Lindsey blinked at him. She had no idea what to say to this. Obviously, Markus found her lacking in the looks department, but she was hard pressed to think of that as a bad thing.
Lindsey pulled her gaze away from him and looked at Carrie. “About tonight, yes, I’ll be there.”
“Thanks,” Carrie said.
“Yippity-do, can we go now?” Markus asked. “Sheesh, if you ask me, they should just sell all these old books and turn this building into someplace fun, like an arcade with mini golf. Now that would be cool.”
He turned on his heel and stomped toward the exit as if expecting Carrie to follow on his heels like a faithful puppy.
Lindsey pressed her lips together to keep herself from saying what she was thinking, which would have blistered Markus Rushton even through the layers of his purple puffy coat.
“I’m so sorry,” Carrie said. Her face flushed a deep shade of crimson. “He’s not much of a reader.”
Lindsey forced her lips to curve up. “That’s all right, not everyone is a book person.”
Carrie squeezed her hand in thanks and turned to go. “I’d better…I’ll see you later.”
“I’ll be there,” Lindsey said.
The group was silent when she sat back down in her seat. They must have heard. Lindsey blew out a breath, not knowing what to say.
“Mark Rushton is as stupid now as he was as a child,” Nancy Peyton finally said. “He went from having his mama take care of him to having his wife take care of him. I hate to say it, but that man is a dreadful waste of space.”
“Talk about picking the wrong guy,” Charlene said. “Carrie is so nice, how did she hook up with him?”
“For exactly that reason,” Mary Murphy said. “She is too nice. We all went to high school together and Mrs. Rushton asked Carrie if she would be Mark’s prom date because no one else would go with him. Carrie said yes, and she hasn’t been able to shake loose of him ever since.”
“I heard he went on disability for a slipped disk in his back a few years ago and doesn’t even work now,” Violet said with a tsk.
“Two kids in college and poor Carrie has to do it all,” Nancy said. “She has a job, does all the cooking, cleaning and upkeep on their house. Do you know last year she reroofed her house by herself? Markus refused to help because of his back, and she couldn’t afford to hire anyone.”
“Sully and Ian went over to help,” Mary said. “They were surprised to find that Markus could pick up and move his flat-screen TV during Sunday’s football game but couldn’t apparently hammer down some shingles.”
“Now that her kids are grown, why doesn’t she leave him?” Lindsey asked.
“It must be the nurse in her,” Nancy said.
“She’s always taking care of someone,” Violet agreed.
“She’s just a good person,” Beth said.
Lindsey considered herself to be a pretty good person, but she couldn’t imagine staying with someone who treated her so badly. She wondered if Carrie ever thought about leaving Markus, but then reminded herself that it was none of her business.
“Let’s get back to George and Cecil,” she said. She didn’t like gossiping about someone she liked. “I don’t know about you, but suddenly, Cecil is not looking so bad to me.”
There were a few sheepish laughs, and then Mary led the charge into the Brie and crackers and all thought of Markus Rushton was erased by good food and good conversation.
It wasn’t until the Friends of the Library meeting that evening that Lindsey thought again about Carrie and her marriage.
She sat on the window seat at the back of the lecture room, which had once been the upstairs study of the sea captain who had originally built the stone building that the library was housed in. Half of the second story of the main building had been knocked out to make vaulted ceilings, but this room, which seated forty people quite comfortably, had been kept for special meetings, such as tonight’s Friends of the Library meeting.
Bill Sint, Carrie’s competition for the position of president of the Friends of the Library, was dressed in a dark brown corduroy blazer with tan suede elbow patches over a pale blue turtleneck. His jeans were pressed with razor-sharp creases, and his heavy winter boots showed not a trace of the mud and slush that covered the walkways outside. Lindsey wondered how he managed that.
Bill was tall and thin, with jet-black hair that Lindsey suspected was dyed, as he had to be well into his seventies. His most common expression was one of irritation. He always had one eyebrow raised higher than the other, and even when Lindsey said hello to him, she got the feeling he felt interrupted by her good cheer. Not for nothing, but she certainly hoped Carrie was voted in as the new president, because working with Bill had become tiresome. She’d even put up with Carrie’s obnoxious husband if she had to.
Although, as she scanned the crowd, she realized that wasn’t going to be a problem. Carrie’s husband was not in attendance. She didn’t imagine he’d be a member of Friends given his feelings about books and all, but still, she would have thought he’d make an appearance to support his wife. Then again, he hadn’t really oozed supportive spouse when she’d met him.
As the meeting went through roll call, Lindsey turned in her seat and glanced out over the town park, which was empty. Then she tried to pick out some of the Thumb Islands in the bay, which were visible in the dark evening only as tiny lights on the water. Finally, she glanced at the town pier. The pier was long and wide and had two big pole lights, which kept it illuminated at night to deter vandals from harming or stealing the boats docked in the bay.
At the base of the pier was the Blue Anchor, Mary’s restaurant. It was the residents’ favorite watering hole, and judging by the light spilling out of its windows, the cafe was doing a bustling business even on this bitter January evening.
Lindsey caught some movement on the pier and her gaze took in a tall man, his lanky build discernible even under his thick peacoat. He wore a fisherman’s knit cap over his mahogany curls, but Lindsey knew it was him, Mike Sullivan, known to the locals and tourists as Captain Sully. She tried to ignore the burst of pleasure she felt at the sight of him and failed miserably.
Sully had become a good friend over the past few months. He shared her love of reading, and she found his quiet presence comforting and intriguing. She told herself she would have felt the same rush of happy if she’d spied Nancy or Violet walking on the pier. Yeah, right.
She watched Sully hunch against the frigid wind that blew in from the water. At the end of the pier, he turned and ducked into the Anchor, probably to see his sister, Mary, and grab some dinner. Lindsey had a sudden longing to be at the Anchor, too.
When she turned back to face the room, she noticed the tension in the lecture room was as thick as a spring fog and much more uncomfortable. Both Carrie and Bill would now address the group, each offering their vision of the future of the Friends of the Library.
Carrie had changed out of her hospital scrubs and looked very professional in a gray wool skirt and matching blazer over a pale pink blouse. She wore thick black stockings, to combat the cold, with a pair of stylish boots.
She looked every inch the efficient person that she was, and her presentation included a PowerPoint that outlined a well-thought-out proposal with realistic expectations to raise funds for the library.
Bill’s presentation was technology free and read like a grocery list of things he had accomplished while being president, some of which sounded more fictional than the books on the shelves in the library below.
Finally, they were ready to vote. Lindsey checked out the assembled group. There were about twenty members in attendance. The cold weather had kept most of the elderly Friends home, and much of Briar Creek’s summer population was not in residence at the moment, making their turnout even fewer.
Mimi Seitler, the secretary, asked Carrie and Bill to wait in the hall while the members voted. Lindsey felt sure this was to keep any of the members from being intimidated into voting against their inclination.
Bill yanked the lapels of his blazer with a snap as he surveyed the room with his left eyebrow up in its usual arch. “I trust you’ll all make the right decision.”
Carrie said nothing. She merely gave a small smile and a wave and followed him out the door. When Bill looked to be lingering in the doorway, Mimi shut it in his face. Lindsey had no doubt about how she would be voting.
“Let’s get this over with,” Mimi said. She resumed her seat at the front of the room. “All those in favor of Bill Sint remaining president, raise your right hand.”
