Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
The Blue Ribbon Knowledge Fair day had finally arrived.
Tiffanie sat in the chair her Daddy had placed at the entrance of the ballroom.
He’d given her strict orders to conserve her energy as much as possible.
While she felt stronger and better with every day that passed, Tiffanie wanted to be the most help to Essie as she could so his directions made sense. She’d follow them—for now.
After checking in the last exhibitor to arrive, she turned to glance over her shoulder at Ivan.
His face was relaxed in his normal easygoing way, but Tiffanie could tell her brother was stressed from the stiffness of his shoulders and how he moved various carvings to the front of his table only to replace them with a different item a few seconds later.
Ever since Phineas had shared that the woman who’d checked out one of the Daddy books from the library over and over would also be an exhibitor, Ivan had debated which of his creations would attract her attention.
Seeing her focused on him, Ivan headed to her side. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes. Perfect. The last table just walked in. Everyone’s here now. How are you?”
“I’m great. Never better.”
She waved the packet of papers in her hands frantically.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to put the flames out.”
“What flames?” he asked with a bewildered expression.
“The liar, liar, pants on fire ones.”
“Very funny, Tiff.”
She laughed, enjoying his discomfort as only a sister could. “Sorry. Got your creations arranged perfectly?” she asked innocently.
Ivan rolled his eyes at her teasing. “I’m going to hit the restroom before everyone streams inside.”
“Good idea. I’ll keep an eye on your table.”
“Thank you.” He disappeared down the hallway.
Amused at his discomfort like any younger sister who loved her brother would be, Tiffanie turned in her chair to have a direct line of sight to his table.
Ivan’s creations looked so cute. She would definitely pause to see them.
Tiffanie crossed her fingers, hoping the woman who’d enjoyed those library books would stop to meet him.
An orange blur caught her eye. Marmalade, who had roamed through the chaos of everyone moving their boxes of display and sale items into the large space, raced past her and halted at Ivan’s table. What was he doing? He settled on his hind legs before launching himself up onto the tablecloth.
Tiffanie jumped to her feet and rushed over as the cat systematically knocked one carving after another off the table, as if he were playing hockey in the Stanley Cup. Goal! Goal! Goal!
“Marmalade! Stop that!” she called. The pesky fuzzball didn’t hesitate but kept whacking Ivan’s creations off.
By the time she reached the table, only two remained. Tiffanie reached for Marmalade, and as her fingers settled around his torso, the cat struck again. “Will you cut that out?” she asked, hoisting him into air jail.
“Meow!” Marmalade wasn’t bothered in the least by his behavior.
“What happened?” a quiet voice asked from behind her.
“Marmalade spread his normal chaos, that’s what,” Tiffanie said, turning to face a softly curvy woman with her hair in braids before sending Marmalade a dark glower.
“He seemed like such a good kitty. He’s come over to talk to me several times. Is anything broken?”
“Hopefully not. This is my brother’s table. Would you help me pick them up?” Tiffanie set Marmalade down and patted his bottom firmly to send the cat on his way.
“Of course.”
The two women ducked behind the table and retrieved the carvings from the floor. “I haven’t found any damage,” the helpful show participant said a couple of minutes later.
“What happened?”
Ivan had returned. Tiffanie peeked over the table. “Hey. Marmalade stopped by. He jumped up and methodically knocked the carvings off.”
“He was so fast!” the woman next to her said, placing the last of the carvings on the table.
“Thank you for assisting,” Ivan said, his eyes locked on the newcomer.
“Of course. I was heading over to check out your work when the cat karate chopped everything. These are adorable,” she said, picking up one depicting a basset hound. “This reminds me of Droopy.”
“You have a dog named Droopy?” Ivan asked.
Tiffanie held her breath. His gaze focused on the newcomer as if she were made of the finest gold. What was going on here? She sealed her lips closed, unwilling to interrupt.
“Kind of,” the woman answered, and a tinge of pink appeared in her cheeks. Tiffanie guessed immediately that she had something other than a live dog named Droopy. A stuffie? Could she be the reader?
“I’m Ivan. Thank you for coming to my rescue.” Ivan spoke carefully, as if afraid to scare her off.
“Oh, I don’t think you need help often,” the woman blurted, checking out Ivan’s muscles carved by physical labor.
Tiffanie placed the last figurines in her hands on the table and eased back from the conversation. She didn’t want to interrupt their conversation. She also didn’t wish to leave.
“Everyone needs support from time to time. Can I ask who you are?”
“Are you okay, Princess?” Phineas whispered in her ear.
Tiffanie nodded. “We need to leave.”
Phineas didn’t ask questions. He wrapped an arm around her waist and guided Tiffanie through the row of exhibitors to her chair. “What’s going on?”
“I think that’s the other lady who reads those books.” She waited for him to react and confirm her guess. Nothing. He was like Switzerland. Totally neutral. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”
“Nope.”
A piercing whistle sounded through the ballroom. Tiffanie whirled around. Zander stood at the door. He stepped to the side with an elaborate bow to Essie as everyone quieted down and paid attention.
“Hey, everyone. Thank you for joining the public library and Ferguson’s Folly in the first Blue Ribbon Knowledge Fair.
Kudos to the library director, Phineas Green, and my amazing decorator, Tiffanie Clarke, for imagining this event and making all the arrangements come together so beautifully.
” Essie waved a hand toward Phineas and Tiffanie.
Tiffanie smiled. Essie was gracious in sharing praise. She appreciated the acknowledgement of her efforts but loved that Essie reminded the town of how lucky they were to have Phineas at the helm of the library.
A round of enthusiastic applause sounded from the participants.
Phineas tightened his arm around Tiffanie’s waist, hugging her against his hard frame.
He nodded and called back, “And thank you to everyone who has used the library to unlock new knowledge and who agreed to take part after I begged you relentlessly.”
Scattered, delighted laughter circulated around the room. Tiffanie smiled at her incredible Daddy. His community would do anything for him.
“The crowd is eager to come in. I’ll give everyone five minutes to return to your tables and make any final adjustments before we let the crowd gathering in the hallway enter the ballroom,” Essie announced.
Instantly, people scattered.
“Five minutes! I’d better go help Ivan. Marmalade bashed everything off his table,” Tiffanie said, taking a step away from her Daddy.
His arm held her firmly in place. “I don’t think he needs you, Little girl.”
Tiffanie followed his line of vision to Ivan’s table. He and his new acquaintance moved furiously to display his work. From Ivan’s expression, he didn’t care one iota about anyone coming through the door. His entire attention centered on the woman with braids.
As they watched, Ivan picked up the basset hound and handed the carving to her. Tiffanie made- up the conversation she couldn’t hear.
“Oh, no! I can’t take that.”
“I’d like you to have it.”
“At least let me pay you for it.”
“No way. You had a special connection with Droopy, Jr. This belongs with you.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’d hoped one of my carvings would attract a Little girl.”
“Oh. I bet kids love your work.”
“I wasn’t talking about someone under eighteen.”
“Oh!”
“Look, there she goes back to her table, blushing completely red!” Tiffanie said triumphantly. Her Daddy laughed, a deep belly chuckle that did things to her insides. Damn, she loved him.
“You know they probably talked about the library or something,” Phineas said.
“No way. That was a complete Daddy-Little girl conversation.”
“Kiss me, Princess, before the crowd gets here.”
“Yes, Daddy,” she whispered and puckered her lips. His mouth barely brushed hers.
Disappointed, Tiffanie grabbed the front of his library polo and hauled him close. She kissed him with all the love she had inside. That was the kind of sizzling exchange she wanted from her Daddy.
“I wonder if they have books on kissing in the library?” a female voice asked from behind them.
Phineas lifted his mouth from Tiffanie’s and, without missing a beat, said, “Of course. They’re in the self-help section of the library. Feel free to ask any library staff member for assistance in finding them.”
“I may do that,” she answered pertly.
Tiffanie’s eyes danced with amusement. That was Widow Norville.
She had to be ninety. Her husband had passed before Tiffanie was born.
“She’s going to be at the library tomorrow morning when the doors open to find those books,” Tiffanie whispered when Penelope Norville had moved far enough away and wouldn’t hear her.
“I can’t wait,” Phineas said and winked. “Will you be okay if I roam around?”
“Of course. I’m going to go down to Essie’s office and relax. My decorating work is finished here. I’ll return to help Ivan pack up toward closing time.”
“I don’t think he’s going to have anything left to take home,” Phineas said, nodding at the line forming in front of Ivan’s table.
“What is the lady showcasing? The one he gave the dog to.” Tiffanie asked.
“Stop by and see. She’s at the last table in that row. I’ve already paid her to let you pick something out.”
“Really?” When he nodded, she promised, “I will.”