of her slender five-foot-five frame. Her silky, honey-blond hair had been swept up into a ponytail. She had a pair of sexy reading glasses on her face, a thick novel in her hand. As always when he was near her like this, Holden found it difficult to turn his gaze away or stifle the protective feelings welling up inside him.
Part of it was because he had made a promise to protect her. The other part wasn’t quite so gallant….
Oblivious to the depth of his interest in her, Libby looked curiously from one to the other. “What’s going on?”
“A bit of a conundrum.” Her colorful earrings jangling, Miss Mim rushed forward to hug Libby, too. “I hope you don’t mind—we asked Holden to join us.”
Libby flashed him a look that said she did not exactly share the elder woman’s sentiment, but smiled and beckoned everyone inside.
Holden set the plate of desserts on the hall console while Libby took their jackets. “Now, tell me what’s gotten you so upset,” she urged, as she led them into the sweeping living room, with its mix of comfortable modern furniture and priceless antiques.
Miss Rosa gulped. “You know we’ve had problems with the water lines in the library all year. Well, yesterday morning we had another leak, and Rowdy Whitcombe had to come out and start pulling up the floor. This time, he wasn’t able to fix it, and he left with everything still torn up.” She sighed. “Naturally, I called the county to find out what in the world was going on. All they would tell me was that a few others were coming to assess the problem and that I should get everyone out and keep the facility closed until further notice.”
“That sounds … ominous,” Libby murmured, trading concerned glances with Holden.
Wishing he was sitting close enough to give her hand a squeeze, he nodded back.
“Which is why I got involved,” Miss Mim confided with an unhappy sigh. “But by then the government offices had closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.”
Clasping his hands between his knees, Holden leaned forward. “Did you try talking to Rowdy?”
Miss Mim nodded. “He wasn’t at liberty to reveal much at this juncture, but said that if the situation was what he suspected, the library might be closed for a good long while.”
“Which would be a problem,” Libby said worriedly. “So many residents depend on it.”
Holden knew she spent a lot of time there, too. Books had always been of great comfort to her. Even more so after Percy died….
“Plus—” Miss Rosa’s low voice quavered “—we have all those Christmas events planned for the children, starting Monday. All the book clubs in the area have signed up to use the space for their holiday parties. Not to mention all the free literacy tutoring that goes on there.” She wrung her hands in distress. “I’d arranged for a tree and everything!”
“And we all know,” Holden murmured, “how bureaucracy can slow things down.”
“No kidding!” Miss Mim turned back to Libby, her gaze intent. “We’re going to need a real crusader. Which is, of course, why we came to you!”
Libby smiled. “I’ll do everything I can to help.”
“Me, too,” Holden promised.
Beaming, Miss Mim and Miss Rosa stood. “With a Lowell and a McCabe on the job, how can we go wrong?” the older lady joked.
Holden went with Libby to show them out. “Actually, you’ll have a lot of McCabes,” he promised, “as soon as I let the family know what’s going on.”
Briefly, Libby’s expression looked pinched. “As far as the Lowells go, it’s just me. But I promise you I’ll give the situation my all.”
Thanks were given. More hugs ensued. And then the two librarians slipped out the door.
“Well.” Libby squared her slender shoulders and drew an innervating breath. “There’s never a dull moment around here.”
“The people of this community have come to rely on you,” he said.
Unhappiness glimmered in Libby’s green eyes as she regarded him. “That’s not what I need to hear.”
He had hurt her. Again. Without meaning to do so. He injected as much gentle levity into his tone as he dared. “What do you need to hear, then?”
She snorted indignantly. “Oh, something along the lines of you understand that although I have done everything I could to live up to the wishes of Percy and his parents in maintaining the Lowell family tradition and legacy in Laramie … you also know I’m leading a life I never intended to lead.”
“I thought you liked running the dealership.” She was certainly good at it.
She peered at him through narrowed lashes. “I like managing things, keeping things running and solving problems. I have no passion for farm and ranch equipment, per se.”
He flashed her a cryptic smile. “You don’t dream about combines and harvesters?”
Contrary as ever around him, she replied, “I have the occasional nightmare about a delivery not arriving in time for a rancher to harvest the crop that’s going to feed his cattle all winter.”
Holden cleared his throat, regarding her steadily. “You’re serious.”
She wandered back into the living room and plopped down on the sofa with her book. “Oh, yes.”
He watched her slide her reading glasses back on her nose. “You never said anything.”
She winced again. “That would have been ungrateful, wouldn’t it?” Libby paused in the act of opening her novel. “Here I am, having inherited a beautiful home, a thriving business and the mantle of the esteemed Lowell name.”
Holden sat opposite her and studied the elegant contours of her face.
“When all I really want, if I’m to be perfectly honest …” Libby raked her teeth across the velvety pink softness of her lower lip.
He gripped the arms of the chair and rocked forward slightly, guessing, “All you really want is your husband back.”
A pained silence fell between them. When she spoke again, her defenses were up. “We both wish that were possible.”
“I’m sorry, Libby.”
“Please.” She lifted a delicate palm. “Don’t apologize. Not again …”
How could he not? Holden thought with a fresh flood of guilt. “If Percy and I hadn’t gone on that white-water rafting trip in South America right after my marriage busted up …”
The light faded from her eyes. “He knew you were devastated when you lost the baby and Heidi, all at once.”
The reminder of his loss had a wealth of undercurrents. “I never should have married her.”
Libby sighed, perceptive as ever. “That’s true, since shotgun
