Borrowed Time Read online

  Wilson came up to me shortly before noon. “Don’t you need to be getting ready for lunch?” He frowned reproachfully at me.

  “It’s pretty busy up front,” I replied. “And Grace isn’t here yet.”

  “I’m sure she’ll be here any minute. I’ll take over the circulation desk, myself,” he said briskly. “Go find Luna.”

  I wasn’t sure how much preparation was required in getting ready for lunch, but when your manager asks you, you go.

  Luna was shelving books and glanced up as I walked over. “We’re to be getting ready for our lunch,” I said dryly.

  Luna knit her brows. “Getting ready? What on earth does that mean?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe we’re supposed to figure out what to say to Grace. I want to make sure she doesn’t feel bad about the way her party went.”

  “No, she did everything right. She couldn’t control what happened.” Luna gave a little shudder.

  “Do you think that’s why she gave a donation to the library?” I asked. “It just seems sort of random. I’d gotten the impression she wasn’t much of a reader.”

  “She’s not,” said Luna. “But maybe she wants to be. Or maybe she just liked what she heard about it. Or maybe she simply wants to make a contribution the whole community can enjoy.”

  “It must have been a sizeable one if Wilson is talking about new computers and furniture.”

  Luna said, “Yeah, but everything is relative, right? This is a woman who had a yacht with a captain for a weekend party. Maybe the size of the donation didn’t even seem big to her.” She looked behind me. “Here she is now.”

  Luna and I both turned around with big, hopefully genuine grins as Grace walked toward us.

  Chapter Ten

  She gave us both a small hug and said, “Thanks so much for having lunch with me today. I hope your director didn’t mind too much.”

  Luna snorted. “Mind? He’s practically shoving us out the door. We hear you gave an incredibly generous gift to the library.”

  “Thanks so much for that,” I added quickly, trying to be the library ambassador Wilson would want me to be. “Wilson is totally over the moon about it and figuring out which areas might benefit the most.”

  Grace waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “It was nothing. I’m just glad you were both there this weekend to talk about what a great place the library is for the whole community. Somehow, I was still thinking it was mostly just about old, outdated books. But you’re really helping out in a lot of ways.”

  Again thinking about Wilson, I said, “I could give you a really quick tour, if you have time? Sort of highlight some of the different things we do here?”

  Luna gave me a thumbs-up in approval.

  Grace said, “That would be great! It would help me visualize more of what goes on at the library. Then I’d like to treat you both to lunch.”

  Luna said, “Oh, Grace, you’ve done too much already. Ann and I can pay.”

  Which we definitely could. Depending on where Grace wanted to go, however, Luna and I might choose to just eat appetizers or a cheap salad, though.

  Grace shook her head. “No way. My treat. After all, I want to apologize about the weekend.”

  Luna and I both started protesting at once.

  “No, really. Anyway, we’ll talk about that later. Now for the tour,” said Grace.

  So we showed Grace the community room and gave her a rundown of all the different programs for the different age groups we held there. We showed her the computer room and explained the demographics of the patrons who used it and how we held classes there to improve computer literacy. We showed her the different types of media that could be checked out and the online programs patrons could use. Wilson spotted us showing Grace around and looked enormously pleased.

  Then we were off to lunch. As I’d halfway anticipated, Grace decided on the nicest place in town . . . which was decidedly not Quittin’ Time, my usual spot to grab a quick, inexpensive meal.

  We sat down and Grace immediately ordered us all appetizers for the table to share. Then we placed our meal order. She offered to buy us wine and Luna and I quickly turned it down.

  “I’d nod off during film club,” I said dryly.

  Grace laughed and ordered herself a glass of white. She took a deep breath. “I just wanted to say I was sorry for the way the weekend turned out. I feel awful about it.”

  Luna reached out and gave Grace a quick hug. “We feel awful about it, too! Ann and I were just saying earlier that you put so much time and energy into the weekend and it wasn’t fair to you that it turned out the way it did.”

  “I still had a great time,” I added. And parts of it had been great.

  Grace smiled at us. “I really appreciate your saying that.”

  “You couldn’t control what your guests did, after all,” said Luna stoutly. “Or guest, singular, anyway.”

  “You’re right. But I never should have invited Scott in the first place. My mother-in-law used to always say that the guest list was the most important thing about party preparation. I should have realized that inviting him would be a recipe for disaster. But Kelly wanted him there and I thought he wouldn’t be drinking as much as he was.” She shrugged and gave a short laugh. “Clearly, I underestimated him and then tragedy happened. I feel terrible because the two of you work really hard and both deserved a break.”

  Luna seemed uneasy about accepting this accolade. “Well, I work pretty hard. Lots of hours, for sure. Ann works ridiculously hard.”

  Grace gave me an apologetic look. “Here you thought you were going to have a short getaway and it ended up being something completely different.”

  I shook my head firmly. “No more apologizing, Grace. I appreciate it, but it isn’t needed, I promise.”

  Our appetizers came and for a few minutes Grace and I divvied up the meaty plates to share while Luna sampled the vegetarian ones. I didn’t know when I’d seen such a spread of food. Then I realized: I’d seen it at Grace’s. This must be how she ate all the time. I wondered how she stayed so slim. Shrimp with avocado and tomato, bruschetta, potato cakes, a vegetable plate, duck and dumplings, and steak tartare.

  After a few minutes of exclaiming over our appetizers, Grace deflated again. “I guess the reason I’m so fixated on the weekend and feeling bad about it is because I feel responsible.” She lifted a hand. “Don’t worry—I know I wasn’t really responsible for what happened. But maybe I could have stopped what happened to Scott.”

  I shook my head. “Grace, there was no way you could have done that.”

  “I might have. I was so worn out from all the conflict and tension that I slept like a rock. But if I’d been more on top of things, maybe paid attention to what was happening downstairs, perhaps I could have stopped whoever did this.”

  Luna swallowed down a large gulp of her food. “Grace, you need to stop thinking like that.”

  I added, “Who knows what might have happened if you tried to step in? You might have been killed or severely injured, yourself.”

  “Maybe I could have at least called the police,” said Grace with a small shrug. “But instead, this happened while I was dead asleep in the bed.”

  Luna said, “Yeah, well, it happened when we were asleep, too, and Ann and I don’t feel guilty about it. Neither should you.”

  Grace rubbed her head as if it hurt. “I appreciate that. The truth is, I’m reconsidering what my motive was in even having this party.”

  Our entrees arrived and Grace waited while the waitress set it all down and refilled our glasses. I, already full from the appetizers, was thinking I might be able to manage only a few more bites before putting the rest in a to-go box.

  Grace continued thoughtfully. “Part of it was a genuine desire to have folks enjoy themselves, catch up with their old friends, and meet some new people. I’ve always loved meeting different kinds of people. It’s what makes life interesting, right? So I wanted to catch up with people I knew growing up, but
I was glad to meet you, Ann, and get to know Luna better.”

  Luna added, “And you just finished your house. Of course you wanted a housewarming party.”

  Grace nodded. “That’s part of it, too. The construction took a lot longer than I thought it would and was a lot harder. I had a really naïve idea about the whole process, you know?”

  I smiled at her although I had absolutely no idea about either building or redecorating a home since I’d moved right into my great-aunt’s house, felt it reflected who I was, and barely changed a thing.

  “I thought it would be this amazing creative challenge of colors and textures. But really, it was a much more pedestrian process of following up with missing contractors and having to pick another type of rug when one was discontinued. The minutiae of finials and blind pulls.” She shook her head as if to clear it.

  I said, “I don’t know much about any of that, but our library does have a ton of resources on decorating.”

  Grace laughed. “See? That’s exactly why I should have had a closer relationship with the library from the start.”

  Luna said, “Well, you sure have a close relationship with it, now. Wilson is your best friend.”

  “I’ll be sure to be over there more now that I know what I’m missing. Anyway, I’m sorry I’m going off on a tangent. The point is that part of me had really good motives for the weekend. But part of me maybe didn’t.” Grace shrugged unhappily. “I feel like part of me almost wanted to stir the pot a little bit. I mean, I knew that some of the personalities I’d invited over might not mesh well.” She sighed. “I’m addicted to those reality shows where they put strangers in a house together and watch them blow up. Maybe part of me wanted to see the drama.”

  Luna wouldn’t accept this. “Nope. I don’t think you did that at all. You were a peacemaker the whole time. I saw it. You were trying to calm everyone down, distract us with great food. You did a good job, Grace.”

  Grace said, “Well, I tried, anyway. I felt bad for everyone. Scott was being really vile and maybe I should have just told him he was uninvited to my party. Especially when Kelly left. And I felt terrible for Felicity, too. She told me Scott was coming on too strong and she was trying to get away from him.”

  The flirting that I’d seen Scott do seemed mostly to taunt both Kelly and Kyle. I’d gotten the impression he was doing it for effect, to try to get under his friends’ skin, and didn’t have much interest in Felicity at all. At any rate, Felicity seemed totally able to deflect it. I must have missed something over the weekend.

  The waitress returned to check on us and Grace used the opportunity to quickly change the subject. She asked more about the library programs and community turnout and how we used Fitz in social media to get attention for various events. Luna and I filled her in, and conversation felt light and easy after that. Luna was somehow able to knock out her spinach and ricotta Rotolo, but the waitress took the rest of my primavera to box it up for me.

  Luna got up to find a restroom before we headed back to the library. As soon as she was out of earshot, Grace leaned over to speak to me.

  “What do you think about Roz?”

  “I don’t know her very well,” I prevaricated. “I’ve mainly spoken with her when she’s run by the library to see Luna. I’ve always liked her.”

  Grace nodded thoughtfully. “Yes. I always have, too. I was surprised to see how much she was drinking, though. I don’t remember her being like that when we were in high school.”

  “Was she drinking too much over the weekend?” Again, I hadn’t gotten that impression at all. Everybody was drinking more than they probably usually did, but the only person I’d noticed get sloppy drunk was Scott. Although Roz had definitely made quick work of those two big glasses of champagne.

  “I don’t want to say it was too much, but it was a lot.”

  I said slowly, “But she turned in early, right. Directly after Kelly left.”

  Grace nodded. “And I did, too, of course. But Roz ended up getting back up again.”

  I stared at her. “I didn’t realize that.”

  “Your room wasn’t near the pool room. Mine, and Roz’s actually, are right above where the pool skylight is. I could hear Roz having an argument with Scott.”

  “You think Roz is responsible for Scott’s death?” I asked.

  Grace shook her head quickly. “I can’t say that. She might very well have gone down, told Scott off, and then headed straight back to her room. I went back to sleep after I saw it was her. All I know is that Roz has always been very protective of Kelly, even when we were back in school. Maybe she got angry with Scott and picked up the closest thing at hand. Maybe she was so intoxicated that she doesn’t even remember it.”

  I still couldn’t quite get past the fact that Grace believed Roz was a lot drunker than I remembered her being. “Roz didn’t seem like she’d had that much to drink, though. Definitely not enough to cause a blackout.”

  Grace nodded. “I know. She was more careful when she was around us. I think Kelly doesn’t like to see her get really intoxicated and tries to look out for her. But I know Roz packed her own beverages in her bag. I went by her room before we all had supper and although she tried to hide it, I saw a bottle in her overnight bag.”

  Any further discussion of this was abruptly stopped as Luna came back to the table, blissfully unaware of what we’d been discussing.

  “That was the best meal ever,” she said, patting her stomach in satisfaction. “Although I might not ever eat again; I’m stuffed. Let’s hope I don’t fall asleep when we get back to the library. I’ll have to raid the coffeemaker in the breakroom.”

  Grace laughed. “I don’t envy you. I’m going to head back home and take a quick nap. Or maybe a long one.”

  She paid the bill, waved away our thanks, and took us back to the library.

  We were about to get out of the car when Grace said, “I didn’t realize you had a library dog as well as a library cat.”

  I peered out the window. Sure enough, there was a large dog of indeterminate heritage and a sweet face looking plaintively at the car.

  “Oh, the poor thing!” said Luna. “She looks like she’s lost.”

  I made a face. “There’s no way Wilson would let us have a library dog. He was barely sold on Fitz. Let’s take some pictures of her and post them in the library. Maybe someone knows who she belongs to.”

  Grace laughed. “Good luck with all of that. And thanks for having lunch with me. I’ll see you both soon.”

  She left and Luna and I snapped a few photos of the dog, who was incredibly friendly. She came up and nuzzled our hands until we petted her, then flopped down on her back for a tummy rub.

  “No collar,” I said. “Maybe if she’s still here after work one of us can run her to the vet to check for microchips.”

  Luna said, “And I’ll look online at the missing pet sites and see if she fits any descriptions on those.”

  I walked in to connect my phone with the computer and make a “found” poster. Wilson came right up to greet me as soon as I came in.

  “How did lunch go?” he asked with an air of both anticipation and concern.

  I grinned at him. “Don’t worry, Luna and I didn’t do anything to mess up the donation. We had a great lunch and a very friendly talk with Grace. I think you saw that we gave her a tour of the library. She was super enthusiastic about our programs and the facility.”

  Wilson gave a small sigh of relief. “That’s good. Well, feel free to have lunch with her at any time. Or dinner. Or whatever she’d like.”

  He started walking away and I said quickly, “I did have something to ask you real quick. I saw Grayson from the newspaper yesterday. He asked if I could do a regular column for the paper. Since I’d be representing the library, I thought I’d better run it by you first.”

  Wilson, as I’d expected, perked up again. “I think that’s a great idea. And be sure to mention Fitz. Maybe even run some pictures of him, too. We can alw
ays use the publicity.”

  “I’ll call him then and tell him it’s a go.” I paused. “Speaking of Fitz, did you know there’s a dog hanging around outside?”

  Wilson frowned. “What does that have to do with Fitz?”

  “Well, nothing, I suppose. Except that Fitz came to us as a stray and now there appears to be a stray dog who’s also shown up at the library.”

  Wilson shook his head. “No more animals here. Can you figure out who it belongs to? Or find it a good home?”

  I nodded. “I’m already on it. Luna and I have taken some pictures of her.”

  “Yes, post them everywhere. On our social media, too.” Wilson made a face. “It wouldn’t look good if we called animal control to collect the dog. We don’t want to be in the position of being the bad guys, but we also don’t need a dog here. Period.”

  He headed off to the office and I transferred the photos from my phone to the computer and came up with some flyers. The desk phone rang and I picked it up. “Whitby Library.”

  It was Grayson. I was annoyed at the red flush I felt creeping up my neck.

  “Oh good, I got you, Ann. I realized I don’t have your cell phone number so I figured I’d see if I could get you at work. Am I interrupting anything?”

  “No, it’s fine. No one’s at the desk right now. Actually, I was just thinking about you.” I flushed again and hurriedly added, “That is, I just spoke with Wilson, my director. He gave me the green light for the column.”

  “That’s great news! Hey, I was wondering . . . I know this is last minute, but do you think you could have something in a couple of days? I’ve got a piece running on historic downtown buildings and the library is going to be included. I thought your column might be a nice piece to accompany it.”

  Grayson was clearly used to coming up with articles at the spur of the moment. I thought for a moment and said, “Sure, that shouldn’t be a problem. But what kind of article are you looking for?”