Chapter 6: Madison's Meteor, Part 6

"I liked your smile the first time I saw it," Frank said, "It grew on me. Like Alice's coffee at the shop or this Lapsang tea. I never could talk to the girls, but you make me feel like I've known you for years - comfortable."

"So what now Frank?" Jennita sat across from him again.

"I'd take you to lunch at Alice's, only she'd have us engaged before we got to the pie."

Jennita laughed, the sound of it was like bells ringing inside of Frank. He grinned at this woman who had suddenly become very important to him.

She reached across the table and took his hand.

"Thanks, for being there, Frank. Those boys do scare me at times."

"Let me think what I can do. They shouldn't be able to treat people like that."

"I don't think talking to them will change anything."

"No, I don't suppose it would."

The bell indicated someone coming into the library. Jennita took a deep breath and stood up. Frank stood up too.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, I need to face this myself, but thank you." She kissed him lightly on the lips and went out to see who had come in.

Frank stood there for a long moment with a wide grin on his face. He finally sat down and finished his tea deep in thought, yet still keeping his ears open to hear if Jennita needed him. The question of how to keep the library safe kept getting mixed up with the question of how to spend more time with the librarian. When his tea was done, he slipped out and back to his books, but he found it harder and harder to concentrate.

At closing time, she came by.

"Don't you have chores to do?" she asked. "I love having you here, but not if it is taking you away from something you need to be doing."

"I check on the animals in the evening. Plenty of time yet." He helped her carry the books to the desk. "I have a idea about those boys. I'll tell you tomorrow."

He looked at Jennita, then did the scariest thing he had done in a very long time. He leaned over and kissed her on the lips.

"Good night, Jennita."

"Good night, Frank." She smiled at him and waved as she locked the door behind him.

The weather appeared to be taking its cue from the warmth in his heart. Frank watched the drifts that he had been driving through with the tractor vanish. As much as he liked the extra income from the driveway work, he appreciated the extra time to spend with his animals thinking.

He couldn't remember ever spending so much time thinking. Thinking about economics, thinking about his friends and neighbours, thinking about Jennita. To be truthful, most of the thinking was about Jennita. Where he'd always had to struggle to think of what to say to girls when he was young, now the words flowed effortlessly.

He went through his evening chores in a fog of bemused happiness. The animals were quiet so it wasn't too long before he was sitting in the shed looking at the meteorite.

"I have some ideas about the library," he said as he leaned back against the big tractor tire. "But I'm going to need to ask for some help. I think Jim is busy enough with this business with the plant, so I am going to ask Alice. She knows everybody. If she thinks it will work, then it will work."

Frank stood and stretched.

"So unless you disagree, I will talk to Alice tomorrow." He smiled crookedly. "The cows thought it was a good idea too. If I wasn't so happy right now, I'd be concerned about me. But for some reason this feels right."

He closed and locked the door to the shed and went to the house for the night.

***

Next day after chores he drove into town.

"How's it going?" he asked Jim as he entered the shop. His friend was sitting at the back table surrounded by papers and folders. Herb and his son were sitting beside him and helping him fill out forms.

"How much is the farm worth?" Jim asked, "We need another million to put together a decent offer. I was hoping that each of the two hundred some employees would be able to come up with ten thousand each, but lots of them are already maxed out."

"I'll talk to the bank, but I doubt there is that much in the farm."

Jim nodded. "We're close, but I want a really solid proposal. John says we might have a week. He has heard some rumbles about an offshore company buying the place."

"I'll stop in today and talk to Jenkins. He should be able to give me a ball park figure anyway. Has Bruce decided yet?"

"He hasn't talked to me yet, but Marg was talking to Mary at the post office and she thinks it is a great idea."

"Great." Frank went over and sat at the counter. Alice wasn't there. A new girl with black lipstick and a ring in her bottom lip poured his coffee for him.

"Hi, where's Alice this morning?" He peered at the girl's name tag. "Alixxa."

"She's at a meeting. Aunt Alice told me I could work here for a while."

Frank took a sip of the coffee and sighed.

"If you make coffee like this, you can work here all you want."

The girl laughed and Frank caught a glimpse of metal in the girl's mouth.

"Maybe you can help me out." She looked around the shop and shrugged.

"What do you need?"

"I was at the library and some young men came in were being rude. They scared the librarian. Can you think why they would do that?"

"Just because I have metal in me, you think I'm a punk?"