Midlife Love Affair

I rolled my eyes. “They always do.”

“Thank you for this, Lacey. Truly. What a nice thing to do. Now I’m really glad I sat down with you.” Which I knew he’d only done because he was a TGB fanboy. “Also it gave me a good reason to avoid the thousandth tour of the property.”

My eyes widened in horror. “It’s a great property but it doesn’t quite require a thousand tours for one couple.”

“Right?” He shook his head. “But Chelsea wants everything to be perfect and I just want to marry her, so here we are.” Exactly the sentiment of a man who actually wanted to be married.

“Good luck to you, Lewis.”

“Thanks.” His face lit up in that way that told me the woman of his dreams was close by. “Hey Chelsea, look what I got!” He showed off the swag, including the calendar and watching them share a laugh, I realized Carlotta was right. I did need to move on, at least to look like I’d moved on so the whole town didn’t think I was pining after my ex. We never looked at each other the way Chelsea and Lewis did. We didn’t fit.

“This is so great,” she squealed. “Thank you, Lacey! Now we can both enjoy The Gregory Brothers.” Her laugh was contagious. “What’s the newspaper website again? I’d love to save the interview when it goes up.”

Just like that, Chelsea’s words reminded me of all the problems I had shoved aside simply so I could get on with the business of day to day life. “It will be up on all social media sites and I’ll make sure to tag Lewis and you, if you’d like?”

Her brows furrowed in confusion and I felt the bile rise up in my throat because I knew what she was thinking. It’s the twenty-first century and we don’t have an online presence. “Yeah, sure. That would be great.”

After tossing out a few half-hearted farewells, I stomped to my car, so angry I could chew up nails and spit out a barbed wire fence. How embarrassing, to have to admit that a real working newspaper didn’t have a proper web presence. I was fit to be tied even after a long lunch and a longer walk around the park.

The office wasn’t empty when I made my way back, so there was an audience of one—Levi—for my angry steps through the bullpen and to my office, where I stayed for the next few hours editing the stories and working on the layout to send the paper to the printer. Because I worked in the nineteen-sixties. Luckily, it was all muscle memory at this point and it didn’t take much time, giving me plenty of time to look into what it would take to get the paper up and running online as well.

I made notes on things like domain names and web hosting services, search engine optimization and servers. By the time I had all the information I needed, I felt as if I could open my own online news source. “Maybe I can.” It was something I hadn’t considered, not seriously, but now that I had all the information to get started, maybe it was time to give it proper consideration.

But that was for another day because it was edging toward six in the evening and I needed to get home to check in with Stevie. She was old enough to stay home on her own for a few hours but I still didn’t like leaving her alone for too long. The day was long and I was mentally and physically exhausted so I grabbed my bag and jacket, and exited my office only to stifle a groan at the sight of Daddy leaning back in his chair with his feet propped up on his desk. “See you tomorrow.” I picked up my pace and hurried towards the door to avoid another run-in.

I tried to anyway.

“Clocking out early?” It would be impossible to miss the admonishment in his tone and as much as I tried, I couldn’t. I turned and scowled at my own daddy. “The paper is put to bed and at the printer so yes, I’m leaving for the day. It’s not like there’s a place to offer news that might happen overnight anyway.”

He smacked his lips and shook his head. “It’s just a question, girl.”

“It’s never just a question with you and I’m not a girl. What’s the problem Daddy?”

“No problem,” he said casually. Too dang casually for my liking. “I’m just wondering if that’s how you plan to run the paper when you take over.”

Those last words were just what I needed to hear to remind me that I did have another option. I shrugged, working hard to appear casual. “Seeing as that is never gonna happen, I don’t know why you’re worrying yourself with fantasies. Good night, Daddy.” Feeling good because I said what had been unspoken between us for more than a year, I walked out of the building with more energy in my step, less weight on my shoulders.