15. Chapter 15

Chapter fifteen

"My brain works just fine."

B y St. Patrick's Day, Gage was getting a little tired of all the social events. It was keeping him from the paper. And since he was running things by himself, he always felt like he was playing catch-up. The bad weather hadn't helped. Their early winter was lingering on. Typically, the weather started warming up by mid-March. And they would get only the occasional snowstorm. They'd get a few inches, that would melt away in a couple of days. But this year, they'd had snow on the ground since the end of February. And the current storm was expected to drop several more inches.

Gage drove into town from his cabin on a freshly plowed road. But the falling snow made it hard to see. He was glad when he reached the outskirts of Calaway Crossing. And even more relieved when he parked in front of the newspaper office. The paper was coming out tomorrow, but he needed to finish laying it out by early afternoon. He was helping Paxton in the bar tonight.

As he sat down at the computer, he realized he still had two articles to finish. He needed help. He could call Clementine. But he didn't want her out on the roads. He stared at the phone for a moment, then dialed Sydney's number. She lived in town where the roads were all kept plowed.

She answered with, "I already told you I'd be there tonight."

"That's not why I'm calling."

"Okay. What then?"

Sydney had continued to be distant. They only talked when she accompanied him to events. So he was reluctant to ask for her help. But he needed it.

"I need a big favor."

"You're running out of favors, Gage."

"Can you give me a few hours at the paper? You can trade it for tonight."

"What do you need help with?"

"Layout. Every week I get a little farther behind. And with St. Patrick's Day tonight, I won't be able to work on the paper."

"Just layout?"

"Yes. I need to finish a couple of articles. And I still need to choose some photos. The classifieds are a mess."

"Fine. I'll come in. But this is a onetime thing."

"I know. Thank you."

"I'll be there soon."

She ended the call, and he put the receiver down. Even with her help, it would be tight. He really didn't want to come back after working the bar all night. But he would if he had to. He went to work on the articles while he waited for Sydney.

Thirty minutes later, she came through the door with a gust of wind and blowing snow, then removed her coat, hat, and gloves and went to the design computer. She looked at the screen.

"You haven't even started."

He was in his office, but the door was open and he could see her at the computer desk. "I told you I was behind."

She got up and started the coffee machine, then returned to the computer. "And what are you doing?"

"I'll send what I finished over to you. It's the second page, first column. The other one will be done soon."

"And the photos?"

"I'll get to them. Just leave it blank for now." His frustration made his response a little harsh, and he glanced at her. "Sorry."

She nodded her head and got to work.

A few minutes later, he remembered the classifieds needed work. "Can you take a look at the classifieds? Seems everyone wants to sell something this week. The classified ads only came out once a week in the Thursday edition. Which made that edition more popular. He always printed out an extra hundred copies on Thursdays.

They were both quiet as they worked, and Gage wondered if she was glad to be back. If only for the day. He did know he was glad to have her.

For some reason, his brain wasn't working and Gage was having trouble coming up with the right word for the title of his article. He leaned back in his chair and blew out a breath.

"What's another word for reflected?"

"Mirrored. Echoed. Manifested." Sydney was a bit of a walking thesaurus. But he wasn't happy with any of the choices. She added, "Signaled?"

He read the title using the word signaled. "Yes. That's it." He made the correction, then sent the finished article to Sydney's computer. "I'll decide on the photos now."

She looked at him. "Have you eaten today?"

"Um…I had a bowl of cereal around six."

Sydney cocked her head. "It's almost one. You need to eat. You'll think better with some food in your stomach."

"How do you figure?"

"Your brain needs fuel to work properly."

"My brain works just fine."

"I'd say the signal from your empty stomach tells a different story. And the fact you couldn't come up with another word for reflected, echoes that theory."

"Funny."

"Go eat. I've got this."

Gage knew he wasn't going to win the argument. He stood and stretched, then left his office, stopping to look at what she'd been doing on the computer.

"It's lopsided."

She looked up at him. "How do you mean?"

"Move the house fire story under the ‘benefit to make repairs to the docks' story."

"But nothing else fits there. The interview with Bobby Edward's about the new water tender is too short."

"Excuse me?"

"I wasn't commenting on your article. It's just shorter than the benefit article."

Gage sighed, then pointed at the screen. "Switch these two. That should fix it."

"Okay."

He put his coat on. "Do you want anything from the café?"

"No, thank you."

"So, your brain works just fine on an empty stomach?"

"I had more than a bowl of cereal for breakfast." She looked at him. "What grown man eats cereal for breakfast?"

"Most of the grown men in the Calaway family, if you must know."

He went to the door. "I'm bringing you back some soup."

"I'm not hungry."

He opened the door and went outside. The snow was really coming down, and the wind was blowing it sideways right into his face. This didn't help his mood, and by the time he went the two blocks to the café, he was covered with snow and royally pissed off. He went through the door and let it close hard behind him.

Cassie looked up from behind the counter. The café was empty. "Did the wind catch the door?"

"Yeah. Let's go with that." He crossed the room to the counter. "Where are all of your customers?"

"Safe at home where they should be."

"And why aren't you safe at home?"

"I thought I'd stay just in case the wind blew in a grumpy newspaperman."

"Grumpy, huh?"

"Little bit, yeah."

He smiled. "Just having a bad day. Sorry."

"It's fine. I'd be grumpy too if I was covered in snow."

Gage looked at his coat and the snow on the floor around him. "Whoops. I'm making a mess."

"It's fine. It'll give me something to do. What can I get you?"

He took a moment to think about what sounded good to him. "What kind of soup do you have?"

"Navy Bean. I only made the one today."

"That sounds great. Can I get a turkey sandwich and two bowls of soup?"

"Sure. Who is the other bowl for?"

He sat on a stool. "I called Sydney and asked her to come in and help with the layout."

"And she came?"

"Yeah. I'm not sure why. Or why she's still there. I've been an ass since she arrived."

"I think she misses you. Or maybe she misses the paper."

He smiled. "I think it's the paper, not me."

"I'll get your food. You want some coffee while you wait?"

"I've had more than enough coffee today."

She nodded, then went into the kitchen. Gage stared at the pie cabinet, which only had a few pies in it, and thought about Sydney. It was great having her in the office. So why was he being a jerk? The layout was fine the way she had it. But he knew she'd change it for him. You're such an ass.

When the food was ready, Gage gave Cassie a generous tip, then went out to brave the snow again. At least on the way back, the wind was behind him.

Like when Sydney had arrived, Gage came through the door with a gust of wind and snow. Sydney got up to take the food from him while he took off his jacket and shook off the snow. He hung it next to the wood stove in the corner of the room. He then removed his boots and set them next to the stove. Sydney glanced at his mismatched socks, but didn't say anything as she handed him the bag of food. Gage took out one of the containers of soup and a spoon, then set it on her desk.

She cocked her head. "Didn't I say I wasn't hungry?"

"Just eat it."

He returned to his desk, opened his soup, and unwrapped his sandwich. As he ate, he went through the photos for the paper. He chose the ones he wanted, then sent them to Sydney's computer.

She looked at him through the doorway. "Is that all of them?"

"That's it."

"Thank you for the soup."

"You're welcome."

She spent twenty minutes inserting the photographs while Gage ate. Then she looked at him again. "Do you want to look at this?"

"No. I trust you."

"Really? Because you didn't trust me an hour ago."

He sighed. "Just wrap it up, Sydney."

"I'll feel better if you come look at it."

He finished his last bite of soup, then stood and went to Sydney's desk. She got to her feet, and he sat in her chair. It all looked good.

"It's perfect. Thank you."

"You can tell me if it isn't."

He glanced at her. "It's fine, Sydney."

"It's just that, you using the word perfect is…uncharacteristic. You don't like to use that word."

He got to his feet. "In this instance, it fits."

"Okay." She sat back down. "Do you want me to send it to the printer? Or do you want to look at it again in the morning with fresh eyes?"

"Print it. I'm not sure how fresh my eyes will be in the morning. And I don't want to come in early if I don't have to."

"I'll send it to the printer." She looked at him. "Are you planning on drinking tonight?"

"It is St. Patrick's Day. And I am Irish."

"You're also about to become the mayor."

He folded his arms across his chest. "Are you afraid I'll disgrace myself?"

"No. Of course not."

"I'll try not to get sloppy drunk."

"That's not what I meant." She went to the printer to make sure the pages were printing properly. "You're in a mood today."

"Apparently, I'm in a mood every day. Isn't that why you quit?"

She turned to face him. "You know that's not the reason I left."

"Right."

She went to put her coat on.

Gage shook his head and went to her. "I'm sorry. I'm just feeling overwhelmed with all the mayor crap. Which has put me behind. I'm never behind."

"I'm glad I could help."

He touched her arm. "Thank you, Sydney. Truly. I appreciate it."

Her face soften. "Three more weeks until the election. Hang in there. Things will calm down after that."

"How do you figure? Come May first, I take over for Bessler."

"I think doing the job will be a lot easier than campaigning for it."

"I hope you're right."

"I'm always right." She gave him a small smile. "And the layout was fine before you made me change it."

He returned her smile. "I know it was."

"Have fun tonight."

"Working the bar on St. Patrick's Day isn't really fun. But I might have some fun after the bar closes. Although Pax will want to get home to Elaina. She's a week overdue."

"You might get home at a decent hour after all."

"I'm still not coming in early tomorrow."