"What are you studying?"
"Business administration."
"At night?"
"Some of us have to work during the day."
He accepted the rebuke without complaint.
"Fair point."
She examined the book's price tag.
Her smile faded slightly.
Adrian noticed.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
He looked at the price.
"Too expensive?"
"I can manage."
She returned it to the shelf.
Adrian did not offer to buy it.
Instead, he asked, "Does the university library have a copy?"
"I checked."
"And?"
"Someone borrowed it."
He nodded thoughtfully.
"Would you like me to ask the bookstore owner whether there's a used copy in the back?"
Eleanor frowned.
"Why would you do that?"
"Because you need the book, and I happen to be standing here."
She studied him.
"That's suspiciously reasonable."
"I've been told I can be."
She shook her head, smiling despite herself.
The owner checked the stockroom and found a damaged copy with a torn cover.
It cost half as much as the one on the shelf.
Eleanor bought it.
When she returned, Adrian was browsing the history section.
"You could have just offered to pay for it," she said.
"I could have."
"Why didn't you?"
He closed the book in his hand.
"Because you told me you wanted to earn your opportunities. I assumed you would prefer to solve the problem yourself if given a reasonable chance."
Eleanor stared at him.
Then she smiled.
"You're learning."
He bowed slightly.
"I have an excellent teacher."
They left the bookstore together.
Outside, the air smelled of rain.
The sidewalks glistened beneath the streetlights, and people hurried past with their coats pulled tight.
Adrian looked toward the bus stop.
"How are you getting home?"
"The bus."
"Would you like company while you wait?"
She hesitated.
"Why?"
"Because I enjoy talking to you."
The simplicity of the answer unsettled her.
She looked at the road.
"You're engaged."
Adrian's expression became serious.
"Yes."
"And yet you're standing here telling me you enjoy talking to me."
"I am."
"Do you understand why that might be a problem?"
"Yes."
"Then why are you doing it?"
He considered her question.
"Because I don't want to lie to you about how I feel. But I also don't want to put you in a position where you have to decide what to do with feelings that I haven't dealt with responsibly."
Eleanor looked at him.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then she nodded.
"That's the first sensible thing you've said all evening."
He laughed.
"I'll try not to ruin my record."
They waited for the bus.
They talked about books, childhood memories, and the strange things people believed when they were young.
Adrian told her that he had once wanted to become an architect.
Eleanor admitted that she had wanted to become a teacher.
"What changed?" he asked.
"My mother became ill. Then my father needed help. Then Daniel was still in school, and there were bills."
"You never went back?"
"I'm going back now."
He smiled.
"Good."
She glanced at him.
"What about you? Why didn't you become an architect?"
"My father died, and the company was in trouble. I was the only person in the family who could take over."
"Did you want to?"
"No."
The honesty surprised her.
He continued.
"But I loved my father. And I thought that if I saved the company, I might somehow preserve something of him."
Eleanor was quiet for a moment.
"Did it work?"
Adrian looked at the wet pavement.
"I saved the company."
She waited.
"But I don't think that's the same thing."
The bus arrived.
Eleanor stepped toward it.
Then she turned back.
"Adrian?"
"Yes?"
"Your father was more than his company."
He stared at her.
She continued.
"You don't have to spend the rest of your life proving that he mattered."
For a long moment, he could not answer.
Then the bus driver called for passengers to board.
Eleanor smiled.
"Good night."
She climbed aboard.
Adrian watched the bus disappear into traffic.
He had spent eight years believing that success could preserve the people he had lost.
For the first time, someone had suggested that love did not require such a bargain.
And he found himself wondering whether he had been trying to save his father for so long that he had forgotten to build a life of his own.
***
Victoria noticed the change in Adrian before he admitted it to himself.
He had become more distracted.
He no longer checked his phone during dinner.
He spent weekends visiting hospitals and community centers instead of attending society events.
He had begun questioning projects that offered impressive returns but little public benefit.
And, most troubling of all, he had stopped pretending that their engagement was inevitable.
Victoria could tolerate almost anything except uncertainty.
She arranged a private meeting with him at a restaurant overlooking the river.
The dining room was nearly empty.
She wore a pale blue dress and the diamond earrings he had given her the previous Christmas.
Adrian arrived ten minutes late.
She smiled as he sat down.
"Busy saving the world?"
He looked at her.
"Busy working."
"Of course."
She ordered wine.
Adrian ordered water.
The waiter withdrew.
Victoria studied him.
"We need to talk about the wedding."
Adrian nodded.
"Yes."
She had expected resistance.
His agreement unsettled her.
She folded her hands.
"My father wants us to announce a date before the end of the month."
"And what do you want?"
She laughed softly.
"What kind of question is that?"
"An honest one."
Victoria stared at him.
"I want to marry you."
"Why?"
Her expression changed.
"Because I love you."
Adrian remained quiet.
She felt anger rising.
"You don't believe me?"
"I believe you want to marry me."
"That's not the same thing."
"No."
He looked down at his hands.
"Perhaps it isn't."
Victoria leaned forward.
"Is there someone else?"
Adrian did not answer immediately.
The silence told her more than a denial would have.
She sat back.
"The waitress."
He looked up sharply.
"Don't call her that."
Victoria laughed in disbelief.
"Unbelievable."
"Victoria—"
"No. Don't. I want to understand something."
Her voice became colder.
"Do you think she's in love with you?"
"I don't know."
"Do you think she's interested in your money?"
"I don't know."
"Do you think she wants to become the next Mrs. Blackwood?"
Adrian's expression hardened.
"I said I don't know."
Victoria looked at him.
Then she whispered, "You really are falling for her."
He closed his eyes briefly.
"I haven't said that."
"You don't need to."
She stood.
"Do you know what I think? I think you enjoy being needed. I think you like rescuing people because it makes you feel powerful in a way your money never could."
Adrian looked at her.
The words struck deeper than she intended.
Because part of him wondered whether she might be right.
Had he helped Eleanor because he genuinely cared about her?
Or because watching her suffer had awakened the part of him that wanted to believe he could repair everything?
Victoria saw the doubt in his face.
She pressed on.
"You want to be the hero. You want a woman who looks at you as though you've changed her life. You want someone who owes you gratitude."
"Stop."
"Why? Because it's true?"
Adrian stood.
"I said stop."