Page 15 of Iron Heart
Thinking about it now, I get a mental picture of Mildred and Eddie passing around copies of thePost-Gazetteto all their family members, beaming with pride.
For some reason, the words of their dark, handsome next-door neighbor resonate in my head.
Go on. Brighten up ol’ Millie and Eddie’s day. What’s it gonna cost you?
With a deep sigh, I have to admit he might have had a point. Even though I would never, ever admit it to him if I ever saw him again.
It’s amazing, really, how different this job is from what I thought I’d be doing when I was a student in journalism school. I was trained to believe my future job as a journalist would be sniff out a story that wanted to remain hidden — a story that Iknewlay below the surface — and to dig until I found it.
The job I have now is the opposite. Most of the time, I know that thereisn’ta story — or not much of one, anyway. But the people involved aredyingto tell me about it anyway.
I remember once, right before I moved here to Ironwood, I was in my bedroom with my mom, packing up my things. I was pretty down about how I would probably never get the chance to cover a big, important story in my entire career, and said so.
“You know what my acting coach in college always used to say to us?” Mom replied. “There are no small parts. Only small actors.”
“That’s just what they tell the extras, to keep them from bailing on the production,” I remember grumbling.
After I file my story, I tell Frank I’m taking off to go get a haircut and grab some lunch. My appointment at Curl Up and Dye is a little reward I’ve been looking forward to — a little bit of pampering time, where I don’t have to think about anything job-related for a while. I’m even smiling a little bit as I leave thePost-Gazetteoffices and walk toward my car in the parking lot across the street.
Just as I get to my car, I hear my phone tinkling softly. I hit the unlock button on my key fob and distractedly reach into my leather tote bag. It’s my housemate and bestie, Savannah.
“Hey,” I say into the phone as I slide behind the steering wheel.
“Hey, Tor,” Savannah replies, a worried tone to her voice. “So, um, I just came back from Jeremy’s this morning, and the refrigerator was making this weird buzzing sound. Then it just kind of stopped working.”
“Shit. Really?” My stomach does an unpleasant little flip. That’s a new refrigerator, just bought a couple months ago. “Is it the fridge itself, do you think? Or the outlet?”
“I’m not sure,” she says. “But it smells a little weird in here, too. Like something that’s too hot.”
“Dammit. Okay, could you go downstairs to the fuse box? It’s just to the left of the washing machine. Can you go check, and see whether the fuse is blown?”
Savannah keeps me on the phone as she goes downstairs. I wait as she locates the fuse box, and eventually she’s able to confirm that there are two blown fuses.
“What do you want me to do with the stuff in the fridge?” she asks. “It’s gonna spoil if we leave it in there.”
“There’s not much, I don’t think.” I guess it’s lucky I don’t cook at home very often. “There’s maybe a half-eaten pint of ice cream in the freezer, and some milk and shredded cheese in the fridge. I guess just dump out whatever is going to spoil.”
“Will do,” Savannah replies. “Also, your pills are sitting here on the counter. You left without them today.”
“Oh, crap. Thanks. I took one this morning, so I’m okay.” I stifle a chuckle. Savannah’s always watching out for me. My mother couldn’t ask for a better roommate for me if she tried. “It’s a new refill. Guess I forgot to toss them in my bag this morning.”
“You want me to run them over to you at the paper office?”
“No, that’s okay,” I tell her as I turn my key in the ignition. “I’ll be fine. And I’m on my way to get a haircut anyway. I won’t need them before I get back home.”
“Okay. I gotta run. Talk to you later.”
“Smooches.”
Savannah hangs up, and I toss my phone back into my bag, smiling. Savannah’s been my best friend for years. She’s one of the main reasons I decided to accept Frank Lamoine’s offer of a job and move into my aunt’s house, instead of just selling the place instead.
I’ve known Savannah since I was twelve. We met at the pool that summer while I was staying with Aunt Jeanne. From the first day, we were thick as thieves. Between Savannah and Jeanne, the summers I spent here during my teen years always felt like coming home.
Unlike me, Savannah has always been perfectly happy living in Ironwood as an adult. Whereas my childhood dreams had involved traveling the world, her plan was always to stay here, in the community where she grew up. She works as a vet tech now, and has plans to become a veterinarian and take over the clinic where she works when her boss retires. She’s lived with me since I moved into Aunt Jeanne’s place. Her boyfriend, Jeremy, is a real estate agent when he’s not working on launching his own home renovation business.
I keep waiting for Savannah to come to me and break the news that she and Jeremy have decided to move in together. So far it hasn’t happened yet — even though she spends almost every night sleeping at his place these days.
Unfortunately, I suspect the reason for that is me.