We need to talk. I have the information you want. I believe it is time you knew the truth. I’ll meet you at the fountain at Forsythe Park at 2 p.m.”
I would have completely missed the typewritten note had it not fallen to the floor when I laid my purse on my desk. I didn’t know what to do. Should I run around screaming, “I’ve got the story. I’ve got the story!”? Should I call the police and request an escort? Should I even go at all? And was this even the story that should be told? After the fiasco of that morning, who knew what really needed to be told? But I knew I had to go.
My mind began to race. Maybe Mrs. Harvard had a change of heart. Maybe it was Mr. Cummings . . . or Katherine, finally ready to talk after what she had read in the paper today. Maybe she hated me now and wanted to slap me around. It was only 1:20. I would go stir-crazy before two. There was no way I could stay here. I had to get a Coke, get something.
I grabbed my purse and headed out the door, calling to Marla as I passed, “If anyone needs me, they can call me on my cell. I’m closing in on my story, and I’ll be back later.”
“You got it, girlfriend.”
Curly Locks emerged from his car with a cup of coffee that looked mighty familiar. It was from Jake’s. I knew he would want to talk, but there was no time. So I just answered his questions before he asked them. “I’m going to get a Coke. I have a lead on my story. I’ll be back before quitting time, and I’m glad to see you finally got you some real coffee.”With that, I got in my car and sped in the direction of Jake’s. I grabbed my cell phone out of my purse as I navigated myself through Reynolds Square.
“Jackson County Courthouse,” someone crooned.
“Gregory Taylor, please.”
“One moment.”
“Gregory Taylor.”
“Grisham, it’s Savannah,” I said.“I believe something is about to break. My first story was a bomb, according to some, but maybe not everyone, but definitely my father and definitely Emma, and I’m not sure what my break is, I’m not even sure it is a break. I’m not sure even if it’s anything at all; it could be nothing; it’s probably nothing. No, it can’t be nothing; I have to have something by tomorrow!”
“Would you stop and breathe? You’re wearing me out, and I don’t get paid enough for such nonsense. Now, take a breath and start at the beginning,” he said.
I pulled the car in front of Dad’s store and cut the engine.“I’m not even sure what the beginning is.”
“Well, just start somewhere—you’re driving me crazy,” he said.
I started with the phone call from number III and went all the way up to the note on my desk a moment ago. “So anyway, now I’m going to get a Coke, because I couldn’t sit in my office until two doing nothing except draft my ‘Apology of a Loser.’ So who do you think the note’s from?”
“I have no idea.”
“What do you mean you have no idea? I called you because I figured you’d know. Lawyers always know. And even if they don’t, they act like they do. So start acting like you do!”
“Well then, I have a couple of ideas. Did Cummings act like he was in town?”
“No. Well, he never mentioned that he was. Not that he would have. You don’t think it is him, do you? I mean if it is, I might need to take someone with me, just in case.”
“Savannah, that man is not going to hurt you. He is old, well-known, and not in the business of killing local reporters who have never actually reported a thing a day in their lives.”
“Oh, thanks! I’m just a fanny load of encouragement now!”
“You are so dramatic. Has anyone ever told you that you should really have been an actress?”
“Has anyone told you you should really not try to be a psychiatrist and dissect people’s personalities?”
“Honestly, Savannah, I really don’t know who it is. It could be anyone or no one. Do many people who aren’t actually related to this story know what you are up to?” he asked.
“No, no one actually. I mean, I just told my dad the whole story. My mother knew, but she must be solving world hunger because I haven’t even heard from her today.” I gasped. “Oh my Lord, have mercy!”
“What? What?”
“I haven’t heard from my mother today! Do you have any idea what that means?”
“I have absolutely no idea what that means.”
“That means at this moment, my mother is somewhere in this city planning a party bigger than Texas. And she will have circus men and airplanes flying banners, and she’s liable to have a billboard bigger than life with my face and name splattered across it. As soon as this is over, I have got to find her and stop her. She’s the reason I’m in this mess in the first place.”
“Savannah, it’s time to let your mother go. You just go to the park, face whatever it is head-on, and see what it holds. You can handle it. Of that I’m sure.”
“Do you really think I can?”
“You’ve proven it already. Look back, Savannah. Look back at all you’ve done this last week, and you’ll know that nothing you can meet today will be more than what you’ve already had to face. Chin up, young girl. Counsel says, pursue,” he said with a laugh.“But call me immediately.”
“If you don’t hear from me . . .”
“Trust me, I’ll hear from you.”
“Did this cost me? Because you were really weak today.”
“Yes! For unappreciation I charge triple.”
“OK, the check’s in the mail.”
Duke came over and put his head under my hand as soon as I sat down at a front table by the window. That was his way of letting anyone know he needed petting. Obliging, I took his head between my two hands and got up close, where his big black nose was almost touching mine. He thought that meant I needed to be kissed. Only my quick reflexes saved my face from being lovingly slathered with dog drool.
“Duke, do you have any idea how lucky you are?” I asked. His expression assured me he knew I was trying to give him a valuable life lesson.“People feed you, bathe you, kiss you,walk you, and pet you. You have no job, no bills, no responsibilities. Granted, you have issues with Vicky and that darling lab up the street, but don’t we all? On the whole, you really have it made.
“And you are loved. Deeply loved. Maybe not by the people who have to buy a new pair of tennis shoes every other month, but by most. The women adore you.” I could have sworn he smiled at that one. “And Dad, well, Dad would be hard pressed if ever forced to choose between you and Vicky. Don’t take this for granted. Savor it, relish it, chase cats up trees, roll around in the mud, retrieve whatever your little heart desires, take baths in Vicky’s pool. My stars, lick yourself if you want to. After all, that’s what dogs do. You have only one life, Duke; live it well.”
“You might want to see a counselor for that,” Dad said as he sat down in the chair across from me.
“I’ve been hearing way too much about counselors lately.”
“They make movies about people who talk to animals.”
“You’re thinking of movies about people who can hear animals talk. I only wish I knew what this old fella was thinking.”
“No, it’s probably best we don’t,” he said, laughing.“Especially for your mother’s sake.” I couldn’t help but laugh at that.“What in the world are you doing back here in the middle of the afternoon? Please don’t tell me you’ve lost your job already.”
“No. I tried, but he refused. I’m here for the caffeine,” I said, rising to go into the back. Duke followed me, hoping I might need more time to talk through things while rubbing his head. Dad followed too.
“I hear they have a Coke machine down at the Chronicle. ”
I reached the back room, pulled a glass out of the cabinet, and proceeded to the ice dispenser. “Actually, I have a two o’clock appointment at the park and had a few minutes to kill.”
Dad came around to the side of the Coke machine where he knew he would be in my view.“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” I told him, grabbing a straw from the straw box. I unwrapped it, placed it in my glass, and took a long drink. Then I backed up so I could lean against the counter. “I thought I had written a good story. But obviously it lacked wisdom. I got scolded by you and reamed out by Emma. My resignation was refused, I do believe my mother’s planning a party bigger than one she would throw for ‘Bushie,’ and I’m headed to the park to meet a stranger who might want to kill me. And the day isn’t even half over.”
“So you have no idea who you’re meeting at the park?”
“Absolutely no idea,” I said, taking another long swig of my Coke. By then he was reaching for a Coke himself.
“Emma wasn’t very happy, huh?”
“Madder than the wasp that flew up Victoria’s dress.”
“Let you have it, huh?”
“Both barrels.”
“Still going to write a story about a rigged beauty pageant?”
“That or Dead Woman Walking.”