Free Beach Lane by Sherryl Woods Page B

knew back then?” she asked.
    “No, but…”
    She frowned at his negative attitude. “These are just ideas, Mack. Don’t dismiss them out of hand or make excuses for why they won’t work. Think about the independence you’d have with your own blog. Or imagine how exciting it could be to start something brand-new, something that’s needed in this community. You could shape it into the kind of newspaper you always dreamed of working for.”
    Mack continued to look skeptical. “I don’t know,” he murmured.
    “Just think about it,” Susie ordered. “That’s my contribution for now,” she said. “I have an appointment. Go home and do what you do best, ponder. I’m not saying these two ideas are the only possibilities, but even you have to admit they’re interesting options. And either one is better than packing up and leaving your home.”
    “True,” he conceded. “I knew there was a reason I came by here today.”
    She gave him a chiding look. “You came by here to apologize for leaving me out of the loop,” she corrected. “Now that you’ve seen what a help I can be, next time maybe you won’t be so reluctant to talk to me.”
    Mack grinned at her. “Of course, if I follow your advice and take on either of these challenges, I’ll be my own boss, and there won’t even be a next time.”
    “Mack, there will always be a next time when you’ll need to make a choice about either trusting me or keeping something to yourself,” she said. “If this incident is an indication of some pattern, I’ll tell you now that I won’t stand for it.”
    She was relieved to see that her comment actually seemed to shake him a bit.
    She stood up, planted a kiss on his cheek, then walked out of the office. “Lock up when you leave,” she called back over her shoulder, not bothering to wait for him.
    The man had a lot of thinking to do, and they both knew he’d do it best without her hovering over him.
    She’d hover tomorrow. Or the next day. And probably for days after that.

    Mack was too restless to sit around in his apartment. Over the past few years he’d gotten used to spending his evenings with Susie. Now that the truth was out and she understood his situation, there was no reason for that habit not to resume.
    Okay, there was one reason. Things were obviously changing between them, and the timing for that still sucked, but he couldn’t seem to keep himself from walking over to her apartment around dinnertime. He needed a booster shot of her eternal optimism.
    When she opened her door, he shoved his hands into his pockets and inquired casually, “Have you eaten yet?”
    Her expression brightened. “You’ve seen my refrigerator. What do you think?”
    Relief spread through him. Things weren’t going to be awkward between them, after all. Thank goodness for that. “Italian? Chinese? French?”
    “Pizza?” she asked hopefully.
    He shook his head. “Between you, Will and Jake, that’s my primary food group these days.”
    “Are you complaining?”
    “Not really, but I’d wanted to take you someplace a little fancier. How about Brady’s instead?”
    She shook her head at once. “No way.”
    He studied her with a narrowed gaze. “You don’t need to be worrying about the expense, Susie. I’m not destitute yet.”
    “It’s not that,” she insisted. “We never go to Brady’s, except to the bar from time to time. It’s one of those places that people reserve for special occasions.”
    “Maybe tonight’s a special occasion,” he said, suddenly determined to go to Brady’s for reasons that had more to do with pride than any real desire for an excellent crabcake.
    “What are we celebrating?” she asked, looking suspicious. “You haven’t found some new job in Alaska or someplace else halfway across the world, have you? Are you going to stuff me with crabmeat and fine wine, then break the bad news to me?”
    “Hardly. I thought we could celebrate getting past what happened.”
    “If we