Izzy’s question about bull-riding camp echoed in his mind again.
“There, it’s done,” he heard Abbie say, drawing him and Gibbs both back to the present.
Gibbs, bored with waiting for a game Logan obviously wasn’t going to play, bounded into a display of horse brushes on his way to the women, causing both heads at the front counter to shoot in his direction.
“What do you ladies think? Blue my color?”
He parted ways with Abbie at the door of theStarlight Gazette. He considered going in, but he wasn’t eager to talk to Vince. The man had hounded him for an interview for weeks before he ever hit town, trying to play the family angle. It was no surprise that Abbie was given the assignment over the other writers. Vince was a smart man, even if he was sometimes bullheaded.
Before he let her disappear inside, Logan reached for her hand to stop her. “Do you need a loan, Abbie?”
“What?”
“For the offer.”
Any smiles he’d earned that morning were replaced with fiery daggers in her narrowed eyes. “Don’t you dare, Logan. This isn’t your problem.”
“I just want to help, Abbs.”
“You forfeited that right when you left two years ago.” She flew inside the door, leaving him alone on the sidewalk amid a light summer breeze and a whirlwind of thoughts.
* * *
Abbie
Abbie was fuming as the door closed behind her in theGazette’soffice.The nerve. If Logan had stayed and stuck to the plans they made, they’d be buying that house together. They’d be married and living a real life together. How could he possibly think loaning her money would fix anything?
“Abbie, come join us,” Vince called from the conference-slash-break room. A box of donuts from Millie’s Bakery sat on the table, but their usual enticement didn’t grab her.
Vince’s glasses were already resting on top of a legal pad. Not a good sign. Not a good sign at all.
Could this day get any worse?
His steely eyes let her know she was late.
“Was that Logan Attwood outside?” Jamie squeaked with excitement. “Like, really him?”
She took a seat at the table. “Yes, that’s him.” Maybe being seen with Logan would at least buy her some time on that sample if Vince wouldn’t relent. If Logan was talking to her, Vince had to accept she would finish the interview that no one else could get.
“Do you have something for me to read?” Vince asked, deflating all hope that he’d wait to bring this up until the pow-wow was over.
“Not yet.” Abbie bit down on the inside of her bottom lip. Her temper had never gotten her anywhere with her uncle except backward. “It’s a work in progress.”
“Abbie, that’s not what I asked for.”
Any possibility that they could take this offline diminished. Vince was trying to prove a point, but why he felt the need to do it in front of the most non-confrontational part-timer and a summer intern was beyond her. “I’m going with him to the rodeo tonight. I’ll be there when they honor his dad. It’ll all be part of the article.”
“Then I’ll expect something first thing in the morning.” Vince reached for his glasses and slid them back on, leaving them at the tip of his nose.
She waited through assignment check-ups from both Carl and Jamie for the team meeting to adjourn, then followed Vince into his office. It was quite clear by the door nearly closed in her face that he was done with their discussion.
“What is it?”
She had to make a choice: stand her ground about submitting a full article on Sunday when it was due or beg for him to print the story about the Andersons’ horse camp. The odds that she could get him to do both seemed dismal.
“I wanted to talk to you about a story I put together.” Someday she might have the power to slip stories in without him knowing until it was too late. But for now, he combed every inch of the paper before it went to print.
“We’ve already discussed the story you’re writing. It’s your only priority this week.”
