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Authors: Nancy Naigle
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would give her some more story ideas.
If she got these assignments done, she might just be lounging around on Evelyn’s dime.
Of course, Evelyn probably knew that would never happen. Savannah hadn’t taken a real vacation in the seven years they’d worked together. The busier she was, the better. She wasn’t sure if it was real ambition or a safety net, but either way it meant she was focused on work . . . all the time. She didn’t have time for friends or hobbies with the work schedule she kept. And she liked both better at arm’s distance anyway, no matter what Evelyn had to say about it.
At least using the information from the blotter, she could limit her interaction with the people in town. Evelyn was always saying that it was never a good idea to get to know the subjects of your story too well. That could make it harder to write an unbiased article, and then she’d have a second small town wanting to run her out of it.
Not that anyone here would even read the articles. Most of them didn’t look like the online-paper-reading type, and there was only local news in the County Gazette . She skimmed through the entire paper as she waited, and she didn’t see even one news item picked up from the wire on all six pages of it. She flipped back to the police blotter.
The first report was “Resident on Valley Drive saw male duck.”
Savannah stifled a giggle. The quack-quack kind, or is there a peeping Tom in this small town? The list of speeding tickets was collapsed into a table. In- and out-of-state offenders, speeding, equipment violations, and other. The only details were a list of the local infringements—only a total of eight of those. She’d be able to report this without too much effort.
As she set the paper back on the counter for the next patrons, a family walked inside. The tall waitress with LARA embroidered across her blouse whisked them over to a table that had just been cleared and poured coffee for them.
Savannah did a double take. Darned if it wasn’t Cody Tuggle, and he was even hotter in person than he had been onstage. He was with a beautiful blonde and a little boy.
It was a nice diversion to feel like she wasn’t the center of attention as the room’s interest moved from her to the superstar and his little family.
She pretended to check the messages on her phone and snuck a couple of quick pictures of them. Couldn’t hurt to have them tucked away for later. Maybe there was a story there to tell.
“Here you go.” Lara came out with the two coffees and a bag full of condiments along with the toast. “I slipped in some of our apple butter for you to try. I know you said you wanted that toast plain, but we’re known for our apple butter, and it’s not even all that fattening. You’ve got room for the extra calories anyway.”
Savannah shoved her phone into her pocket. “Thanks. I’ll give it a try.”
“You’ll love it,” Lara said with a quick squeeze of Savannah’s arm.
“By the way, your nails look beautiful. Where do you get them done?”
“Nicole down at the Hair Station does them for me.” She wiggled her long fingers to show off the shiny lacquered nail color. “She’s the best. They do nails on Tuesdays and Thursdays. While you’re there, get Linda to wash your hair. Honey, that’s better than a spa treatment. She’ll scrub your head till you want to kick your leg like a coonhound. I swear.” She tugged a pen from her apron pocket and jotted the number right across one of the coffee cups. “There ya go. Just give her a call and tell her Lara sent ya. She’ll do you up right.”
“I appreciate that.” Savannah gathered the cups and bag. “And can you tell me where the nearest market is?”
Lara pointed behind them. “The Piggly Wiggly is right down that street.”
“Perfect,” Savannah said. They didn’t have Piggly Wiggly up in DC, but they did back in Belles Corner. They’d always referred to the market as the Hoggly Woggly back home.
If she got these assignments done, she might just be lounging around on Evelyn’s dime.
Of course, Evelyn probably knew that would never happen. Savannah hadn’t taken a real vacation in the seven years they’d worked together. The busier she was, the better. She wasn’t sure if it was real ambition or a safety net, but either way it meant she was focused on work . . . all the time. She didn’t have time for friends or hobbies with the work schedule she kept. And she liked both better at arm’s distance anyway, no matter what Evelyn had to say about it.
At least using the information from the blotter, she could limit her interaction with the people in town. Evelyn was always saying that it was never a good idea to get to know the subjects of your story too well. That could make it harder to write an unbiased article, and then she’d have a second small town wanting to run her out of it.
Not that anyone here would even read the articles. Most of them didn’t look like the online-paper-reading type, and there was only local news in the County Gazette . She skimmed through the entire paper as she waited, and she didn’t see even one news item picked up from the wire on all six pages of it. She flipped back to the police blotter.
The first report was “Resident on Valley Drive saw male duck.”
Savannah stifled a giggle. The quack-quack kind, or is there a peeping Tom in this small town? The list of speeding tickets was collapsed into a table. In- and out-of-state offenders, speeding, equipment violations, and other. The only details were a list of the local infringements—only a total of eight of those. She’d be able to report this without too much effort.
As she set the paper back on the counter for the next patrons, a family walked inside. The tall waitress with LARA embroidered across her blouse whisked them over to a table that had just been cleared and poured coffee for them.
Savannah did a double take. Darned if it wasn’t Cody Tuggle, and he was even hotter in person than he had been onstage. He was with a beautiful blonde and a little boy.
It was a nice diversion to feel like she wasn’t the center of attention as the room’s interest moved from her to the superstar and his little family.
She pretended to check the messages on her phone and snuck a couple of quick pictures of them. Couldn’t hurt to have them tucked away for later. Maybe there was a story there to tell.
“Here you go.” Lara came out with the two coffees and a bag full of condiments along with the toast. “I slipped in some of our apple butter for you to try. I know you said you wanted that toast plain, but we’re known for our apple butter, and it’s not even all that fattening. You’ve got room for the extra calories anyway.”
Savannah shoved her phone into her pocket. “Thanks. I’ll give it a try.”
“You’ll love it,” Lara said with a quick squeeze of Savannah’s arm.
“By the way, your nails look beautiful. Where do you get them done?”
“Nicole down at the Hair Station does them for me.” She wiggled her long fingers to show off the shiny lacquered nail color. “She’s the best. They do nails on Tuesdays and Thursdays. While you’re there, get Linda to wash your hair. Honey, that’s better than a spa treatment. She’ll scrub your head till you want to kick your leg like a coonhound. I swear.” She tugged a pen from her apron pocket and jotted the number right across one of the coffee cups. “There ya go. Just give her a call and tell her Lara sent ya. She’ll do you up right.”
“I appreciate that.” Savannah gathered the cups and bag. “And can you tell me where the nearest market is?”
Lara pointed behind them. “The Piggly Wiggly is right down that street.”
“Perfect,” Savannah said. They didn’t have Piggly Wiggly up in DC, but they did back in Belles Corner. They’d always referred to the market as the Hoggly Woggly back home.
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