Dangerous Alterations (13 page)

“I felt so bad for Margaret Louise when we left. She’d had such high hopes for this weekend.”

Pulling her gaze from the pavement in front of them, she swung her head to take in the mayor. Had Georgina heard her question?

“She’ll be okay. I’ll call and give her a report after we see the situation for ourselves.” A second deep breath paved the way for her question to be repeated. “Georgina? Do we know what happened?”

“All that food she brought? And those pillows we were supposed to make? No wonder she looked so sad when we were pulling out of the driveway.”

She studied the woman behind the wheel, noted the set to her jaw and the determined lift to her chin. Georgina had heard the question; she’d bet good money on it. Why she wasn’t answering though, was a bit less clear.

Unless she was avoiding the answer because …

“It was Dixie, wasn’t it?” she finally said. “Dixie did something to cause this fire, didn’t she?”

Georgina squared her shoulders, never taking her eyes from the road. “All my secretary could tell me was that the fire department was on the scene. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine.”

“Couldn’t you call Fred? You are the mayor, after all.” Her mind jumped to the library, to every possible fire cause she could think of. Was it the computers? The electric pencil sharpener at the information desk? A carelessly tossed cigarette that shouldn’t have been smoked on the premises?

“He’ll confirm when we get there. If he can even know this early in the game.”

“Okay, I’m sorry I—wait! Did you say
confirm
?”

A pulse jumped in Georgina’s neck.

“You know what caused it?”

“It’s just speculation at this time, Victoria. It doesn’t bear mention until we know facts.”

“Facts?”

“As opposed to supposition. And supposition is all my secretary could offer.”

She let Georgina’s words roll around in her thoughts. “What was her supposition based on?”

“Please, Victoria. Can’t we just wait? Let Fred do what he needs to do and then he’ll be able to investigate your office more closely.”

“My office?” she echoed. “It started in my office? Are you sure?”

Georgina nodded.

“But—but how? What could have caught fire in there?”

“Do you know that Margaret Louise was planning a Mexican feast for tomorrow night?” Georgina flicked on her blinker, despite the absence of traffic, and changed lanes. “I love Mexican.”

It was official. The mayor of Sweet Briar was being evasive.

She pressed for an answer. “Georgina, please. I need to know.”

A long sigh filled the air between them. “It was the coffeepot.”

Tori drew back. “The coffeepot? But it can’t be. The coffeepot isn’t in my office. It’s in the little alcove down the …” Her words trailed off as reality dawned.

It wasn’t
her
coffeepot.

It was Dixie’s look-what-I-found-in-the-basement coffeepot.

Dropping her head into her hands, she moaned. Loudly. “I wanted her to wait. Until we had a chance to talk her idea through from start to finish.”

“For what it’s worth, my secretary said Dixie is absolutely beside herself.”

“How bad is the damage?” She knew she was being rude ignoring Georgina’s statement, but she couldn’t help it. Anger was rising inside her and she didn’t want to unleash it on the messenger.

“She didn’t say. She had more phone calls to make.”

Tori trained her focus toward the road once again, the switch from the interstate to the familiar two-lane road that led in and out of Sweet Briar proof positive that the answers to her questions were only minutes away.

Her thoughts returned to the library. Only this time, it wasn’t to search for a possible culprit in the fire—that she already knew. No, this time it was more of a highlight reel containing her favorite parts—the comfy reading chairs, the hook rug where story time was held during her first few weeks of employment, the costume trunk and stage in the—

She smacked a hand over the gasp that sprang from her lips.

The children’s room …

Georgina reached across the seat and squeezed Tori’s arm. “It’ll be okay, Victoria. Somehow, someway, it will be okay. Everything always is if you just wait it out. Nothing, other than death, is insurmountable.”

She knew Georgina was right. She really did. But still, it was her library.

Her precious, beloved library.

They turned down one country road after the other until they crossed into the town limits of Sweet Briar, the rhythmic glow of emergency lights beckoning from the distance.

“I’m scared, Georgina,” she whispered.

“I am, too.” Georgina steered the car around the town square and toward the fire truck, the acrid smell of smoke seeping its way through the air vents. “Are you ready?”

Swallowing back the sobs that hovered in her throat, she nodded. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

The second Georgina parked the car, Tori was out and running toward the scene. Hoses from Sweet Briar’s lone fire truck snaked across the grass, menacing in their presence yet comforting in their task.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Fred Granderson stepped into her path, his boots making soft squishing sounds in the wet grass. “Victoria, you can’t go in there.”

“But I have to see how bad it is.” She heard the desperation and worry in her voice, knew the fire chief heard it, too.

“It could have been a lot worse. A lot worse.”

The first sign of hope began to rear its head. She looked past Fred’s shoulder to the familiar brick structure that looked as sturdy as ever. “Tell me,” she begged. “Tell me.”

He wiped a hand across his face, leaving a smear of soot across his forehead. “It’s still early but we’ve got the actual fire under control.”

She sagged against a nearby tree. “And?”

Fred looked toward the library. “And your office took the brunt. It’ll be a while until you’re back in there again.”

“And the main room?”

She braced herself for his answer.

“Can’t say for sure what kind of structural damage may or may not have occurred but, in terms of the right now … just smoke damage. Maybe some water, too.”

They’d rebounded from water damage before, despite Tropical Storm Roger’s best efforts …

Closing her eyes, she mustered up the courage to ask the one question that still hung heavy on her heart. “And the children’s room?”

“Same. Smoke, maybe a little water.”

She followed his eyes back to the building, relief beginning to chase the knot of tension from her body. “But how? It has to be a virtual matchstick in there with all those books.”

Fred shrugged beneath the weight of his gear. “Our saving grace was the fact that the building is old. The wood paneling on the ceiling of your office allowed it to burn there a little longer—buying us time to get in there and get it out before it extended into the roof and the rest of the building.”

“When can I get inside?”

“We’ll talk about that in the morning. If there’s no structural damage, we can probably open the library and the children’s room again in a matter of days. Your office, though, is going to be off limits for quite some time.” Fred gestured toward the building. “I better go. We can talk again in the morning.”

Pushing off the tree, Tori closed the gap between them with two quick strides. “Thank you, Fred. For everything.”

He tipped his fire hat in her direction. “I’m sorry it had to happen at all.”

“Me, too.” She watched as he crossed the lawn and headed toward the back of the building and the handful of volunteer firefighters who had donned their gear and left their families to save the Sweet Briar Public Library. When he disappeared around the corner, she turned and searched for Georgina, surprised the woman hadn’t been by her side during the chief’s report.

Bobbing her head first left, then right, she located her friend by the gazebo on the other side of the road. Carefully, Tori picked her way over the maze of fire hoses and crossed the street to share the latest news.

“Victoria, I’m so sorry. I really am.” Dixie’s face emerged from the shadow of the gazebo, the age lines around her mouth and eyes more pronounced than Tori had ever seen. “I—I just wanted to try and be hip, to put in place some of the things I’ve been reading about other libraries around the country.”

She opened her mouth to speak, to remind Dixie of her very specific, very clear request to wait until Tori was back, but, in the end, she opted to shut it once again. Dixie loved the library every bit as much as Tori did. What happened was an accident and nothing more. Berating her, after the fact, served no purpose. Besides, there was hope now. Real hope.

“I plugged in the coffeemaker, turned it on, and went back into the main room while it got started,” Dixie explained, her eyes never leaving Tori’s face. “I intended to go right back, but I—I got distracted.”

“By what?” It wasn’t an accusation. Just a simple question.

Dixie looked from Tori to Georgina, and back again, the lines around her eyes deepening even more.

She, too, looked at Georgina. “What? What aren’t you telling me?”

Dixie cleared her throat and then reached for Tori’s arm. “Come. Sit.”

She waved the elderly woman off, opting to stand, instead. “No. Just tell me.”

“Chief Dallas came into the library.”

“Okay … And so?”

“He was looking for you.”

She stared at Dixie. “Why?”

“He—he had a few questions he wanted to ask you.”

She felt Georgina studying her, felt the subsequent chill that shot down her spine. “What kind of questions?”

“Official questions.”

“Official questions? About what?”

Georgina stepped forward, slipped an arm around her shoulders. “Can we save this for later? We’ve had enough drama for one night.”

Drama?

She repeated her question through a mouth that was suddenly bone dry. “Official questions about what?”

Dixie closed her eyes, took an audible breath, and then opened them once again. “I think Georgina is right. We can talk about this tomorrow … after we know about the library.”

“I already know what I need to know about the library. Fred filled me in. So tell me. Please. What did the chief want to question me about?”

“Your ex-fiancé’s murder.”

It was hard to believe just how much life could change in a matter of hours, even minutes, sometimes. Yet it could. And it did. Time and time again.

One unexpected surprise was enough to shake a person’s world. But two? In the same day? It was too much.

Tori slipped the key into the lock and twisted her hand to the right until she heard the telltale click that had become synonymous with home. It was a sound that normally brought an immediate sense of peace. But not this time. No, it was going to take a lot more than a click to erase the tension from her shoulders and the dread from her—

“Tori? Is that you?”

She spun around, the key slipping from her hand and clattering against the wood planks beneath her feet. “Milo?”

“One and the same,” he said before stepping from the shadows behind the wicker rocker that graced the far side of her porch. “I thought you were up north with Margaret Louise and the rest of the gang.”

“I was but …” The words trailed from her mouth as she bridged the gap between them and ran into his arms. His warm, strong, loving arms. “Oh, Milo, you have no idea how good it is to see you.”

His laugh rumbled against the top of her head. “Oh, I don’t?” He took hold of her shoulders and backed her up a few inches so as to look into her eyes. “Are you kidding me? I’ve been counting the days until this conference is over just so I can get back to Sweet Briar for longer than ten minutes here and ten minutes there.”

She lifted her head to the slight summer breeze and allowed it to whisper away the worry in her heart long enough to enjoy the unexpected reunion. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going to be here? I would have passed on the weekend with the circle.”

“That’s why I didn’t tell you.” Dropping his hands to her waist, he pulled her in for a second, even tighter embrace. “I didn’t want you to pass on the fun just to see me for a few minutes.”

She leveled her palms against his chest and stepped back. “Then why are you here?”

Milo took hold of her hand and led her toward the porch swing that swayed ever so gently on its own. “Tomorrow we’re sharing some of the innovative ways we’ve taught math in our classrooms and I realized I had the components of a game I created a few years ago back here at the house.”

He lowered himself beside her and slung his arm across the back of the swing as he continued. “The drive isn’t that bad, only a few hours. I figured I could do it again real quick. You know, get what I needed and still get back to the hotel in time for a little sleep.”

Oh, how she loved Milo’s passion for teaching. Some guys’ eyes sparkled when they talked about football, others when they went fishing. But Milo? His eyes danced when he talked about his students and the many ways to excite them about learning.

It was just one of many things she adored about the brown-eyed, brown-haired man snuggled up next to her.

“Though, in all fairness, that was before I knew I was actually going to get to
see
you. Now I’m not so convinced on the getting back in time to sleep part.”

His words broke through her woolgathering and she shook her thoughts back to the here and now.

“So, if you knew I was at the cabin with the ladies, what are you doing here … at my place?”

A hint of red sprang into his cheeks just before the dimples she adored. “I wanted to leave you a surprise. So you knew I was thinking about you.” He pushed off the swing and made his way over to a cooler she hadn’t noticed until that very moment. “There’s a fudge factory about a mile from the conference hotel and, well, it screams out your name every time I see it.”