"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 amusement right now."
"Amusement?"
"Yes. Just think how a little farm down here in Pine