Simply Being Belle (18 page)

“You helped her
move?” she asked with surprise.

“Turns out she
didn’t need a lot of help.  Biggs brought in several moving trucks along with
an army of strapping young guys.  I mostly stood around and watched the
activity.” 

Somehow Belle
doubted that.  She suspected he availed himself for the heavy lifting. 

“Anyway, Rosaria
is now getting settled into her new place.  She’s living at the first complex
you and I visited.  Remember?  The one with the swings.”  His eyes twinkled
mischievously then.

Belle blushed,
remembering their near kiss.  He noticed, but was gentleman enough not to
comment. 

She was relieved
to hear Rosaria was now living in such a nice setting.  She knew the woman
would be happier there than at Elm Place. 

“Oh, hey, I meant
to call you today, too.  I’ve arranged a meeting with Biggs for Friday after
next, ten ‘o clock.  I’d attempted to schedule something sooner, but with moving
all the tenants and his other commitments, he just didn’t have the time. 
Anyway, I’ve finally pinned him down, and he assures me we’ll soon have the
answers we need to put the case to rest.  I thought you might want to be
there.” 

“I appreciate
that.  Did you … clear it with Millicent?”

He chuckled. 
“Yes.  It’s safe for you to venture back into the office.”

He checked his
watch.  “I have to go soon.  May I walk you home?  It’s starting to get dark.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Really, I’d like
to walk you home.”  She wasn’t about to argue with him and he accompanied her
back to her place.  At the base of the porch steps, he grinned down at her
upturned face.  “Any chance you’d like to meet here tomorrow, around seven?”

She smiled
uncertainly, her face still lifted to his, her eyes widened questioningly.  He
gently reached a hand to her face and smoothed a strand of hair off her brow.  He
flashed a high-voltage smile.  “With you standing there like that, with your
cheeks aglow, and your violet eyes shining, and your lips looking all pretty
and pursed…  Wow!  Listen to me, waxing poetic.  Anyway, with you looking so
beautiful, how am I supposed to stay away from you?  But, I must,” he said
dramatically.  He took a step back, and chuckled at the bewildered expression
on her face. 

Her brows furrowed
in confusion.  “What…?”

“No fraternization
among Legal Aid employees,” he said succinctly, drooping his shoulders.  “Until
I leave Legal Aid behind and officially start at Preston and Dunne, I have to
keep my lips off of you.  And, it ain’t gonna be easy,” he said with a sad
shake of his head.

Belle laughed
uncertainly.  “I don’t…”

 “Did you think I
could kiss you and simply walk away?  Frankly, it’s a good thing I’m so busy at
Legal Aid, because otherwise, I’d be hard pressed to keep my distance from
you.”

She noted his eyes
were dancing with good humor, and she couldn’t help but smile in return.  So,
he hadn’t been ignoring her after all?  There was good reason for his absence
from her life.  She had forgotten about the no fraternization policy at Legal
Aid.    

She laughed when
Dare struck a hand out, the picture of cool professionalism.  She extended her
hand and he clasped it.  “So nice to see you again, Miss Preston.  I’ll look
forward to seeing you Friday after next?  And tomorrow,” he added in a hushed
voice. 

With a final
salute, he turned and strode toward home.  She watched his retreating figure
with a ghost of a smile on her face.  She felt happy, and oddly, this brand of
happiness felt new, invigorating, and foreign.  This was a different happiness
than she was accustomed to, and it felt … good.  She doubted any hobby could
cause a comparable feeling of joy.

***

Friday morning
Belle donned a grey suit and left her home looking polished and professional. 
She was eager to hear what Jacob Biggs had to say on the matter of Elm Place. 
She was also eager to see Dare. 

As she drove to
the meeting, she realized that today marked the end of her fifth week of
vacation.  It was hard to believe she had only one short week left until she
could return to work.  More remarkable to her was the realization that she
wasn’t as eager to return as she had been. 

While she looked
forward to the predictability of her old routine, albeit modified somewhat to
allow her more personal time, she had finally come to enjoy the lazy days of
her vacation—had realized she didn’t need to move at such a frenzied pace all
the time.  She had to acknowledge Millicent was right that she had needed
downtime. 

She felt rested
and recharged, but couldn’t help wondering if Dare had much to do with that.  Due
to their employer’s no fraternization policy, he had made no further romantic
overtures, but instead, the two had developed a routine in which they walked
together every evening.  During their evening strolls, they talked about
everything from their childhoods to their career aspirations, and Belle felt as
if they had gotten to know one another very well.

She admired him a
great deal, and had learned that he, too, volunteered at several nonprofit
organizations.  He had also recently sighed up to tutor second graders each
Friday afternoon at the local elementary school once school started.  She and
Dare had much in common, and just the thought of him made her smile. 

As she stepped
into Legal Aid, the receptionist directed her to a conference room where she
found him already sitting at the circular conference table.  He rose from his
chair, smiling.  “Nice to see you, Miss Preston.”

“Good to see you,
Mr. Jamison.”

Steven, who had
been walking by, poked his head in.  “You two aren’t fooling anyone, you know.” 

He strode off and Belle
shot Dare an alarmed look.  He smiled reassuringly in return.  “Sheer
speculation on his part.  Try not to look guilty,” he suggested with a wink.

“But I’m not
guilty,” she said shrilly.

He chuckled and
snared her gaze.  “Soon we’ll be free to fraternize.”  He arched his brows.  “Just
think of the possibilities.  I, for one, can’t wait.”

Belle felt the
heat rise up in her face like the mercury in a thermometer, and quickly sat
down across from him at the table.  To her relief, Mr. Biggs arrived at that
moment.  After introductions were made, he took a chair between them. 

Belle studied the
man, noting he appeared drawn and haggard.  She saw a weariness in his eyes; a
pain in the silver depths of his irises.  She suspected he had a lot on his
plate, and she found herself eager to hear what he had to say. 

He turned to her
first.  “I understand you tried to reach me on several occasions over the past
several months.  I apologize that you and I didn’t manage to connect.  My wife
and I traveled extensively during the previous year, and then she became ill at
the start of this year…”  He paused, glanced away briefly, but turned back to
her and resumed speaking, “Mr. Jamison here has informed me you’re both now
aware that my son was the developer of the Elm Place project, though he had
both my financial and other support.”

Belle nodded,
forcing herself to refrain from speaking.  Dare had long ago stopped viewing
Biggs as a villain, if he ever had, and she trusted his judgment.  She’d come
to admire a great deal about him, not the least of which, his willingness to
concede there were always two sides to every story.  

When had she lost
her ability to recognize that? she wondered.  She realized, it was probably
somewhere along the road where she had lost herself. 

She was pulled
from her thoughts by the sound of Biggs’ long, haggard sigh.  “My son is
twenty-seven.  Only five years out of college.  Why I trusted him with a
project of this magnitude, I’ll never…”

His words trailed
off and he raked a hand through his crisp, gray hair.  “My boy Jacob graduated
top of his class from one of the finest architectural schools in the nation. 
He spent his first two years out of school interning alongside Peter Creyton,
at his architectural firm.  Do you know him?”

Belle nodded,
though she didn’t speak.  Biggs took her silence as a cue to continue.  “Jacob spent
his summers working with me on several projects over the years.”  He paused,
glancing off into the distance briefly, before turning to Dare.  “When he
approached me with the idea for Elm Place, I can assure you the complex you see
today is nothing like the plans he showed me.”

“What went wrong?”
Belle asked softly. 

“When my son
broached the subject of a large, low-income complex built on what amounts to
some of the most coveted real estate in town, I felt gratified he wanted to
assure low income families had access to the amenities of our downtown.  I
believed the concept was an excellent one.  You see, tenants would be within
walking distance to jobs, shopping, entertainment…”

 “The concept
certainly sounds like a good one,” Dare acknowledged.  “But what happened to
alter the outcome?”

Biggs glanced up,
wringing his hands nervously on the tabletop.  “I … don’t know.  I do know my
son brought a partner into the project—an idea I had nixed since I didn’t know
the man myself.  I had suggested he work alongside a close friend and business
associate of mine, but…”  He sighed heavily.  “I never should have left the
States either.  And then later, when my wife became ill, Elm Place took a back
seat to other concerns…” He shook his head.  “I had no idea what was happening
onsite, but simply trusted my son.”

“Understandable,”
Bells said, her heart going out to the man.  “I assume you’ve talked to him…”

Her words dwindled
off when he shook his head.  “I have no idea where he is.  I do know this—Elm Place
isn’t fit for human habitation.  Aside from the structural defects, the place
is as aesthetically displeasing as the institutional structures built
generations ago to house the poor and infirm.  It’s … inexcusable—criminal!”

“What do you plan
to do?” Dare asked gently.

He shook his head
and shrugged helplessly.  “The place needs considerable attention.  Aside from
the structural issues, the complex is just plain …”  He shook his head,
searching for the right word.

“Ugly,” Dare finished
for him.

Biggs quirked a
sad smile.  “To put it bluntly.”

“Do you have the
financial wherewithal to make improvements?” Belle asked, equally bluntly.

He met her gaze
full on and shook his head sadly.  “No.”

“If you had the
funds, what could be done?” she asked with interest.

“The structural
issues can be dealt with readily enough,” Biggs said, “but it’s the look of the
place that disturbs me most.  Since the building is essentially three boxes,
put together in the form of a “U,” the only positive feature is that a large
courtyard could be created in the central open space.  I envision a water
feature, garden, maybe even a pool.”

 Belle nodded,
urging him on. 

“As for the
tunnel-like hallways through each building, quite a lot could be done with
paint, new carpeting, and creative lighting.”

“Do you have any idea
what the structural and aesthetic improvements might cost?” Dare asked.

“Six point five,”
Biggs said succinctly.

“Million,” Dare
said with a wince.

He nodded.  “That
doesn’t, however, cover the cost of a recreation room and a playground for children.”

“What are you
looking at cost wise, inclusive of the rec room and playground?” Belle asked.

Biggs appeared to
do a mental calculation.  “Barring any unforeseen problems, and at this point,
I can’t be sure of much of anything, I suspect I’m looking at seven and a half million
dollars.”

Dare winced again,
shaking his head sadly.  “Are you considering legal action…?

“He’s my son,”
Biggs cut in in an agonized voice and then abruptly pushed back from the
table.  “I have to be going.”  He extended a hand to Dare, and then to Belle. 
“Thank you both for your time.”

Belle searched his
face, noting his eyes had clouded.  He appeared to have aged significantly from
the pictures of him in the paper only two years before.  It was heart-breaking
to see a man seeming broken, and at the hand of his own child.

When he left the
room, Belle quickly pushed back from the table.  Although she wasn’t sure if
the idea forming in her mind was a good one, she felt compelled to pursue it. 
She hurried after Biggs and met him just outside the door of Legal Aid. 

Dare stepped out
of the room and watched her speak to the man briefly.  The two shook hands, and
then she returned to meet Dare in the conference room doorway.  He raised his
eyebrows questioningly and she smiled. 

“I have an idea,”
she said somewhat mysteriously as she hurried to grab her notes. 

He followed. 
“What are you up to?”

She grinned
mischievously and fraternization policy or no fraternization policy, kissed him
soundly on the lips.  He watched after her, stunned, as she dashed out of the
room and out of the office.  She needed to get home, since she had work to do.

A week passed.  It
was Friday, and Belle realized she felt tired, but invigorated.  She checked
the clock above the fireplace mantle.  Seven-thirty.  She winced.  She should
have been at the restaurant to meet Dare, Lacey, and Steven fifteen minutes
ago.  She dashed out the front door of her house and to her car. 

As she drove to
the restaurant, her mind revisited the events of her week.  She’d spent the
bulk of her time with Jacob Biggs.  Who would have thought the two would become
fast friends, uniting to work toward a common goal?

At the restaurant,
she found her friends already waiting at a booth.  The threesome watched her
curiously as she approached and slid into the seat beside Dare.  “I’m sorry I’m
late,” she said sheepishly.  “Things have been hectic.”