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"Uh, I think so," Marcy said "It should be, at least"

"Thanks"

Harper pushed out her chair and hurried over to the children’s corner There were already a few little kids waiting with theirprogram at the library Harper or the librarian would read a book aloud to little kids a couple ti the audience asthe world on her honeyh In fact, she usually enjoyed interacting with the kids It was fun getting the They didn’t care if it was cool or not--they just liked a good story

Today Harper liked it for a different reason It kept her distracted She needed to get her s Are didn’t help much It had been one of Gemma’s favorites when they were kids, and Brian used to read it to the out the parts

At least she had that going for her Harper already had her father’s dazzling renditions of the characters to use as inspiration This should be her best story-tiot the book off the shelf, then settled into her chair in the children’s corner As more kids came in, they sat around her in a circle Fro up the book cart and directing children to story tiin, Harper threw herself into her perforood time, and it was her job to deliver, no ht feel

And as she read, Harper found herself having fun despite herself She had the kids join in, and when they were gnashing their terrible teeth and roaring their terrible roars, she couldn’t help but s the end of the story and heard the front door open She lifted her head, expecting to see a late-arriving child, but instead it was Daniel, striding up to the front desk

Her heart skipped a beat, and for a second Harper forgot how to read She fumbled over the words, but she’d recovered by the time Marcy pointed back to the children’s corner and Daniel turned around to s a smile down at the little kids in front of her, and tried not to think about how foxy Daniel looked today

What Harper found even s for Daniel was his banter with Marcy He leaned against the desk, apparently waiting for Harper to finish the story, and chatted amiably with her

Nobody chatted amiably with Marcy Not even Harper, and Harper was pretty much her best friend

It wasn’t that she was jealous, but she couldn’t i about Her real fear was that they were talking about her and Marcysecret

Of course, Harper knew that it shouldn’t matter what Marcy said to Daniel In fact, it would be better if Marcy told hi that would turn hiet involved with hi about Geht it was a safe bet that this was a social call, and it probably would be better if Marcy got rid of him for her

But then … Harper didn’t want that, either She knew she didn’t have time to like him, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t like him She just wished she didn’t

Harper did a slipshod job of the last quarter of the book, and she made a promise to herself that she would make it up to the kids at the next story time But none of the kids complained They seemed happy just to have an excuse to roar

Some of the children and their parents tried to talk to her after she’d finished the story, and Harper did her best not to rush them She smiled and reminded them about the next story time in July When a mother told her how much she loved Maurice Sendak, Harper even recommended other books she should check out

But the very second she could, Harper extracted herself from the children’s corner and went over to the front desk, where Daniel was still talking with Marcy

"No, I don’t doubt that," Daniel was saying, laughing at so Marcy had said

Marcy, for her part, wore her usual blank expression, giving Harper no indication of what they could’ve possibly been talking about

"Hi," Harper said, and her voice sounded oddly high-pitched to her own ears, so she rushed to correct it "Hi U forward, his ar on the desk, but he turned so he could face Harper, leaving one elbow on the counter His s cuts on his cheek

When Penn had been that awful bird-monster on Bernie’s Island, Daniel had rushed in with a pitchfork to defend both Harper and her younger sister But Penn had lashed out, scratching hihtened her heart and warhtened her, but knowing that Daniel had put himself in har for hi to where she’d been for story time "Because that looked like a lot of fun"

"Where the Wild Things Are I can get it for you, if you want" Harper ently putting his arm on hers to stop her