April didn’t leave Eliza’s house until late at night. By then, April just wanted to curl up in bed and cry. Her oldest friend was leaving. She had lost her library. She had lost her sanctuary.
But what hurt more than everything else was that she had lost Vicki.
Chapter Twenty-Three
April spent the next few days feeling lost and listless. With the library shut down, she had nothing to do with her time. At the very least, Lexi was in the same position. They’d met up for lunch earlier in the day and spent the afternoon hanging out.
But now, April was alone in her apartment, with nothing to distract her from her worries. She spent the whole evening reading, but only managed to get through a single chapter. Her mind kept returning to Vicki.
April put her book down with a sigh. As usual, Eliza was right. April was blaming Vicki for everything that had happened with the library. But it wasn’t her fault. And this wasn’t the first time April had blamed Vicki for things she had no control over. April had been unkind to her from the start when they first found out they were working against each other. And all the while, Vicki had put up with April’s misdirected anger with barely a word.
April’s phone buzzed on the coffee table. It was a message from Mel, the woman she’d met at the masquerade ball that night with Vicki. They’d exchanged a few texts about Mel’s workplace offering legal resources to the library’s patrons, but they hadn’t gotten around to working out the details. It didn’t matter now that the library was closed.
April opened the message.
I heard the good news about the library. I’m glad everything worked out in the end. We should meet up and discuss getting that partnership up and running.
Clearly, Mel had gotten her wires crossed somewhere. April typed out a reply.
I don’t know what you’ve heard, but the library has been shut down.
What about the new site? Vanessa said that everything with the King Street building has been finalized.
King Street? That was definitely a mistake. King Street was right in the middle of West Heights, where properties now cost a fortune. And what did Mel’s girlfriend have to do with anything?
I have no idea what you’re talking about. I haven’t heard anything about a new site, April sent back.
Mel took a while to respond. Aren’t you working with Vicki on this?
Vicki. April’s stomach fluttered. She began to type out a reply, then gave up and called Mel instead.
“What’s going on, Mel?” April said. “What have you heard about the library?”
“You really don’t know?” Mel asked. “I thought you were behind all this.”
“Behind what?” April rubbed her temples. “Can you just tell me what you know?”
“Well, a couple of weeks ago, Vicki approached Vanessa about helping fund a new location for the library. Vanessa agreed—with a little prodding from me. Vicki updated her today that everything had been finalized.”
That didn’t make any sense. Vicki wasn’t working on the project anymore. What the hell was she up to?
“Are you there?” Mel asked.
“Yeah. It’s just, this is all news to me,” April said.
“Seriously? I thought you and Vicki were doing this together. Actually, I thought it was all you since Vicki is, well, Vicki. She isn’t exactly the most generous person.”
“I haven’t spoken to her in a while, actually,” April admitted.
“Oh, sorry,” Mel said. “I didn’t know the two of you broke up.”
April didn’t bother correcting her. “Did Vicki say anything else about this?”
“That’s all I know.”
“This doesn’t make any sense. Why would Vicki do something like that and not tell me about it?”
“That’s way above my pay grade,” Mel said. “You’ll have to ask Vicki that.”