Leaving Liberty (3 page)

           
She reached the main door of the city hall and saw it swing outward before she
touched it. Lane was beside her, pushing the handle and standing aside.
Gallant, charming. He was probably the only nice person in the town, now that
Marie was gone.

The rain had eased off a bit but the
puddles were ankle-deep reminders of the morning storm. Lane was a steady
presence, quiet, thoughtful. She chanced a glance at his face but couldn’t
decipher his expression. He probably thought she was certifiable, stomping
around City Hall like she was going to actually make anybody listen. Not that
she cared what he thought.

 His long legs kept an easy pace
and she watched his black, uniform-issue shoes out of the corner of her eye.
Thick soles, heavy duty, but probably not winter gear now that the snow drifts
had melted.

“Getting ready for the summer tourists?”
When in doubt, make small-talk. Or make small town small-talk, which was
another step down the conversational ladder from anything meaningful.

He nodded. “First the ski types, then
the mountain hikers. Last group to come through is always the bus tours for the
fall foliage. And then it starts all over.” He didn’t sound irritated, almost
as if he were looking forward to it.

 She could understand why people
flocked to this beautiful little town. It was a jewel in nature’s crown. But
she could never understand why anyone would choose to stay.

“Doesn’t look like much has changed.”

“This is the first time you’ve visited?
In what, almost ten years?” His tone was even but there was just a bit of an
undertone, a question under the question.

“If you know my father, I’m sure you
understand. And being part of the police force, I’m sure you have more than a
passing acquaintance.” She hated the bitterness that crept in her voice, no
matter how hard she tried to sound indifferent.

“He’s sober now. Almost four years.”

She shrugged. “Good for him.” Old news.
Marie had told her that several times, but she didn’t really see any need to
come running back to check.

He didn’t say anything more and she was grateful
he didn’t push the point. The walk back to the library seemed to take twice as
long as the way to city hall, probably because she wasn’t spitting mad. Now
that she’d calmed down a bit, she felt the friction of her raincoat against the
side of her neck and heard the wet squelching of her feet at every step. She
almost raised a hand to her hair, but dropped it. Didn’t matter that he looked
like a male model even soaking wet and she could enter the ‘Hag of the Year
Contest’ with confidence.

She shot him a glance, noting the smooth
shave and the perfectly knotted tie. She knew his type. As long as he kept
everything in its place, the universe ran smoothly. Well, surprise. That’s not
really how it worked. But she wasn’t going to try and enlighten him.

Halfway there and the only sound was her
feet, alternating between a wetly flatulent step forward and the sucking of the
other foot lifting out of the shoe, like it was coming out of thick mud. She
tried not to sigh.

The sidewalk seemed to stretch forever.
A scene from one of her favorite childhood books popped into her head. Ramona
Quimby being carried out of the muddy field by Henry Huggins, proving once more
she was, indeed, a big pest. She hadn’t thought of that book in years and she
had to smile a little. She wished she had bright red rain boots, like Ramona,
instead of the funeral-shoes–turned-rude-party-trick. And Mr. Hero Complex
could be Henry Huggins.

Didn’t he have something else to do?
Probably not in this little place. A tiny part of her was glad, maybe because
Lane Bennett didn’t seem to chat all the time or maybe because he hadn’t jumped
to the city manager’s defense. Whatever it was, it held the tide of grief just
a bit farther from her heart.

           
They turned the corner once more and the library popped into view. Clouds eased
apart reluctantly and sky lightened overhead. Daisy trudged onward, trying to
place Lane in her memory. There was a vague picture, from before, when she was
a bitter teenager fighting to get away from this town.

           
“Is Jamie your little sister?”

     
He turned with a grin and she sucked in a breath. Great smile. It took her a
little bit to remember what she’d just asked.

           
“Right. Five years younger than me, was in your class in high school. She’s a
teacher, too.”

           
Daisy remembered Jamie’s kind words the day her father had lurched into school
and tried to stay for a cafeteria lunch. He had thought it was Father’s Day. In
December.

           
“And you have an older brother, too. He played on the football team.” She
couldn’t remember his name. Cal? Holt?

           
“Right, Colt was quarterback.” He stopped at the steps this time, and jerked
his head toward his cruiser. “I was headed that way, originally.”

           
 “Sorry again about chasing you down the street.”

           
“Not a problem. Toby needs all the protectors he can get.”

           
Something shifted in her chest, as if her heart had moved by itself. Marie had
been that for her, standing in the gap between chaos and certain disaster. She
felt a prickling in her throat and refocused her emotions as fast as she could.
Now was not the time or the place to reminisce.

           
His voice was low, husky, as if he knew just what she was thinking. “Marie was
always after him to get his homework done. She made him a deal. If he came to
the library every day after school and did his work, she would buy pizza for
the kids on Friday afternoons.”

           
Shoot. Now her eyes were filling with hot tears and she blinked them back.
“Just like her. She promised me books, not pizza. But it’s the same idea.”

           
“I don’t know what we’ll do without her.” His words fell into the space between
them like pebbles in a pond. She felt tiny ripples of sadness bump against her
heart.
We.
He understood how she felt.

           
She spoke the words before she even thought them through. “I have the summer
off. I’m going to ask the mayor to let me fill in for Marie until we can sort
out the library’s future.”

           
His blue eyes went wide and he gestured toward the library as if to ask, ‘this
place?’

           
“The summer reading program is still a big deal, Marie told me so. They had
fifty kids last year and it’s still early enough to get them registered. I
teach sixth graders so I know how to handle a rowdy group.”

           
Lane still looked as if he was struggling to say something, anything. He ran a
finger under his collar, damp with rain and probably very uncomfortable.

           
“I’m staying at Rhonda’s Bed and Breakfast, but I should probably find
someplace more permanent.”

           
“When did you come up with this plan?” He took a step closer and she had to
tilt her head back to look at him. He seemed concerned, as if she might be
having an emotional breakdown. But really, she was feeling the exact opposite.
Her grief was ebbing away into something completely different, something
purposeful.

           
“Just now. I think it will work.” She smiled, hoping to hit the right note
between optimistic and thoughtful, and nowhere near unstable.

           
“Do you often change your plans on a dime?”

           
“Only when it’s the right thing to do.” His gaze locked on hers and emotion
flickered behind his eyes. Caution, surprise, and something else she couldn’t
define.

She turned back to the library and
called over her shoulder. “Call Rhonda’s when you get ahold of that
contractor.” She didn’t wait for his response, but pushed open the library door
for the second time that hour.

Right before she went in, she stole a look
behind her and saw Lane motionless at the bottom of the steps. His cap was
drawn down but she could see the set of his jaw, the thin line of his lips. He
didn’t seem happy to hear the library might stay open, but she brushed off the
tiny twinge of disappointment she felt. They weren’t friends. They had barely
just met.

The only person she cared about was
Marie, and Marie would have wanted her to stay. It wasn’t forever. It was just
for the summer.

***

 
Angling into the
police cruiser, Lane grabbed a small towel from under the seat and tried to dry
off his soaking shirt. He tossed his hat on the seat beside him and slid the
keys in the ignition. No looking back at the library, no wondering what Daisy
would do with the rest of her day, and absolutely no more loitering.

The engine turned over with a short
hitch and a sharp sound of metal on metal. Lane frowned, giving it a bit of gas
and letting the old Crown Victoria engine warm up. The department couldn’t
afford new cruisers and anything that went wrong was fixed by Lenny at Ninth
Street Auto. He was a good guy, but didn’t always fix everything the first
time. Or the second.

The funeral had been brutal, but
uplifting. He rolled his shoulders, hoping to ease some of the tension in his
neck. Faith made mourning a complicated issue. Marie was certain of where she
was going and Who she’d be meeting face to face when she died. He missed her,
he wished she was here. But in all his sadness was a joy he couldn’t keep down.
She was home and it was a home better than even this perfect little town.

Glancing at his watch, he put the
cruiser in gear. Shift change down at the station was an easy moment, nothing
like the big city police forces. Instead of being slammed with paperwork and
hustling perps through the office, he could catch up on everyone’s afternoon.
The entire force had been at the funeral, in uniform, but something might have
happened between then and now. Not likely, actually. He felt his lips tug up as
he rolled down Main, wipers on low to keep the mist off the windshield. He
probably had the biggest news around, although he wouldn’t be offering it up
for gossip. They’d all hear about the gorgeous new librarian soon enough.

The smile slid from his face as his
thoughts touched on the woman he’d left a few blocks behind. They’d all seen
her at the funeral, standing there with her head held high, face a tight mask
of grief. Even in the too-big raincoat, she’d seemed insubstantial, fragile.
She’d walked away without speaking to anyone. He had figured she was headed
straight back out of town. But now she was determined to stay in Liberty longer
than an afternoon.

Her shrug at Rocky’s sobriety spoke more
than paragraphs. It held volumes of bitterness and pain. He didn’t blame her.
His own teen years had been the usual mix of angst and growing pains, but his
parents were solidly behind him every step.

Marie’s voice seemed to echo in his
head. Lane blew out a breath, trying to ease the ache in his chest. The old lady
had been a librarian by trade, but was an encourager by grace. Quiet and
peaceful, she was always so proud of Daisy’s spirit, her spitfire personality.
She’d been absolutely right about that certain fearlessness in the face of
adversity, but Lane had seen something else today. He’d seen a woman grieving
the loss of her mother figure, her mentor, and a place that was the only good
thing she’d known in Liberty.

He turned the cruiser toward the squat
brick building that housed police headquarters and parked in the usual spot.
Three more official vehicles sat side by side, which meant the office would be
full of the late afternoon shift. Lane stared out the windshield, watching the
misting rain gradually obscure his view. He wanted, more than anything he’d wanted
in a long time, to tell Daisy her plan would work. It would be so easy to
agree. She could stay the summer, run the reading program, gather funds for the
library, and keep Marie’s work going in the community. Liberty needed someone
to step in and save the library. But Daisy needed to go on with her life and
hanging out in her home town probably wasn’t the best idea.

Lane closed his eyes for a moment,
feeling dread creep over him. She seemed so determined. The library was unsafe,
something that he just couldn’t stand back and let go. Rotting supports might
last another few years, but it was no place for kids to be running around. That
accident that claimed Colt’s life flashed through his mind. Twisted metal,
flashing emergency lights. Years that should have been spent raising a family,
just gone, and they were left to pick up the pieces. All because someone made a
simple mistake, an oversight.

Daisy needed to understand that the
community came first. He wasn’t the kind of man that kept the hard truth under
wraps. He said what needed to be said, no matter how much he wished it
otherwise. Add Rocky to the mix, and things got really complicated. They were
friends and he didn’t want to watch Rocky struggle with any more guilt than he
already did.

Plus, even if Daisy found a respite from
her grief in this summer scheme, it wouldn’t work and he wouldn’t tell her that
it would. It was his duty to discourage her, to make sure she knew the facts.
There wasn’t any way to save Old Liberty Library without a serious infusion of
cash, the kind that the city just didn’t have.