Chapter 112

I buried my worries over the new phone I’d been given and my isolated situation and forced a smile at Wendy while she prattled on, explaining where the previous apartments had been sitting. I’m sure there were more things she explained that I just didn’t bother to keep up with.

Theo walked along at my other side, sticking close to my arm as we approached the gathered crowd. Now, this was interesting to pay attention to. Brightly colored stalls offered everything from food to face painting to games. Children shrieked with laughter, chasing and dodging one another between the legs of the adults.

Grown-ups chatted with one another with wide smiles on their faces. They held delicious-smelling snacks on sticks, sweets, and balloons. This looked like a full-blown festival or fair rather than a simple dedication.

“The minister is going to do his address right over there.” Wendy pointed at a temporary stage that had been erected close to the parking lot and yet with a central view of all of the playing fields.

“We’ll go there first and listen to the address. I figure I’ll incorporate that into my portion of the story. And then we’ll split up and do interviews. I’ll handle the government officials, and you can go interview whoever you choose.”

She smiled at me as if giving me part of the story was her treat. “As I said, try to get a wide variety of demographics so our readers get a good feel for how this is working out for the community.”

She gave me a nudge of her elbow and a wink. “It’ll also be a good chance for you to get a feel for what it’s like to live and raise a family in Packhaven. You have to be dying to know.”

I cocked my head in confusion. “Why would I be dying to know that?”

“Well, you are planning on raising a family, right?” Equal confusion sat on her face.

“What family?” I stammered.

“Aren’t you going to have children with Charles? I thought alphas were keen to continue their bloodlines and all.”

“I guess,” I replied. “But, no offense, why would you be concerned with Charles and my family planning? It’s kind of personal, you know?” I shrugged off her wide-eyed stare. “Not that it matters. If and when Charles and I have a family, we’ll do it back home in Lustrum.”

“Oh.” Wendy startled back. “I’m sorry. I was just told you’d been invested in the Press Retirement Earnings Program.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“I was actually kind of surprised when they told me you got in. But I figured it must be a perk of having broken such a sweeping, nationwide story. PREP is exactly what it sounds like—a retirement fund. I know there are options like bonuses, matching, investments, and simply setting aside funds. I forget what I chose without looking at my paperwork.”

She crunched her nose. “Usually, there’s a two-year grace period before any new hires are installed in the program. PREP is reserved for people who accept long-term or lifelong posts within the Palace Press. However, I think other city and state departments have similar programs, and one can transfer between them without losing earnings. Regardless, not only do you have to get a high enough ranking job, but you have to be employed for a while.”

“Needless to say, I was surprised to hear you were in PREP. But, like I said, you did bust that corruption story wide open. I’m also surprised they didn’t fully explain the rewards you earned when they got you started with the Palace Press. But anyway, you shocked me when you said you’re going back to Lustrum. I assumed if you’re in PREP that you’re here in the city permanently.”

“I, uh, they never said how long we were here.” My words came out all cluttered in my shock.

She shot me a bit of a glare. “Not to sound rude, but you come off completely ungrateful. You got a plum job, passing up writers and journalists who have been working their way up the ranks for years. You got enrolled in PREP without the wait. You’re practically engaged to an alpha.”

She scanned me head to toe. “You’d think, for someone with such an…unnoticeable…scent…” She sighed. “I’m sorry. That’s unkind. I want to be your friend, truly. It’s just to hear you go on and on about all the amazing things that seem to just fall in your lap like they don’t even matter; it frustrates me.”

“I wonder if you realize that women have done horrible things to one another to land a man like yours. And you don’t even seem to want to give him children. I’ll tell you, if I had an alpha ask, I’d be on my back for him before my husband could blink.”

“And you have a great job. And retirement. And an apartment with a waiting list. And you just want to leave it all and return to some backwater city like Lustrum?” She shook her head, clearly bewildered.

Reaching out, she took my hand and gripped it. “You seem like a nice woman. I honestly don’t think you mean to make the rest of us feel inferior. I’m just saying you ought to evaluate all the good luck you’ve fallen into. Please don’t let my jealous streak keep us from becoming friends.”

I started to answer, but she had already moved on, talking about the various government officials who were waiting on the little stage platform. I tried to listen, but what she’d just said left my head spinning. Was I ungrateful? Rude even? Didn’t she know people close to me had died in the course of uncovering the story? How could she be jealous of that?

And where was all this good luck she mentioned? My life had been nearly completely out of my control, littered with tragedy, filled with bias and abuse. I guess the old saying really was true. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence because I’d happily trade all that for the stability she took for granted.

I’m sure Wendy had grown up with a family. No one questioned her peony fragrance. She had comparable achievements in her career. And she had a husband and a family. I might have Charles now, but that didn’t stop people from making my love life sound helpless for years on end. To hear my classmates and then my coworkers talk, I was doomed to die a lonely spinster, or worse, a crazy cat lady.

To distract myself, I started looking around and people-watching. The gathered crowd seemed to be from all walks of life, from people in their business best to mothers in their comfortable clothes toting two or three children along for the ride. These people mingled with seniors with gray hair to fit young men looking to compete with one another, all the way down to toddlers with balls in their hands, ready to enjoy the fields.

When Wendy said this was going to be a community park, she really meant it. Ultimately, the people here weren’t so different from at home. Now, all I needed to do was uncover their true feeling about the park.

I paid attention to the way they looked, their expressions, their mannerisms, and their behavior. They were chatty, and relaxed, and social. All of which said a lot about the environment around us. These people felt safe here, and they expected good things.

Honestly, it was nice to see. Lupinton hadn’t given me that vibe at all. Then again. I hadn’t really been free to just people-watch in Lupinton. Because, in Lupinton I was the one being watched.

Well, I suppose I was being watched here, too. But Theo stood politely beside me, carefully not interfering. So it was hardly the same. Since I didn’t need to write about the city officials or their presentations, I ignored all that in favor of sizing up potential interviews. The moment the minister wrapped up his speech dedicating the people of Packhaven and this particular neighborhood, I’d be ready to dive into my new job.