“Any number of men wear rings,” Louise scoffed. “Penny, aren’t you indulging in a little wishful thinking? You want to find Mr. Rhett so badly you’re letting your imagination run riot.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Penny admitted with a sigh. “Anyway, we’ve lost the fellow, so we may as well forget it.”
Saying goodbye to Louise, she hastened off to the Star office to write up the interview with the tugboat captain. However, she could not put her mind on her work, and after making three false starts, she decided to postpone the story until after dinner.
Fortified by a good meal, she wrote the story much easier, but Penny was far from satisfied when she turned her finished copy in at the desk.
“Guess I’m off the beam tonight,” she remarked to Jerry. “It took me an age to write that story.”
Penny glanced at the clock. Time had passed swiftly for it was now after nine.
“You look tired,” observed the night editor. “There’s nothing more for you to do. Why don’t you skip out?”
“Guess I will,” agreed Penny, reaching for her hat. “I have a geometry test coming up tomorrow.”
She was through the swinging barrier, and half way down the hall when Jerry called to her: “Telephone for you, Penny.”
With a sigh, she returned to take the call. Weariness vanished and she became wide-awake as she recognized Lorinda Rhett’s voice at the other end of the line.