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into black and white script for people to digest, discuss and periodically fight over. Best of all, newsy gems became conversational currency exchanged with Bertha when mother and daughter found themselves actually sitting down to a meal together. 
    A complicated trade-off of rides and a too-quiet house added up to an uneven schedule. Staying late at the newspaper office became Lilly’s habit. That was also when she often gleaned her best tidbits.
    “Working late again, Lilly?” Paul Kirkpatrick poked his head into the cubicle where she was stacking reams of paper. 
    “Yes, sir. Well, not so much working as waiting for the copier.” 
    “I told you to drop the ‘sir’. It makes a guy feel old.”
    “I know, but you haven’t had to deal with my mama. If she hears me leave off the ‘sir’ she will swat the ‘miss’. If I have to choose between the two, well, you lose.”
    “Yes, I’ve heard tales! Let me know if you need a ride home tonight. I’m completing my series on the dam and want to talk to some of the evening crew out there. I’ll be headed out toward your place, so I can drop you off on the way.”
    “Thanks. If Mr. Griffith can’t get off by 6:30, I’ll take you up on your offer.”
    Paul ambled out and down the hall, a man never in a hurry but rarely late to anything. Intelligent and confident, he was the glue behind the Lone Grove Herald and The Community Voice . Lilly liked him. She admired the way he made everyone feel like equals pulling in the same direction. Because of it, the little newspapers had won some awards and kept their circulation numbers in the profit margin.
    He drove her home that night. 
    “With so many changes in the county, we’ll see how the ideas work…more people, more money, more everything.” He was talking about proposed additions to the Herald and Voice . Unlike sharing a car with Mr. Griffith, the time spent with Paul was lively, animated and went by too fast. One treated her like a child, the other like an interesting adult. She hated to see the turn-off to the house come up so quickly.
    “I’m sending Betts and Carrie to a seminar in Houston. With all the new ideas about formats and rising technology being tossed around, they decided a brushing-up is due. How would you like to go along? It’ll get the creative juices flowing. Who knows, you may get the newspaper itch.”
    Lilly’s heart jumped. “Are you serious? I’d love to! I didn’t know ‘gofers’ got the chance to travel!” Her honesty and enthusiasm were equally matched.
    “How do you think Carrie got her start? Worked her way from what you call a ‘gofer’ to a top-notch reporter. You have worked hard, Lilly, and from what we can determine, learned a great deal. It also appears to the three of us that you have what is called a ‘fresh outlook, budding talent, and a knack for writing.’ Anyway, I’m meeting with Betts tomorrow so she’ll be in touch. And don’t worry about Bertha. Betts will talk with her on Sunday, and she’s the only person I know who can be more persuasive than your mother!”
    The car stopped at the cattle guard. Exiting, Lilly turned to thank him, controlling the urge to fling herself across the seat and hug his neck. 
    “Thanks so much, Mr., uh, Paul. I really appreciate both the ride and the opportunity to go to Houston. I can’t wait. I really do thank you—all of you.” She closed the door and started toward the house: calm on the outside, complete jelly within.
    Her next meal and exchange with Bertha would indeed prove interesting!
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter 14
Counter Proposal
     
    Bernadette was abandoned in a third-rate motel on Galveston Island at the beginning of tourist season. She had a room paid up for a week, a plastic sack half-filled with food and a loss of emotion. She hadn’t shed a tear, offering him zero satisfaction of caring one way or another about his leaving.
    BAD stepped from the shower, scrubbed free of sand