Page 36 of A Moment In Time

“Yeah.”

He blew out a breath. “Well. Right now, I have too many irons in the fire. No time to think about the possibilities, let alone be open to them.”

“Right. You’re the next mayor of Calaway Crossing.”

“Damn. What am I getting myself into?”

Chapter eleven

"I wonder about Pax from time to time."

Sydney talked to Clementine, who talked to the school principal, and arranged for the seventh grade class to take a field trip to the Calaway Report newspaper office. Gage was regretting he had agreed to it. Twenty twelve-year-olds milling about, touching everything, asking questions, and invading his space.

The morning of the field trip, Gage was in a grumpy mood. He got to the office early to make sure nothing valuable or breakable wasn’t lying around, then he went to his office to sulk. He knew he was being a baby, but he couldn’t help it.

When there was a tap on his door, he knew it had to be Sydney. “Come on in.”

She opened the door and peered in. “How are you doing?”

He tilted his head and looked at her. “How do you think?”

She came into the office. “It’ll be fine.”

“How do you figure?”

She moved to the desk and sat down in front of it. “Why does this bother you so much?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know.” He blew out a breath. “I know it shouldn’t. This is like my second home. So it’s like we have invited them into my house. And I don’t let random people come to my house.”

“Hmm. I must be random people then. Because I’ve never been to your house.”

“That’s a discussion for another day.” He straightened up in the chair. “I’ll get through it.”

“Of course you will. Have you had coffee yet?”

“I had some at home. I could use another cup.”

“I’ll get you some coffee. Then get ready. They’ll be here in thirty minutes.”

He nodded. “Yay.”

The tour went better than he thought it would. The kids seemed genuinely interested, especially in the old printing press. They had all written newsworthy articles for English class, and the teacher had picked out four. Gage pre-set the type on the printing press with the headline, Calaway Elementary goes to press. They all eagerly watched as he printed out a copy for each child. The one thing he didn’t show them was his darkroom. That was his sanctuary. Rose hadn’t even been down there. Though she’d asked him a few times to show her. His answer was always the same. “Someday.”

The kids left by noon, and when Sydney closed the door behind the last one, she turned to Gage.

“See, that wasn’t so bad.”

“It was…okay.”

“Printing out the paper for them was a brilliant idea.”

“Well, I can be brilliant sometimes.” He went to the rack by the door and put on his coat. “I need to go get some lunch. Can I bring you back something?”

“I brought a sandwich from home.” He opened the door, and she said, “Maybe some pie?”

“I’ll bring you pie.”

He left the building and walked down the street to the Ambrose Tavern. As he remembered his new social agenda, he smiled at passersby, and stopped to talk twice. Bessler hadn’t yet released the news of his departure. Only Gage’s family knew he was on his way to becoming the next mayor.

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