Chapter 29
CHAPTER 29
After leaving Sea Coast, Lizzie headed to the Gazette office to check in with her dad. She didn’t want to be seen as coasting because she’s the daughter. She knows this job is not going to be endless days of just wandering around Cranberry Harbor eating cookies, taking pictures, posting them online, and sipping coffee with friends. Okay, maybe some of them are. She is also going to have to pull her weight writing, editing, finding stories and selling ads. They needed revenue and this was an all-hands-on-deck everyone doing everything operation. When she walks in she’s surprised to see Stan at his desk, arm in a cast, but looking chipper as ever.
“Stan, what a nice surprise!” Lizzie says, giving him a hug as he stands up. “How’s that arm?” She takes off her coat and tosses it over an empty chair. “Oh, hey Dad,” she nods at him. Truth is, she’s worried. Worried about Stan feeling displaced.
“So your dad has been filling me in about what’s going on, and I just want to...”
Lizzie jumps in, “Stan, I don’t want to step on your toes at all, really, I totally respect all you’ve done, and I’m not here to take away anything from you. Not at all. Not one little bit.” She’s shaking her head emphatically, wanting to make sure he understands.
Stan laughs, “Are you kidding me? Do you know how long I’ve wanted to step back? I couldn’t be more delighted, I just didn’t want to leave your old dad here in the lurch. You are welcome to cover anything you want. I am so happy you’re here.”
“Oh my gosh, I’m so relieved!” She lets out a big sigh. “I do hope you’ll want to keep doing some stories though, you’re our resident expert on all things marine and environmental.”
“Of course, I would love that. I’d love to work on some longer form stories and be able to put more time into things. For instance, these projects Jack Cahoon is talking about, that’s the kind of big project I would love to sink my teeth into.”
Lizzie’s stomach clenches. “The Jack Cahoon projects?”
“Yeah, your dad was telling me how he’s talking about a carbon capture facility at the old, empty base, and working with the marine center on the wastewater issue and nitrogen removal. Oh! And his ideas for that big parcel on the town border. Boy, all that could be huge for the community, and for the environment. I’d love to explore writing about that.”
Lizzie shoots her dad a look.
“Yeah, but that’s not etched in stone yet, Stan, don’t say anything to him, or anyone yet,” Peter says. “I only mentioned that to you in passing.”
Stan looks at them both, “Oh, I didn’t know I shouldn’t mention it to him. I ran into him at the hardware store this morning and he did seem surprised that I knew about it. Sorry about that, guess I misunderstood.”
Stan and Lizzie exchange a horrified look.
Lizzie is trying to calm down, Jack didn’t want her or Alexis telling anyone anything yet, it had to be under wraps until he got funding, he hadn’t even formalized what he was going to present to the town. This could ruin everything. Still, she smiles at Stan, trying to be cool. “I’m sure it’s fine, just don’t say anything to anyone else, okay?”
Stan is quiet. “Well, always the reporter, I did ask Tom Jenkins if he’d met with Jack yet, shoot, I guess I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Tom Jenkins, the town manager?” Lizzie asks. This is getting worse and worse.
“Yeah, he didn’t know anything about it, acted real surprised.”
“What did he say?” Peter asks tentatively.
“He didn’t seem real keen on it, you know how he is, nothing new, nothing innovative. Goshdarn it, I feel terrible about spilling the beans here, Lizzie. I didn’t know it was such a big secret.”
Lizzie is trying to keep herself calm and from shaking Stan. “It’s okay, I’ll talk to Jack, and hopefully Tom didn’t say anything, or in the craziness of Christmas forgot all about it.” Never going to happen she thinks, but one can dream. “So Dad, is there anything you need me to be working on? I’m going to head home for a little bit, then I’m maybe going to Murphy’s with Alexis, Ben, Sean and a few other people tonight.”
Her dad looks at her, he knows what a ‘few other people’ means. “I think I’m okay. Maybe at some point you can take that column you wrote about the Cape and the need for change, and rework it to add that you’re coming back here, and going to be a co-editor with me?”
“You really want to do that? Co-editor? I figured I’d just be a staff writer until you get so sick of seeing me every day that you’d retire.”
“For one, I will never, ever get tired of seeing you every day, and second, this is what I want, I want you to be co-editor, and I want everyone to know.”
“You’d better accept it, Lizzie, poor guy, he offered it to me through the years and I said no thanks so many times he stopped asking,” says Stan.
“Well then, I accept,” she says, shaking his hand. “Thanks for the opportunity, Mr. Martin, I won’t let you down,” she gives a little bow, puts on her coat and heads to the door. “So Stan?”
“My lips are sealed from now on until you give me the say so,” he says.
“Sounds good, see you two fellas later.”
She gets into her car, starts it and sits back for a minute. How the heck is she ever going to explain this to Jack? Not only has she screwed things up by assuming he was with Penelope, her family and Stan may have also sabotaged his project.