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Willow Brook Road(52)

By:Sherryl Woods


He groaned. “And just when I was starting to have all these warm and fuzzy thoughts about you, I discover that you have a slightly twisted streak.”

“That’s only when it comes to the adults in my life. Bobby’s perfectly safe.”

Sam gave her a long look, his lips curving slightly. “Never doubted that for a minute.”



After sending a still-sleepy Bobby off with Carrie just before dawn, Sam went down to the inn’s kitchen to beg the biggest take-out cup of coffee to be had, then headed to the newspaper office.

The walk through the quiet streets of Chesapeake Shores with the sun just beginning to streak the sky in the east over the bay with brilliant splashes of pink and orange was surprisingly invigorating. Sam thought it might even be worth getting up at this hour more often, though he doubted he’d do it. He’d been a night person most of his life and it was probably a little late to adjust his body’s clock now.

As early as it was, he found Mack at the office before him. Mack looked up from his computer screen with shock.

“I wasn’t expecting you for a few hours.”

“I was up. I had to get Bobby ready to spend the day with Carrie,” he said, censoring himself quickly to keep from spilling the beans about the day-care volunteer work she was doing.

“Carrie got Bobby at the crack of dawn? That has to be a first. She’s a night owl.”

Sam shrugged. “They have plans.”

Mack regarded him with suspicion. “Carrie and Bobby have plans?”

“What can I say? It worked out for me, so I didn’t ask a lot of questions.”

“They’re not getting too attached, are they?” Mack asked.

Sam frowned. “No idea what you mean.” He held up his coffee cup. “I need a lot more of this before I start delving into motivations. Why don’t you fill me in on the log of stories for this week’s edition? I have some ideas for a home page redesign I want to run by you, something that will make it even more user-friendly.”

Mack looked as if he wanted to protest, but instead he let the subject drop. “Before I get into that, there is one thing I should probably ask you.”

“As long as it doesn’t involve deep thought, shoot.”

“Susie’s been wondering why you haven’t called about looking at houses.”

“Because I took your advice and decided to spend a lot of time with Bobby helping him to get acclimated. I know we need to get out of the inn and into our own place. I’ll have more time to look once he’s started school.”

Mack nodded. “She was just worried maybe you’d decided to stay at the inn or maybe even use another Realtor.”

“No other Realtor. I wouldn’t do that to her,” Sam assured him. “Tell her I’ll be in touch as soon as school starts. I really am anxious to see what she’s come up with.”

“Will do,” Mack said, looking satisfied. He handed over a printout. “These are the news stories for this week. You can see the lead right there on top. There are three features, too. A couple of important meetings are coming up in town after our print deadline, but I want you to get the coverage of those up online as soon as the stories are written. I’ll do those myself.”

“Photos?”

Mack turned the computer screen in his direction, made a few clicks on his keypad, and a dozen pictures came up. “I sorted through a lot more and narrowed it down to these. I’ll use some in the print edition, but the joy of the online edition is that you can use all of them, especially the shots that showcase a lot of locals. They eat that up.”

“Got it,” Sam said. “Everyone ID’d okay? I may not recognize faces just yet.”

“I think so, but anyone you’re not certain about, ask.”

“Okay, then. I’m on it.”

He was about to take his coffee across the room to his own desk when the door opened and Mick O’Brien walked in. So, he thought, Carrie had nailed it. Sam had to turn away to hide a smile.

Mack made the introductions, then looked at Mick expectantly. “What brings you by at this hour? I hope you’re here to take out a big full-page ad.”

Mick laughed. “For what? Haven’t you heard? I’m retired.”

“That’s not what I hear from the guys who work for your company,” Mack responded.

“Has my nephew been grumbling again about being overworked?” Mick asked without rancor. “Matthew doesn’t know how easy I’ve been on him, on all of them, now that I’ve mellowed out.”

“So, if you’re not here to advertise something, what does bring you by?” Mack asked.