“What did one eye say to the other eye?” Ben’s grin widened, and he bounced in the seat again.
Sara shrugged. “I don’t know. What?”
“Between us, something smells.”
The two boys dissolved into giggles, and their laughter was infectious. Grant chuckled, and beside him, Sara did the same. She shook her head. “You’re very funny, Ben. No wonder all your friends loved that joke.”
Her phone beeped with a notification, and Sara’s eyes widened. “Oh, no. Mrs. Lyons arrived, and my downstairs bathroom sink is spraying water.”
Grant turned into Sara’s driveway. Her home was a beautiful two-story ranch style, with a front porch swing and blue shutters. He shoved the vehicle into park and got out, popping open the back hatch to grab a toolbox.
Sara and the boys raced up the walkway ahead of Grant. A woman held the door open, presumably the babysitter, Mrs. Lyons. She was elderly, with kind brown eyes hidden behind huge glasses.
“It's making a huge mess, Sara.” Mrs. Lyons stopped the boys from following their mother. “You two come with me, and let the adults handle it.”
Grant barely noticed the open floorplan with the recessed living room and the large kitchen. He followed Sara down a short hallway. On one side was a laundry room. On the other was a half-bath.
Sara gasped, standing in the doorway. Grant gently pushed her out of the way. His feet sloshed in the water on the tile. The sink was spewing water from around the faucet. It sprayed him in the face and wet his shirt.
He pulled out a wrench from his toolbox and quickly located the water supply. Within moments, the spray from the sink slowed and then stopped all together. Sara watched him with wide eyes.
Grant used the bottom of his shirt to wipe the water from his chin. “Woman, is everything you own broken?”
She laughed, as he expected, but then tears welled in her eyes.
“Yes, everything is broken. Everything.” Sara’s hands rose to cover her face, and her shoulders shook as sobs took hold.
Shock rippled through Grant. Instinct moved his feet forward, and he closed the distance between them, wrapping his arms around Sara. Her shoulders curved inward, and the top of her head rested against his chest. Grant ran a hand over her back in a soothing motion, and she cried more. Sara’s hand came off her face and gripped his T-shirt as though he was an anchor in the storm.
He pulled her closer, tucking her against his chest, and kept comforting her with soothing touches. Feeling the shudder of her cries tore into him, and guilt plagued him. He’d helped cause this. Not all of it, but in some small part, he’d added to it with his harsh words.
Eventually, Sara pulled away, swiping at her cheeks. “I’m sorry.”
She went down the short hallway and to the left. Grant followed.
The kitchen was painted a pale yellow with white curtains. Sara pulled out a chair from the table and sank into it. She placed her head on her arm and started crying again.
Grant came around, placing a hand on her shoulder and taking the chair next to her. “Sara, it’s going to be okay. The car and the sink are fixable—”
“I’m going to lose the library.”
He blinked, certain he’d heard her incorrectly. “What?”
She raised her head. Mascara cast a faint shadow under her eyes. She looked so vulnerable and hurt, Grant’s heart ached.
“I’m going to lose the library. The city council is pulling my funding, which will close us down.” Her chin trembled. “And I can’t afford to fix the sink or my car. I don’t have the money.”
Grant had the feeling he was missing about ten steps in the story. “Hold on, why is the city council pulling the library’s funding?”
She let out a shuddering sigh. “They don’t see it as a valuable resource to invest in. My uncle didn’t do a very good job running it. He stopped a lot of the community outreach programs and drove the finances into the ground. I didn’t know how bad things were until I took over as head librarian six months ago.” She traced the grain pattern on the table with her fingers. “I created the Celebration of Reading to convince the city council to continue funding us. But the mayor told me today it’s not enough. I have to throw a big party at the end, and I can’t cancel any of the events.”
Grant sat back in his chair. “Like the after-school program.”
She nodded, not looking at him.
Crud. He rubbed his forehead and mentally berated himself.
“It gets worse. I stopped taking a paycheck after becoming head librarian because the library’s finances were in such bad shape. I’ve been living off my savings.” Her chin trembled again. “It was a poor decision, a risky one, but I needed to buy some time. I can’t…I can’t lose the library too.”
His heart shattered right there into a thousand pieces. The weight on her narrow shoulders was immense. Raising Ben on her own was hard enough, but to also be dealing with library and money issues must be overwhelming. Sara was strong, but everyone had a breaking point.
Grant took her hand. “You aren’t going to lose the library. I’ll help with the after-school program, and then we’ll figure out the rest.”
Sara glanced down at their hands and then up to his face. Her mouth hardened. “Why agree now? Out of pity?” She yanked her hand away. “I’m getting whiplash here, Grant, and I’ve got enough problems in my life. I don’t need one more.”
“You’re right—”
“I don’t get you. One minute you’re nice to me, the next you’re not. Yesterday, everything was fine, and then you acted like I had the plague once baseball practice was over. Today, you bite my head off but then comfort me when I’m upset. Why?” Her chin trembled again. “I thought we were friends.”
She was killing him. Grant had never intended to hurt her, but he’d done so. With
