He narrowed his green eyes at me as though he were actually contemplating the question.
I spent the rest of the afternoon making phone calls, taking a break long enough to make a pan of cinnamon rolls and call Harrison to see if he would be free after supper for a visit. I still wanted to hear about the woman he’d met online. By suppertime I’d managed to coordinate moving most of the library’s programs temporarily over to Maggie’s studio, with the seniors heading to Henderson Holdings for their reading group. And Harrison had called back to say he’d see me at about seven thirty.
After supper I sat on the living room floor with Hercules beside me and reorganized the box of papers. And played Barry Manilow Live from the iPod dock. There was no sign of Owen.
Young Harry dropped off Harry Senior just before seven thirty. “I’ll be back to get him in about an hour,” Harry said to me.
“There’s no rush,” I said.
“We’re just fine. Go,” the old man said, waving one hand at his son. Harry mouthed a “thank you” at me and left.
Harrison settled himself at the table. “Something smells good,” he commented.
“Cinnamon rolls,” I said. “Would you like one?”
“Are they good for me?” he asked reaching in his pocket for something. Hercules had wandered in from somewhere and was sitting next to Harrison’s chair looking up at him.
“Probably not,” I said.
“In that case, yes, I’ll have one along with a cup of that coffee I smell.” He pulled what looked like a small piece of old shoe leather out of his pocket and held it out to Hercules. The cat sniffed it curiously and then took it from him, holding it in place on the floor with one paw and chewing happily on the other end.
“What are you feeding my cat?” I asked as I set a plate in front of the old man.
“Turkey jerky,” he said. Hercules looked up at him and seemed to almost smile just as the basement door opened and Owen appeared. He lifted his head and sniffed the air, then headed toward our guest.
“I didn’t forget you,” Harrison said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small plastic bag. He took out a second piece of the jerky and held it out to Owen, who meowed his thanks and took it.
“Turkey jerky?” I asked as I poured our coffee.
“Burtis and the boys made it,” Harrison said. “It’s pretty good. Sorry I didn’t bring a piece for you.”
“That’s okay, I’ll take your word on it,” I said, joining him at the table.
He grinned at me. “It’s good stuff.” He patted his chest with one large hand. “It’ll put hair on your chest.”
I smiled back at him. “That’s just what I need.”
He laughed and leaned back in the chair with his coffee. “So tell me, when’s the library going to reopen? I’ve got about a half a dozen books requested.”
“It’s going to be sometime next week at least,” I said adding cream and sugar to my cup. “But if something you’ve been waiting for comes in, I’ll bring it out to you.”
“That’s good of you, Kathleen,” Harrison said. He took a bite of his cinnamon roll, smiled and licked a dab of icing off the side of his thumb. “That’s better than Burtis’s jerky.”
“That’s high praise,” I teased.
He reached over and patted my hand. “You’re darn right it is.” He took a long sip of his coffee and then his gaze focused on my face. “So start with the questions.”
I pulled one leg up underneath me. “No questions,” I said. “I’d like to hear about this woman you’ve met.”
“My son’s time would be better spent finding a date of his own.”
I nodded. “Maybe. But we’re not talking about Harry; we’re talking about you.”
“I met a woman. Yes, I know how to use a computer. I’m old, not dead. We decided it’s time we met in person. End of story.”
“Harry and Elizabeth are worried about you.”
He broke off another section of cinnamon roll, popped it in his mouth and ate it. “Kathleen, you know I love my kids. Harry is a damn fine man.” He mock frowned at me. “And if you repeat that to him I’ll pretend I had a stroke and was just mumbling nonsense.” He reached for his coffee again. “For a while I wasn’t even sure I was going to meet Elizabeth, let alone get to be part of her life, and I’m grateful every day that it all worked out. And I’m grateful for your part in that.”
I smiled across the table at him. “I did very little, but I’m glad it helped.”
“They worry too much, Kathleen,” Harrison said. “We’re meeting in a public place and I’m going to that meeting with my eyes wide-open. I know my lady friend could be a bald fella in sweatpants, but I don’t think she is. All I can tell you is when you’re looking at life from my end of things, it looks pretty damn short.”
“All right,” I said.
“All right?” He looked surprised. “That’s it?”
I smiled at him. “You didn’t see that coming, did you?”
He gave a snort of laughter. “No, I did not.”
“You have good judgment, Harrison,” I said. “I don’t think you’re going to do anything stupid.”
“I had a whole argument worked out, you know,” he said. His eyes were twinkling.
“And I’m sure it was a good one,” I said, taking the last bite of my own cinnamon roll. “I’ll listen to it if you’d like.”
His shook his head and fingered his white beard. “I should have known I didn’t need an argument for you. You’re pretty much the most sensible person I know.”
I got up to get myself more coffee and squeezed his shoulder as I passed behind his chair. “More like I know what a waste of time it is getting into any argument with you.”
He put his hand on mine for a moment and laughed. “Are you trying to say I’m a bit stubborn?”
“A bit?” I countered.
Harrison laughed. “There are damn few perks to being as old as I am, Kathleen,” he said. “Having my own way is one of them and I’m not about to let it go.”
We spent the rest of our time together talking about what was going on around town. When Young Harry arrived to pick up his father, the old man got to his feet and gave me a hug. “Always good to see you, Kathleen,” he said. “Come out to the house sometime for supper. It’s been too long.”
“I’d like that,” I said.
He looked at his son.
“I’ll set it up,” Harry Junior said.
Harrison headed for the porch door. “I’m going out to the truck so you two can talk about me behind my back.”
“Yeah, we appreciate that, Dad,” Harry said drily. Once we heard the outside door close he turned back to me. “You didn’t have any luck, did you?”
I shook my head. “You know what he’s like. He has his mind made up and nothing is going to change that.”
Harry swiped a hand over his neck. “That’s pretty much how I figured things would go. Thanks for talking to him.”
“I didn’t mind. I like spending time with your father,” I said.
“I’ll call about supper,” he said. “The old man will be like a dog with a bone until I do.”
I laughed. “The way things are at the library right now, my schedule is pretty open.”
“Marcus getting anywhere on that?”
I sighed. “The drawing that was stolen might be worth a lot more than anyone knew.”
“Which means there could have been even more people who wanted it,” he finished.
“Exactly,” I said.
“Larry said she was a nice woman,” Harry said as we headed out into the porch.
I knew he was referring to Margo. Larry had worked well with her because he didn’t mind her perfectionism. He was a bit of a perfectionist himself.
“But you know, I think his head’s been turned by that new artist who’s working with Ruby.”
“You mean Rena Adler, the painter?” I asked.
Harry pulled off his Twins ball cap and smoothed a hand over his bald pate before putting the hat back on. “That’s the one. I pulled up to the library the day before the robbery. Larry was supposed to be making some last-minute changes to a few lights. He’s in the parking lot in the van checking his hair in the rearview mirror.”