A Minute on the Lips by Cheryl Harper Read Free Book Online Page A

glanced around to see if anyone was listening, and Andi realized she’d raised her voice. The kitchen was probably enjoying the show.
    “Like some what?” Mark asked. “I reported the facts, and they weren’t just for this town or this county. I had other sources, too.”
    Andi rubbed the crease between her brows. “What you did was pick and choose. You didn’t include my comments on how well the people in Tall Pines support their neighbors, how lucky we are to have a close-knit community, how the incidents of abuse have been in a steady decline over the past five years, or how the previous sheriff contributed to that with his own programs. You didn’t even compare our statistics to rates in larger cities. So what you did report made it sound like we were this cute little town with a big problem, and that I was convinced I could ride to the rescue.” She picked up her fork and shuffled lettuce around on her plate. “And maybe I even believed the last part, but I would never have said it.”
    When Mark didn’t answer, Andi chanced a look up and saw that he’d braced both elbows on the table and covered his face with his hands. Telling him the rest was easier that way. “People stopped me in the street to tell me just what they thought of my point of view and my taking credit. I got a few threats. And I’ve been...wading through public opinion since, doing my best to protect the people who elected me even though they don’t think much of me.”
    His shoulders slumped. If she believed his face, he was surprised, miserable and maybe a little bit sick. “Sheriff, I had no idea. I just...I think I’ve spent so much time going after public figures that...” Mark wiped his mouth with his napkin. “How come no one in this town came after me, the new guy? You’re a native. Seems like they’d be ready to tar and feather me instead of you.”
    Andi sighed. “That’s a long story.”
    “One you sure don’t want to tell me because of how I’ll report it, right?” He shook his head. “I’m really sorry.”
    She almost believed him. Instead of charming or teasing, his face was dead serious, the smile absent. “I just wish more journalists—” she shook her head “—no, more people, would stop to consider that there’s a lot more to truth than just the facts.”
    He leaned forward again. “More to truth...” He looked like he wanted to understand but had no idea what she meant.
    Andi wished she’d decided to have a microwave dinner. “Truth is...” She sat back. “In Mandarin, you’d say shí huà . The first character means real or solid and the second is more like talk or conversation or words. Mandarin’s an analytical language so you have to study the context, the order of the words, to understand the meaning.”
    “So, you speak Mandarin.” He looked as if he didn’t really know what to do with that.
    Andi got the same reaction from everyone in town anytime it came up. “I worked for the FBI translating, monitoring persons of interest.”
    “In Chinese?”
    “And Persian, although I read that better than I speak or hear it.” She felt like such an idiot for bringing it up. Possibly because he was looking at her as though she had two heads. “My point is this...in linguistics, you get a real good understanding of what words can do and what they can’t do. No matter that we’re both speaking English, truth means different things to you than it does to me. Because of context.”
    Mark studied the ceiling while he thought about her answer. Finally he nodded. “I’ve got it...but to me, that’s semantics.”
    Andi laughed. “Actually, that’s called pragmatics and it’s a case of six of one and a half a dozen of the other.”
    Mark wrinkled his brow. “Isn’t that what I just said?”
    “It’s close. You think facts are truth.”
    He shook his head. “Aren’t they?”
    “Not always, no. Facts are black-and-white. Truth...it has more depth.”
    “Are you actually speaking