Bloodlines

Corrigan had barely crossed the threshold of the newsroom when O’Co

O’Co

Outside in the summer heat, he told Jack about his wedding plans, and asked him to be his witness.

Jack called him every name for a fool he could think of. “Co

“I don’t. It could be my child. It might not be.”

“If it’s not, why on earth-”

“I did something that could have resulted in a child being conceived. I have to own up to that, Jack.”

“The hell you do! Wait until it’s born and have blood tests. She’s just trying to take you for everything you’re worth.”

“I’m not worth much. Surely she could have done better than a reporter if she was looking to trap someone into keeping her in style.”

“Maybe not. You don’t know who she’s been with.”

“No, I don’t. It doesn’t matter. It’s not a trap. She didn’t even want to get married.”

“The oldest trick in the damned book. They all want to get married, believe me. Hell, it sounds to me as if this broad just wants your money, Co

“If all she wanted was money, she would have asked for it from the first night I met her. Look, Jack, you aren’t going to talk me out of this one. I’ll go back inside and ask Geoff or Helen or one of the others to come with me tomorrow if you won’t. I’d like it to be you, though.”

“Co

“I’ll do what I can.”

“What, keep it yourself?” Jack asked incredulously.

“No, she’s bound to give it a better life than I could.”

“Maybe not. If you find out it’s yours, then ask your mother-”

“My mother’s going back to Ireland, Jack,” he said, struggling to keep his temper. “I won’t add to her worries, and I won’t keep her here. You’re not to mention it to her.”

“Not to mention-!”

“No. Not yet. I’ll let her know when she’s in Ireland. I’ll tell her after the baby’s born.”

Jack shook his head. “You’re what now, twenty-two? Co

“You’re not to talk of her that way, Jack. Never again.”

“All right, all right.”

O’Co

“What is it?” Jack scoffed. “Love?”

“Not a bit of it.”

Jack sighed. “All your hard work, so this-this dame can have a chunk of your check?”

O’Co

“I wish I knew why the hell-”

“I’ve told you. It’s the child needs thinking of, Jack. Not me, not Vera. The child.”

Jack studied him. “Why do I feel as if this has something to do with Maureen?”

“Don’t,” O’Co

“Co

O’Co

“I’ll be there-under protest.”

“You’ll not say a word to her that makes her unhappy,” O’Co

“Oh, not on her wedding day,” Jack said sarcastically, and turned and went back into the Wrigley Building.

When the baby was born, Vera sent word to him. A boy, named as they had compromised-Ke

True to other agreements they had made, she did not live with him as his wife. He sent money. She occasionally sent a photo. More often, a change of address.

Jack was quick to point out that the boy looked nothing like him. O’Co

“Teaching you to fight was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done,” Jack said when O’Co

In no other matter, O’Co

Two years ago, in 1956, she had filed for divorce. He had been surprised to discover how depressed that had made him feel. There had been no request for child support.

Working on a newspaper had taught him all he needed to know about finding information on someone. He had called in a favor or two to learn the name of the man she was marrying and to look into his background. He could find nothing objectionable. Reports were that the man treated Ke

In that same year, Winston Wrigley II, the son of the founder of Wrigley Publications-who was now semiretired-faced up to what publishers all over the country were starting to realize: Americans who used to look forward to reading the evening paper after work now looked forward to watching the news on television. The news was being read aloud to them by men at desks. Newsmen before cameras instead of behind them-Huntley, Brinkley, Cronkite. Circulation for the Express was down and he saw no reason to expect it to pick up again.

The News and the Express would be combined into one morning paper: the Las Piernas News Express.

Winston Wrigley II was better liked than his father by the staffs of both papers. Although the family was wealthy, his father had insisted that he learn the business the hard way-moving from paperboy to copyboy to reporter to editor. He gained further respect from the staff by openly discussing the end of the evening edition, keeping as many people employed as possible, and doing all in his power to find jobs for the others. O’Co

O’Co

“As a paperboy!” the reporter said, then blushed as he realized his mistake.

“You never know how high a paperboy might rise in the business,” Wrigley said calmly. Like his father, he seldom raised his voice.

O’Co

Jack stirred awake again, and this time O’Co

“Now that Miss Ass-Full-of-Sunlight has done her duty, tell me the truth.”

“Your speech is slurred, but I’m so used to listening to you when you’re under full sail, I can understand you.”