Page 64 of The Village of Lost and Found

‘I hear you,’ replied Josh. ‘You’re speaking to the son of an old rocker, remember?’

Josh was the son of Todd Kennedy, who had been a famous rock guitarist many years ago. By all accounts, he had survived quite a wild life on the road before settling his wife and two sons in Cranbridge twenty or so years ago.

‘At least yours stuck with the family,’ said Tom. ‘Mine left pretty quickly soon after I was born.’

‘Do you ever see him?’ asked Josh.

Tom shook his head. ‘No. And that’s my choice. It was just me and Mum for so long. I don’t see why I should give him the time of day now.’

Josh nodded. ‘Not sure we got away completely unscathed though,’ he said. ‘Pete’s still running away, even at the age of thirty.’

‘How is your brother?’ asked Tom.

Josh grimaced. ‘Don’t think things are going that great out in Singapore, to be honest. He keeps saying that it’s all OK, but I’m pretty certain that it’s not.’

‘Will he come back to Cranbridge, do you think?’ asked Tom.

‘He may have to if the finance sector doesn’t pick up out there,’ said Josh, blowing out a sigh.

‘At least it’ll be another pair of hands around the shop,’ said Tom.

Josh laughed. ‘You haven’t met my brother. He’s not exactly the hands-on type, unless you’re an attractive female.’

‘Well, we’ve got plenty of those around here,’ said Tom, taking a sip of his drink before he found Josh studying him. ‘What?’

‘Are you including your new colleague at the newspaper in that description?’ asked Josh with a knowing smile.

Tom laughed. ‘I never said Lucy wasn’t attractive. Just that she was a pain in the backside to go with it.’

Except that wasn’t quite true, he realised. He had been open and honest with her over the weekend, about both the state of the newspaper and his writer’s block. She hadn’t belittled him or even made him feel embarrassed about any of it. Nor was there pity there. She seemed to understand and wanted to help.

Of course, that might just be because it was her uncle’s newspaper, but he didn’t think so. He thought that there was kindness there. And understanding.

‘So have you two worked out a plan to save the newspaper?’ asked Josh.

Tom blew out a sigh. ‘Not sure it’s worth saving, but Lucy seems to have a plan about that as well. The website is having a major overhaul, too.’

‘And does the overhaul include you as well?’ said Josh. ‘You know, the teetotal change-of-heart thing.’

Tom smiled. ‘No, that’s all my idea. I’m even thinking about taking up running again. It’s time for me to think straight.’

‘Well, we overhauled the shop and look how well that’s done.’ Josh’s face momentarily darkened. ‘Although this quarry might just be the end of us if it happens.’

‘It won’t,’ said Tom, in a firm tone.

But Josh remained silent and even Tom wasn’t sure that it was a battle that they could win.

‘Anyway we’ll kick up such a stink with the newspaper that they wouldn’t dare,’ said Tom, sounding more assured than he felt. ‘Even with our paltry number of readers.’

But even as he sat there, drinking his non-alcoholic drink, he still felt hopeful. How the power of a pair of green flashing eyes could make everything feel a little bit better and stronger with each passing day.

35

For the next couple of days, Lucy was rushed off her feet.

When she wasn’t bolstering Tom’s confidence about writing his editorial, she was being asked by Molly to check the social media posts before they went online.

In between, she was still trying to tidy up the chaos of all the papers in the main office. But at least she had help with that, she thought, looking around.