The Wedding Circle Read Online Free PDF Page B

somewhat reassuring.
    â€œYou hang in there, Maurie,” he told her, putting his arm around her waist and pulling her toward him. “Whatever this is about, just don’t let them rattle you.” His sweet little kiss sealed the deal. “And I’ll see you back at the apartment for the blow by blow.”
    As she slid into the front seat and turned the key with a lingering smile, she fully appreciated what it meant to be a couple. In short, she no longer had to face anything alone.

3
    On the Cheap and Off the Rack
    A t the moment, Maura Beth’s meeting with Councilman Sparks and Rogers Jernigan was immersed in annoying déjà vu. How many times over the years had she endured similar inquisitions in the plush offices of City Hall? True, Chunky Badham and Gopher Joe Martin were nowhere to be found, but that made the current ordeal even more uncomfortable to endure. If nothing else, those two good ole boys usually provided much-needed comic relief with their frequent malapropisms and non sequiturs. No such luck today, however.
    â€œThere’s something you need to understand, Miz Mayhew,” Councilman Sparks was saying from behind his highly polished, massive desk. It had the effect of making him look and sound even more authoritative. “These blueprints of ours aren’t written in stone. Perhaps we’d better let our distinguished architect here explain our concerns to you. Will you do the honors, sir?”
    Councilman Sparks gestured toward Rogers Jernigan, who was seated across from him in one of the room’s great leather chairs. “I’ll be delighted, of course,” he said, turning toward the nearby Maura Beth with a forced smile on his face. But there was a nervousness about it that seemed to be oozing from his every pore.
    She winced the moment he spoke up. She had found working with him on a consulting basis to be pleasant enough, but it was the way he had continually deferred to Councilman Sparks that had never failed to get on her nerves. “Yes, Durden,” he would say while the three of them were discussing the needs of a twenty-first century library. “I understand your point here. I realize there is only so much money in the till. You can count on me to keep that in mind.” And on and on. She could not recall a single instance in which he had even come close to bucking City Hall’s directives.
    Summoning her best professional training, of course, she had endeavored to make Rogers understand things from a librarian’s point of view. Although she had the gut feeling he was not really on her side no matter what she said, he had generally acquiesced in these sessions—perhaps just to keep the peace. But now here they were going over all of it again, and she feared the worst.
    â€œYou see, Miz Mayhew,” Rogers continued in a decidedly patronizing tone, “as any architect will tell you, there are junctures in the construction of any building. By that I mean, once you reach a certain point, you can’t undo things. Well, you can tear out walls and windows and such, but it will cost a ton of money and cause unacceptable delays. We certainly want to avoid that if we can. So, Durden and I would like to revisit a couple of items in the plans that we might want to change before we reach these junctures down the road in a few more months. For instance, there’s this teen room concept. We feel that—”
    Maura Beth straightened up and quickly interrupted, as her worst fears were confirmed. “What about the teen room? Are you proposing that we do away with it? I thought we’d resolved that issue once and for all. I can’t believe you’re bringing it up again.”
    Rogers cast a furtive glance toward Councilman Sparks, as if looking for validation. “You’ll remember that we had quite a discussion about it the first time around.”
    â€œThat’s a polite way of describing it,” Maura Beth