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He didn’t sound urgent, but we’d just talked, which made it slightly concerning.
I obeyed. After all, he was the boss — a sentiment, if I shared it, that would amuse Diana all over again.
“What’s up, Mike?”
“I didn’t want to burden the others with how bleak the hiring looks.”
But he’d burden me.
That was fair, since I’d agreed to consult in turning KWMT into something new and interesting, offering ongoing education for young hires. It’s stopped him asking me — whether in the mode of badgering or begging — to take on any or all of the empty positions.
So far.
“I’m running out of ideas of what to try next.”
I had a bad feeling that asking me — again — might be included in his remaining ideas of what to try next. I wondered if I could work it into the conversation casually that if he ever did push me into one of those positions, this sort of drop-everything-and-concentrate investigation would be impossible.
Even when he didn’t have a fondness for the victim, as he did now, he valued these inquiries, both for their news value and from a strong sense of justice.
As I turned on the SUV for heat, I asked, “What’s the latest?”
“I talked to this great woman from Pittsburgh, Octavia Zabel. She’s one of the few who hasn’t quailed at the idea of a Wyoming winter. In fact, it appeals to her. Problem is, she wants to ski.”
“That’s—”
“As in ski all winter, every winter. She said she’s put so much time into building her career and now she wants the time to ski before she gets too old.”
“I don’t know if you can talk Leona into anchoring all winter, especially since winter around here is most of the year.”
“It’s not that bad.” His kneejerk response to criticism of the weather. “But... yeah, I don’t know about Leona, either.” He perked up suddenly. “On the other hand, if we get Octavia Zabel in soon, Leona wouldn’t have to pick back up until the end of September or so.”
“You hear that sound? It’s the clunk of a can being kicked down the road.”
“I know. But maybe by then...” Even his optimism couldn’t complete that. “I really don’t want to lose Octavia. She’s enthusiastic about the idea of bringing along young hires, intrigued by the new challenge, and you should hear the things she says about you.”
“I like her already.”
“But she’s adamant about having the winters to ski. Leaving us only covering part of the year...”
“Don’t make a decision right now. Think about this a couple days. Try to put it out of your head and then come back to it.”
“I like that. It’s worked for me before, things like deciding whether to finish out my career with the Bears or try the free agent market. Sorting what I really wanted rather than the dollars and cents type stuff. Worked out well.”
“Good. Something else we need to talk about — Diana and replacing the NewsMobile. There’s something more going on there for her to be so resistant.”
“I wonder if we could afford a mobile production truck—”
“Mike. Concentrate. We have to figure out why Diana doesn’t want to replace the NewsMobile.”
“You could ask her.”
“If she were going to tell me, she already would have. But you are the station owner.”
He expelled a breath. I waited for a crack about how he was rethinking that move. “I’ll see if she’ll talk to me. So, did you find anything more related to Keefe?”
Good move, ending one discussion by turning to another.
“Nothing earthshaking.”
