21| the first piece

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for wickedinspirations

| Chapter 21 |

the first piece |

BREE walked the distance from the bus-stop to the public library, watching with a slight twinge of envy as a car drove past, someone who was either in their late teens or early twenties behind the steering wheel. She wished she could drive.

The Manila folder in Bree's hand contained copies of Claire's passport and driving licence, minutes away from being delivered to her mother since Bree was back in Greenville for the weekend. Claire's mum, Bethany Granger, worked as a librarian, and considering the library was just fifteen minutes away from Bree's home, it had seemed a waste that Claire herself should come down from college to hand them over. And so Bree, being Bree, had offered to do so instead.

She glanced up at the sky just as she placed one foot on the front steps of the old building; it was quite sunny for the middle of November, but Bree recalled the forecasts saying that South Carolina was about to experience some rain in another three days or so. Blinking away from the sun and tucking a thick lock of hair behind her ear, Bree climbed the rest of the steps and pushed open the heavy doors.

Bree was about to take off in the direction of where she remembered the front desk was, recalling from the several times she'd been here when Maya, her little sister, was too noisy and she'd needed some space to study during the weekends. But her eyes caught on to the familiar figure of Mrs Granger by the autobiography shelf, staring at the back of one of the books and fondly running her hand down the spine.

"Mrs Granger," Bree said softly, not wanting to interrupt the quiet of the place.

The same pair of faded green eyes that Claire owned flickered from the book to meet Bree's, and a small smile crawled over the woman's thin lips.

"Bree, darling," Mrs Granger said, tucking away the book into its assigned slot between two other autobiographies. "How many times have I asked you to call me Bethany?"

Bree laughed it off, feeling a tad bit uncomfortable on the inside. She could never address Claire's mum by her first name. It somehow never felt right. She didn't connect with Mrs Granger the way Claire did with Bree's mother.

"Sorry," Bree said instead. "I came to drop this off." She lifted her hand that held the envelope and waved it in the air. "Claire said you needed it for something."

"Ah, yes," Mrs Granger reached forward and took the folder from Bree's hold. "Thank you for going through all the trouble, Bree."

Bree simply shook her head, knowing it was an overstatement. There had been hardly any trouble in getting those documents here. "It's not a big deal, really," she insisted. "I think Claire said she'll be visiting next week or the one after that."

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