Chapter 110

The moment we were alone, Wendy started gushing words faster than I could keep up like we’ve known each other all our lives.

“Oh my gosh, I am so glad to meet you, Ms. Laurentia. My name is Wendy Lowell. You can call me Wendy. Do you mind if I call you Elena?”

I managed to shake my head.

“Fantastic. Welcome to the Palace Press. I suppose everyone has said the same thing, but I guess it doesn’t get tiring to hear how much everyone is looking forward to working with you.”

She prattled on for a few moments about looking up my portfolio and how impressed she was with my work.

All the while, my brain kept turning over, trying to keep up with her. After a minute, she took a deep breath and stared at me expectedly. It was then that it registered she had asked me a question.

“I’m sorry, what was that again?” I asked. “I’m just feeling kind of overwhelmed. And it went right by me, and it went right by me.”

“That’s okay,” she said, waving a hand as if it didn’t matter. “So I picked an assignment that I thought that the two of us would get along on. One that would be a good way for you to get started with the Palace Press. I saw Minister Grey in here. He would have had to hurry off because, in a little while, he’s going to be doing a ribbon cutting at a new municipal park.”

Did the woman ever need to breathe?

“The city takes great pride in making sure that the residents of Packhaven have green space and the opportunity to play sports and have even celebrations with concerts in the park, or farmer’s markets. We like a lot of community participation here.”

“I know your other pieces weren’t necessarily on the lighter side of government. But it might be nice for you to get a feel for Packhaven by involving yourself in one of the community projects. Then you can interview people and see how they feel about life in Packhaven and the government.”

She grinned. “Not that you’re going to find your corruption here. But if I know reporters, and I do because I am one,” she giggled at her own joke, “Then I’m positive you haven’t stopped poking around looking for the source of the corruption.”

I chose not to say anything in response, but she didn’t seem to care. She hooked her arm through mine, drawing me out of the chief editor’s office and into the main newsroom.

“Did you get lunch?” she asked. “If not, I know all the best places in town. We can’t help it since we do all the reviews in-house.”

“I did thank you,” I said, budging in to speak while she finally swallowed.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I feel like I haven’t let you have a word and edgewise. But I promise I don’t always talk all the time.”

“She does,” chimed in one of the other authors, who shot a gleaming smile at Wendy on our way by.

“Oh, just ignore him,” Wendy said. “That’s just Aaron. He does opinion pieces, and he wears his wit and sarcasm on his sleeve for all the world to see. Anyway, she said, do you have your own car?”

I shook my head. “I’ve only got the suitcases I brought with me. It’s…” I hesitated. “It’s been a long couple of weeks,” I finally said.

“Oh. I can imagine.” She dove into a one-sided conversation again. “I read up on everything that you’ve been through. Governor Allen and Minister Grey let Chief Conroy know ahead of time. Of course, Chief Conroy, let me know because I’m going to be working with you, and how better to get you adjusted than to know exactly where you’re coming from?”

Didn’t her mouth get dry talking so much?

“I figured if I learned all about you, then you and I could hit the ground running. And now you don’t have to wait or catch me up. Besides, it sounds like there were some uncomfortable times in there, and I would imagine you don’t necessarily want to relive those with a perfect stranger.”

“So, just know I understand, and I’ve got your back. You’ve got at least one friend here in Packhaven. And if you ever need anything, all you have to do is give me a call. I’ve already sent you a text, so you have my number. Chief Conroy gave me your number already. I guess it’s a new phone and all.”

I tuned her out, nodding politely but only half listening. It would be nice to have a friend. I deeply missed Cathy. It felt like far longer than a couple weeks since I’d last seen her, and our conversations on the phone with those vulture-like guards watching over every word didn’t hold up. Worse, now I didn’t even have my phone with her contact information in it.

But Wendy wasn’t Cathy. And as much as I desperately wanted a friend, I wasn’t even sure I could trust Wendy. Maybe I’d gotten paired with the bubbliest, most outgoing woman in Packhaven. Maybe she even honestly wanted to be my friend. Or maybe I’d gotten paired with a babysitter, someone who would worm their way into my confidence and spy on what I was reporting.

Dear Goddess. When had my faith in people died?

Wendy looked over my shoulder. “This must be your bodyguard, Theo.”

He replied with a nod of his head. It was all he had time for before she started rambling again.

“I figured as much, considering he clearly doesn’t have that alpha aura. No offense. Will he be riding along the whole time with us?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“Definitely,” Theo added. “Everywhere she goes, I go.”

“Except for the bathroom,” Wendy joked.

She took one wide-eyed look at him, and he shook his head. She sighed in relief.

“Well, that’s good to know. A lady does have to have some boundaries.” She leaned in toward me, whispering conspiratorially, “I hope he doesn’t make your alpha jealous. Theo is not too bad looking.”

I glanced back at him. I guess he was kind of cute. But Wendy was older than me, and even I thought Theo was a little young for my taste.

“Do you have some cougar tendencies?” I asked her.

She giggled and glanced behind us at Theo, then leaned even closer and whispered, “If a younger man looks like your bodyguard, then yes.”

“Does your husband know?” I teased her the way I would tease Cathy. If I wanted to get to the bottom of her motivations, keeping her close was a good idea. Even the best actors slipped up sometimes.

“He knows I have an eye for the handsome ones.” She winked. “My youngest daughter is in her first year of primary school. I’ve been doing freelance writing until about three months ago when the term started. This meant she was finally in school full-time. I was able to come back to work in person.”

“Any reporting I need to finish up after her day ends, I do from home. I hope you won’t mind. That means I’ll be leaving earlier in the day than you will, most likely.”

I shook my head. “Charles and I are still pretty new in our relationship. And it’s not been the smoothest ride getting to this point. I think it might be nice to do some regular things like be home in time for dinner. So, no, I don’t mind if you leave with your extra work as long as I can take mine home with me, too.”

I glanced around. “Unless I should be back at the office, seeing as it’s my first day and all.”

She shook her head. “No need. You’ll find the longer you are working for the Palace Press that really the only things that need you in person for are some of the department meetings and all of the pitch meetings that you can manage. But some people even do those remotely if they need to.”

“So if you can’t come in for some reason, as long as you participate and then submit your work for the day, no one will complain.”

“Good to know,” I interrupted.

Now, how long until she headed home for the day? I seriously needed five minutes of silence.