitted on an outpatient status at Rosebud Community Hospital in Forsyth. The procedure itself will only take about an hour, but you’ll need someone to bring you in and take you home.”

  When Janice got home that night, she thought about what Dr. Bedford said and what she would going to be undergoing. The procedure didn’t concern her much. What was bothering her was the fact that she had to go through this, all because of what David did to her.

  The possibility that she could now have cancer weighed very heavily on her heart. How could she move on with her life if she had to constantly live in fear of getting cancer? She had to face this while David sat in a nice, comfortable chair in a home without a care in the world about what happened to her. She could feel her anger rising within again.

  * * * *

  The mayor and the council members met on their usual Wednesday night, and after going through the old business, they addressed the new business of Janice’s five requests. One was for an exterminator to rid the basement of the rats and termites. The second was for the clean-up of the basement—getting the floors and walls cleaned—and having the outdated windows replaced with insulated windows. The third one was to have a climate-control system installed to keep the temperature consistent and the humidity low at all times. Her fourth request was to hire another person, and the fifth request was to have the historical books in the basement restored.

  The mayor said, “I don’t think what Janice is asking for is unreasonable as far as getting an exterminator and getting the room cleaned up and the windows replaced. I don’t know about whether we want to make it a climate-controlled environment, only because it costs a good deal of money to do that. I know that I said originally when we interviewed her that I was interested in it, and I’m still interested, but is it feasible right now? Does anyone else have an opinion on it?”

  Chris thought for a few minutes about his walkthrough with Janice, and then the kiss he shared with her. It was still on his mind. Every time he tried to think through the proposition she put forth, he thought of the kiss.

  Finally, Chris said, “I went down there myself the other day and saw the mess the basement is in. I also saw the books and how they have rotted and wasted away. I personally don’t care about Colstrip history much as I wasn’t born and raised here, but I would imagine other folks would be interested in that stuff. In the condition they are in now, I think it would be dangerous to anyone’s health to read those documents and the books. I also have concerns that there is asbestos in the area, and there are termites and rats. Now, Janice didn’t say anything about asbestos, but I sure did see it. I also saw termites and rats. The long-term advantage of getting that area under a climate-controlled environment is to ensure that the historical books and documents don’t deteriorate. It was not a pretty sight down there.”

  “Wow, Chris, this isn’t like you to support something like this,” Shane said.

  “Well, like I said, I saw it with my own eyes, and I don’t want to risk the public getting exposed to it.”

  Barb Wickman spoke up and said, “I like Janice’s approach on these things. She met with me and requested space at the art show that’s coming up in June. She would like to bring paperback books that we have an abundant supply of to sell, and she would like to raffle off some books as well. She is also suggesting that perhaps we purchase a top-of-the-line e-reader to raffle off and that the money be used to contribute toward the funding of the basement project.”

  Chris was immediately impressed with the idea and how Janice had articulated the project and was willing to do what she could to help defray the costs. The council members agreed to the proposal that Janice presented and requested that she submit bids to them for each project and they would approve the one they felt should be used.

  They then discussed her request to hire another person. Chris, at first, was not favorable toward it until Barb said, “Since Janice has been the librarian, she has started a literacy group that meets monthly, a children’s group on Saturdays, and since Pine Ridge Elementary has no library, Ms. Pietroski, the principal, is working with Janice now to build in a library curriculum starting this fall. They are also migrating from the card catalog to the new SIRSI Enterprise and Janice will be beginning the work on that. She is also planning to request a meeting with the director of the Franklin Nursing Home to discuss a possible program for the elderly. The list goes on, and I can see where she will need the help.”

  Chris reflected thoughtfully on what Barb had said and finally gave his consent for Janice to hire another person.

  * * * *

  Janice and Robin stayed late Wednesday, hoping they could catch the mayor or someone on the council who would tell them what had been decided. They both waited on pins and needles. The meeting broke up about eight-thirty PM and everyone came out of the room, filing past the library. Chris was one of the last ones to leave, and as he strolled down the hall, he looked in the library and saw Robin and Janice talking. He walked into the library and up to them. He had a thin grin on his face, and he looked at Janice. His brown, alluring eyes met hers.

  “You’ll be pleased to know—and I’m sure that’s why you’re here late tonight—that your proposals have all been approved. We like how you made them, and your suggestion to raise money to help pay for the costs of the work required. The only stipulation is that we would like for you to get bids for all the work and submit them to us for approval. The request to hire another person was also approved.”

  “Whoo-hoo!” Robin said.

  Janice and Robin gave each other a high-five.

  “Thank you, Chris. I know it probably wouldn’t have passed without your help,” Janice responded, smiling.

  “Definitely not without your input,” he said as he started to walk away.

  Janice thought about the kiss, her face feeling flushed.

  After Chris left the area, Janice looked at Robin and said, “Um, I’ve got something to ask you.”

  “Okay,” Robin said and sat down in one of the chairs at the table. Janice sat down across from her.

  “I have an appointment to go into Rosebud Community Hospital to have a biopsy done on my tongue. They’re going to put me under general anesthesia, and I need someone to take me there and bring me home.”

  “I’ll be glad to do that. What are they looking for?”

  “I’ve got a spot at the base of my tongue that’s raw, with a tumor the doctor says is the size of a pinhead. He won’t know anything until he removes it and does a biopsy.”

  “Do they think it’s cancer?”

  “They don’t know yet.”

  “But you’re fearful it is.”

  “Yes, I’m afraid that it might be.”

  “When is your appointment?”

  “It’s next Thursday at nine AM, and the doctor said I should be out by eleven AM.”

  “Okay, I’ll pick you up around eight-fifteen.”

  “I really appreciate it, and Robin, please don’t tell anyone about this
. It seems as if people feel I’m only here temporarily and something like this could cause more alarm.”

  “I won’t tell a soul. Do you have family to contact?”

  “No, not really,” Janice replied. “I have a sister, but she’s not in any position to come and see me. Thank you so much, Robin.”

  As they walked out of the library, Janice turned and locked the door.

  “Come on, Janice. I’ll give you a ride home,” Robin said.

  “Okay, thank you so much.”

  When Janice arrived home she made herself something to eat, and then got ready to go to bed. She had trouble falling asleep, as usual, even though she’d taken one of the sleeping pills Dr. Merck had prescribed.

  She wondered what it would be like to sleep with Chris’s arms around her. She’d felt her dormant body start to come alive when she fell the other day and he caught her. Her breasts were pressed tightly against his chest, and she could feel the heat of him right to the core of her being. She wondered if the kiss meant anything to him, or did he just figure she was using the kiss to get something from him? Of course, nothing was further from the truth, but he may not know that, or believe that.

  When Janice finally fell asleep she had a nightmare.

  “I’m coming to get you,” David said in her dream. “You can’t escape me,” he said in a menacing voice. “You’re mine, and no one else will ever have you.”

  After Janice had shaken herself awake, she looked at the clock and saw it was three in the morning. She tried to go back to sleep, but it was useless. “Ugh! I can’t stand this. I have to get up.”

  She got up and looked out of her bedroom window for a second, then decided she would go on her laptop and research some books.

  Chapter 9

  Robin, Carly, and Janice had been working extra hours trying to get everything ready for the art show. Janice still didn’t have transportation, but Carly and Robin both had minivans, and they used those, along with Glen’s truck, to take everything downtown to set up. The art show was held on what was probably one of the hottest days in Montana, but Janice couldn’t wear short sleeves or anything that would expose her back or upper arms due to her scars.

  “Girl, aren’t you gonna get hot wearing that top?” Robin asked.

  “I don’t want to get exposed to the sun,” Janice replied.

  “We’re under a canopy,” Robin said simply.

  “I know, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

  The show was busy, and it seemed to Janice that everyone in Colstrip came to the library table. Many people donated money and put their name in for various raffles.

  A good looking man in his thirties, with blond hair and blue eyes, came up to the booth and said, “Be still my beating heart. Where on earth have you been all my life?”

  Janice laughed and said, “I’ve been here for the last four months.”

  “Really?” he asked, and then looked around at the booth and said, “Oh, the library?”

  “Yes,” Janice replied, smiling.

  “I’ve been looking in all the wrong places, haven’t I?”

  “Well, that depends on what you’re looking for.” Janice laughed again.

  Robin came up and said, “Mark, are you being a flirt again?”

  “Robin, I’ve just met the girl of my dreams!”

  “Mark, you’re hopeless,” Robin said, laughing.

  “What is your name, lovely person?” Mark asked.

  “I’m Janice Meyers.” She held out her hand to him.

  “I’m Mark Goodwin.” He shook her hand. “Tell me, love, if I were to wander my way up the steps to that library over there to see you, would you consider going out with me?”

  “That depends,” Janice responded, still smiling.

  “On what?”

  “Whether you will check out a book to read or not,” Janice said, and Mark started laughing.

  “You sure drive a hard bargain,” he said.

  * * * *

  Chris came up and walked behind the tables to where Janice was. “How’s it going?” he asked quietly, eyeing Mark Goodwin with a scowl on his face.

  “It’s going wonderfully. I’ve already had to send Robin to take the first jar of donated money to the library’s safe.”

  “Really?” Chris said, surprised.

  “Yes, it’s a big success I think, and I knew it would be,” Janice responded, looking up at him.

  “What are you raffling off, besides the e-reader?”

  “I found these beautiful dinosaur books that have vivid pictures of dig sites and bones recovered, as well as pictures of what the paleontologists think the original dinosaurs might have looked like. I also have this Egyptian book that has tons of colorful pages of the pyramids and other buildings and structures in Egypt,” Janice said as she showed Chris the books.

  “Interesting,” Chris responded.

  “We have sold almost all the extra paperback books that we don’t need, and we’ve had requests for new books that people are looking for in the library.”

  “I see that Sandra has been taking advantage of using the library lately with her college studies, and that’s a good thing.”

  “Yes, she has, and the last report that she submitted she got an A on. I’m really proud of her,” Janice said with pride, smiling almost as if she was a mother proud of her daughter.

  More people started to come up to the library booth and started talking to Chris and Janice.

  Mark Goodwin came back to the booth and said to Chris, “Can you believe this beauty here? I just learned she’s our new librarian. I didn’t know they made them as beautiful as her.”

  Chris looked at Mark and said dryly, “Yeah, I bet.”

  “Well, I’m definitely going to be checking this one out,” Mark said.

  Not if I have anything to say about it. Chris had known Mark for years, and he was the town’s biggest flirt. There wasn’t a serious bone in his body, and he jumped from one woman to another within a week. The fact that he expressed an interest in Janice was no surprise to Chris, but his own reaction to it was. He didn’t like Mark flirting with Janice. He wanted to protect her from the likes of Mark because he was afraid she would fall for him.

  When the crowds finally dwindled, Chris turned to Janice and said quietly, “Janice, I have something to ask you.”

  Janice looked up at him. He reached over and pulled her sunglasses off so he could see her eyes.

  “Would you go out to dinner with me?” he asked.

  Janice looked at him for a moment without replying. Chris waited patiently for her response, wondering if she was going to say no.

  “Um, yeah, I would like to go out to dinner with you,” Janice finally said.

  “Would tomorrow be too soon?” he asked as he glanced over at Mark standing near the other side of the table.

  “Tomorrow would be great.”

  “Okay, how about I pick you up around six o’clock? Or would that be too early?”

  “No, that would be fine.”

  * * * *

  Janice hadn’t been this excited in years. She was actually going out on a date with Chris, and she was really looking forward to it. She knew she was breaking all her vows, but she reasoned that it was good to spend time with him and heal the tensions that were still between them from when she had taken her car to him for repairs. This would also give her something to think about besides David and her anger at him over what he’d done to her. And most of all, it would help take her mind off her upcoming biopsy.

  Chris arrived promptly at six PM and knocked on her back door. She opened it and let him in.

  “Hi,” she said.

  “Hello. Are you ready?” he asked.

  “Yes, just let me grab my purse.” She went into her bedroom to get her purse.

  As they got into his truck, he said, “I thought we’d go to Steve’s Roadhouse near Lame Deer if you don’t mind.”

  “That sounds fine, I’ve never eaten there before.”
r />   “It’s like any other steakhouse, but it’s more intimate and less crowded.”

  They rode in silence for a few minutes.

  “So, how much did the library make last weekend?” Chris asked.

  “Just a little over four thousand dollars.”

  “Really? Wow, that’s great,” Chris responded enthusiastically.

  “Yeah, it is great.”

  As they rode along the highway to Lame Deer, Janice noticed some animals she’d never seen before. “What are those?” she asked, pointing at the species.

  “Those are pronghorns.”

  “Oh, I’ve never seen them before. I’ve seen deer, some elk, and black bears, but not that kind.” Further down the road, Janice looked over into the field and said, “I have seen those kind of deer before.”

  “Yeah, those are mule deer,” Chris replied.

  “Do you like bison?” Janice asked.

  “Yes, I do. We have it from time to time at home when I cook dinner for the kids.”

  “I’ve never had it.” Janice looked out the window, staring at the landscape. “Is there a wildlife refuge somewhere around here? There seems to be a lot of wildlife.”

  “No, no wildlife refuge around here, there’s just good grazing in these parts of Montana.”

  Suddenly a herd of mule deer sprang out of nowhere and ran across the highway. Chris managed to bring the vehicle to an abrupt stop without hitting any of them.

  Janice smiled and said, “Oh, look at the young ones.”

  They pulled up to the restaurant and got out of the truck. Chris walked beside Janice with his hand on the small of her back to guide her, and it gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling. She stood a little straighter than usual, and held her head up high, proud that she was walking in with a great looking man and that he seemed like he really liked her.

  “Good evening. Are there just two of you?” the hostess asked.

  “Yes,” Chris replied.

  She grabbed two menus and some silverware and said, “Follow me.”

  She led them through the restaurant to a booth off in the corner where there was some privacy.