40b1ce81e27faee7f7dcd22da99b93e1

“I’ll tell you what the secret is,” said Tex finally, having given the matter some thought—the first time in his life he had, in fact. “It’s being a role model, son.”

“Uh-huh. Makes sense.”

“Setting a good example.”

“Okay.”

“And most importantly: by always being positive and upbeat.” He wagged a finger in his son-in-law’s face. “Never let them see you sad, kid. That’s the secret.”

“Never let them see you sad,” Chase repeated, clearly in awe of these wise words. “I like it, Dad. I really do. Never let them see you sad. Simple but brilliant.”

He clapped the kid on the back.“You know, I could talk hours about what makes the perfect dad—a dad like me, I mean—but we’ve got an attic to clean out, and daylight is waning, son. So let’s get back to it, shall we?”

“Sure thing,” said Chase, but it was obvious he was still mulling over Tex’s words, those pearls of wisdom the doctor had casually dispensed to his Padawan.

It touched Tex’s heart. A wise man passing on his wisdom to his young son. How wonderful. How moving. Now if only he knew what he was talking about.

CHAPTER 5

[Êàðòèíêà: img_2]

Vesta Muffin and Scarlett Canyon were hard at work in the offices of theHampton Cove Gazette, where editor-in-chief Dan Goory had given them their own desk. The two ladies wrote the Dear Gabi column for theGazette, which had become quite a hit with readers, and was, according to the SEO boffin Dan had once hired to overhaul the website, one of the most-read, best-rated items on the site.

“What a pile,” Vesta sighed as she leaned back. Along with the growing success of their column, the number of letters and emails had also exploded, and it wasn’t unusual to get dozens of them every single day. Up to them the task of selecting those few nuggets that would be of interest to theGazette’s wider readership.

“Now this is odd,” said Scarlett as she frowned at her screen.

“What is?”

“Three different emails from three different people, but all of them from the same company. At least I think they’re from the same company. Their email addresses all end with ‘advantagepublishing.com.’” She looked up. “Advantage Publishing is the company that publishes—”

“Glimmer,” said Vesta, her interest piqued.Glimmer was only one of the most popular women’s magazines in the country. Right up there withGood Housekeeping,Vogue andCosmopolitan.“So what are they saying?”

“Well, the first one is from a Natalie Ferrara. She says she’s pregnant with her boss’s baby, only her boss doesn’t want the baby. In fact he told her to get an abortion, and not only that, but he broke up with her and now she’s on her own.”

“What a jerk.”

Scarlett nodded.“She says she can’t stop crying, and doesn’t know what to do.”

“She still works for the guy who knocked her up and then dumped her?”

“The email doesn’t say,” said Scarlett. “But I suppose so.”

“If I could just lay my hands on the guy…”

“And then there’s Tom Mitchell. He says he’s been in love with one of his colleagues for years, but she doesn’t even know he exists. He wants to know how to get out of the friend zone.”

“If she doesn’t know he exists, he’s not even in the friend zone,” Vesta commented. “More like the nothing zone.”

“And finally we have Doris Booth, whose boss just gave her a copy ofElements of Style, by Strunk and White, basically telling her she can’t spell.” She looked up. “Doris works as a publicist, so language is supposed to be her special skill. Her forte. I think it’s safe to say she’s pretty upset about the whole business.”

“I can imagine,” Vesta murmured. “What’s going on at Advantage? Three people write us on the same day. A pregnant woman dumped by her boss, a guy hopelessly in love with a colleague, and a woman being insulted by her boss.”

“Pity we don’t know more,” said Scarlett as she scanned through the first email once again. It had clearly touched a chord. “Tough to give advice. I mean, what can you tell these people?”

“Not a lot,” Vesta agreed.

“What are the rules on Gabi getting in touch with these people and teasing some more information out of them?”

“I don’t think it’s the done thing.”

“No, I didn’t think so either.”

They both pondered the issue for a moment, then Vesta’s eyes brightened. “I just had a great idea,” she announced, sitting up a little straighter.

“Uh-oh.”

“Why don’t you and me take the Gabi show on the road?”

“What do you mean?”

“I think we both agree that it’s hard to give advice when you don’t have enough information, right?”

“Right.”

“So why don’t we get the information we need the old-fashioned way?” And when Scarlett simply stared at her, not comprehending, she added, “We apply for a job at Advantage Publishing, get to know this trio of letter writers, and then we can tailor our advice to their needs!”

Scarlett’s frown indicated she wasn’t as excited as she could have been. Her next words confirmed this. “I think you’re nuts.”