Share the Moon. Sharon Struth

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СКАЧАТЬ done with this land and it wasn’t done with her, either.

      * * * *

      “Morning, Gabby.” Thirty minutes later, after a quick stop to get breakfast to go, Sophie pulled the drawer open on her old steel desk and dropped her purse inside.

      “Hey there, Soph.” Gabby beamed bright. Her short pixie-cut, petite height, and need to bring homemade cookies to the office at least once a week had earned her a nickname as their honorary Keebler elf.

      Sophie threw a pod of French vanilla into the coffeemaker. “I’m so sorry to hear about your dad’s stroke. How is he?”

      Her chin buckled with a frown. “We’ve got him in a nursing home. Time will tell.”

      “Cliff thought you’d be out until Wednesday. I’m surprised to see you here today.”

      “I needed a break from the nursing home. My brother flew up from Florida and said he’d stay a week or two.”

      “If you need help with anything, let me know. When you’re ready, I’ll fill you in on what happened at the hearing. Boy, you sure missed a good one. It’s your story whenever you want to take it back.”

      “Sounds like a plan.” Gabby smiled, more gently than usual.

      Sophie started her computer and opened the foil wrap of a warm breakfast sandwich she’d picked up at Sunny Side Up. The computer’s motor whirled to life and she went to her e-mail, opening one marked “urgent” sent from Cliff an hour earlier.

      Will Steiner wants us to interview Duncan Jamieson. Let’s talk asap.

      Will Steiner? Her shoulders tensed. There wasn’t an ounce of love lost when it came to the man who ran their parent company.

      Sophie blew out a breath and her tenseness relaxed. What was she doing? A few short days ago, she’d begged Cliff to give her the story. Even though he’d think she was fickle, the time had come to tell Cliff what had happened at the kayaks. It might be in the best interest of all parties for her to step aside. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d just given up on anything, though. The idea gnawed at her, carrying the sour aftertaste of losing a well-played game.

      She gulped a swig of coffee and stood. “This should be good.”

      “It can’t be that bad.”

      Sophie snorted. “Guess again. The powers from above are dictating what we report on.”

      “Above meaning God or good ol’ Willy-boy?” Gabby chuckled. “May as well make the best of it. I think he’s here to stay.”

      “Who? God?”

      “Him too.” Gabby grinned. Sophie marveled at how her coworker stayed so positive, even with the stress in her personal life.

      Sophie marched up the stairs. At Cliff’s office, she leaned on the doorjamb and crossed her arms. “Got your e-mail.”

      He sat at his desk editing a document squared in front of him. With one swift movement, he dropped the pen and tipped his glasses to the top of his head. “Good. You’re here. Have a seat.”

      She plunked into the chair across from him and pushed up the sleeves of her cardigan, staring at an autographed Larry Bird poster from the early years and a framed Super Bowl XXXI program on the wall behind Cliff. Besides sports, fishing was the only thing to draw him away from his desk.

      “I can’t stand editing these reader submissions for Eye Around Town.” Cliff’s face reddened, matching the fire engine color in his plaid shirt. “They get worse and worse. How can we let the public give us news? Half this stuff probably isn’t even true. Why doesn’t a smart guy like Will realize you get what you pay for?”

      “Because he knows anybody who has two index fingers and a computer can give us free content.” She grabbed a lone paper clip off the edge of the desk and unbent the curved metal. “That dumb column is right up his penny-pinching alley. If he gets enough free material from them, I’m the one who’ll be out of a job, not you.”

      Cliff frowned. “You’re supposed to calm me down, not get me madder.”

      “That’s Gabby’s job.” She tossed the ruined clip into a nearby can. “Why is Will in a big hurry to get a story about Jamieson?”

      “Because Jamieson’s a rich guy moving to a small town. A town where he’s making a huge financial investment. I hate to say this, but it’s not a bad idea.”

      “Don’t you think a busy guy like Will calling on such a trivial matter is odd?”

      “Normally I’d say yes, but he’s friends with Jamieson.”

      Sophie slapped a palm on the desk. “Did you know RGI is pulling strings at the Courant too?”

      Cliff shrugged. “There’s politics everywhere.”

      Annoyed by the way Cliff had returned to his levelheaded self, she stifled the rest of her rant.

      He picked up the pen. “Oh yeah. Will said to give the developer some good press. I told him we’d do our best.”

      Sophie bit the inside of her cheek. A quiet rebellion raised havoc inside her. Had journalism changed since she attended college? Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? So What? Keep it simple. Ensure the story remained fair and balanced. These days, everywhere she turned the lines between journalism and opinion blurred.

      “You might have explained to Will the difference between reporting and editorializing.”

      “Uh-huh. Well, I’d like to keep my job until retirement.” The bags under Cliff’s lower lids suggested a tough night’s sleep and he didn’t appear in the mood to have this conversation. “Approach this the way you do every other interview. See how it falls out. Who knows?” He smirked. “Maybe you’ll end up loving the guy.”

      Will’s demands sapped her energy. Maybe it was a sign she should give this up before she compromised her journalist ethics in a whole other way, to suit the needs of someone above her.

      Besides, a whole sidebar of issues prevailed. The way she peeled out of the parking lot after telling Duncan off was rude and ladies’ night conversation had confirmed the indictments she’d thrown in his face were untrue. Worse than anything, her imaginary flirting accusation still left her with the embarrassment of an escaped burp.

      She could just tell Cliff the truth; that she’d been lying to him for the past week.

      Instead, she slipped on her best overwhelmed-but-willing face, hoping it didn’t look like she was in pain. “What about my conflict of interest? Maybe now that Gabby’s back, she should take the story. From what Will’s saying, this sounds urgent. I mean, I’ve got the Bellantoni’s Market hours change to work on.” Cliff stared back, clearly unimpressed. “Oh, and this week I’m scheduled to interview the head of Public Works about the left turn signal at the school park.”

      “Thought I’d be dead before they addressed that stupid traffic light.”

      “Me too.” Even back when Sophie had attended school, the signal at the main СКАЧАТЬ