great personal interest piece with a focus on the positive, and an exclusive interview would certainly sell a lot of newspapers, both locally and in bigger markets.”
“An exclusive,” Gary echoed, jabbing one sausagelike finger in her direction. “You really think you’re tough enough to squeeze something useful out of this Brennanguy when he hasn’t let out a peep to anyone else?” The only thing more unmistakable than the challenge in his voice was the doubt.
But Ava answered him with even more unmistakable certainty. “I’m confident I know how to work a source to break a great story, yes.”
For a second, Gary looked like he was going to argue, but then his expression went cold and flat. “Fine by me if you want to wasteyour time trying, Mancuso. But if there’s a story there, it had better be big, and you’d better be the one to get it. This Brennan guy gives an exclusive interview to another paper? You won’t even get a shot to cover a junior varsity football game.”
Ava sat in the driver’s seat of her Volkswagen, her arms knotted over her chest and her eyes on the Double Shot as if she were threepaces away from a shoot-out. Just because she’d spent five hours here last night—to no avail—didn’t mean she had to like the place. She normally avoided establishments like the Double Shot at all costs, but right now, the bar was a means to an end.
A really broody, smoldering-in-the-best-possible-way, clearly-still-mad-at-her-for-the-past end.
“Okay.” Ava smoothed a hand over her blouse, straighteningthe green silk beneath her coat before grabbing her huge leather tote from the passenger seat and abandoning the comfort of her car. Gary had given her this assignment, and now her pride and her job depended on getting this story. If she had to sit in a bar in order to get a word in edgewise with Nick Brennan, so be it.
But God, did the bitter smell of liquor have to permeate everything ?
Ava set her shoulders, brushing off the thought as she crossed the Double Shot’s gravel-strewn parking lot. Objectively, the place was nicer than most, with its weathered clapboard siding and whitewashed shutters surrounding the gleam of bright, clean windows. Lantern-style light fixtures hung at even intervals along the building’s narrow wooden porch leading to the front door, and the tiny white Christmaslights lining the railing added extra glow. Even the polished brass door handle felt warm in her palm from the remnants of slanted sunlight peeking past the pines and evergreens dotted around the parking lot.
“Hey, welcome to the Double Shot!” A cheery blonde greeted Ava from behind the polished mahogany hostess stand. “How many in your party?”
“Just me, but I’d love to sit at the bar, ifthat’s okay.” The words felt odd in Ava’s mouth, probably because she’d never once spoken them in her life, but if she wanted another shot at talking to Nick, being up close and personal was definitely her best chance.
The blonde’s lips curved into a knowing smile, and she tilted her ponytail toward the stretch of dark, glossy wood spanning the restaurant’s entire back wall. “You and everybodyelse.”
Ava’s eyes made the full adjustment from the over-bright sunshine to the dusky low lights in the bar, and whoa. Both the dining room and the bar area were more than halfway filled with a growing crush of people, servers weaving expertly through the crowd to take orders and deliver drinks amid the rising din of voices.
“Is this normal for four-thirty on a Friday?” Ava asked, unable tohide her shock. Why on earth would a small-town bar and grill be brimming with this many people only thirty minutes after opening?
Unless of course, that small-town bar and grill had a big-time story working behind the counter.
“Nope.” The blonde’s head shake confirmed both Ava’s suspicion and her fear. “I mean, the new menu’s great and we’ve been busy lately, but not like this. Oooh, it
“An exclusive,” Gary echoed, jabbing one sausagelike finger in her direction. “You really think you’re tough enough to squeeze something useful out of this Brennanguy when he hasn’t let out a peep to anyone else?” The only thing more unmistakable than the challenge in his voice was the doubt.
But Ava answered him with even more unmistakable certainty. “I’m confident I know how to work a source to break a great story, yes.”
For a second, Gary looked like he was going to argue, but then his expression went cold and flat. “Fine by me if you want to wasteyour time trying, Mancuso. But if there’s a story there, it had better be big, and you’d better be the one to get it. This Brennan guy gives an exclusive interview to another paper? You won’t even get a shot to cover a junior varsity football game.”
Ava sat in the driver’s seat of her Volkswagen, her arms knotted over her chest and her eyes on the Double Shot as if she were threepaces away from a shoot-out. Just because she’d spent five hours here last night—to no avail—didn’t mean she had to like the place. She normally avoided establishments like the Double Shot at all costs, but right now, the bar was a means to an end.
A really broody, smoldering-in-the-best-possible-way, clearly-still-mad-at-her-for-the-past end.
“Okay.” Ava smoothed a hand over her blouse, straighteningthe green silk beneath her coat before grabbing her huge leather tote from the passenger seat and abandoning the comfort of her car. Gary had given her this assignment, and now her pride and her job depended on getting this story. If she had to sit in a bar in order to get a word in edgewise with Nick Brennan, so be it.
But God, did the bitter smell of liquor have to permeate everything ?
Ava set her shoulders, brushing off the thought as she crossed the Double Shot’s gravel-strewn parking lot. Objectively, the place was nicer than most, with its weathered clapboard siding and whitewashed shutters surrounding the gleam of bright, clean windows. Lantern-style light fixtures hung at even intervals along the building’s narrow wooden porch leading to the front door, and the tiny white Christmaslights lining the railing added extra glow. Even the polished brass door handle felt warm in her palm from the remnants of slanted sunlight peeking past the pines and evergreens dotted around the parking lot.
“Hey, welcome to the Double Shot!” A cheery blonde greeted Ava from behind the polished mahogany hostess stand. “How many in your party?”
“Just me, but I’d love to sit at the bar, ifthat’s okay.” The words felt odd in Ava’s mouth, probably because she’d never once spoken them in her life, but if she wanted another shot at talking to Nick, being up close and personal was definitely her best chance.
The blonde’s lips curved into a knowing smile, and she tilted her ponytail toward the stretch of dark, glossy wood spanning the restaurant’s entire back wall. “You and everybodyelse.”
Ava’s eyes made the full adjustment from the over-bright sunshine to the dusky low lights in the bar, and whoa. Both the dining room and the bar area were more than halfway filled with a growing crush of people, servers weaving expertly through the crowd to take orders and deliver drinks amid the rising din of voices.
“Is this normal for four-thirty on a Friday?” Ava asked, unable tohide her shock. Why on earth would a small-town bar and grill be brimming with this many people only thirty minutes after opening?
Unless of course, that small-town bar and grill had a big-time story working behind the counter.
“Nope.” The blonde’s head shake confirmed both Ava’s suspicion and her fear. “I mean, the new menu’s great and we’ve been busy lately, but not like this. Oooh, it
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