location.
âYouâre telling me it was just a glitch.â
âIâm saying I want you to put it out there.â
Two weeks into each school year, Sethâs students could recite his lecture on fact checking verbatim. Heâd flunked a girl once for falsifying quotes; heâd stood firm with a student whom Shipley pressed to reveal sources. Lobel made a satisfied sound. Seth choked down an unsatisfied sound of his own. âYou might be better served with a press release from your office.â
âNah,â Lobel clapped Sethâs shoulder. âLetâs keep it in the family. Theyâre all reading you anyhow. As far as I can tell, thatâs how the jackals got the story in the first place.â
âAm I supposed to feel bad about that?â A childâs life was at stake. For all anyone knew that Rosko woman was senile.
âNot at all, son.â Lobel had to be gracious, considering that he was asking what he was asking. âYou do your job.â
âOf course I will,â said Seth.
Lobel beamed as if heâd heard a promise. Seth walked him out. Nicky tried for his attention. âIâll have your editor back in two shakes,â Lobel said, and something ugly bloomed in Sethâs gut hearing the title. They waited for the elevator. No one ever took the stairs in The Commons. Lobel asked, âYou kids settling in all right?â
âWeâre renting a place about ten miles south.â
âRockpoint Townhomes?â
âParklands.â Seth fumbled a little for the developmentâs name, though he passed it twice a day, spelled out at its entrance in an ornate font. So many places here were like that. Grandly labeled and fenced in, as if the gate itself made what lay beyond worthy of taxonomy and display.
Lobel nodded. âNice area. My pool guy put theirs in, too. Though between you and me, itâs a buyerâs market. You and Alison should look into something permanent. Especially if you want children.â
Seth could rip out that tongue like a fat, wet root.
âNo rush, though. You kids enjoy each other a while first. Youâll miss it after, being just the two of you.â The elevator door opened and Seth wanted it to swallow his boss. Hoagland Lobel stepped on. He held a hand out to stop the sliding doors. âI see Alison now and again. Thought she couldnât top that old Hollywood stuff she dug up, but this Adah ChalkâIâve half a mind to rename Centerville Commons Adahstown, seeing as itâs her hundred fiftieth birthday next month. Thatâll distract from all this fuss. A little rebranding goes a long way.â
Adah Chalk came West as a mail-order bride.
Adah Chalk saved the herd from a flash flood.
Adah Chalk ran the telegraph office, cured rattler bites with a secret poultice, taught English to migrants, drove the first automobile for a hundred miles, corresponded with Susan B. Anthony, won blue ribbons with her slices of lemon pie. Dear God, was he ever sick of Adah Constance Ragsdale Chalk.
The elevator door strained against Lobelâs hand. âAdahstown. Or maybe Adahstowne with an E . One or the other. No tofu, now. Which do you think is best?â Lobel was all unweighted affability. Evidently, it had not occurred to him that Seth might have a conscience.
âIâd say check with Ali,â Seth said. âSheâll know whatâs in keeping with the period.â
âWill do, partner, and thanks for the talk.â
Partner. The doors closed.
C U NEXT TUESDAY
Secanthelpit : mother teresa!
LilyBee : So very not in the mood.
Secanthelpit : nah, i kid. itâs genius. like those pageant chickies. philanthropy stops the h8ters dead. This tyson thingâs a gift from the cybergods. mater and paterfamilias will HAVE to let you back. lipsticklil 4eva!
LilyBee : If youâre going to use words like paterfamilias and philanthropy I suspect you can also use caps
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