Paper Daughter by Jeanette Ingold

Author:Jeanette Ingold
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

Harrison's and my story ran on page 1 above the fold on Thursday morning.

Mom was making pancakes when I went into the kitchen—something she usually did only on birthdays—and the newspaper was on the counter by a vase with roses so freshly picked there were still dewdrops on the petals.

"Pretty impressive," she said.

"Harrison really wrote it."

"I meant you. Though the article is, too. I wish your father could be here to read it and to ... well, to see you're carrying on just the way he would have hoped."

***

In the newsroom there were lots of "Good jobs!" and some friendly jibes about Harrison letting a high schooler do his work. And what would be our next exposé? Date swapping on prom night?

The teasing rolled off us. We had follow-up work to do, beginning with another visit to that Eastside city hall.

The mayor hadn't returned any of Harrison's calls the day before, and now he had his office giving out a "no comment" message. We planned to make an in-person effort to speak with him, and after that we were going to Galinger Construction in search of employees willing to talk.

We were on our way out when Fran called, "Harrison! Maggie! Wait!"

She came from Mr. Braden's office to meet us. "Both of you, sit down a sec."

Then, looking at me, she said, "Sam Braden just talked to your dad's boss, who said that as far as he knew, your father wasn't working on anything local. But the coincidences between the two deaths are enough that once the police resume an active investigation into Landin's death—and they will now—they'll probably take another look at your dad's, too."

I nodded. "I figured that," I said. "I was thinking that Dad might even have been developing the story and just not told anyone yet. But what—"

"The thing is," Fran said, "it's going to give you a personal interest in what we report next. Which means we can't have you working on it."

"But—" I stopped, dismayed. How could she think of pulling me off a story that we might not have even had if I hadn't found the connection between Galinger and Yeager?

"Maggie," Harrison said, "Fran's right. If I'd stopped to think, I'd have reached the same decision."

It was hard to hold back tears. I managed to only because I knew that if I did cry, I'd never want to face anyone in the newsroom again.

And it was even harder to make myself say, "Sure. I understand."

***

Fran arranged for me to go to Lifestyles, and not alone. When I saw Jillian flounce over, I thought, Don't let it be, but it was.

Deena Craig, the editor in charge of that section, showed us to a table overflowing with envelopes addressed to "Herald Readers Cook!" "We didn't know what we were getting into, putting on a recipe contest," she said. "It will be a huge help if you girls would open and sort the entries by category."

She launched into instructions while I watched Harrison leaving the newsroom on his own.

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