A trickle of apprehension ran down my spine. Liam wouldn’t want me here without either of them, but he’d be back any minute, and there were other people around. I still wouldn’t be alone, and I hadn’t misled him on purpose. Besides, if I made her late, this was all for nothing. “Sure thing. Wish Sophia good luck for me!”
Izzy headed behind the desk to get her purse, and I quickly walked back toward the families I’d just left, bracing myself for their nosy questions. Not that I didn’t want to gush about how incredible Liam was...I just didn’t want to do it with these ladies in front of their children. Although on a positive note, if I told them he’d be back in a few minutes, that would guarantee they’d stay until he came, so I wouldn’t be alone.
Izzy greeted someone with a forced cheerfulness in her tone, and I looked over to see a young boy and an older man with an armful of books approaching her at the desk. The man was short and walked like he had bad hips or knees. Not Snake Eyes.
“Go ahead, Iz. I got it.”
“Thank you!”
Izzy hurried off, and I checked them out, smiling at how sweetly the man shared in his grandson’s exuberant enthusiasm to read about the biggest, most ferocious dinosaurs to ever roam the earth. “Enjoy your books!”
I put up the sign directing patrons to the main circulation desk and once again headed toward the craft corner.
“Jenna!” Dan burst out of the construction area and ran to me, his blue eyes wide, his long, gray hair disheveled. “You and Izzy need to get in here!”
I froze mid-step and looked around but no one else was in sight.
“W-what?”
“They’re messing it up! You and Izzy need to come now before it’s too late.”
“Who is messing what up? What’s wrong?”
“The other guys. Matt, Alex, and Carlos. Remember how you said the windows need to go low so you can see the kids wherever they are in the sensory room? You said it was for the kids’ safety.”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Well, they’re putting them in high, like my eye level and above. You won’t be able to see in at all. Even a taller person will only see part of the room. And once they do it, it’s not reversible.”
“But that’s in the plans!”
“I know, I tried to tell them. They’ve already cut some of the holes up high, but that can be patched. Once the windows are in and sealed, though, they can’t be taken out without breaking them. Then we’ll need to see if there’s a budget left to buy new windows, and even if we can buy them, they’d take weeks to arrive.”
There was no budget left. I knew that for a fact because I’d spent the last of it on bubble tubes.
Where the heck was Liam? I needed to stop them, but he’d kill me for going in there.
“Tell them to wait. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
He shook his head, his messy ponytail swinging behind him. “I already tried. They’re not listening to me. They just want to hurry and be done for the day. They may have already put some in. You need to come now.”
“I can’t.”
“That first day, when you brought us coffee and donuts, you said those windows were the main safety feature of the room.”
“They are, but?—”
“What’s more important than making the library safe for children?”
Nothing. Nothing was more important. Dammit, why did I send Liam out for coffee? “I just need a few minutes.”
“Once they’re in, with the extra work and money involved, we might not be able to fix it. I thought you cared about making a safe space. Where’s Izzy?”
I did care! “Izzy isn’t here.”
“Hear that? It’s quiet. That means they’re done with the saws and probably putting them in while we’re wasting time here.”
It was quiet except for the usual hum of music. Not that I’d noticed saws before either, but the noise was well-muffled in there, and the music was even louder than usual.