“I get it, girl. I have the luxury of not needing this job, so I take it for granted. But you’re going to work yourself into an early grave if you keep this up. Being the mule that Zora wrote about is not sustainable.”

Victoria swallowed. Whenever Paula made literary references during debates, she meant business. Throwing Zora Neale Hurston into the conversation made her both irritated and hesitant to defend her school. Sure, Victoria liked pulling her weight, sometimes even a couple extra pounds, if it meant tasks got done and boxes got checked. But if history was any indication of how this project would turn out, she might want to pace herself. “I hear you loud and clear,” she said. “But I’m going to try my best anyway.”

Paula reached out and took her hand. “And that’s what I love about you,” she said in a softer tone. “Your work ethic is something I’d like to bottle up and take twice daily. But I just wish you’d rest.”

Victoria squeezed her friend’s hand. “I’ll rest when I reach my goals,” she said with a chuckle.

“Bitch, please.”

Victoria pulled away. “We’ll see if any of this actually gets off the ground. Today, I’m supposed to have a meeting with a librarian and he’s already going to be late. I don’t know how that can bode well.”

“Aww, he’s probably an elderly dude who’s just trying to make his way across town,” her friend said with a grin.

Victoria didn’t get the sense that John Donovan was a doddering old man. The tone of his email suggested that he might be closer to her age. Originally, she addressed her email to the library’s aging director, Howard Wegman. She was surprised that it was Donovan who replied to her. He was terribly informal and familiar with his message, making her nervous. What if he doesn’t take the project seriously? What if he is incompetent? “He also informed me of an overdue library book,” she said.

“Stealing books, are we?”

“No, I definitely returned it,” Victoria said absently. She wondered what she had been doing several months ago that would warrant a missing book. “I just find it weird that he would put that in an email regarding our meeting today.”

“Did he sound mad?”

“No,” Victoria said slowly. “He wrote it with a wink face emoji.”

“Hmm.”

“Is that a good ‘hmm’ or a bad ‘hmm’?” Victoria asked.

Paula shrugged. “Depends on what the book was.”

She sighed and averted her gaze. “For the Duke’s Convenience.”

Paula burst into laughter. “Goddamn, Vicki...”

“I definitely returned it.”

Her laughter had not yet abated as she wiped tears from her eyes. “Oh my god... You are still reading that shit? That’s why the p-word is foreign to your virgin ears!”

“It’s titillating without the vulgarity.”

Paula doubled over. “Oh man, I needed that,” she said, taking a breath. “It feels so good to laugh.”

“You’re welcome,” she said in a dry voice.