Hoping for that level of acceptance from GG was about as realistic as asking for the moon, which meant acceptance was off the table. “And you, Val?”
She shrugged. “Necessity mostly. I didn’t need the money, but I needed a purpose, a reason besides the girls to get up each day. I always wanted to be a photographer, and without anyone telling me it was a ridiculous and unrealistic way to earn a living, I decided to go for it.”
I was already in my chosen field, just not in the capacity I wanted, and if nothing changed, which it wouldn’t as long GG had a say, then I had to force the change myself. I had to do this or else I would spend my life regretting every significant choice I’d ever made.
“I’m thinking of leaving the paper.”
“Because of Levi?” Carlotta’s long lashes fanned in her blinking disbelief.
“No, because of Daddy. I thought I would be running the paper by now, bringing it into the twenty-first century, but I’m starting to realize that’s never going to happen.”
“Have you spoken to him?” Val’s eyes were wide with concern behind her glasses?
I nodded. “More than once. We got into a huge fight yesterday over Levi’s front page story.”
“On Adrienne Sands? That was such a wonderful yet tragic story,” Carlotta exhaled, hand to her chest like an overwhelmed southern gentlewoman.
“It was fantastic,” Valona agreed. “I was surprised to see it in the Daily Journal, to be honest.”
“Exactly! That was why we fought, that story isn’t the kind we usually print, and definitely not on the front page. The problem is that I’ve been waiting twenty years to do stories just like that. We’re just not on the same page. Period.” I tried not to revisit the anger I felt yesterday when he repeatedly called me a little girl, because it only highlighted my greatest fear, that he would never see me as capable of running the paper without him.
“Sounds like your mind is already made up.” Carlotta’s words were more certain than I felt.
“I know that I have to do it, and I’ve got things lined up to make the jump, but it’s not that easy.” I’d worked beside Daddy since high school, helping run the paper and secure ads. He’d even let me run the police blotter my senior year in high school. “It feels disloyal to leave.”
Valona reached out and put her soft hand on top of mine. “But it sounds like staying would be a level of hell for you.”
“Good for you,” Carlotta added. “Don’t stay to please GG if he doesn’t appreciate your presence. You’ll never get what you want from him, so you have to find a way to change your relationship to one you won’t regret when he’s gone.”
Carlotta’s words stuck with me for a long time after lunch was over, and the more I sat with them, the happier I was that I’d already purchased a domain name, consulted a web designer and looked into ways to monetize the site beyond subscriptions.
Things were coming together nicely, which made me feel better about looking out for my future. I didn’t want GG to ever die, obviously, but I also didn’t want death to be the way I finally got to run the paper the way I wanted. So my choice was simple, it was time to leave the only job I’d ever had.
Since I’d avoided the office—and GG—for most of the day, I decided to go home and jot down a few ideas on stories I wanted to write for my new venture. I had plenty of ideas over the years, and many of them came back to me as soon as I started the list, but after a while the ideas fizzled out completely.
“Dammit.” Why was it easier to come up with human interest stories for the Daily Journal every single day than to come up with a few interesting stories? “Because Daddy broke me.” Was I even capable of writing hard-hitting stories anymore? “Dammit!”
I glanced at the clock and my shoulders sank in relief. Stevie had cheerleading practice for another hour, and then a study session, which gave me two hours to pick the brain of the best journalist I knew.
“Lacey.” Levi’s surprised but welcoming smile told me that coming to him was the right decision. “This is a treat.”
He was a treat for the eyes in his gray V-neck sweater that almost made him seem like the stuffy professor type if not for the checkered collared shirt he wore underneath. His legs were hugged snugly by a pair of much beloved jeans, feet in nothing but a pair of cotton socks. “Are you busy?”
“For you I always have time.” His smile was pure seduction and I couldn’t help but blush even as I rolled my eyes.