Bachelor's Puzzle

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“I’m sorry that Bea... She didn’t really mean...” Elise took a breath and started over. “Bea can be extremely difficult at times.”

Robert glanced at her. “There’s no need to apologize.”

Elise shook her head. “No, I believe there is. She says things, does things. I understand because I live with her. But she forgets that other people don’t understand.”

“Has she been in a wheelchair long?”

“Most of her life.”

Robert was silent. Elise knew that her answer had abolished another excuse. A person unused to physical impairment could be forgiven for lashing out. Bea didn’t have that defense.

Elise’s hands tightened in her lap. “I can’t blame her, though. If it were me...”

How many times over the years had she wished that it had been her instead of Bea who had fallen on the steps? Even now she wished that she could trade places with her. Of course, she doubted that Bea would have cared for her in quite the same way. She’d probably be a resident of Worthington House now, possibly even placed in the skilled-care facility. She’d be one of the people she brought books to on a weekly basis. There would be no library as she knew it....

A light touch brought Elise from her reverie. She jumped, blinking.

Robert smiled. “You were a thousand miles away,” he said, replacing his hand on the steering wheel.

Elise hadn’t meant to woolgather. She resumed her apology. “I just wanted you to know that it wasn’t anything personal. Bea’s just...like that.” Yet Elise was afraid that it was very much personal. Bea disliked certain people more than others. Her reasoning was a mystery.

“It didn’t bother me,” he said firmly.

Elise sighed.

Soon the library came into view. Several cars were parked out front. Robert maneuvered the Mercedes into a slot next to a pickup. When they got out, instead of immediately coming to join Elise on the sidewalk, Robert opened the back door of the car and leaned inside to extract a long tube from the back seat. Elise knew what it contained: the plans for the new library.

He closed the door and walked up to her. Jiggling the tube, he said, “If you’re not up to this, say so. And any time you get tired, say so as well.”

“I’m perfectly—”

“—All right. I know. But it sounds as if this town tried to kill you with kindness when you were supposed to be resting. You’re little better off now than you were earlier. Except maybe you’ve eaten. You have eaten, haven’t you?”

Elise nodded as she fell into step at his side. She was very much aware of him. Aware of how handsome he was, of the lean vitality of his body, of the power of his personality. It felt good to be walking next to him; it felt good that he seemed to care about her well-being.

“I forgot to ask,” he said as they started up the library’s front steps. “Did you hear anything more about the leak?”

“Joe said the plumber would come right away. Hopefully, he’s been and gone. That way Joe can finish. Otherwise, it could take weeks.”

“And you need the room.”

“We always need the room.”

Pauline was the first to see them. She looked up from a stack of returned books and quickly came to take Elise’s hand. “Are you sure you should be doing this?” she asked. “I know what you said, but this has been such a hard week...for everyone, but for you in particular.” She turned to Robert. “Elise is one of our town treasures. We don’t quite know how we’d get along without her. The library would collapse—that’s a fact!”

“Of course I’m sure,” Elise answered brusquely. Pauline made her sound like a monument, like something pigeons sat on! Which wasn’t a description she wanted Robert Fairmont to remember when he...if he!...ever thought of her. “How is Joe getting along?” she asked, to deflect any further unfortunate comments. “Have you checked recently?”

Pauline shook her head as Delia rushed over.

“Oh, Elise!” It was obvious Delia had found another cause for excitement. “We were all so worried, even after Pauline called you. We thought about calling Dr. Baron, but we decided not to.”

Jeffrey Baron was the only grandson of Judson Ingalls, the most prominent man in Tyler, and the great-grandson of Alberta Ingalls, for whom the library was named. He also happened to be Elise’s doctor.

“Thank heaven for that, at least,” Elise murmured. She indicated Robert. “Would one of you please show Professor Fairmont to my office? I think I should check with Joe myself. I—I won’t be long.” The assurance had been directed to Robert, but she didn’t look at him.

She felt ridiculous as she hurried off toward the Biography Room. He knew what she was doing, of course. Running away. But she wasn’t accustomed to such overpowering attention. Even warned to expect it, she found it hard to take. She had merely come close to passing out, for heaven’s sake. She hadn’t actually done it. Neither had she expired! Yet from the way everyone behaved, it was as if they expected her to correct that particular oversight at any given moment!

She moved briskly into the work area, not pausing even when she came upon the soft canvas tarps that had been spread over much of the floor and draped over the built-in bookcases along the walls. The hole in the ceiling was larger than ever, but the edges were cut smooth in preparation for repair.

As was his habit, Joe sang snatches of an opera as he worked, but he stopped the instant he saw Elise. From the look of concern that instantly clouded his handsome features, Elise knew he was about to question her precipitate decision to return to work, so she quickly deflected him by saying, “I take it the plumber has already been here?” She held her shoulders straight, her chin high. She wanted to look her usual efficient self. She nodded to Lars, who had pulled off his hat and now held it rather self-consciously in front of his gangly, adolescent body.

Joe blinked and swallowed the words he had been about to say. “Uh—yes. He, uh...he says everything is fine as far as he can tell. It was a leak along the same pipe, at another joint. He replaced that bit and checked the fittings as far as he could. He didn’t see any other problems, but he says he can’t guarantee a thing. The system’s so old.”

The plumber had said almost those exact words to Elise when she’d called to thank him for coming out to fix the first leak. Yet she hadn’t expected trouble again so quickly. She moved closer to the hole and peered up, then backed away. “Do you think you’ll be finished today?” she asked.

“Sure thing,” Joe said. “Except for the paint. I’ll stop by tomorrow and take care of that.”

Elise frowned. “Don’t you normally take Saturdays off? I’m sure I remember Susannah saying that you and she and Gina were going to do something special.”

He grinned. “This won’t take half an hour. Then it will be done and you won’t have to worry anymore.”

Confronted with Joe’s noble effort to ease her way, Elise could not show misgivings. She smiled brightly, just as he wanted her to. But as she left the room to return to her office, her cheerful smile crumbled. It would take a great deal more than a half hour’s worth of paint to fix everything she had to worry about.

CHAPTER FOUR (#ulink_34e2e265-3a9f-59f2-a96e-274af54d7982)

“THERE ARE TWO WAYS to cut costs,” Robert said as he and Elise studied the plans. “We can make the library smaller, reduce the overall size. Or we can downscale the quality of the materials we use. I recommend we try a combination of the two.” He had thrown his jacket over the arm of her chair, his only concession to comfort.

The set of blueprints unrolled on Elise’s cleared desk was an exact copy of the set the town council had on file. Elise knew almost every line by heart from her work with the other architect for the better part of three years.

She tilted her head, frowning. “I’m not sure what you mean by ‘downscale the quality.’ How? What do you mean?”

Robert grinned. “It’s the difference between a gold toilet seat and a brass one. Does it really make any difference to the user?”

Elise stared at him, then she, too, started to grin.

He continued. “I’m exaggerating, but you see what I mean. Your town council went first class on this structure...which is fine. People want to be proud of their public buildings, which they think reflect the community. Chambers of Commerce love this attitude. They put pictures of first-class buildings in all their brochures to get people to visit here, to move here. Look! See what a progressive place Tyler is? Look at the new library we’ve built ourselves. Gold toilet seats!”

Elise started to giggle.

Robert’s eyes twinkled. “There are degrees of quality. My job is to help you decide just exactly how much quality you want and can afford and where you want to put it.” He turned to a booklet of photocopied specifications. “For example, these windows. This particular brand costs a small fortune. There’s no reason why something less expensive can’t work equally as well. And these crown moldings. Same thing. I know where we can find something just as good for a lot less. Then we get to the library plan itself....” He looked at her. “See what I mean?”

Elise nodded.

He went on, “There’s a lot of space here that’s wasted. I know!” He raised a hand as if to ward off attack. “But there is. When you have lots of money, space is wonderful. When you don’t...”

Elise saw herself sitting in a brand-new library with barely enough room to turn around. She protested, “But we have to have space. Patrons need to feel they have room to breathe, not to mention the staff! And the books...do you know books need air, too?”

Robert nodded. “As a matter of fact, I do. I also know you followed all the standards for library design, and I’m not talking about cutting anything there. I’m talking about the extras.” He flipped back through the plan until he arrived at the page he wanted. “Exactly how important is this atrium?”

Elise had loved the idea of bringing the out-of-doors inside. Wide sheets of glass would seal any moisture away from the book collection, so that patrons and staff alike could be treated to more than just the odd pot plant stationed forlornly on the circulation and reference desks. Looking forward to tending the area herself, she had already started to research which plants would be better suited. She shook her head. “Not important enough to keep us from building the library.”

Robert agreed. “Now, consider the curved stairway. What if, instead of having it where it is, taking up so much space...what if we move it to one side and straighten it out a bit....” While he talked, he began to make a quick succession of strokes with a red pen.

Fascinated, Elise watched as Robert’s ideas were transformed into a picture. With relatively little effort, he captured the feel of the main circulation area, deleting the atrium and shifting the stairway. Then with a few additional strokes, he sketched in the work areas, the new computerized cataloging system, even a few people, one of whom was sitting at a terminal and scratching his head at the mysteries of advanced technology. The people weren’t really people in the traditional sense of the word. But with a few practiced squiggles and swirls, Robert had given them life and form.