TheStarlight Gazettewas three doors down from her parents’ store. On auto-pilot, she might’ve missed the front door, lost in thought as she was. But Gibbs yanked her to a halt at the single concrete step. Although he was only allowed inside when the part-timer Carl wasn’t in the office—her co-worker suffered from pet allergies—Gibbs knew where he was.
The oversized door and intricate pattern around the windows of the two-story brick entrance were original to the building, built back in 1880. A detail Abbie loved to share with anyone who didn’t already know. Historic buildings were a guilty pleasure of hers.
“Someday, Gibbs. Someday.”
A couple decades ago, her grandparents owned and ran theStarlight Gazette. As a kid, she loved to read the paper from front to back, pride and awe at the thought that Grandma penned most of those words herself. Abbie decided at a young age that she wanted to be just like her.
Though the newspaper had stayed in the family, currently run by her uncle Vince, she was years away from everrunningthe paper. For now, she was happy writing articles featuring her name on their byline. But someday she’d be the editor-in-chief, just like Grandma had been.
“Someday,” she said once more. She slipped under the jingling bells of the heavy door and prepared to embrace the chaos Monday morning was sure to bring.
* * *
“Excuse me?” Abbie sat up straighter in her seat at the round conference table and waited for Vince to clarify. Surely she heard him wrong. Of all the stories to cover this week, he couldn’t really assign herthisone.
“You’re assigned to the bull riders, Abbie. But most importantly, I want you to get an exclusive interview with Logan.” Vince peeled off his glasses and tossed them on top of a stack of newspapers. “I know you two have a history.”
Just a past, committed relationship. But details.
“I need you to set aside any grudges you two may have and do your job.”
“We haven’t exactly stayed in touch.” She spoke the words through gritted teeth, afraid where this conversation might lead. Especially in front of the small staff. Though Carl might not have shown much interest, Jamie, their summer intern, perked too high in her chair for Abbie’s liking. “Aren’t there any other riders I can interview? How about Cole Matthews? He’s ranked number two right now. I bet I could get an exclusive with him.”
Vince leaned back in his chair, running a hand over his forehead. Never a good sign. Always meant he was losing his patience with Abbie. “He’s not the hometown star of this rodeo. The people of Starlight want to read about Logan Attwood. To remember the boy he was, read about the journey he’s been on. How he’s following in his father’s footsteps, and how he’s finally worked his way to the number-one ranking. In theworld. Abbie, this is the biggest news story in town this week. Maybe of the whole summer.”
“I can do it,” Jamie piped up in the moment of silence that followed.
“No,” she and Vince said together.
Carl squirmed in his chair and adjusted his glasses, always shying away from confrontation.
A tornado of emotions churned inside her. An exclusive on Logan Attwood could be an opportunity to advance her career. To show her uncle she was ready to take on more responsibility.
Through the glass wall into Vince’s office, his nameplate caught her eye. Someday, that would sayAbbie Bennington. She sighed. “It has to be me,” she said, softening the sharp tone she’d aimed at Jamie a moment ago.
“He’s turned down all requests for interviews. No radio stations, online articles, video clips, newspapers,” Vince added.
Well, that posed a slight obstacle.
“What makes you think he’ll talk to us?” Carl asked.
Vince looked at her with expectancy.
“Me.” She shook her head. “You think he’ll talk to me.”
Logan still sent the occasional text, despite her resolve not to answer. She was the one to slam the door inhisface after he begged her to stick it out. Though they hadn’t spoken since that awful night two years ago, she suspected he might be willing to talk to her now if she reached out.
She sighed, wondering how much trouble she’d get in if she simply wrote the article without actually interviewing her subject. She knew enough about his entire life up until two years ago to bluff her way through. What she didn’t know she could find online.
“The rodeo hasn’t been in town for almost a decade. This is a big deal for theStarlight Gazette. We need to be on the pulse of this story. A national rodeo could really put our town on the map. This story could help increase our circulation numbers. Give businesses more reason to buy ad space.”
Vince didn’t have to spell out the importance of ads in their small twelve-page paper. Though he’d yet to teach her a thing about the business management side of things, she knew without the ads, they might not be able to make payroll for their small staff.
Why did Logan have to be ranked number one rightnow? He’d spent years competing to earn that spot, but always fell a few places short. “An exclusive, huh?” Would Vince be as adamant if Logan was ranked thirteenth instead?
“I’m sure I don’t need to mention that other media outlets will be crawling all over Starlight. This Logan interview gives our paper an edge over our competition.” Vince thumbed through his notepad. “Jamie, you’ll cover the barrel racing. There’s a meet-and-greet scheduled for Thursday afternoon.”
“Got it.”
