Yours Truly

Five

FIVE

Sitting at his office desk, Peter eagerly read the newest edition of the Huston Gazette, searching for the reply from the Lovelorn. Malcolm had given the writer a whole page, which surprised Peter, but he knew it would delight their readers.

He found his letter and scanned the response. He chuckled and shook his head. Strange, that he would look forward to something this mundane, and yet, for some reason, it had lifted his spirits. Reading the other responses the Lovelorn had given, made him realize this writer was truly gifted. The answers to the letters were brilliant.

Now, if he could only discover who it was. Apparently, Malcolm was very closed mouth about the subject and wouldn't even give Peter a hint to the person's identity, which means, Peter would have to do some investigative work himself. He'd been an investigative reporter before, so it was time to dust off his tools and get to work.

Peter's job at the newspaper was paying the bills, which he didn't mind, but he did miss his reporter days. After what happened outside earlier, he was thinking about making Annette his first subject. She was only twelve-years-old when he moved to Houston and his family met hers. Being nineteen, he had looked at Annette as a child, since she pretty much was. When he started working for the newspaper, he still thought of her as being so much younger than him, and yet now... she was definitely a woman.

What had triggered that idea inside his head that made him start thinking about her this way? Yet, within the last week, she had been on his mind more often. The past few nights, he'd gone home from work thinking about the way her face glowed with excitement, which enhanced her lovely blue eyes. Today, her blonde hair looked so silky, that it took all of his willpower not to caress her thick locks. She'd been wearing it this way a lot lately, and for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why he was thinking about it now.

A week ago when he'd caught her from falling from the buggy, he'd experienced strange sensations moving inside his body. Why hadn't he realized how soft she was, and how well she fit in his arms?

Groaning, Peter rubbed his forehead. If Malcolm had an inkling on what thoughts ran through Peter's head, the older man would surely kill him. Best friends don't think about the other's daughter in that way.

However, she'd been looking at him differently, too. In fact, she'd become embarrassed when he'd caught her from falling from the buggy that one time. Although she'd tried to hide her face from him, he could still see her bright cheeks. That was the first time she acted like that toward him. Did that mean she had the same confused feelings as he?

Perhaps it was time to arrange an hour or two in his hectic schedule and spend more time with her. He couldn't let her know the reason why. Not yet, anyway. He'd have to figure out a good reason to spend time with her alone. She was a smart woman, and she'd figure out his intentions if he wasn't crafty enough.

Blowing out a frustrated breath, he moved away from his desk to the window. The weather was perfect today – the kind of weather for a picnic in the park with a lovely lady. After all, it was only lunch, so maybe Annette wouldn't think twice if he asked her to have lunch with him. But since they'd never done that before, she'd definitely wonder about his intentions.

The lift of her heavenly laughter pulled Peter away from the window as he followed the sound floating through the air. Just as he figured it would, it brought him to Malcolm's room. When Peter walked in, Malcolm motioned to the stack of subscriptions on his desk.

"Come join in the merriment," Malcolm said, "and look at the new subscribers we have in just one day."

"Are you kidding? That's quite a bit in one day." Peter stopped at the desk and picked up the stack of half-pages. "How coincidental that they all happened on the day the paper went out."