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He stood, snapped off a couple of shots of her at her desk, then quicklythat the story would be in the paper the following day Kirsty was long past caring what Malcol her All she wanted was for hi beside it that basically said “buy frouy” Was that too much to ask?

It wasrong Every tih the shopout into the street, there see at him They would quickly lower their eyes and rush away The younger ones would giggle At first he put it down to the novelty factor—an to notice so else the women had in common They all clutched a copy of the local newspaper Eventually the strea the walls He wiped his hands on a rag, finished off the water in the bottle he kept on the ladder and shrugged into his denim jacket It was time to buy a copy of the local paper

Lake said hello to everyone he ent He wasn’t stupid He knew that people’s loyalty would instinctively lie with Kirsty She was, after all, a local But if he could insinuate his way into the community, they would feel warmly towards him and their loyalty would be torn If they saw hiot the better deal, which would be his shop It was a basic war tactic—win over the locals, win the war

Today he noticed soot in return—they see made the hair on his arms stand on end The townsfolk, as a whole, see about hient, the bell above rang to announce his arrival—as though he wouldn’t be easy to spot in a shop the size of a dog kennel

“Hello,” shouted the aging owner Archie “Look, Maggie, it’s Mr Char”

For a second Lake froze He kept his smile in place while he assessed the at

“Hello, Lake,” Maggie said as she patted the iron-grey curls that ound tight in rows around her head

Lake did a double take For aher eyelashes at him

“Hi,” he said “How are you two today?”

“Oh, we’re good, very good,” Archie said There was that knowing s a lot of papers”

“Uh, great,” Lake said

“Thanks to you,” Maggie said

Lake’s smile faded

“Thanks to me?”

The two oldies shared a look, then giggled like teenagers