Looking For You All My Life Part 33

"We'd love to. She's a very sweet dog."

"I'd take her myself, but my husband's allergic to dog

hair. And because I work during the day, she'd be alone

much of the time."

"Don't worry a bit about Lizzie. She has lots of room to

 

run where we live, and she gets along well with our Lab. And

I'll let you know if I learn anything new around here. I plan

to continue following this whole development deal in the

newspaper and, believe me, I won't make it easy on those

guys."

"Thanks." Jeanette's voice sounded sad and weary. "And

we thought the Tanners were our friends."

"So did your grandfather."

There was a long pause and then, "Maggie, if it's any

comfort to you, I don't believe your article killed Grandpa-

you were only the messenger. Rick Tanner and Greg Snider

are responsible for breaking his heart. Let his death be on

their heads."

Maggie wrote down Jeanette's home phone number and

thanked her for calling before she said goodbye. While she

appreciated the kind words, traces of guilt still remained

with her as she unwillingly recalled the sad kitchen scene of

Mr. Westerly crumpled over his newspaper. More than ever

she realized that the printed word was a very powerful thing.

Looking for You All My Life57

At noon she met Jed at the deli. They settled into a corner

table, and she told him all about her conversation with

Jeanette.

"That must make you feel a little better about the whole

thing," suggested Jed as he stirred his coffee.

"Of course, but I'm still furious with Rick and Greg."

"That's understandable. I think a lot of us are still pretty

upset. But don't let your anger eat away at you, Maggie. It's

not worth it."

"I know. Believe me, I know. I guess just hearing the

sound of Jeanette's sad voice got to me. And now I'm all riled

up again. Of course, I'll continue to cover the story in the

paper. I've already started a piece for this week about Mr.

Westerly's death-and how he must've died unhappily. But I

hate running it in our Thanksgiving edition as it's sort of a

downer and we wanted this to be an upbeat issue. But if I

wait until next week, it'll be too late."

"Maybe you could give the article a positive slant. Why

not celebrate Arnold Westerly's well-lived life and accom-

plishments, and then refer to the sadness briefly at the end?"

"That's a great idea, Jed. Thanks."

"And I happen to know he was a man of faith. I'll bet he's

looking down on all this with some amus.e.m.e.nt right now."

"Amus.e.m.e.nt?"

"Yes. Just think how a little farm down here in Pine