“Caspar,” he called as he entered the kitchen, still straightening his collar. “I want you to drive me to the library tonight.”

The older man raised a curious eyebrow but put down the newspaper he had been reading.

“Of course, I’ll get the car.”

Giovanni gathered his messenger bag and followed Caspar out the kitchen door. They walked through the small courtyard where the dim light of the early evening still illuminated the burbling fountain, and the air was rich with the fragrance of the honeysuckle vine.

“Balance! Temperance! Find it, my son, or you will die.”

He paused for a moment and watched the flow of water as it trickled over and around the rocks in the base of the fountain. Just then, a sharp breeze lifted the spray and it arched toward him, dusting his face with the cold drops. He let the heat rise to his skin and the vapor met the humid night air.

“Oh wow, Char wasn’t lying.”

Giovanni brushed the hair out of his eyes and glanced up from his notebook looking around for the quiet female voice as he paused in the entry to the Special Collections reading room at the Houston University library.

“Pardon me?” he asked in confusion to the girl in the corner.

The black-haired girl behind the counter smiled. He noticed a slight blush coloring her fair skin.

“Nothing,” she said with a quick smile. “Nothing at all. Welcome to the Special Collections reading room. You must be Dr. Vecchio.”

Giovanni frowned as he tucked his notebook into a leather messenger bag. “I am. Is Mrs. Martin unavailable this evening?” He scanned the young woman sitting behind the reference desk on the fifth floor of the library. Since the department had opened their once-weekly evening hours a year ago, the bookish Charlotte Martin had been the only employee he’d seen behind the desk of the small, windowless room that housed the rare books, manuscripts, and archives.