More of a thank you than anything Christmas related, Steve makes the trip down to the library once the snow let’s up (her own gift tucked under his arm) and leaves a covered plate of homemade brownies topped with walnuts and an apricot glaze at the circulation desk before retreating to a quiet corner. The note simply reads: In case you missed Chicago. - Cap. Trevor; and attached is an article about the Palmer House Brownie, said to have been made for the World’s Fair in 1893.
She’d sensed Steve coming to the library and conveniently made herself scarce until he’d settled in. M’gann felt it prudent for the two of them to keep up appearances of being a typical librarian and patron rather than Martian superhero and reincarnated American spy or, horror of horrors, for Vuk and Ilija to get the idea that anything was going on between the two of them. Speculating on M’gann’s love life had become something of a favorite pastime for the two old men.
When she returned to her desk, M’gann was pleasantly surprised by the historic Palmer House Brownies. She’d never even heard of them, but darned if they didn’t smell delicious. She did a quick sweep for the senior librarians’ signatures. Ilija out at the café picking up lunch and Vuk over in autobiographies. Perfect. M’gann leaned heavily to her right and peered down the aisles to give Steve a silly, appreciative grin. Then she tucked the note into her pocket and carried the plate off to the break room.