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She laughed, allowing me to shake her by the shoulders while I jumped up and down. “What can I say? You convinced me. I was almost there, but your speech gave me an extra amount of perspective because you’re right.”

“You’re gonna love it. You’re about to be the food and wine guru of San Diego, and the people are going to eat it up. And I am, too. I want to go to all the restaurants and try all the food.” A thought struck. “Oh! Maybe you can redecorate my apartment. You’re hired. I pay in favors. Put me on the show.”

“I just keep raking in the offers.” She exhaled. “Now kiss me properly this time, and go to work. Only one more day as a story-hungry reporter. Soak it in.”

That part made me a little sad. I did enjoy my time out in the world, Ty by my side. As I drove through downtown, I wondered about the new reporter he’d be paired with now and felt a twinge of jealousy at their partnership.

I’d chilled at his place for dinner the week before while Carrie had been out with a friend. His wife, Sandra, was an amazing chef who’d whipped up some gourmet burgers that I was sad Carrie had missed. The last time I’d been over, I’d managed to pick up her lasagna recipe because it was so good that it had to reach more people and their stomachs.

Though both Ty and I had offered to do the dishes, Sandra had refused and shooed us out of the kitchen. “No, no, no, no, no. Get outta here. I can work faster on my own. You’d be doing me a favor.”

“You sure?” Ty said, grabbing the last plate from the table and rushing it to the sink like a bank robber on his getaway.

“Time me,” Sandra said, swatting his ass. “I’ll join you for an after-dinner drink when I’m through. I’ll even let you do the mixing.”

“You’re on.” I watched them share a kiss, smiled, and looked away, giving them their moment. Ty was such a ball of mush around Sandra. It was really sweet to see.

We went and sat together on the back patio, watching the night and shooting the breeze.

“You think you’re in the news business for life?” I asked Ty after a few minutes of settling in. I’d eaten way too much.

“Nah.” He took a pull from his beer bottle.

“Really?” I hadn’t expected his answer. “What will you do instead?”

“I always thought I’d set up my own production company. Nothing big.” He shrugged but had a really cool gleam in his eye. I’d just stumbled upon a dream of Ty’s, one he was very much capable of bringing to fruition. He not only knew everything there was to know about cameras, lighting, and overall production, but he was creative and had a great eye. “We’d shoot small commercials. Sell muffins. Insurance. Things like that.” He scratched the back of his head. “Maybe a few high-octane sports videos.Vrooom,” he said, impersonating a motorcycle whizzing past. “I love that kinda stuff, man. Gets my blood going.” He glanced over at me, grinning like Christmas morning. It made me want it for him all the more.

“What’s stopping you? Do it now.”

“Gotta save a little more dough. But I’m close. Maybe in a couple of years.” He ran a hand through his hair and gave it three back-and-forth rubs. “Sure is fun to think about, though.”

“Well, I believe in you and know you can do it.”

He looked over at me, beer hanging to the side of his chair. “Yeah? You mean it?” He didn’t get too sentimental on me often, so I placed a high value on the moment. He cared about my opinion. That was clear.

I smiled. “I very much do. Not that I wouldn’t miss you around the station.”

“You wouldn’t have a chance to miss me. We’d still hang like this. Eat too much food together.”

“We better.”

We clinked our bottles, sealing the pact, and stared off into the night some more. We’d come a long way, he and I. It was nice to have a friend to share silences with without the need to cover them. That’s when you knew you had a valuable bond on your hands.

“You’re a good guy, you know that?” I said.

He shrugged, his cheeks turning red. Just that kind of night. “You’re okay, too. Kinda chatty.”

My mouth fell open. “Shut up.”

“You shut up.” A long pause. “Which was my whole point.”

I laughed. Ty did, too, because he was by far the more talkative one. Yep. This was the stuff I lived for. A much-needed good night all around.

* * *

“You ready?” Ty asked later that day as we drove to the nearby elementary school that had been vandalized overnight. We had our game faces on, set for a day of rounding up the news.

“For spray paint and angry principals? Bring them on. The more fired up we get that woman, the better the bite.”