Chapter 10
M idmorning, Seb entered his office and sat down on his chair. After he finished his route and returned to The Times building, he checked in with Tyler to see how things went with their new hire.
“She’s great, Mr. H.” Tyler grinned, his eyes bright and even more excited than usual, and that said a lot. “As long as she can get here on time, she’s going to work out.”
He hoped Tyler’s assessment was unbiased and he wasn’t letting his little crush on the California girl influence his judgment, but Seb would take his opinion at face value until further notice.
He then spoke with Isaiah, who was working in the office today.
He, Tyler, and Seb were covering the hoedown at Bo’s tomorrow.
Seb then spent some time chatting with Cletus and Paul, who had come in to make some repairs on Ol’ Bessie, then headed up to his office.
Evelyn Margot was off-site today. She left a voicemail around seven this morning that she was going to be working from home again—
“Good morning, older brother!” Evelyn sailed into his office, holding the pictures once again.
Someday he was going to find her stash of his photos and throw them away.
He wasn’t thrilled with the picture idea in the first place when she had instigated it three years ago, but she’d insisted that his staff needed advanced warning of his grumpy days.
Unfortunately those had been more frequent lately.
She held up a photo and glanced at him. “Let’s see, who is Sebastian Percival Hudson going to be today?”
He rolled his eyes at her use of his full name.
She slid the photo back in the stack and chose another one. “There, this one will work. You actually look a little cheery this morning. Emphasis on little .”
“I thought you were working from home.”
She walked back to the door. “I was, but I decided I wanted to come in. A female reserves the right to change her mind.”
Jade sure did...
Seb grimaced. After his encounter with Jade by the dumpster, he managed to put her out of his mind as he finished his route. Considering how much work he had on his plate, it was fairly easy. But one statement from Evelyn had him thinking about her again.
He didn’t believe the story about the bracelet, mostly because she wasn’t wearing one yesterday. A piece of jewelry worth crawling around in a dumpster for had to be important, so why not wear it every day?
He played along, though, hoping she’d reveal the real reason she was there. Too bad she didn’t. He was glad to hear that the briefcase had been found, so that wasn’t what she was actually looking for. Hmm...
Evelyn plopped herself on the chair in front of him. “So who’s Ms. Smith?”
Seb paused, then busied himself moving papers on his disaster of a desk. “I know lots of Smiths,” he said, not looking at her.
“I’m talking about the Ms. Smith that was in your office yesterday.”
“Oh. Her.” He tried to wrangle a pile of papers into a neat stack. Like Jade used to keep her paperwork. The documents slipped from his hands.
“Yes.” She leaned forward. “Her.”
“Former coworker. Just here for a visit.” He grabbed a plain sheet of paper and rolled it into his typewriter.
“A friendly visit?”
He turned to his sister, who unfortunately possessed the same inquisitive gene he had. “Business.”
“What kind of business?”
Seb scratched his left eyebrow. “I can order you out of my office, Evelyn Margot. I am your boss.”
“You won’t.” Evelyn sat back and grinned. “You’re too nice.”
“More like desperate,” he muttered, referring to his lacking the payroll to hire extra employees. He needed every single body currently employed at The Times and that included his talented, irritating sister.
But she wasn’t wrong. He was too nice. Now that he had some time to think about it, he probably shouldn’t have interfered with Jade and Logan.
Not that he regretted giving Logan a place to stay, but when she brought him up this morning, he should have kept to a one-word answer and not mentioned she go to his cabin.
In fact, he should have steered clear of her the moment he saw her at the dumpster instead of helping her.
It didn’t matter what she was looking for, fake bracelet or not.
Because as soon as she mentioned the jewelry, he wanted to know if someone special had bought it for her.
A male someone special. Bah, he didn’t need this mental drama.
“She’s pretty,” Evelyn said. “How long did you work together?”
“Not long.” He faced the typewriter again.
“Long enough to date?”
He paused, and that was all the opening Evelyn Margot Hudson needed.
“Ooh, why didn’t you mention her before?” She clasped her hands together. “What other secret girlfriends have you been keeping from me?”
“We barely dated. And I don’t have any secret girlfriends. You know better than anyone else that I don’t have the time.”
“You could make time.”
He glared at her. “You’re the one who said my girl picker was broken, remember?”
Evelyn balked. “I did? When was that?”
“After Karen and I broke up.”
“Karen, yuck. You two were not compatible.”
Apparently he and Jade weren’t either.
He stared at the empty paper in the roller.
A writer’s worst nightmare—the blank page.
He usually didn’t have a problem starting on columns and articles.
Those were a breeze most of the time after all his years writing them.
It was only when he tried another kind of writing, a more personal kind, that he froze up.
He wondered if he’d ever thaw that fear enough to do it again.
When he noticed Evelyn had grown quiet, he glanced at her. She was staring at the mess on his desk but clearly not seeing it. “Ev?”
She blinked, then looked at him. Gone was the teasing and nosiness. Evelyn Margot was uncharacteristically serious. “Do you think there’s something wrong with us?”
He turned his chair toward her. “What do you mean?”
“You’re forty. I’m thirty-four. Neither of us has ever been married.” She sighed.
Where was this coming from? He and Evelyn had never talked much about their social lives over the years. “Does this have something to do with Pancake?”
“Haskell? Pshaw.” But her cheeks turned red as she averted her gaze. “He’s like you. Consumed with his job.”
“He’s an excellent mayor.”
“Yeah.” She shrugged and got to her feet. “Never mind,” she said, sounding morose now.
“Hang on.” He gestured for her to sit down. “There’s nothing wrong with us. At least not too much.” He cracked a small smile. “I don’t believe there’s a set age to get married. Considering Mom and Dad, I think it’s better not to marry until you’re absolutely sure and committed to the other person.”
“Agreed. She’s happy now, though. Do you ever wonder about Dad—”
“No. I don’t. He made his choice. If he wanted a relationship with us, he could have made it happen.”
She nodded. “I used to be angry about that. Now I’m just sad.”
“Me too. But we’ve got Bill. He’s been a great stepdad.” Seb paused. “You’ve been talking to Mom recently, haven’t you?”
“This morning. She said to tell you hi and remind you that you still had a mother.”
That was a bit of a gut punch. “I’ll call her today. I’m guessing she’s been inquiring about your dating life?”
“Always. I’m sure she’ll do the same to you.”
Seb chuckled. “She wants us to be happy.”
“And that’s one of the many reasons why I love her.” Evelyn brightened and stood again. “Thanks, bro.”
“For what?”
“The talk. You don’t cotton much to discussing personal stuff.” She grinned. “I think I’ll call Haskell. See if he’s free for lunch.”
Seb smiled. “You should do that.”
“Oh, and about Ms. Smith—”
He raised his hand. “Off-limit topic. Get to work.”
“Yes, sir.” She saluted him and left, only to stick her head back inside his office and say, “I’m sorry I said your picker’s broken.” She popped back out again.
He sat back in his chair. Sorry or not, Evelyn had been right. He was 0 for 2.
Seb looked at the landline phone on his desk. He picked up the receiver. Bracing himself for another conversation about his social life—or lack thereof—he punched in his mother’s number. “Hey, Mom,” he said when she answered. “Yeah... I’ve missed you too.”
* * *
Jade sat on an overstuffed recliner across from Logan in Sebastian’s cabin, cradling a mug of coffee in her hand.
They were in the spacious living room of the lovely home, and she felt a little stab of envy that he had such a nice retreat.
The Clementine Times might be struggling, but Sebastian didn’t seem to be, not when he owned two homes, and she was living in an apartment because she was still paying off debt.
Whose fault is that?
She looked at Logan, who was perched on an equally comfy-looking couch. Once again she noticed how fit and healthy he looked. Although she was confused and skeptical, she was glad to see him this way.
“Thanks for coming,” he said, looking her directly in the eye. “I wasn’t sure you would talk to me.”
“I’m not sure I should,” she murmured. Then a little louder, “I can’t trust you.”
“I know.” He ran his hand through his short black curls. “I wouldn’t trust me if I were you.”
She stilled at his unexpected admission.
In the past when she said that to him, he always responded by blaming someone else, giving excuses, or saying she was being unfair.
It was good to hear some acknowledgment of her feelings, but she still kept up her guard.
“Why did you have to leave town? Is it about money again? Because I can’t—”
“I don’t need money. I’ve had a job for nine months now.”
Her brows lifted. He’d never held one for that long before. “Where?”
“Walmart.” He rubbed one palm over his jeans. “I started as a stock boy, then moved to cashier, and now I’m working in the sporting goods department.”
“Do they require drug tests?”