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The library is located near a small square, where people like to come and sit of an afternoon, walking their dogs and taking a breather. There’s a little fountain where birds like to come and take a sip, and children like to splash about in the summer months, and generally it’s a place of relaxation and community spirit, not unlike the library itself, which adds a layer of entertainment and intellectual stimulation and also education, of course. Which was exactly what we needed: to be educated on this very important but elusive subject of true love.

Marge was behind the counter, checking something on her computer, while several people were browsing the rows and rows of books, picking their favorite reads and depositing them into their baskets to check them out and take home.

We toddled up to Marge and deposited ourselves at her feet. She must have been really engrossed in her computer browsing, for when I cleared my throat, she jumped about a foot into the air.

“God, Max, you startled me!” she said, a hand on her heart and a smile on her face.

I noticed how her cheeks were red and her eyes were shiny. Maybe she was coming down with something? She looked a little feverish to me.

“We have something very important to ask you, Marge,” said Dooley.

“Oh? And what is that?” she said, her eyes once more returning to her screen, where I now saw she was reading a book online. It looked like a tome about a topic that interested me. The title was ‘In Love with the Wrong Man.’ And the author was one Lucinda Luscious.

“Love,” said Dooley succinctly.

“Love,” Marge repeated dreamily as her fingers played with her wedding band.

“We want to find out if there is one true love for all of us,” I explained, “and especially for us, since it may come as a surprise to you, but Dooley and I are currently in between true loves.”

“What are you saying, Max!” Dooley whispered. “I’ve never had a true love in my life, and neither have you!”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t need to know that,” I whispered back.

“Okay,” said my friend, and we both directed an eager look at our human, who was once again engrossed in her book, which must have been pretty fascinating.

“Since you and Tex have been together for so long,” I continued, when not a lot of comment seemed forthcoming from Marge, “we were wondering what the secret of true love might be.”

“And we think you are the one person who can tell us,” Dooley added.

But Marge’s attention was riveted to the screen, her cheeks reddening even more, as her breath came in shallow bursts, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

Dooley now focused on that same screen and narrowed his eyes.“Max?”

“Mh?”

“What does it mean when ‘he undressed her quickly, cupping her full—‘”

“Yes, thank you!” I cried, and immediately turned my friend around and started walking him away from this obvious den of inequity.

“What was that all about, Max?” he asked once we were at a safe distance. “Why is this person cupping her full whatever?”

“I’m not sure, Dooley,” I said, “but it’s got nothing to do with what we came here for.” At any rate, it showed us that Marge, when she wasn’t enjoying her one true love’s attentions at home, was immersed in a more cerebral experience of that eternal bond of love and devotion between a man and a woman. In other words: our librarian liked to read steamy romance when she wasn’t working.

I didn’t know whether to be appalled or happy for her. Clearly she enjoyed these fictitious adventures as recorded by Lucinda Luscious immensely. Which made me wonder: if Tex really was her one true love, why was she reading about other men enjoying steamy romance with other women? It just made no sense.

And since we had nowhere we needed to be at that time, we decided to continue our trek into town, and continue our quest for the truth about love.

Someone somewhere had to know something about the topic. Right?

CHAPTER 7

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We happened to pass by the doctor’s office, where Tex likes to practice his healing skills on the population of our fair town. And since Tex is a doctor, and doctors are known to know stuff that others don’t—why else study so long and hard—we headed in to see if the good doctor couldn’t inspire us to find the truth.

His waiting room was filled with people. And when I say people, I mean women. Like us, all truth seekers, no doubt, eager to have speech with Tex, and all of them dressed up for the occasion, which struck me as odd. I mean, when you’re sick, why bother dressing up? When I’m sick and have to pay a visit to the vet, I don’t bother looking spiffy. I just hope Vena will be able to get me well again, no matter how bedraggled my appearance. But these ladies all looked their best.

The door to Tex’s inner office was slightly ajar, and so we wended our way inside, to see the doctor.