The Big Scoop by Sandra Kelly

Author:Sandra Kelly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

10

WHAT A DAY!

After dropping Sally off at home and kissing her the way a beautiful woman should be kissed, Jack floated into the inn on a cloud. He couldn’t recall a time when he’d felt this good about himself. Graduating top of his class at UBC. Getting hired at the Satellite. Winning the Gobey. Nothing compared.

Replenishing Polly’s food and water, he called up the day’s highlights. Number one: Making Sally happy. The look on her face when he’d told her she was the story. Awesome! My hero, she’d called him. Jack couldn’t believe it. He’d been called many things over the years, but hero wasn’t one of them.

Number two: Brokering a reconciliation between two foolish, feuding farmers. It wasn’t the men themselves he cared about. Frankly, if Jed Miltown and Evan Pratford squabbled until Armageddon, it would be no sweat off his butt. It was something else. Without knowing it, they’d put him back in touch with what it really meant to be a journalist.

An idealist at university, Jack had believed the job was about more than just gathering facts and putting them into words. It was about working with, and for, people. It was about being part of the family of mankind, with all the give and take that entailed. He might not have gotten a publishable story from Jed and Evan today, but copy wasn’t everything. Human lives were everything. Somewhere along the way he’d forgotten that.

Cracker Jack? Jaded Jack was more like it.

Number three: Becoming a legend. It was corny but, hey, it was cool corny.

Even helping Charlie and Elvira made him feel good. At home no one required his help. No one needed him. And so what if Sally was behind the curtain, pulling the strings. A good deed was still a good deed, wasn’t it?

Famished suddenly—Elvira’s casserole hadn’t quite cut it—Jack peered into the fridge. Hmmm, stores were getting low. He’d have to buy some food. For now, an apple and a piece of cheese would do.

As he fetched a paring knife, the red blinking light on the Pittles’ answering machine caught his eye. In their note they had told him not to worry about calls, but who could resist that light? He hit the message button, and Martha’s gravelly voice came up. “Goldy, are you there?” Behind her was the sound of adults visiting and kids making a ruckus. “Gracious living, Goldy, if you’re there, pick up.”

Between slices of apple, Jack spoke to the machine. “Trust me, Martha, I’m not there.”

“I sure hope you get this message, Goldy. We called your cell phone this afternoon, but you didn’t answer. Anyway, we just wanted you to know we’re stayin’ here another week. Bein’ here has reminded us of just how much we miss our kids and grandkids, so we’re goin’ to look at some condos. You’re welcome to stay there as long as you like, but if you have to go, Arlene Sacks will take care of Polly.”

There was the sound of a receiver being covered, followed by some hurried discussion between Martha and Percy.

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