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No sooner had Dillan & Whitley been seated at their table than Mr. Salisberry approached them.

“It’s Dillan, right?” Mr. Salisberry asked, clasping his hands & tilting his head to peer ever-so-cautiously at Dillan.

“Yes, that’s right,” replied Dillan, somewhat startled, looking up from the menu, “& you’re Mr. Salisberry from the hotel, correct?”

“Yes, yes, I am,” Mr. Salisberry said, straightening back up & looking towards Whitley, “& you must be Dillan’s wife….”

“I am,” replied Whitley, nodding & assessing Mr. Salisberry with her eyes. “My name is Whitley.”

“Hi, Whitley,” acknowledged Mr. Salisberry, once again looking a little nervous. “Look, I’m sorry to interrupt your lunch, you’ve picked a great place to dine today, but I wonder if I could talk to you ever so briefly…?”

While Mr. Salisberry looked from Dillan to Whitley, then back to Dillan, as if searching for a response, Whitley & Dillan exchanged glances, with Whitley finally shrugging her shoulders & nodding, gesturing for Dillan to go ahead & talk to their visitor.

“Yeah, yeah, I guess,” Dillan said, turning his attention from his wife to Mr. Salisberry. “What can we do for you?”

“Well, you see, it’s more about what I can do for you,” Mr. Salisberry hinted.

“Oh?” Dillan prompted.

“Well, yes,” Mr. Salisberry answered, visibly becoming more nervous. “You see, well, maybe I shouldn’t mettle. I know Fred really wants to be helpful to you.”

“You mean Fred from the newspaper, right?” Dillan half-asked. “We’re going to see him after we eat lunch.”

“Oh!? You are?” Mr. Salisberry tried to hide his nervousness. “I mean, of course, you are….”

Noticing Mr. Salisberry’s voice trailing off, Dillan took the moment to exchange an ‘I’ve no idea what is going on’ glance with his wife, then address Mr. Salisberry directly: “Look, I’m not sure what you’re getting at here. So, maybe you should just say what’s on your mind, then allow us to eat lunch in peace? I mean, well, I don’t mean to be rude, of course, but you’re making my wife a little nervous here.”

Taken aback, Mr. Salisberry exclaimed: “Oh, my … goodness, that’s not my intent, I’m sorry. It’s just that, well, you see, Fred isn’t paid for what he does for the newspaper & they have him working a huge project that takes up all his time & to try to help you all, when he is on a deadline, is just, well, maybe asking a little too much?”

A little confused, Dillan replied: “But, he offered to help. I don’t understand why he’d offer if he knew he didn’t have the time?”

“Well,” Mr. Salisberry tried to think quickly, “it’s just his nature, really … to offer to help, that is, without thinking about how it will effect him.”

“I see,” said Dillan, exchanging another glance with Whitley & remembering his thought that Fred had been trying to hide something but not wanting to let Mr. Salisberry know his suspicion. “Well, tell you what, when Whitley & I go see him after lunch, I’ll keep in mind what you said.”

“I’d appreciate that,” Mr. Salisberry noted, “as long as he doesn’t find out I spoke to you.”

“No problem,” Dillan said without hesitation, prompting Whitley to shoot him a weird look.

Mr. Salisberry re-clasped his hands: “Well, good, thank you. & now, you 2, enjoy your lunch. I’m sure I’ll see you around the hotel.”

With that, Mr. Salisberry turned, walked away & out of the diner.

“Well, that was only a little bit weird,” Whitley said sarcastically after the door closed behind Mr. Salisberry.

“Yeah, I don’t know what to make of that,” Dillan admitted. “I mean, I never once got the idea Fred was too busy to help.”

“I would think you would’ve,” Whitley said, “but it’s probably a good thing I’m going with you this afternoon. I can try to see if I can get a read on Fred, too.”

“Yeah,” acknowledged Dillan. “I really have a feeling there is something Fred & Mr. Salisberry don’t want me to find out. But, for the life of me, I can’t imagine what it would be!”

Before Whitley could reply, a homely waitress was standing at the edge of their table asking: “What’ll it be for you today, folks?”