Looking For You All My Life Part 14

now. Spencer had eagerly filled the floor-to-ceiling book-

shelves he'd so beautifully refinished with her many boxes of

books that had been stored out in the barn. Probably just in

the nick of time too as Jed had warned her that mice would

27.

28Melody Carlson

come in from the cold to nibble and nest in there. Naturally,

Spencer hadn't bothered to organize her books, but just

seeing them on the shelves brought comfort, and she could

rearrange them more carefully later-perhaps on some cold,

snowy day. She glanced over to the desk Jed had made for

her. It was so perfect for this room with its dark, gleaming

wood and clean Craftsman lines. And then Audrey had

donated the old mahogany office chair; it had once belonged

to Maggie's grandfather, a newspaper man himself. He had

used it at his own desk while working for the San Francisco

Herald. Maggie had added some rich earth-toned pillows

and other decorative touches, along with numerous candles,

which she now took time to light. The cozy room glowed

with warmth and personality. Before closing the wooden

shutters, she peered out the window to the darkness outside.

She wondered if and when this predicted dusting of snow

might actually occur. Like a young child looking forward to

Christmas, she antic.i.p.ated this first snow with an almost

juvenile eagerness. She wondered if this was simply part of

being the newcomer, or did others feel this way too?

She opened her briefcase and set her notes and tape

recorder on her desk. Tempted to begin her work on Arnold

Westerly's story, she reminded herself that all the facts were

not yet in, and to begin the story too soon would definitely

slant her coverage-as if it weren't slanted already! But she

could go over her notes and prepare some appropriate ques-

tions for Rick, her next interviewee. Rick had sounded reluc-

tant to talk with her on the phone today, but when she

reminded him that the Pine Cone was online now, and an

article about their development would help get the word out

to prospective buyers across the state and country, he'd

instantly grown quite chatty. Now she wondered if that

wasn't just a bit deceptive on her part, though it was true

enough. Only yesterday Scott had reported that their Pine

Cone website was getting an inordinate amount of hits per

week-and from all over the country! Some people were

even phoning Abigail to get more information on tourist Looking for You Alt My Life29

attractions to be found in Pine Mountain. Perhaps it was

time for the business a.s.sociation to consider some alterna-

tive ways to deal with outside inquiries. Certainly the little

Pine Cone wouldn't be able to handle all these calls indefi-

nitely.

"h.e.l.lo," said a deep voice, scattering Maggie's thoughts.

She looked up to see Jed standing in the doorway watching