Chapter 6 #2
“All right. Well...” She was about to say goodbye when an idea hit her. “Would you like to join me? I’m by myself waiting—” She couldn’t tell her that she was killing time until she went to Sebastian’s office again.
Three teenagers walked through the front door, one of them reminding her of Logan when he was young—tall, with tawny brown-toned skin, black curly hair, and a face dotted with freckles, all an appealing blend of his biracial heritage.
He laughed with his friends as they sat at a table, and he stretched out his long, jean-clad legs.
Seeing him happy reminded her of the good times she and Logan had amid the horrible ones.
But those good times had been nonexistent for a long while, and she had to keep her guard up when she saw him tomorrow. If he sensed any kind of opening to get to her, he would plow on through. He always had.
“Are you okay?”
She blinked and looked at the woman, not realizing she’d been staring at the wall in front of her, covered with old shoe advertisements. “Yes. Just a little distracted. It’s been a tough morning.”
“Tell me about it.” She paused. “Sure. I’ll join you.” She picked up her menu and they walked over to Jade’s booth.
When they sat down, Jade held out her hand. “Jade Smith.”
“Kalista Clark.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Tad came back and Kalista ordered a salad. Considering her trim figure, no surprise there. “What brings you to Clementine?” Jade asked.
“How did you know I’m not from here?”
Jade smiled. “Your accent,” she said, deciding on the most benign and recognizable feature. “Or lack of one, I should say.”
“People do talk funny around here.” Kalista took a sip of the water Tad had brought. “And slow. Really slow.”
“It’s the Southern drawl.”
“You don’t have one. Where are you from?”
“Atlanta.” There were so many transplants in her company from other parts of the country, she was rarely around a true drawl anymore.
And there was no reason to tell Kalista that Arkansas was her home state.
She didn’t belong here anymore, and as soon as she finished her business with Sebastian and found out what was going on with Logan, she would rush back to Georgia.
She had no intention of staying here any longer than necessary. “I’ll be returning home soon.”
“I’m from LA. After my stepmother gets married in August, I’ll go back to California. Until then...” She sighed. “I’m stuck here.”
If she was only going to be here for the summer, why did she apply for a job? Unless it was an internship. That made sense. “How did your interview go?”
Their food showed up and they both started eating. “I got the job,” Kalista said, “such as it is.”
“That’s great. What will you be doing?”
“Delivering newspapers.”
“You’re working in distribution?”
“No, I’m delivering newspapers.” She made a small throwing motion with her left hand. “You know, chucking them out the window and onto porches.”
Which was distribution, but Jade didn’t want to embarrass her by telling her that. She’d figure it out soon enough. She was surprised, though. Kalista seemed more suited for a cub reporter or sales rep.
“It’s not exactly what I thought my first job would be.” Kalista sighed. “But it’s only for the summer. It’s going to be a drag having to get up so early, though.”
Jade dipped a chicken finger into the honey mustard cup and took a bite. Yum. “What grade are you in?”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’m literally eighteen. I graduated a couple weeks ago.”
Oops. “Sorry. You sound, er, look so young.”
Kalista stabbed at a crouton, a little pacified. “Viv wouldn’t let me put on makeup. She didn’t want me to be late for the interview.” She chewed on the crunchy bread square and swallowed. “She was right. I barely made it on time.”
As they ate, an awkward silence fell between them. Kalista didn’t seem interested in finding out more about Jade, and Jade was too distracted to carry the conversation. When her phone rang again, she was relieved. “I need to get that.”
Kalista pushed her half-eaten salad away. “I’m done anyway.” She opened her purse, but Jade waved her off.
“My treat.”
Kalista scowled. “I’m not poor, you know. I can afford my own lunch.”
Jade took out her phone, forcing an even tone. “I apologize.”
Kalista opened her wallet and dropped a few bills on the table, then got up.
Jade frowned, her sympathy diminishing. “Have a nice day,” she said.
Kalista gave a curt nod and left.
Oh well. Jade looked at the screen and saw Charlotte’s name. She quickly answered. “Hey,” she said, wiping up the remnant of ketchup on her plate with the last french fry. “Everything okay at work?”
“Work’s fine. Dull as always. So, how’s it going with your ex?”
Jade frowned. She was regretting her decision to tell Charlotte about her meeting with Miles, including her past relationship with Sebastian.
She didn’t get into details, only told her that they used to casually date.
She should have known Charlotte would be nosy.
“He’s being stubborn. He won’t even look at the pitch. ”
“Who cares about the pitch? I want to know how he was looking at you .”
Definitely not with bedroom eyes. Her cheeks heated and she took a gulp of water. She had to stop thinking about Sebastian that way, or any other way other than a businessman. “He’s taken,” she said. Jade didn’t know if that was true, but maybe it would stop Charlotte in her matchmaking tracks.
“Really?” Charlotte sighed. “Well, fahrvergnügen. I’d hoped you two had rekindled your old flame. ”
“Farfen-what?”
“You know, from that car commercial years ago?”
“Huh?”
“You need to watch more TV. There’s this new show called The Bachelorette that’s really good.”
What Jade needed was to get back to work. “Nothing’s going on with me and Sebastian, and nothing ever will. There. Case closed.”
“Never say never .”
“Charlotte—”
“I know, I know. You’re doing fine and everything’s fine and you don’t need a social life because everything’s fine. Got it. But just in case everything isn’t fine, you should be open-minded. Just sayin’.”
“Noted.”
“Gotta go, meeting in five minutes. If you need any more advice, I’m here for you.”
Jade smiled. “Thanks, Charlotte. I’ll see you soon.
” She dropped the phone into her briefcase and rubbed both temples this time before glancing at her watch.
Almost an hour and a half had passed since she talked to Sebastian.
Was that long enough? Or should she wait another thirty minutes or so?
Yes, that would be prudent. She didn’t want to pop up there right away, and during that time she could go over her pitch, refine it, and memorize it again since she forgot it during their meeting.
She looked up and saw the list of desserts on the specials board. Coconut cream pie. Her favorite. But she couldn’t. She shouldn’t...
“Tad?” She lifted her hand and motioned him over.
* * *
Shortly after Evelyn Margot left his office, Seb finished up his column and delivered it to Paul and Cletus in the basement, trying to put the morning out of his mind.
The cousins not only ran the press, but they also did the layout, although Evelyn was urging Seb to computerize the design process.
“I can do it a lot faster on a Mac,” she said.
“I’ve looked into it. The learning curve isn’t that steep. ”
No doubt she would do an excellent job, but he wasn’t ready to give up tradition.
Besides, with the paper moving to twice a week, he’d already cut back Paul’s and Cletus’s hours.
He didn’t want to take more work away from them or they might move on to somewhere else. He wouldn’t blame them if they did.
He opened the door to the press room. The printing press was running, spitting out the Thursday edition of The Times while a large fan was blowing nearby, cooling off the room but not rustling the stacks of newspapers on the other side of the expansive area.
Fortunately they had enough space to print and set up distribution so they didn’t have to rent an additional space.
“Here’s my column,” he said, handing Paul a manila folder.
The man took it with his dye-stained hands. “Thanks. Can’t wait to read it.” His jowls sagged as he frowned.
What now? Seb braced himself. “Something wrong?”
He nodded, adjusting the brim of his weather-beaten and ink-stained red Razorbacks baseball cap. Seb had never seen the man without it. He gestured to the printing press. “Ol’ Bessie’s having trouble again.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“A lot of this, that, and the other.”
Seb didn’t pretend to fully understand how the ancient press worked, but he listened as Paul described in detail what parts of the machine were problematic as Cletus manned the controls.
Seb had never been mechanically inclined, and the cousins knew the press inside and out.
He trusted their judgment, expertise, and affinity toward the machine.
They were the ones who christened her “Bessie.”
“We can nurse her along for a little while,” Paul concluded.
Dread filled him. “How long?”
“Not sure. I’d find a new press in the meantime.”
That was a punch to the gut. New presses would cost tens of thousands, possibly more. Money he didn’t have. He blanked his expression. No need to worry the guys. “I’ll look into it,” he said.
Paul nodded, looking at the press wistfully. “Bessie’s a workhorse, that’s for sure.”
Seb said a quick prayer that their workhorse wouldn’t need to be put out to pasture anytime soon. “Thanks for the info, Paul.”
He nodded, taking Seb’s file folder with his column inside and putting it on his tiny desk several feet away from the press.
Letting the men get back to work, Seb went upstairs and plopped down in his chair, mulling over this latest problem. He’d add searching for a printing press to his never-ending to-do list.