Teacher's Pet

I shook my head. "I'm not in it for the money or the accolades," I said.

"Those things are important," Ford said.

I leaned back in his office chair and fixed him with a sharp look. "This coming from the man that is currently missing his own awards reception at Landsman College."

"It's only for being a good example. They don't expect me to actually show up to receive it," Ford joked.

I crossed my arms. "I thought we had fun the last time we were dressed up and on campus."

He smiled at the memory of me in my formal, black dress. "Well, we could go and do that, but I really had something else in mind."

"Do I have to remind you again that these walls are glass?" I joked.

Ford grinned and stood up. He held out both hands and pulled me to my feet. "Nah, I don't have to hide this from my staff because they covered for me while I went home and got everything packed."

His intern lugged two suitcases to the office door and dropped them off with a jaunty salute.

I looked from the suitcases to Ford in surprise. "What's this?"

"This," Ford said, taking my arm and gathering up the suitcases in his other hand. "Is me taking you away on a road trip."

We went out the office doors and found his car waiting at the curb.

"A road trip?" I asked with tears of joy. "I hope it has plenty of detours."

EPILOGUE

"It's okay to admit if you're lost," I said.

Ford scowled and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. I'd never seen him so tense on a road trip. He pushed the accelerator down and seemed determined to beat the clouds to the horizon.

"I'm not lost, I'm just trying to find something special," Ford said between clenched teeth.

"Hey," I joked, "I thought I was your something special."

Ford's jaw relaxed a little. "You're something else, that's for sure. I was just hoping to catch a good sunset before we have to get back to town. Hang on!" He pulled hard on the wheel, and we skidded into the gravel parking lot of a scenic overlook.

I laughed. "This is the same exact overlook you brought me to two years ago. Remember? We finally left on our first road trip, and we stopped here to enjoy the sunset."

Ford leaned back in the driver's seat and shrugged. "Really? I can't quite remember. That was two years and two dozen adventures ago."

"Come on, was the book tour really that bad?" I asked.

"Twelve cities in ten days? No." He reached over and squeezed my knee. "I loved every minute of it."

"You're just anxious to get back to The Mirror and dive back into work," I concluded. "I get it. When you find the work you love, it's hard to be away from it."

"I think people say that about people more often than work," Ford chuckled.

"So, I'm ambitious. I thought you loved that about me. Besides, I'm not the one under deadline at the moment. Don't you have the first fall publication due out at the end of the week?" I asked.

Ford shifted in his car seat and smiled softly at me. "That's right. It's almost Thanksgiving. It's almost exactly the day that I first met you."

I grinned. "Remember what we talked about?"

"I remember you telling me about the headline game you liked to play. How about this one: Couple Misses Stunning Sunset, Stuck in Car."

I laughed and reached for my door handle. Ford jumped out and ran around to open the car door for me. "Here's one for you: Exhausted Editor Fills Empty Spaces with Headlines."