“Perhaps if you start now you won't have to burn the midnight oil too deep into the night,” Jack suggested. “Other than that, I don't know what to tell you.”
Sally thought about telling him what to do with his pile of papers, and once again she forced herself to remember her Christian values. She knew that if she exploded at him now, Jack would have the upper hand for sure.
He seemed disappointed when Sally didn't respond, and finally Jack moved slowly away from her desk. It might have been her imagination, but Sally could have sworn she detected a slight swagger in his walk, as if he was celebrating his little “accomplishment.”
She sat down at her desk, totally deflated. The size of the pile seemed to grow once she was staring at it from eye level, and Sally sighed, knowing this was an all-nighter and then some.
It was never going to end, she thought grimly to herself. Her father and Jack would be double-teaming her for the rest of her life, and Sally knew she had to find a way to stop it.
And just as that thought occurred to her, she realized that what Lisa had said was true.
There was only one way out.
And it involved the timeless advice of a certain Horace Greeley—modified, of course, to reflect the necessary change in gender.
It was time to go west.
Sally worked on the bill all day, thinking that Jack might have told her the truth about getting it done with a good day's effort. But the longer she worked, the more annoyed she became.
The source of her annoyance was simple. The bill was padded with layer after layer of words upon words, designed simply to take extra time to edit. Sally knew padding when she saw it, but this was beyond the pale, and she also knew it had to be a collaborative effort between Jack and her father.
And there was no way around it. Sally had worked on bills before with dense stretches, and she knew from painstaking experience that there were no shortcuts. She simply had to plow through it, no matter how long it ended up taking.
But even that proved daunting. She was nearly seeing double by lunch time, and by late afternoon Sally was ready to cry. She alternated between cursing Jack and her father. Sally also had to remind herself several times that her faith required considerably more patience than she was showing.
Even if that was proving much harder to say than do.
Fortunately, salvation lay on the horizon. Just as the legislative building was about to clear out for the day, Sally received a familiar visitor, and one who had a special smile on her face at that.
“Hi there!” Lisa exclaimed, sounding much cheerier than usual. “How has your day been?”
“Ugh,” Sally grunted, barely able to do even that. “Awful.”
“What's wrong?” she asked, her demeanor instantly changing.
“This bill,” Sally said, pointing at the papers on her desk and the one stuck in the typewriter. She pointed at the ones on her desk, which had been marked up worse than one of those new-fangled crossword puzzles she'd heard so much about. “I've barely been able to start typing.”
Lisa leaned in over her shoulder and peered over the paper. “Hmm,” she said, scanning the sheet. “I see what you mean.”
Then Lisa tilted her head, remembering something Sally had told her the night before at dinner.
“Hey, wait a minute,” she said, pulling up. “I didn't know you had another bill coming due. . .I thought your upcoming schedule was pretty light.”
“So did I,” Sally said with some chagrin. “But that all changed this morning.”
“So what changed?”
“Jack,” Sally said simply.
“Uh oh,” Lisa replied. “What happened this time?”
“He stopped by,” she explained. “With this.”
Sally pointed at the pile of papers, and Lisa shook her head in dismay.
“That looks ridiculous,” she observed.
“It is,” Sally agreed. “I'm being tag-teamed again.”
“What do you mean?”
Sally pointed at the marked-up mess. “They did this deliberately,” she said. “There's no doubt in my mind about it.”
“When is it due?” Lisa asked, trying to find the silver lining in her friend's dark mood.
“Jack says today. . .no matter how long it takes.”
“But that's crazy!” Lisa exclaimed.
“I agree,” Sally replied. “But there's nothing I can do about it. I'm sure he cleared it through my father before he did it. In fact, the two of them met last night, and I'm not entirely sure it wasn't father's idea.”
“Sounds like a possibility,” Lisa acknowledged.
Suddenly Lisa remembered why she was visiting her friend, and her smile returned.
“Well, fortunately for you,” she began, “I have the answer to all your problems.”
Sally frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Well, there's good news, and there's good news,” she said, spinning a new variation on the old expression.
“OK, now you've gone and confused me completely,” Sally replied. “What are you talking about?”
“Two things,” Lisa said. “Which piece of good news would you like first?”
Sally rolled her eyes. “I have no idea how to even begin answering a question like that,” she responded.
Lisa grinned. “OK. . .well, then, I'll just have to answer it for you.”
She paused for drama, and once again Sally looked up at the ceiling.
“First things first,” Lisa said, thinking quickly on her feet, then shifting into a dramatic sotto voce. “I've come to rescue you once again.”
“You're so silly sometimes!” Sally said, adoring her friend for trying to lighten the mood. “What do you mean?”
Lisa pointed at the bill. “Dinner at my place again,” she said simply. “I'll help you finish it.”
“You don't have to do that!” Sally insisted.
“I know,” Lisa acknowledged. “But I want to. After all, what are friends for?”
“Certainly not for this,” Sally commented wryly, staring at the typewriter and the pile. “You really don't have to.”
“Pshaw!” Lisa said. “I want to. And you know that when I want something, you really don't have a choice.”
“True,” Sally admitted. “Well, I certainly won't fight you when it comes to giving you your way with this mess.”
“Good!” she exclaimed. “So it's settled, then.”
Sally looked up at her. “So what's the other piece of good news?”
“Oh!” Lisa exclaimed, suddenly looking at the envelope she held in her hand that Sally hadn't even noticed.
“Well. . .turns out I have news.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, indeed,” Lisa replied, shaking the envelope. “Guess where this is postmarked from?”
Sally shook her head, her mind in a fog, until slowly the clouds began to clear.
“Really?” she asked.
“Uh huh,” Lisa said, nodding.
“A little town out west in Colorado called Last Chance.”
Surprising even herself, Sally nearly jumped out of her chair to snatch the envelope from Lisa's hand.
“Oh my goodness,” Lisa said, grinning. “My, aren't you the enthusiastic one all of a sudden.”
Sally smiled at her. “It's this bill,” she said. “I think they're going to put me away if I keep hacking away at it for much longer.”
“Not if I have anything to do with it,” Lisa replied. Then she held up the envelope so that Sally couldn't get to it. “But I'll give you a sporting choice.”
“OK?”
“We can open it here, or at my place,” Lisa said. “Up to you.”
Sally looked around, thinking about all the bad memories that were accumulating from her experience in these supposedly hallowed halls.
“Your place,” she nodded. “I'll take the chance that there might be something questionable about this news, but if it is as good as we both think it will be, I don't want to l
earn about it here.”
“Understandable,” Lisa replied.
“Shall we go, then?”
It was probably the fastest trip they'd ever made from the legislative offices to Lisa's apartment. Anyone seeing them nearly trip over themselves would have thought they were racing to put out a fire, or to deal with some other kind of emergency.
When they got to her place with the bill in tow, Lisa gave her friend yet another choice—leftovers from the night before, or a fresh dinner with even fresher ingredients.
“Leftovers,” Sally said quickly, making an easy decision. “Last night's dinner was wonderful, and I'd hate to even think of having it spoil.”
Then she smiled. “Plus I simply can't wait that long to find out, if we end up cooking another meal together.”
“Completely understandable,” Lisa said. “So let's get to it, then.”
She reached into the oven and pulled out their erstwhile dinner, which she'd wrapped in wax paper so that Lisa could give it to James Devlin.
This was something she did frequently, partially to thank him for giving her this place to stay, and also to grease the wheels to make sure he didn't do to her what Harlan and Jack Haversham had just done to Sally.
Working together, the two friends quickly set the table, then began to eat. This time there was scant dinner conversation, since both women wanted to get to the contents of the envelope as quickly as possible.
Still, Lisa insisted on boiling a pot of water for tea when they were done, thinking they'd drown their tears of sorrow in a night of paperwork if the news from Last Chance was disappointing.
Both friends thought the possibility of that happening was slim, but they were women working in a man's world, and therefore used to a steady stream of such disappointments.
“Should I steam the envelope open?” Lisa joked as she lit the range.
“Not on your life!” Sally exclaimed. “There's no way I'm waiting a second longer than it takes to prepare tea to get this news.”
Lisa handed Sally the envelope, and she tore at it eagerly, nearly mangling the poor thing beyond recognition. Finally, when Sally realized what she was doing she slowed down and removed the letter carefully then smoothed it out on the table next to her cup of tea.
She read it slowly, wanting to savor every word if it was good news. Somehow Lisa's relentless optimism had rubbed off on her, and Lisa scrutinized Sally's expression carefully, perhaps even more eager than her best friend.
Dear Miss Galvin,
I am impressed beyond words by both your background and your eloquence, and I would be delighted to have you at my side as my wife and partner. And I would like our life together to begin as soon as possible!
I will be in Last Chance next week, preparing for the election. Time is short, and the list of things to do to be truly prepared is much longer than I expected. Between the elections and our upcoming nuptials, I suspect we will be quite busy beginning our new lives together!
I have arranged accommodations for you and for Lisa Freeman, which of course will be separate from my own. I will be staying initially at the primary hotel in Last Chance, the Lazy Layabout, although of course, I will have almost no time for laziness or for laying about.
I will be present for your arrival, of course, but I should caution you that travel plans to get to Last Chance have a way of changing en route because of the transportation issues in this part of the country.
I look forward to your arrival with great anticipation, and with love and joy in my heart. I toast our future happiness from afar and am very excited about our upcoming life together.
Yours in love and hope,
Carson Jackson
When she was done reading it, Sally tilted her head and smiled, then looked up at Lisa. She wanted to read it again, but Sally also realized that something was missing from the experience.
“May I ask a small favor?” she asked, noting that Lisa had somehow managed to avoid jumping all over her to get a response.
“Of course!” Lisa said. “Anything! Just name it.”
“I should like to hear it aloud,” Sally explained. “May I read it to you?”
Lisa smiled. “That sounds like a wonderful idea,” she replied. “Please do.”
So she did, reading it slowly. At first Sally's voice was hesitant, which was unusual for her given the amount of persuasion and public speaking required as part of her duties working for Harlan.
Then she felt her confidence grow, and as she read the final paragraph Sally could feel a smile spreading across her face. She blushed when she read the phrase “with love and joy in my heart,” and that was when Sally noticed that Lisa was grinning as well.
When she was done, Sally took a deep breath. “Well, what do you think?” she asked.
Lisa pursed her lips, and Sally could tell she was struggling to contain her happiness for her friend.
“I think your face told an interesting story,” Lisa replied.
“What do you mean?” Sally asked, puzzled.
“Well, you sounded slightly uncertain at the start, especially when you read the part about the election,” she explained. “Then your demeanor and your voice changed completely.”
“I know,” Sally agreed. “I could feel my heart lifting as I did.”
She handed the letter to Lisa to read on her own, then watched as her friend read it. This was the difference between reading it aloud and perusing the letter silently— feelings bubbled to the surface when the words became audible, but Sally could still see a more muted version of her own reaction mirrored in Lisa's face.
“So what do you think of him?” she asked when Lisa had finished reading.
“Hmm,” she said, studying the letter once again with that question in mind.
“Well, he's ambitious,” Lisa began. “There's no doubt about that. . .it comes through in spades in the early parts of the letter.”
“I agree,” Sally replied.
“And I think you two would probably find much common ground on that particular front,” Lisa added.
“What do you mean?”
Lisa smiled subtly at her friend. “You're ambitious, too,” she pointed out. “In your own way.”
Sally thought of her efforts to further her father's career over the years, and as she did she realized that not all of that was motivated by a filial sense of duty.
“You're probably right,” she finally agreed with a shy smile. Then she took a deep breath. “What else?”
“Well, I think he has a good heart,” Lisa continued. “And there's a certain purity that's reflected in the wording as well. That comes through in the second part, particularly at the end.”
“I agree about that as well,” Sally said, nodding. “And I would hope that we would find common ground about that as well.”
Lisa grinned. “I don't think there's any doubt about that,” she replied. “Especially when it comes to your purity of heart.”
“Thank you, Lisa,” Sally said, blushing. “You know how much that means to me.”
Lisa reached across the table and touched her friend on the forearm.
“It is the reason I wish to make the journey with you,” she said. “And you know I would make it with no one else.”
“I do,” Sally said, nodding.
“So it's settled?” Lisa asked, clearly wanting to close the deal. “We'll go?”
“Yes, we will,” Sally replied, finding that it was easier to keep the hesitation out of her voice now that she'd read Carson's letter. “And soon, I should think.”
“Good!” Lisa exclaimed, turning her attention to the pile of papers at the other end of the table. “So let's get this infernal thing done, shall we?”
Sally sighed, wanting to celebrate, but knowing her sense of duty simply wouldn't allow that until all the necessary work had been accomplished.
“Yes,” she said, not bothering to hide her lack of enthusiasm. “I suppose we should.”
“And who knows?” Lisa
grinned, reaching across the table to reel in the pile of papers.
“Perhaps he has a handsome, dashing friend who just happens to be available.”
It took both of them working through the evening to finish rewriting the bill, but eventually they got it done. After a while the work began to flow quickly, and finally Sally and Lisa fell into rhythm together. The exercise reminded both women of their salad days, when they'd started working for Harlan and James Devlin.
The work didn't quite get to the point where it was easy, but near the end it did become tolerable. Lisa's assistance came as much through her demeanor as her writing and editing; just when a particular page seemed impossibly dense, she'd crack a joke or make a comment that would allow them to get through it.
It was quite late when they finished, and Lisa and Sally were both on the edge of exhaustion. They stacked the final version carefully, wanting everything to be perfect when they turned it in.
“Well, this certainly will surprise Jack Haversham,” Sally commented. “And my father as well.”
Lisa smiled coyly. “Half the reason I did it, at least,” she said. “I'd love to see the look on Jack's face when he gets it.”
Sally pursed her lips, then smirked. “Well, he certainly does get kind of a slack-jawed expression when he's surprised and that can be quite entertaining,” she observed. “Although I suppose I shouldn't say something like that about him.”
“Yes you should!” Lisa exclaimed. “He takes special delight in knowing he has you over a barrel with Harlan—I've seen it on more than one occasion.”
“I supposed you're right,” Sally sighed. “At any rate, hopefully this will get him off my back for a bit.”
There was a pause in the conversation, and suddenly both women realized how exhausted they were. Tomorrow was another day, and they knew they needed proper rest to be sharp and alert.
“There is one more thing you need to do, you know,” Lisa said as if she'd just read Sally's mind about the need to retire for the night.
Sally sighed again. “What's that?”
“Harlan,” she said simply. “When are you going to tell him?
“Ugh,” Sally grunted in a most unladylike way. “Soon, I suppose.”
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