Close to You by Mary Jane Clark

when food was scarce.
    He would miss his winged mysteries, but he consoledhimself with the knowledge that they would be back next year. An average bat could live fifteen years, some as long as thirty-four.
    If someone didn’t hammer them.

Chapter 21
    Monday morning Eliza was in her office even before Paige showed up for work. When her young assistant arrived, Eliza handed her a list of the personal things she needed Paige to take care of for her.
    â€œI’m sorry, Paige. I really don’t like asking you to do all this stuff for me,” Eliza apologized. “I know it’s not really KEY News–related. But I guess we could stretch the validity of it by rationalizing that the anchorwoman will go out of her mind if she doesn’t get her personal life in order.”
    Paige glanced at the handwritten list. “It’s not a problem at all, Ms. Blake. Really. I’m happy to do it.”
    â€œThank you, Paige. You’re a doll and I promise that I’ll keep this sort of thing to a minimum. You’ve just come aboard at a particularly chaotic time. But could you start calling around and find the best employment agencies that handle housekeepers in northern New Jersey and have them send over some prospective candidates? Schedule the interviews around, the other things in my book.”
    Paige nodded her curl-covered head and started back toward her desk.
    â€œAnd, Paige?”
    â€œYes?” she answered eagerly, turning to face her boss again.
    â€œPlease. Call me Eliza. You make me feel so old when you call me Ms. Blake.”
    The younger woman smiled and Eliza noticed her cheeks blush a bit. It was not the first time they had had this exchange. Paige was so respectful and Eliza liked her for it. But Eliza wanted Paige to know that, young as her assistant was, Eliza considered her to be a colleague. They would be working very closely together over the months to come and Eliza felt it was important to both of them that they be on a first-name basis. Besides, there was only a twelve-year age difference between them. She could be Paige’s older sister.
    Eliza watched Paige as she walked out of the office and tried to remember what being twenty-two had been like. Fresh out of the journalism and political-science departments at the University of Rhode Island, Eliza had graduated with high hopes and some trepidations. She wasn’t naive enough to think that following her dream to work in broadcast journalism was going to be a walk in the park. Though glamorous and romantic to outsiders, it was an extremely competitive field. But, since she was twelve years old, that was all she had ever really wanted to do. The dozen years since college graduation had consistently rewarded her professionally, first working in local television, then going on to the network. It was the private part of her life that had had its share of ups and downs.
    Sarah Morton’s last letter crossed Eliza’s mind. Another twelve-year-old bitten with the television-news bug, fighting a courageous fight against a brutal disease. Eliza reached for the phone and called Paige on the intercom.
    â€œWhen is Sarah Morton scheduled to come in, Paige?”
    â€œTomorrow morning at eleven-thirty, Eliza.” The last word did not come out easily, and Eliza could sense it. But she was glad that Paige was trying.
    â€œDo I have a lunch engagement?”
    â€œNo. You are actually free for lunch tomorrow.”
    â€œGreat. Would you make a reservation for three at Jekyll and Hyde’s? I’d like to take Sarah and her father out for lunch after the tour.”
    Of all the theme restaurants around Fifty-seventh Street, the Jekyll and Hyde Club was probably the most amusing. Kids loved the suspenseful atmosphere. And at least the hamburgers were pretty good. Eliza hoped Sarah would be up to eating one.

Chapter 22
    Down the long hallway from Eliza’s office, Keith Chapel sat behind his desk and doodled