are any exceptionally ruffled feathers, let your father or I know and we can send a check. Money talks, dearest, especially when your little publication is far from being Condé Nast.”
Burke pried his fingers from the mouse he couldn’t do without, even with a laptop, before he accidentally crushed it. Little publication, indeed!
“Your father will be expecting you within the week. Unfortunately, I will not see you until the week after, or possibly later. Make us proud, son.”
And it ended just like that. No “I love you,” or “Miss you lots.” Not from Evangeline Sanders, wife of Prescott Sanders, CEO and owner of one of the largest luxury hotel chains in the world. They thought he’d just drop what he was doing and go home like a good little boy? Burke’s parents were about to become very disappointed.
Chapter 6
It was just a minor setback. If you want something badly enough, you have to be willing to accept that sometimes you have to take a few steps back when you’re eager to move forward. Blah blah blah. Platitudes were not going to turn Cady’s mood around. She’d had to say goodbye to Lucille this morning, boxing up her personal effects and leaving her precious car in a scrap yard.
Okay, so it wasn’t like she was emotionally attached to her car. It got her from point A to point B, or at least it had until it bit the dust on the way up to the lighthouse. The car hadn’t provided her with any truly memorable experiences. She had run over a skunk (already dead) on her inaugural drive. Every time it rained over the following year, Lucille had reeked with the smell of skunk. Cady had lost her muffler flying over potholes out on Bartlett Road. You couldn’t really catch air on those potholes unless you were breaking the speed limit by at least twenty miles per hour. This memory finally put a grin on her face.
In need of transportation, her dad had taken her to pick out a used car from Sergeant Gerry, Chase’s boss, who bought and sold vehicles impounded by the town. They’d both tried to talk her into something compact and girly. But Cady had spotted a gray beater pick-up and she knew it had to be hers. Her dad had groused that it wouldn’t be fair if she got a truck before he did. Pulling him aside, she promised to take him to McCloskey’s field after the next good rain and they could take turns doing doughnuts. He’d promptly told the Sergeant that Cady was buying the truck.
After dropping her dad off at home, Cady drove next door to Chase’s and Amanda’s house. Sitting in the truck for a minute, she looked to her right. Her parents’ white raised ranch was just visible through a stand of birch trees. On the same plot of land, Chase had designed a log home for Amanda, based on pictures she had kept in a scrapbook. It really was stunning. To Cady’s left was an acre of forest just waiting for the day she and her future husband would break ground on their dream home. Or at least, that was the plan according to her parents, back when they had bought enough land to share with their children.
Cady felt a twinge of guilt, like she was breaking up a matched set. Oh, that was ridiculous! She shoved open the door of her new-to-her truck then slammed it for good measure.
“Hey, anyone home?”
A mouthwatering aroma led Cady straight into the kitchen, where she found Amanda stirring a giant stockpot on the stove. She took the offered spoon and sampled the beef stew. Closing her eyes, Cady savored the flavor of the thick broth, softened vegetables, and melt-in-your-mouth beef. The bitter tang of turnip tasted so much better in this mixture than it did when her mom mashed it up for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
“Doesn’t that just hit the spot? It looked like it was going to rain this morning, so I thought it would be the perfect time to make one last batch of beef stew.”
“Only you’ve made enough for an army, Amanda.”
“What we don’t eat today, and you’re invited for dinner, by
Burke pried his fingers from the mouse he couldn’t do without, even with a laptop, before he accidentally crushed it. Little publication, indeed!
“Your father will be expecting you within the week. Unfortunately, I will not see you until the week after, or possibly later. Make us proud, son.”
And it ended just like that. No “I love you,” or “Miss you lots.” Not from Evangeline Sanders, wife of Prescott Sanders, CEO and owner of one of the largest luxury hotel chains in the world. They thought he’d just drop what he was doing and go home like a good little boy? Burke’s parents were about to become very disappointed.
Chapter 6
It was just a minor setback. If you want something badly enough, you have to be willing to accept that sometimes you have to take a few steps back when you’re eager to move forward. Blah blah blah. Platitudes were not going to turn Cady’s mood around. She’d had to say goodbye to Lucille this morning, boxing up her personal effects and leaving her precious car in a scrap yard.
Okay, so it wasn’t like she was emotionally attached to her car. It got her from point A to point B, or at least it had until it bit the dust on the way up to the lighthouse. The car hadn’t provided her with any truly memorable experiences. She had run over a skunk (already dead) on her inaugural drive. Every time it rained over the following year, Lucille had reeked with the smell of skunk. Cady had lost her muffler flying over potholes out on Bartlett Road. You couldn’t really catch air on those potholes unless you were breaking the speed limit by at least twenty miles per hour. This memory finally put a grin on her face.
In need of transportation, her dad had taken her to pick out a used car from Sergeant Gerry, Chase’s boss, who bought and sold vehicles impounded by the town. They’d both tried to talk her into something compact and girly. But Cady had spotted a gray beater pick-up and she knew it had to be hers. Her dad had groused that it wouldn’t be fair if she got a truck before he did. Pulling him aside, she promised to take him to McCloskey’s field after the next good rain and they could take turns doing doughnuts. He’d promptly told the Sergeant that Cady was buying the truck.
After dropping her dad off at home, Cady drove next door to Chase’s and Amanda’s house. Sitting in the truck for a minute, she looked to her right. Her parents’ white raised ranch was just visible through a stand of birch trees. On the same plot of land, Chase had designed a log home for Amanda, based on pictures she had kept in a scrapbook. It really was stunning. To Cady’s left was an acre of forest just waiting for the day she and her future husband would break ground on their dream home. Or at least, that was the plan according to her parents, back when they had bought enough land to share with their children.
Cady felt a twinge of guilt, like she was breaking up a matched set. Oh, that was ridiculous! She shoved open the door of her new-to-her truck then slammed it for good measure.
“Hey, anyone home?”
A mouthwatering aroma led Cady straight into the kitchen, where she found Amanda stirring a giant stockpot on the stove. She took the offered spoon and sampled the beef stew. Closing her eyes, Cady savored the flavor of the thick broth, softened vegetables, and melt-in-your-mouth beef. The bitter tang of turnip tasted so much better in this mixture than it did when her mom mashed it up for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
“Doesn’t that just hit the spot? It looked like it was going to rain this morning, so I thought it would be the perfect time to make one last batch of beef stew.”
“Only you’ve made enough for an army, Amanda.”
“What we don’t eat today, and you’re invited for dinner, by
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