Dear Penelope by Sharon Ihle

Author:Sharon Ihle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ePublishing Works!
Published: 2015-11-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Later that afternoon Seb settled in at a corner table and read the latest "Ask Penelope" column. He read it twice. The first time through he'd been distracted with thoughts of Lucy and the fact that he'd yet to seek her help in identifying the illusive Penelope. The second time he had to shake his head in admiration. The Tribune simply had to get this woman on the payroll.

As Lucy fluttered by him with a tray of beers, Seb caught the edge of her skirt. "When you've finished delivering those, would you mind coming back and joining me for a minute?"

She glanced around the room. "Everyone should be all right for a while. I'll be right back."

Seb figured that barring a mishap, this would give him a minute or two to figure out how to broach the subject. As it turned out, one of Lucy's customers decided to get out of his chair at the same moment she arrived. His head collided with the tray and the entire load wound up on the floor. By the time Lucy cleaned up the mess and delivered a fresh order of beers, Seb had a full fifteen minutes to consider the conversation. He still didn't know what to say.

When Lucy arrived at his table, she settled into the chair beside him and said, "Sorry about the mess over there. It wasn't my fault."

He patted the back of her hand. "I know. Don't worry about it."

She eyed the newspaper. "I see you have the new Rustler. Have you had a chance to read it yet?"

"That's what I want to talk to you about." Seb tapped his finger against the advice column. "I'd like to know more about this Penelope."

Her smile faded and Lucy raised her chin a notch. "Why? So you can run her out of town on a rail?"

Seb raised an eyebrow. "I thought she lived in Chicago."

"That was, umm, just a figure of speech. I know you hate the Penelope column."

"Actually, I don't hate it at all. Near as I can figure, almost everyone in town can't wait to read her column. I think she's very clever."

"You do?" Lucy's eyes brightened and her smile was like the sun parting the clouds. "But I thought you considered her nothing more than a gasbag."

He shrugged. "She may be a gasbag, but she's a very smart gasbag, and a damn good businesswoman."

Lucy's eyes took on a sheen and her expression softened. For a minute, Seb thought she might even break out in tears.

Then she said, "Thank you. Umm, I'll be sure to pass your praise on to Penelope."

"Then you do know her?"

Lucy hated this conversation, hated even more the lies she would have to tell Sebastian. She looked away from him as she said, "What I meant to say, see, is that Hazel knows her. You know I just set the type. Hazel will pass on your kind words."

"O-k-a-y," he said slowly. "If I understand you, Hazel is the only one who has contact with this Penelope?"

"Yes, that's right.

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