“Yes, sir.” She turned and climbed nimbly up the library ladder.

“Eleanor,” Daniel said, after a few minutes of actual work had passed.

“Yes, sir?”

“I’ll call the college tomorrow.”

Eleanor smiled a smile only the shelves could see.

“Yes, sir.”

* * *

Eleanor groaned in unconcealed ecstasy.

“My god...this is so good....”

“I know,” Daniel replied, taking another bite for good measure. “I have a neighbor, an older lady on the property adjacent mine. She made this.”

Eleanor licked her fork and dove into the lasagna yet again. “God bless her. Did you go get this while I was in the shower?”

Daniel’s eyes flashed at her innocent question. After an entire day of dusty library work, Eleanor had spent a solid hour showering and changing into her nightclothes, and when she emerged Daniel had dinner waiting for them.

“No.” His voice was even. Whatever she’d seen had come and gone. “Her husband brought it by. He does some of my property maintenance. And he brought more firewood.” He took another log and threw it on the warm orange fire. The wood crackled and sizzled; Eleanor breathed in the raw smoke with pleasure. She was silent for a long moment. When she was sure Daniel was watching her she said, “I was thinking.”

“Always a dangerous pursuit.”

“Tell me about it.”

“What were you thinking about?” Daniel asked, a wary note in his voice.

“Why am I here? Really? I mean, you seem okay. Sad still. Very sad. But hardly a desperate case. What am I doing here?”

“You don’t know?”

“No. I mean he,” she still wouldn’t say the name of her love who’d abandoned her here, even if she was enjoying herself far more than she wanted to admit. “He said I’d be good company for you, that I’d help you get back out into the world. But like I said, you don’t seem like you need that much help.”

“Back out into the world? Quite a way with words that one has. Only he could tell the absolute truth and still keep everything a secret.”

“So what’s the truth? And what’s the secret?”

“Back out in the world...” Daniel said again. “It’s a cliché. Somebody gets divorced or dumped, widowed. And after awhile it’s time to get back out there. Date again, make new friends, find someone new. It’s figurative, not literal. But me...”

She knew the secret before he could tell her.

“Daniel? How long has it been since you left the house?”

“Oh, I leave the house all the time. But I have eight acres and—”

“When?”

“My wife died three years, five months, and eleven days ago. So it’s been...”

“Three years, five months and eleven—”

“Nine days. I made it to the funeral. I was on the human equivalent of a horse tranquilizer but I made it.”

Eleanor shook her head. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. But how? Over three years?”

“Maggie left me a wealthy man. Money, good neighbors, and the internet is all you really need. They’ve been my wardens, my guards on the tower. A pleasant prison,” he said, glancing around at the exquisitely furnished living room they lounged in. “No bars necessary. I suppose our mutual friend was hoping a week with you would give me a taste of what I was missing.”