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“Was he leaving?” Elise couldn’t help the note of alarm in her voice.
Pauline frowned in puzzlement. “Why would he leave when he’s come all the way from Milwaukee?”
“I’ll check inside.” Elise hurried through the open double doors that led into the library proper.
A steady stream of people was moving up and down the hall that led to a room at the rear of the library. There, a buildup of water from a leaking pipe had caused a portion of the ceiling to give way. Some people exiting from the hall were heading to the porch with damp volumes. Others had been assigned the task of stacking the numerous books that had managed to remain dry in an area off to one side of the circulation desk.
Elise shivered, remembering the horror of the moment when water had first sprayed everywhere. For a short space of time, her emotions had given way as well as she had tried frantically to rescue the books nearest the disaster.
At the Biography Room’s door, the tall young man next in line stood aside to let Elise enter. He was Ricky Travis, a recent graduate of Tyler High School. “Miss Ferguson,” Ricky said respectfully.
A glimmer of a smile touched Elise’s lips. Ricky was a person it was sometimes hard to like. A typical teenager, he’d had his share of ups and downs over the past year. In particular, he’d had difficulties on the high school football team. Some in town thought him cocky, but Elise knew another side of him. She remembered the little boy who had devoured books on dinosaurs the way other little boys eat cake. The fiercer the dinosaur, the better. Ricky had been able to rattle even the most complicated scientific names off his tongue. Next, he had progressed to adventure tales and finally to science fiction—his current favorite. “Ricky,” she acknowledged softly. She included a couple of Ricky’s friends in her smile and stepped into the chaos of the room.
Even though they had finally managed to cut off the water supply to the library, occasional drops still fell from the raw open wound on the ceiling. Bits of soggy plaster clung to the gaping edges of the hole, while other pieces cluttered the wet floor, mixing with dirt that had collected in the lathing for nearly a hundred years. Elise had tried to clear away the worst of the muck before she went home, sweeping it to one side, but numerous feet trampling through to rescue books hadn’t helped the situation. Several thick cotton towels had been spread as doormats into the hall, in an attempt to keep tracking to a minimum, but their success was debatable.
Josephine Mackie, principal of Tyler High School, waved to Elise from across the room. Elise lifted a hand and started to make her way toward her, all the while murmuring encouragement to those in the process of removing the last of the books as well as those taking down the free-standing shelves.
Several people in the rescue force Elise didn’t recognize, but she was grateful for their willingness to help even if she didn’t know them personally. One man in particular seemed to be enjoying himself. With his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and smudges of dirt on what once had been a pristine white shirt, he braced one of the metal shelf units so that Patrick Kelsey, Johnny and Anna’s oldest, could loosen the bolts that held it to the next section. Grinning, he said something that made Patrick laugh.
He was an attractive man, probably somewhere in his mid to late fifties, with wavy black hair sprinkled lightly with silver, an olive complexion that made him look as if he had a year-round tan, a capable, active-looking body and a rather rugged set to his features. He glanced up as Elise continued to watch him, and she was struck by the fact that his eyes were a curious shade of yellow and brown. But it was not so much their unusual color as their expression that unsettled her. Confident, vital and knowingly amused, they lent him the air of a man who could all too easily perceive the foibles and fantasies of the people around him.
Illogically, Elise averted her gaze, afraid that he might see inside of her. A moment later, after castigating herself for being fanciful, she looked back, only to find that his attention had returned to Patrick Kelsey.
Continuing on to Josephine’s side, Elise was perplexed that her heart rate had quickened. It was this horrible day, she told herself firmly. Nothing more than too much stress. She had passed her recent physical exam with flying colors; the only caveat the doctor had given her was to lighten up and not work so hard. Her? Lighten up? With one library literally falling down around her head and a new one whose construction, because of fiscal problems, had ground to a halt with only the foundation work complete? And to top it off, she had now lost the visiting professor, the only person who could help them solve their problem!
Josephine Mackie was almost seven years Elise’s senior, closer to Bea’s age than her own. But that illusionary difference had evaporated over time, and they’d been best friends for more years than either of them cared to think about.
A slender, gray-haired woman with a long thin nose, and pale gray eyes that hid behind round, rimless glasses, Josephine had presided over the high school with an iron hand for almost as many years as Elise had been Tyler’s chief librarian. She demanded that students and teachers alike do their best, holding them to strict guidelines. But she also ruled with fairness and maintained an open-door policy to anyone who had troubles. She had seen a lot and helped a lot, and the sharpness of her expression concealed a tender heart. As head of Tyler’s Friends of the Library organization, she frequently worked with Elise on various projects.
“Don’t look so panicked,” Josephine rebuked her fondly, taking a guess at the cause of Elise’s worried expression. “Everything is under control. The plumber’s on his way, the pipe will be fixed in no time, and then we can get the water turned back on and begin the cleanup.”
“It’s not that,” Elise replied, looking around anxiously. Her gaze skimmed over the man at the shelves before moving on to the other strangers in the room. None of them fit her idea of how a professor of architecture should look. “I’ve really messed things up, Josephine. He’s not here. I think he’s gone home...gone back to Milwaukee. He’ll probably never agree to meet with me again. I’ll have to go to the town council and tell them that I—”
“Elise,” Josephine interrupted her pleasantly. “He’s over there.”
“What? Where?” Elise’s head swung round, trying to follow the direction her friend pointed.
“At the shelves, with Patrick Kelsey. I saw you looking at him just now. I thought you knew.”
Elise closed her eyes. That man was Professor Fairmont, and he had been roped into helping. A man of his stature. “No,” she said weakly. “I didn’t know.”
Josephine rubbed her grimy hands on the rag she had been using to wipe down the shelves. “He’s really quite nice,” she said mildly. “He impressed me. He arrived early for your appointment, saw the mess and didn’t hesitate. He just took off his jacket and dug right in.”
“Oh, God,” Elise breathed.
Josephine looked at her. “What’s the matter? Should I have stopped him?”
Elise shrugged guiltily. “Oh, no. I didn’t mean that. It’s just...”
“Elise.” Josephine gave her one of the patented principal looks she had been honing on recalcitrant students for years. “Go talk to the man. Apologize. Thank him for helping. It’s all you can do.”
Patrick had succeeded in releasing the final bolt that held the first shelving unit to the next, and as a result, the unit swung free. Immediately, a strong pair of hands compensated for the release of tension, balancing the unit until Ricky and his friends could come forward to relieve the holder of its weight. Then the unit itself was spirited out of the room.
Elise’s nerves fluttered. She’d known what she was going to have to do even before Josephine told her. She drew a deep breath and, after a quick, heartening glance at her friend, closed the distance between herself and the professor.
Robert Fairmont concentrated on his work, watching as Patrick bent to release the initial bolts holding the next unit. Elise stopped just in front of him. The neat crispness of her reserved-for-meetings suit seemed so out of place in the circumstances, her makeup too carefully applied. She was the only person in the library who wasn’t working, who wasn’t sullied.
“Professor Fairmont?” she asked, her voice strained. He looked up and again she was struck by the uniqueness of his eyes. She smiled to cover her nervousness and thrust out a welcoming hand. “I’m Elise Ferguson, the chief librarian here. I’m sorry I wasn’t available to greet you earlier, but as you can see, we’ve had a little accident.”
“This whole place is an accident, if you ask me,” Patrick Kelsey declared, straightening. “When Mom called to tell Pam and me what had happened, we thought it was the roof. Another bad storm and the whole thing could blow off. I’d hate to think of the cleanup then!”
“So would I,” Elise murmured.
Robert Fairmont started to take her hand but paused first to wipe his own along the side of his dark slacks. His touch, when it came, was warm, sure. “This is enough of a calamity, I should think,” he said.
His voice set off a series of alarms along Elise’s already disturbed nerve endings. It was low and soft, the voice of a man who didn’t have to shout to be heard because people automatically listened.
Patrick motioned for someone else to assist him, then said to Elise, “We can take care of this if you two need to talk. I was just telling Robert here how badly we need the new library, then I found out who he was. Sure hope you two can work something out.”
Robert Fairmont’s smile was assured. “We’ll do our best.”
Elise was conscious that he followed closely behind her as she walked out of the room. At a quiet corner in the hall, she turned to face him. “I’m sorry about all of this,” she said. “It couldn’t have come at a worse time. Would you like to talk in my office? It’s just down the hall. It’s dry,” she added as an extra incentive.
An array of lines crinkled the corners of his eyes and the creases in his cheeks deepened when he smiled. His was a strong face, weathered by life and tempered by experience. “Dry has a definite appeal today,” he agreed.
Elise turned away, unsure if he was laughing at her. She decided to take his reply at face value.
“Are the books salvageable?” he asked as he fell into step at her side.
“Hopefully most will be. Even the wettest. Our worst enemy is mold, not water. That’s why we had to get them into circulating air so quickly, so they could start the process of drying. We couldn’t afford to wait. Only the books with coated pages will have to be sent away to a vacuum chamber to be dried—they’ll fuse into hard blocks otherwise. Again, hopefully, there won’t be many of those, because the procedure can be expensive...something we just don’t need right now.”
She unlocked the door to her office and ushered him inside. The room was cramped, as were most of the other rooms in the library, both in the public and staff areas. Boxes were stacked on the floor; books and catalogs rested on every available flat surface. Notes fluttered from her small bulletin board. The town had outgrown the facility a number of years ago, far longer than the past two or so years that they had spent planning the new building. Not even continued weeding of books and materials could create enough space for everything and everyone.
Elise made no apology for the condition of the room. It was something she just couldn’t help. She took a seat behind her work station and nodded toward the empty chair. “Our ability to make coffee is hampered, of course,” she said. “But if you’d care to have some, I’m sure we can find someone who wouldn’t mind...”
“No need,” he said, folding his length into the proffered chair. His gaze once again searched the room before alighting on Elise. “Actually, I have a proposition to put to you. Why don’t we postpone this meeting for a day or two? Possibly even longer than that. You have your hands full now and I’m in no great hurry. I can wait.”
Elise had managed to school her face of all emotion, but at his suggestion, she jerked forward, her expression intent. “But we can’t do that!” she cried. “The new library can’t wait! You’ve seen how bad the situation is here. You’ve heard about the roof...and that’s not all! I love this old house. I’ve loved it all the years I’ve worked here and even before, when I came as a child to use it. But we’ve reached the point where we just can’t stay any longer—not with everything like it is. We have to build the new library. Either that or we make the necessary repairs, and I’m afraid that after all the money the town’s already spent on plans and contracts and fees, there won’t be enough money left to... Then we’ll lose everything—buildings, books...”
She stopped, her throat tightening. He didn’t need to know all that. She didn’t need to tell him.
After a moment he said, “A day or two won’t matter at this stage. Relax a bit. You can’t build a new library all on your own. That’s why I’m here. To see if I can help.”
“But...”
Robert Fairmont, professor of architecture at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, leaned forward to still the fingers that worked against each other on top of her desk. His smile flashed reassurance. “Relax,” he repeated softly. “In a few days we can talk. Say, on Friday. In the meantime, you can get things under control here, and I’ll go over the plans I have from the firm in greater detail. The time won’t be wasted.”
As she listened to him speak, Elise felt the tension she had been carrying all day melt away, as if his certainty could protect her. It was a nice feeling; her burdens had somehow been lifted. But the magic didn’t last. The difficulties both she and the town faced could not be ignored for long. She pulled her hands away, severing their connection. Still, what he said about delaying the consultation made sense. With all the people working nearby, she would be divided in her allegiance. She would want to be in both places at once. “All right,” she agreed tightly. “We’ll meet again on Friday.”
“Good,” he said, smiling. Then he stood up.
Elise remained in her chair. She continued to stare at him, completely unaware, for the moment, of what she was doing. Then she, too, got quickly to her feet, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. She was a competent woman. People trusted her to do the right thing. They trusted her with the growing minds of their children. She was responsible for every program and every book that came into or went out of the library. She was responsible for budget planning, for equipment purchases, for not indulging in gossip when she was in the perfect job for it. She knew everyone’s tastes, everyone’s interests, and sometimes, it seemed, everyone’s problems. Yet at this moment she felt like a little girl again, off center, off balance. It had to be the day, she told herself. It had to be.
She led him back to the Biography Room, but just outside the door, she paused to say stiltedly, “Don’t feel you have to help any longer. You shouldn’t have been pressed into service in the first place. We have enough people now. There’s no need for you to stay.”
He met her look levelly. “I helped because I wanted to. I love books and old houses. I think I’ll stay a little longer...that is, if it’s all right with you.”
Elise shrugged, trying to maintain some kind of cool facade. “As you wish, Mr.... Professor...”
“Robert,” he suggested. “Just call me Robert. And I’ll call you Elise.”
Elise’s heart jumped when he said her name, a fact that startled her. What was wrong with her? Maybe she should go see Dr. Baron and have another checkup.
“All right,” she murmured, and walking into the damaged room, she headed directly for the safe harbor that was Josephine.
She tried not to notice Robert Fairmont as he worked—that after checking to see if Patrick had further need of him, he started to shift the fallen debris, carrying out the larger pieces of plaster Elise had pushed to one side and disposing of the rest with a dustpan, broom and mop.
Then she tried desperately not to notice that she had noticed.
CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_e764f37e-4028-5d65-89e2-0a4e52ec4f30)
ELISE GUIDED her Escort into the garage, the long day having finally taken its toll. At the moment she felt every bit of her fifty-three years. In fact, she felt a hundred and fifty-three! Her head ached, her back ached, her feet ached. She had been too exhausted to do more than pick at her food earlier when someone was kind enough to bring dinner to the volunteers at the church hall. But at least they had gotten the job done. Most of the books were now resting jauntily on end, their pages fanned open, continuing the process of drying. And the books that needed to be sent away and were valuable enough for the library to justify the costly procedure of reclaiming them had been frozen as procedure dictated. In all, only a small number would likely be lost. Considering everything, they had gotten off lightly. If the leak had been larger, or if it had occurred somewhere else—say, over the Tyler Collection that she had spent years gathering and that contained archival papers of the town’s history as well as old photographs that couldn’t be replaced... Elise shuddered at the thought. The day would have been a catastrophe. Now the only difficulty was the worrisome fact that such a catastrophe could still occur. If the pipes in one section of the library were in such poor condition, it stood to reason that pipes elsewhere could be the same. Not to mention the condition of the roof. Elise shook her head in quick denial. She didn’t want to think about the condition of the roof!
After gathering her purse and jacket, she let herself out of the car. Where once her suit had been crisp and smart, the skirt and blouse now looked to be in almost as wretched a condition as her dress had earlier. She hadn’t bothered to go home again to change into clothes suitable for the book rescue work. She hadn’t wanted to take the time. So she’d just removed her jacket and set to work. And after an afternoon spent wiping down shelves and walls and floors, and an evening supervising the transfer of water-damaged books, her clothes might never be the same.
Elise fitted her key into the back door lock and stepped inside the house that she and Bea had lived in for most of their adult lives. The design was perfect for Bea’s needs, and what wasn’t had been altered. Their parents had bought and refitted the house just a few years before their deaths.
Distinctive theme music from a popular television drama spilled out of the living room, alerting Elise to the presence of the others. She knew Josephine was there because her car was parked at the end of the sidewalk.
Both women looked up when Elise entered the room. The cat made the first move toward greeting, stirring her slightly pudgy body to get up, and then stretching her back into a high arch before starting a slow, regal walk toward the person who fed her. Tiny noises of pleasure sounded deep in her throat.
“It’s certainly about time,” Bea pronounced shortly. “We’d just about given you up for dead!”
Ignoring Bea’s remark, Josephine said, “You look exhausted. Were you able to finish?”
Elise crouched to stroke the cat, who was rubbing against her legs in an ecstatic show of goodwill. “Buttercup...hello. My goodness, did you miss me?” She laughed lightly when Buttercup purred a response. Scooping the cat into her arms, she straightened and answered Josephine’s question. “Yes, thank goodness. At least, with this part. Of course, tomorrow the insurance people will come and we’ll have to see about getting the ceiling repaired. Not to mention arranging things with the vacuum-chamber people and continuing to work with the books at the church. Then we have to do something with all the books that didn’t get damp but had to be moved anyway. They’re just stacked haphazardly about. Then...” Buttercup grew restless and twisted to be set free. Elise released her, then claimed a seat on the couch for herself.
“I’m sorry I asked,” Josephine murmured dryly, gazing at Elise with compassion.
“So that means tomorrow is going to be another repeat of today,” Bea said tightly, not showing any compassion. “You’ll be away again all day and half the night.”
“No, Bea,” Elise answered levelly. “Today was unusual because of the accident.”
“I was going to give you five more minutes and then go to bed,” Bea snapped. “If you want to stay out all night, well, that’s up to you. But there are those of us who have to sleep!”
“I’m home now, Bea,” Elise defended herself tiredly.
“I told you to go to bed, Bea,” Josephine said, taking up Elise’s cause. “I told you I’d brush your hair.”
“No.” Bea shook her head. “It’s the least Elise can do after being away each day for so long. And especially the way she abandoned me today.”
Elise closed her eyes. Right now she didn’t think she had strength left to lift the brush.
“Let me do it for you tonight,” Josephine urged. “Just this once.”
Bea gathered her possessions onto her lap, adjusting the wheelchair as needed. She collected her magazine, her sewing, her tissues, her wrap. “Elise can do as she wants,” she replied primly. “If she doesn’t want to brush my hair, she certainly doesn’t have to.” She then made a production of pushing herself across the room, making it seem difficult, hard to accomplish.
Elise started to get up but Josephine stopped her. “At least let me help you to your room, Bea. Elise is tired. She needs to rest.”
“I can take care of it myself!” Bea snapped. “I don’t need help from you!”
“Bea!” Elise protested.
Bea turned. She lifted her chin. Her body seemed delicate in the chair, but when she chose, her angry spirit could dominate even the most determined soul. “I can’t say it’s been nice, because it hasn’t. Today has been an absolute nightmare! Josephine, there’s no need for you to come over tomorrow. I’ll be fine. I can do without a meal or two. It won’t hurt me.”
“Bea!” Josephine chastised her in turn.
Bea threw their visitor a superior look before her eyes moved on to her sister. Once they were settled upon Elise, though, her expression became harder to define.
Tears of exhaustion sprang into Elise’s eyes. She had to blink rapidly to keep them from falling.
A tiny, satisfied smile feathered the side of Bea’s mouth. Then she turned away and rolled resolutely out of the room.
The television blared into a newsbreak but no one seemed to notice. At the closing click of Bea’s door, Josephine switched off the set. Silence permeated the room.
A moment later Elise said softly, “I suppose today has been difficult for her.”
Josephine’s jaw was tight. “I don’t see why. Between the two of us we’ve done everything we possibly could for her. She takes advantage of you, Elise, you know that. Anyone else would tell her to take her dictatorial ways and jump into the nearest—”
Elise sat forward, interrupting her. “Tomorrow really shouldn’t be as bad as today. There’ll be a lot to do, but at least I know what to expect. I can’t tell you how horrible it was this morning to look into that room and see that gigantic bubble hanging from the ceiling. Then to be standing almost under it when it broke!” Elise started to laugh, a release from tension. “I was grabbing books, trying to get them out of harm’s way, then, whoosh! We had our own indoor monsoon!”
“How did you get along with Professor Fairmont?” Josephine asked. “Does he think he can do anything to help with the new library?”
Elise’s laughter stopped. She had been successful in keeping the man out of her thoughts from shortly after she saw him leave late in the afternoon to this moment. She shrugged. “We didn’t really have time to talk. He’s coming back on Friday. We’ll discuss it then.”
Josephine nodded. “I told you before that he impressed me. I like the way he looks you straight in the eye and doesn’t bother to hide what he thinks. You know where you stand with someone like that. Not that he can’t charm the birds from the trees when he wants—you can see that at first glance, too. But there’s something underneath. A fine, strong character.”
Buttercup leaped gracefully onto the couch and started to purr as Elise absently stroked her silky head. “I felt like he could see too much,” she mused.
“What do you mean?” Josephine asked, frowning.
Elise shook her head, then was forced to cover a huge yawn.
Smiling good-naturedly, Josephine stood up. “The best favor you can do for yourself right now is get into bed and not worry about a thing. I’ve taken care of the kitchen. All the dishes are washed and put away. I also made some of Bea’s favorite breakfast rolls for tomorrow morning, so that should keep her happy, at least for a while.” Josephine took a moment to examine her friend closely. “It probably won’t do any good,” she said, “but I’m going to say it anyway. You’re taking too much onto yourself, Elise. Wearing yourself too thin. You can’t handle all the burdens of this town as well as those of your family. One person can carry only so much!”
Elise returned the woman’s gaze with tolerant amusement. “I’ll remember to give you the same speech the beginning of next semester when you’re single-handedly trying to drag the high school along in your wake. We’ve known each other for too long, Josephine.”
Josephine grimaced. “You’re probably right. Sometimes I think I’ll retire early. Go off on one of those world cruises, the kind that only single people can get a ticket on. Meet some nice man and settle down. Want to come along?”
