The Swear Jar (4 page)

Chapter Four

In the meeting room, Duncan and the
Board of Trustees worked their way through agenda items.  They were making
pretty good time if his quick glances at his watch were correct.  They were
wrapping up old business and were about to get to new business.  Meara was new
business.  He was going to convince them to hire her.

The Board president read off the
next item.  “It looks like we have a successful candidate to replace the former
Head of Youth Services.”

“Yes,” Duncan replied.  “A
librarian named Meara Martin has moved into town.  She has an excellent work
history and she interviewed well.”

“Do we really need to replace the
former librarian?” asked the Board president.

“Mrs. Martin is a degreed librarian
with managerial experience and dedication to the field.  All of her references
were glowing.  The Board has said in the past I could use additional help in
running the library.  I find Mrs. Martin can fill that capacity and run the
Youth Services Department.  It would be killing two birds with one stone.”

Duncan had their full attention.  He
rarely spoke for so long.  The Board members knew Duncan Phillips was not a man
to make snap decisions or let his feelings guide his judgments.

“If Duncan says this librarian will
work, I say hire her.  The library needs to get some kids in here.  It’s a
little too quiet,” said one of the Board members, a retired teacher, if Duncan
remembered correctly.

The Board voted.  All were in favor
of hiring Meara.  Duncan knew she was the right choice.  He wanted to work with
her and be friends, maybe even more.  He zoned out on the meeting.  He wondered
what it would be like to hold her in his arms.  He wanted to run his fingers
through her hair and kiss her dimple.  He wanted to tease her and make her
laugh.  He noticed the room had gotten quiet.  The Board members were looking
at him.

“Duncan, are you all right?” asked
the Board president.

“I’m sorry.  I was thinking I’ll
need to get a set of keys for Mrs. Martin.”

Duncan stayed focused until the
meeting ended.  He retreated to his office.  The library was closed.  He found
Meara’s resume and application.  He made notes about salary and benefits.  He
was stalling, but he was calming his nerves.

“Here goes nothing,” he said aloud.

He dialed her number.  He didn’t
want her to think he had forgotten her.  He wondered if she would be waiting
for his call.

On the third ring, she answered. 
“Anne, stop calling every five minutes.  You’re making me more nervous than I
already am!”

He chuckled.  “I’m sorry, Mrs.
Martin, but I’m not Anne.  I’m sorry if anticipating my call was making you
nervous.”

“Mr. Phillips, I’m so sorry.  Anne
has been a bit of a pest today.  I’ve been looking forward to your call.  How
are you?”  Her butterflies fluttered at the sound of his voice.

While she spoke, he closed his eyes
and pictured her smiling nervously.  “I’m fine and how are you?”

“I’m fine.  I’m sure Anne heard my
phone ring.  She’ll be knocking on my door soon.  She’s going to drive me
crazy.”

He laughed.  “I guess it’s a good
thing the Board approved hiring you.  You’ll be able to escape Anne for a good
part of your day.”

“That’s wonderful, Mr. Phillips. 
Thank you so much for this opportunity.  I miss being in a library and I’ll try
my best to do a good job.”

“I have no doubts of that, Mrs.
Martin.  Your references were positive about your work.  Everyone I spoke to
lamented the fact you were no longer with them.  One reference said I’d be
lucky to have you on my staff.”

“I appreciate their faith in me. 
How did the rest of the Board meeting go?  I remember they can be boring and
dull.”

“I have to agree with you.  This
one was routine except for hiring you.  The Board agrees with Anne.  We need to
get more kids into the library.  You’ll have to hit the ground running on
Monday.”

He could hear knocking in the
background.  “Is that Anne now?”

“Yes, but I’m not letting her in
yet.  She’s on my front porch bouncing up and down.  She’ll run around to the
back porch in a minute.  Then I’m in trouble.  There she goes.”

He chuckled again.  “She’s a good
kid, isn’t she?  I look forward to seeing her at the library.”

“Thank you, Mr. Phillips, she is a
good kid.  Now she’s staring at me through the glass door on the back porch. 
You should see the look on her face.  She can’t figure out if it’s good news or
bad news.  If I can stop myself from laughing, we can make her think it’s not
going so well.”

“That’s terrible, but sounds like
fun.  Mrs. Martin, I’ll need to speak to you about salary.  You should frown
now.  And I’ll need to talk to you about benefits.  Frown again.  Would you be
able to stop by the library tomorrow?”

She frowned when he told her to and
Anne was going crazy.  When he mentioned going to the library tomorrow, she
frowned for real.

“Could it be after noon tomorrow? 
Anne has this nature hike all planned.  It sounds more like a death march to
me, but she wants to show me the park.”  She shifted nervously.

“After noon is fine.  Fridays are
casual at the library, so don’t worry about dressing to impress.  I’m already
impressed.”  Rolling his eyes, he smacked his head because he sounded cheesy. 
“Why don’t we say one o’clock?  Tell Anne I can’t lose my new Head of Youth
Services, so she should take it easy on you.”

“Thank you!  You might have saved
my life.  One more thing.  I’ve never lived in the same town where I worked. 
Do you have any advice on the mixing of personal and professional?  If I make
friends with staff members or patrons, is there a place to draw the line and
keep it professional?” she asked quietly.

She wanted the job, but she wanted
to be friends with him too.  She couldn’t deny she was attracted to him.  His
voice alone made her feel like giggling.  If she started thinking about his
smile or his dancing green eyes, she would sigh.

“Mrs. Martin, I’m guessing you’ve
been friends with staff members and patrons in the past.  You knew where to
draw the line.  There’s really no way around it.  It’s going to happen.  It
will be up to you to set the parameters of the relationships you make.  I’m
hoping we can be friends as well.”  He closed his eyes and waited for her
reply.

“Thank you.  I would like that very
much.  Your advice helps a great deal.  While I have Anne looking horrified on
the back porch, I need to establish my first parameter.”  She struggled not to
laugh.

Grinning, he paused.  “Go ahead.”

“You must call me Miss Meara.  I’m
shaking my finger at you and frowning deeply.”

He laughed out loud this time. 
“You win.  Is Anne freaking out now, Miss Meara?”

“I think she’s going to pop.”  She
smiled broadly.

His laugh sent a thrill down her
spine.  She could picture him smiling.  She wondered what it would be like to
kiss him.  She shook her head to clear her thoughts.

“Are you going to let her in or are
you going to keep up the torture?”

“I’ll keep her out until we’re
done.  I don’t want your ears to burst with squeals of joy when she finds out.”

“Thank you, I appreciate it.  If we
are set for tomorrow at one, I should let you go.”

“Thank you again, Mr. Phillips for
the job and for the advice.  I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.  Are
you still at the library?”

“Yes, I am.”

“I feel terrible.  I’ve kept you
after a long night with the Board.  I’m sorry.”

“Miss Meara, it’s worth every
minute.  Good night and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Good night, Mr. Phillips.  See you
tomorrow.”

“Bye and let Anne in!”

“I will.”  She giggled as she hung
up.

Duncan closed his eyes.  That
giggle was adorable.  It reminded him of a kitten purring.  Without Meara to
chat with, he felt lonely again.  At the supermarket, when he had looked into
her eyes, she had taken away the loneliness.  He missed Brenda.  Their marriage
had been an easy-going companionship.  There had been passion early in their
marriage, but as time went on, they had settled into a comfortable pattern.  He
had longed for the passion to return and then Brenda learned she had cancer.

Brenda was a practical woman.  She had
prepared him for when she was gone.  She loved him and wanted him to be happy. 
If he found someone else, it was fine with her.  At the time, he hadn’t wanted
to think about it.  When Brenda died, his heart broke.  He had loved and
respected her.  He couldn’t replace her with casual relationships, so he hid
behind his wedding ring.  No one fired up the passion missing from his marriage
until he met Meara.  He wondered if Meara could be the one to heal his heart.

Friday morning, Tom and Lucy
arrived before Duncan.  They wondered how the Board meeting went.  They were a
little worried things may not have gone as Duncan wanted.

“Do you think the Board said no?” 
Lucy asked worriedly.  “And he’s taking it badly?”

“If the Board said no, it’s more
likely that he’s bailing out Anne for throwing a fit.”

“Tom, you’re so funny.  NOT.  Where
is he?  The suspense is killing me.”

“Here he comes.  He has a spring in
his step.  If he stops to smell the flowers, we’ll have to call a doctor for a
bad case of puppy love.”

Duncan beamed as he called out a
hardy greeting.  Tom and Lucy exchanged looks and turned to him.  Duncan was
happier than they had seen him in a long time.

“I guess it went well last night?”
asked Lucy.

Duncan nodded enthusiastically.  “The
Board approved Miss Meara’s appointment.  I spoke with her last night.  I’ve
asked her to come in today to discuss the details.”

“MISS Meara?” said Tom, teasing.

“That’s wonderful, Duncan!  Ignore
Tom,” said Lucy.  “I guess Miss Meara accepted?”

“Yes.  She starts Monday.”

“Why is she coming today?  Couldn’t
you have told her the details over the phone?  And can’t she fill out the
paperwork on Monday?”  Tom asked, grinning.

“I guess.  She could fill out the
papers on Monday.”  Realizing he didn’t have a plausible reason for Meara’s
visit, he stared blankly.

“Tom, stop teasing him.  Now look
at what you’ve done.  He’s nervous enough, now he has to think about his
motivations?  She agreed to come today.  Leave the poor man alone!  Duncan,
having her visit today makes a pleasant start to the job.  It gets the little
details out of the way.  Do you have her keys and paperwork all ready?”  Lucy
patted Duncan’s arm reassuringly.

“I’m working on it this morning.” 
His smile returned.

“So get cracking!  It’s nine
o’clock, half the day is over!”  Lucy smiled.  “Anne will come and smooth over
any rough spots.  Tom, go shelve some books and leave Duncan alone!”

“Yes, ma’am” replied Duncan and Tom
together.

Tom winked, Duncan chuckled, and
both headed off in different directions.  They both knew better than to hassle
Lucy.  At noon, Duncan left to have Meara’s keys made.  Tom and Lucy flipped a
quarter to see who took lunch first.  They weren’t going to miss Meara’s
visit.  Duncan got back with ten minutes to spare.  Tom had lost the coin
toss.  He finished his sandwich while standing in the doorway of the Circulation
Office.  Duncan raised an eyebrow.  Tom grinned mischievously.

“There’s no sign of her, but no
phone call either.  Don’t be nervous,” Lucy said.  “She’ll be here.”

“I’m not nervous.  Who’s nervous?”
Duncan replied.  ”What’s there to be nervous about?”

“That was convincing.”  Tom rolled
his eyes.

“Looks like you made it just in
time, Duncan,” Lucy said, nodding towards the front doors.  “Here they come
now.”

“Anne’s half way up the walk, but
Meara’s lagging behind.  What’s up?” asked Tom.

“Anne took Meara for a hike this
morning.  I hope Anne didn’t wear her out,” Duncan replied, looking concerned.

“Doesn’t Anne always wear her out?”
Tom laughed.  “A hike would be twice the torture.  I’d be surprised if she
doesn’t fall asleep on you.”

Duncan contemplated curling up with
Meara on the loveseat in his office.  He imagined stroking her dimple while she
was tucked into his embrace.  He saw himself kissing her gently while she
dozed.  He raised his eyebrows and exhaled.

Lucy said, “She sees you, so wake
up and smile.”

Duncan snapped out of his
daydream.  Anne bounded into the library with Meara close behind.  They greeted
Tom and Lucy.  Duncan smiled and Meara smiled back.  Duncan had on jeans and a
short-sleeved, dark blue Henley.  Meara had on denim shorts and a sky blue,
cotton blouse with a modestly low neckline.  He saw the gentle swell of her
cleavage.  His mind started to wander, so he held out his hand for her to
shake.

“Miss Meara, it’s good to see you
again.  How are you, Anne?  How did the death march go?” he asked.

“She sneezed two dozen times and
only tripped twice.  It went well,” Anne grinned.

“She let me bring bug spray,
sunscreen, and water this time, so I’m alive.  I tried to ditch her in the
woods, but she must have had breadcrumbs with her.  She thinks she has my
afternoon planned, but I’m not falling for it.”  Meara growled.

“I’m glad it turned out all right. 
Miss Meara, would you like to step into my office?” asked Duncan.

“Yes, Mr. Phillips, that sounds
good.”

Duncan led the way to his office. 
He looked back at Tom, Lucy and Anne.  Giving two thumbs up, Tom added a wicked
grin, making Duncan nervous.  Lucy whacked Tom on the back of the head.  Duncan
winked and closed the door.

“What plans did you have for Miss
Meara this afternoon?” asked Tom, leaning towards Anne.

Anne said, “I want to go to Maple Tree
Farm.  We’re planting a vegetable garden.  She isn’t sure how to get there and
doesn’t want to get lost.  How lost can we possibly get?”