“I’ll second the motion.” Mr. Bixby scrawled something in his notes. “I like the idea of a proper building on the waterfront.”
“Perfect. I vote yes.” Yuri nodded toward the logger. “McCreedy? Yes or no?”
“Yes,” he muttered, “though I still think we could put up a building for less?—”
“That’s not what we’re voting on,” Mrs. Pembroke cut in.
“Miss Caldwell?” Yuri moved his gaze to her.
Her tongue turned thick, but she forced out the word “Yes.”
“Good. The motion passes with a unanimous vote. Now that those details are settled, we have one last thing to decide. What shall we name the library?”
Sweat slickened Rosalind’s palms as she leaned forward, and her tongue once again felt thick and cumbersome, but she forced the words out anyway. “I think the name should pay homage to the most generous of the benefactors supporting the library.”
“So Carnagie Library, perhaps?” Mr. McCreedy suggested. “Or Carnegie Sitka Library?”
“I reckon Miss Caldwell is thinking more along the lines of Caldwell Community Library.” Mr. Bixby fingered the curled tip of his mustache, his eyes narrowed her direction. “Am I right?”
All four sets of eyes landed on her, and she had to stop herself from squirming. “It makes more sense to honor members living in the community by naming the library after them than by naming it after a man living thousands of miles away that none of us have ever met.”
“So you want the library named after your family?” Mrs. Pembroke released a brittle laugh. “My husband is making a donation to the library fund too. Why not name the library after us?”
“My family’s making a donation as well,” Yuri said, his head tilted to the side.
Rosalind dropped her gaze to the table.
“Well, that settles it,” Mrs. Pembroke said. “Let’s name it the Amos, Pembroke, Caldwell Community Library after all of us. In fact, do we have a list of everyone who’s made donations so far?”
“Right here.” Yuri slid the paper across the table.
“There are seven names.” The older woman flashed a smug smile in Rosalind’s direction. “Why not use all seven of them in the library name? The Amos, Pembroke, Sorenson, Caldwell, Ulbricht, McCreedy, Devereaux Community Library. Then it’s fair to everyone.”
“No one wants to list seven surnames before they get to the wordlibrary,” Mr. Bixby drawled.
“Well, I don’t want it named after the Caldwells.” Mrs. Pembroke crossed her arms over her chest. “They already have enough things in this town named after them.”
“Fine. We’ll call it Pembroke Public Library,” Mr. McCreedy snapped. “Happy?”
Mrs. Pembroke glared at Mr. McCreedy. “I didn’t say it had to be named after us.”
“But you did suggest it.” Mr. Bixby made a few more notes on his paper.
“Why don’t we take the week to think on it?” Yuri closed his notepad. “We have a meeting scheduled for next week already. I have the budget on the agenda for then, and hopefully we can vote on which parcel of land to purchase at that time too. Let’s all take this next week to come up with our top three names, and we’ll discuss them at the meeting as well.”
It was a logical suggestion, but Rosalind couldn’t ignore the feeling of heaviness that settled over her. She didn’t know what the library would end up being called, but she wasn’t going to be able to convince the committee to name it after her family.
The moment Yuri closed the meeting, she rose from the table and headed for the door, walking as quickly as she could without looking like she was rushing.
She was half afraid Yuri might call after her and try to strike up a conversation. In fact, there was a part of her that very much wanted to ask him why he’d told Bryony about her letters. But Father would want a report on the meeting as soon as she got home, and the last thing she wanted to do was talk to Yuri before she faced her father.
She skedaddled into the hallway, then headed down the stairs and made her way to the front door. Only then did she discover that it was pouring rain. The coach was currently waiting for her, but it was raining so hard, she’d be soaked through by the time she reached it. Father would be even more furious if she returned disheveled, and she’d left her umbrella in the meeting room beneath her chair.
At the very least, she needed to turn around and go back for it, and she should probably wait for the rain to subside a bit too.
She started back down the hallway, passing Mr. Bixby and Mr. McCreedy on the stairs. She expected to pass Mrs. Pembroke and Yuri at some point too, but she made it all the wayback to the meeting room before she found them. They were still inside having a conversation.
Sure enough, her umbrella was where she’d left it beneath the chair. She pushed open the door a bit, intending to get the umbrella and retreat without interrupting anyone, but Mrs. Pembroke’s clipped words stopped her.
