Under the Sunlight

Chapter 19

No one would fault him if he left, Stone reflected as they watched the lights flicker out. He had a child waiting for him at home. But even as Jenkins tried again fruitlessly to get them to all leave, Stone knew where his place was. Cassandra was not leaving Jenkins and Stone wasn't leaving her. Maybe he was a fool in love, it probably was madness to put her first. But Stone always had faith in something greater than himself. And in his gut, he just knew that it wasn't going to end the way Jenkins thought. The Library would find a way. It always had.

They were arguing once more when suddenly the last light went out. His hand found Cassandra's in the dark. If they were going to die today, they were dying together. She was holding his hand so tightly it nearly hurt, though he was pretty sure he was holding hers just as tightly. But a heartbeat went by, then another . . . .

"Jenkins, what's going on?" They certainly were not dead. Unless the afterlife was exactly the same as life had been.

"I have no idea. We should all be . . . ."

And then suddenly the lights flickered on and Cassandra's hand dropped from his. His faith had been proven justified. Flynn and Baird had returned with the Spirit of the Library.

The joy and relief that they were all alive and the Library was once again whole was short lived. Everyone could tell that something had happened between Flynn and their Guardian. Flynn was gone again and Baird was quiet and sad.

Stone had busied himself with cleanup for a while with the others but then he had to leave to take Max over to Cathy's for a sleepover with James. On his way out, he passed Baird sitting at her desk looking pensive.

"Baird?"

"Huh? What? Oh, heading out?"

"Yeah, it's Max's best friend's birthday. I guess they're havin' a family party on the weekend but he wanted Max over for a sleepover, so I gotta run him over."

"Ah, that's nice."

"Baird, do ya . . . . Look, you know I'm here if you need to talk, right?"

She nodded. "I do. And I will take you up on your offer really soon. But tonight I just need to process some stuff."

He nodded in return. "I know how that goes." He went to pat her shoulder as he passed but instead he bent and brushed a kiss over her cheek.

Her response was a soft smile. "Go home, Stone. Hug your kid for me."

After dropping Max off, Stone sent a text to Baird checking in. She told him that she'd sent everyone home for the night and told him to actually go home and not back to the Library.

He chuckled and imagined that she'd probably told Cassandra the same thing three times.

He'd picked up dinner, had intended to just relax and maybe watch a ball game. Or more likely read the book he'd been dying to get to but hadn't had time.

But the events of the day kept running through his head. Despite his faith in the Library, he and the others had willingly stayed, hoping for the best but expecting to sacrifice themselves for the Library. He'd stayed with both of his loves: Cassandra and the Library. He'd faced his death holding her hand.

For so many months, he'd counted on the fact that she knew he loved her. But that wasn't enough any longer. She could have died today without ever actually having heard the words from him. He'd seen Baird's heartbreak when Flynn left. And he had a feeling the pain on Flynn's face hadn't all had to do with the Library.

This was not going to happen with Cassandra. He was telling her and he was telling her tonight.

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