Page 114 of The Calendar of New Beginnings
So she was going. “What’s that?”
“Aren’t you going to ask me about the assignments?”
He harrumphed. “None of my affair.” Even if he’d cut his right arm off for details. But he had sources. He didn’t have to get all his information directly, especially in his own family.
“I’m making them shorter. Ten days to two weeks and more spread out now. I’m going to places that aren’t active war zones for the moment until I get more comfortable with being back in the field.”
“That lowers my blood pressure considerably,” he said,fingering the calendar.
“I’m going to try taking some photos in black and white to see if that helps any of the color vision issues until my brain learns how to combine the two different images it’s seeing into a more cohesive frame. I’ve talked to a few of the people I’ve worked for in the past, and they’re amenable to working through the issue. And then I’ll decide if I need a collaborator to touch things up after I’ve taken a pass. We’ll have to see. As you said, I can figure it out.”
“Why does everyone feel the need to repeat me?” he asked, crossing his arms. “But all of that sounds good.”
She rose and kissed his cheek, which he only pretended to hate.
“We quote you because you’re so wise. Thanks again, Arthur.”
“You have that op-ed on my desk next week,” he said, giving her a wink.
She gave a wave and sauntered off. He had plans for her. Ones that included her working at his newspaper. He hadn’t figured everything out yet, what with Meredith being away on maternity leave, but he would.The Western Independentwould continue to report world events long after he was gone. And they could quote him on that!
It was time for the next generation to take over, and Lucy was one of the people he wanted to succeed him. He eyed Meredith and Tanner. Heaven had wrapped up his retirement in a red bow and plopped it in his lap when those two hitched up. And now there was Lucy. She was going to figure out how to take world-class photos again—of that he had no doubt—but she was also going to settle down with his great-nephew and have babies. Arthur had already bought a child’s camera for their first born in case he wasn’t around.
It was like Lucy had said in the calendar. Death came to everyone, and he’d heard it knocking on his door for some time now. He’d made his peace with it.
His fingers traced the dedication Lucy had written on the back of the calendar. It was so compelling, he found himself reading it again. Raw words filled with power and truth deserved to be memorized.
This calendar represents a new collage of subjects for me. Every month captures the complexity of what it means to be human. We all die, and that’s a fact. And we all suffer loss. How can we not if we love?
All of the people photographed in this calendar represent what it means to keep living, to essentially continue being human. Some of them still hold that sense of whimsy from the memory of a loved one. Others are still experiencing the piercing, bone-cutting pain of loss. And then there are those who have reached peace and acceptance and found a way to smile again.
All of these emotions matter. All of them are real. All of them deserved to be seen and honored. Regardless of the losses we all endure, they mark a transition point, one we have chosen to call a new beginning. And so life continues in all its majesty and mystery…
Want the full Dare Valley experience? Check out the audiobook! Narrated by the acclaimed Em Eldridge.
WillMoira be able to convince Chase to makeahome with her and trust in something as sweet as love? Find out in Home Sweet Love.
HOME SWEET LOVE
DARE VALLEY BOOK 10
Chapter One
Chase Parker didn’t like the thought of rubbing elbows with his mortal enemy.
Certainly not at the invitation-only fundraiser he and his work colleagues were planning. Moira Hale, the intriguing new director of The Artemis Institute of Innovation, was the one who’d made the ludicrous suggestion. Of course, he couldn’t exactly blame her. She had no way of knowing Maurie Wallins, the CEO of K-Barker, was his mortal enemy or why.
The asshole had slept with his wife. His now ex-wife.
Which was not the kind of thing a professional could mention in a business meeting.
Chase and Moira were sitting ina conference room at The Grand Mountain Hotel with the man who had brought them together—Evan Michaels, their boss. He and Moira represented the two branches of Evan’s work. While Chase was the chief financial officer of Quid-Atch, the global defense contractor company that had made billions with Evan’s inventions, Moira would be running Artemis, Evan’s pet philanthropy project—a private institute designed to foster young inventors with seed money and training. So far, Artemis was in the start-up phase.
This team-building weekend in Dare Valley, Colorado, where Evan and Moira both lived, had been Evan’s idea. He’d wanted them to plan Artemis’ first fundraiser together to ensure they were all on the same page.
Right now they were not.
“I can’t believe you want to invite Quid-Atch’s competitors to Artemis’ first fundraiser, Moira.”
