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ChapterSix
Adam was used to paying attention to details, to making observations and collecting evidence, but he’d never consciously applied his science training to a person.
However, as the morning passed, he found himself drawing conclusions about Bee Delaney based on the library itself.
The obvious elements of a library were here—the bookshelves were perfectly organized, if crammed to overflowing, and the sitting area looked comfortable, even though the upholstery on the sofa and chairs was so worn the stuffing poked through the material.
But other things seemed to be a direct result of Bee’s influence. Despite the library’s obvious age and lack of repair funds—warped window frames, missing shingles, peeling paint—the whole place had a certain charm.
The small rooms were decked out for Halloween with pumpkins, spiderwebs, paper cutouts of ghosts and witches, autumn floral arrangements and garlands, and even a “countdown calendar” marking the days until October 31st. A bulletin board contained organized, up-to-date community information and an “Around the World” reading challenge display.
A signpost near the circulation desk posed the question “Where Will Your Reading Take You?” with signs pointing toward places like Narnia, Wonderland, Mount Olympus, Treasure Island, and Grandma’s House.
Tables displayed the framed artwork and poetry of high school kids, and another wall held construction-paper drawings of book characters done by Juniper Elementary School. There was a bookmobile sign-up, a “Witches’ Brew” table dedicated to books about witches, and a section of horror novels decorated with cobwebs and yellow caution tape.
Though Adam could see everything needed a major upgrade, it was still about as quirky a small-town library as one could find. And he knew on some deep, instinctive level that Bee was the reason behind it.
Not only was she the caretaker of the Gardenia House but she was also a stellar librarian—knowledgeable, dedicated, caring, and damn good at her job. The actual library itself was evidence of that.
All he had to do was somehow separate his admiration of her from his own job, though that was getting increasingly difficult to do.
At five minutes to two, he ignored Harry’s question about the thermal cameras and took the stairs faster than usual to reach the circulation desk. Bee was talking to a customer, a book cradled in her arm.
He waited with barely concealed impatience for her to finish being helpful. But when she turned her attention to him, a smile curving her mouth, he almost forgot why he was there.
“Are you ready?” she asked. “I can give you the tour now, if you’d like.”
He would, indeed. “Great.”
Bee indicated to her assistant that she would be leaving the desk for a while. “You said you’ve gotten the cameras set up in all the main rooms?”
He nodded. “The showrunner told me the ghost has been seen a lot in the conservatory, where the history section is now. So we put an extra mic there. But you said something about the cupola?”
“The cupola is the room Captain Marcus most often haunts.” Bee took a set of keys from behind the counter and walked around to him. “We can start there. The elevator doesn’t go all the way up, though.”
“I prefer the stairs. Some of the crew was having trouble with the elevator.”
Bee grimaced slightly. “Yes, it’s been a challenge to keep it up to code because of the house’s structure. But I assure you it’s perfectly safe.”
Adam walked beside her to the old, narrow staircase leading to the upper floors. “This is a great house with an interesting history. I’m not surprised the producers jumped on the chance to film here.”
“It is lovely.” Bee smiled. “I want to save the house itself as much as I do the library. I’m worried it might get demolished if the library moves to downtown.”
Adam glanced at her in surprise. “It’s not protected by some historic ordinance or anything?”
She shook her head. “There are too many regulations for historic properties, and they don’t accord with running a library. Plus, the town council is getting increasingly frustrated by how much it costs for maintenance, repairs, and to keep it all up to code, like the elevator. So if they vote to move the library to Marilyn’s site, then they’ll sell the land and use the money for the new Media and Tech Center. And whoever buys the house might very well demolish it and build condos or something.”
“Can’t it be turned into something else? A tourist site?”
“Only if the town comes up with the money for something like that,” Bee replied. “My friend Aria and her partner Hunter revived the Bliss Cove Historical Preservation Society and they’ve been able to raise some money for the library, but the Society is still relatively new and focused on the Mariposa Street district. Aria worked really hard to get the town onboard with restoring Mariposa Street, and the results have been amazing. But that’s where all the funding has gone, and now, Marilyn has everyone excited about building something new rather than restoring something that already exists.”
The faint note of sorrow in her voice tugged low in Adam’s gut as he accompanied her up to the third floor.
Bee unlocked and opened a door to reveal a spiral staircase winding up to the cupola. The staircase was so narrow that they couldn’t walk side by side, so she took the lead.
He couldn’t help staring at her ass again, which was right in front of him, the material of her skirt hugging her curves in a way that inspired about a thousand dirty thoughts and fantasies. None of which he could indulge in right now.
“The cupola was part of the original blueprints, so it’s clear that Captain Marcus had planned it from the very start.” Bee opened the door to a small, octagonal-shaped room surrounded by windows. A glass door led out to a rectangular platform surrounding the cupola on three sides and edged with a white metal railing.
