Hunter laughed, and I once again congratulated myself on hiring him. A few months ago, my boss had expressed an interest in expanding the hours the bookmobile was on the road. It was an excellent idea. The only problem was that we couldn’t manage it with the existing staff. Sure, I was young (if you considered mid-thirties young, which I did) and eager for a challenge, but there are only so many hours in a day, and I’d quickly found that an overloaded schedule was too much for me and my other part-time clerk, Julia Beaton. Though Julia was a very young mid-sixties powerhouse, she’d already retired from one career and didn’t want to work more than half time.

Thus the search had begun. The requirements sounded simple: have a commercial driver’s license, drive the thirty-one-foot bookmobile through the many hills and lakes of Tonedagana County rain or shine, haul books from vehicle to library and back, help people find books, be patient and kind to all.

I’d desperately wanted to put one more item in the job posting, but my boss dissuaded me. “That’s what the job interview is for,” Graydon had said. “To see if it’s a good fit.”

He was right—I knew he was. And, anyway, how could I put “talk to cats,” in the newspaper advertisement, let alone post that on the state library association’s website and expect anyone to take me seriously ever again? Though Eddie was accepted by everyone from the library’s board to the newest bookmobile patron as a permanent part of the bookmobile, it was quite a step from acceptance to conversation.

So it was with a hope and a prayer that I hired twentysomething Hunter Morales just after the holidays. Hunter and his wife, Abigail, were living with his parents while saving to buy a house. He was also taking as many college classes as he could to finish up a bachelor’s degree in business while developing a clientele for his welding company. My aunt Frances was feeling the teensiest bit smug because she’d met Hunter in one of the woodworking classes she taught at the local community college and had recommended that he apply.

“It’s possible I know just the person,” she’d said, and she, too, had been right. He’d looked good on paper, and though neither Julia nor I had the courage to specifically ask him the “Do you talk to cats?” question during the interview, his sense of humor had sealed the deal.