would be horrified at the idea. His mother had cried and his father had fumed when Josh had announced his plans, but they’d raised a flag in front of the house and written letters and sent care packages and been nothing but proud of him. His father had never served in the military, being too young for Vietnam and too old for the first Gulf War. This was one arena in which father and son didn’t need to compete.
And then Josh had been injured. He’d returned less of a man than he’d been, at least in his father’s eyes. His mother fussed and his father fretted until Josh wanted to explode. Only when he’d gotten the job at the school and moved into the cabin had things settled down. He’d hoped that, with time, his father would accept him as a partner in the family business, but that didn’t seem likely to happen anytime soon.
By now the sun was lower in the sky, sinking toward the horizon. His mother expected him for dinner and he still needed to clean up. He’d stop by his cabin to shower and change, and at dinner they’d talk about the prom or local politics or national news. Nothing important. Nothing to mend the rift between father and son.
CHAPTER FOUR
“I’ VE GOT a new assignment for you, Amy.” Ed Burridge, editor and publisher of the Hartland Herald, stopped beside Amy’s desk in the paper’s storefront office.
Amy looked up from her computer, wondering if the little thrill that ran through her at those words would ever go away. Of course, she was so new to journalism that every assignment was a novelty, but every time she hoped this newest story would be her big break—the one article that would catch the attention of magazine editors and help her land her dream job in the city.
“I want you to go to the high school prom. Talk to the kids, soak up the atmosphere then write a feature,” Ed said.
The smile with which she’d greeted Ed vanished. “The prom? Are our readers really going to be interested in a high school dance?”
“They are.” He held up one thick finger, prepared to lecture. A stocky man who favored brightly colored aloha shirts and faded khakis, Ed had taken over the paper two years previous and was constantly on the lookout for ways to boost circulation and make the weekly more profitable. “Small-town life revolves around the school. Every parent with a kid at the prom, every sponsor of the night and every chaperone is going to want to read about themselves. Parents whose children aren’t yet old enough to attend but will soon will want to find out what to expect. Other people will read just to see what’s going on, or to relive their own proms. We can’t lose with this one.”
“But surely there’s other news....”
“Honey, in a town this small, everything is news. Have you read our Police Report lately?”
The weekly Police Report was one of the most popular features in the paper, though it consisted mostly of the local cops responding to barking dog complaints, helping people who’d locked their keys in their cars and putting stray cows back into pastures. Amy hadn’t decided whether people read the report so religiously in hopes of one day reading about a real crime, or for the reassurance that crime so seldom happened in their hometown.
“Cody should go.” Relief flooded her at the idea. “After all, he’s a high school student. He’d be perfect.”
“Cody’s still down with mono. His mother isn’t letting him go anywhere.”
Amy recalled that Cody’s mother ran the local grocery—the paper’s largest advertiser. “Then we could ask another student. Some aspiring journalist.”
“I don’t want an aspiring journalist, I want you. Charla came around yesterday looking for chaperones, and I signed you up.”
“I might have known Charla had something to do with this. I already told her I wasn’t interested.”
“Why wouldn’t you be interested?” Ed asked. “It’s a prom, not a forced march. You’ll go, you’ll have a good time
And then Josh had been injured. He’d returned less of a man than he’d been, at least in his father’s eyes. His mother fussed and his father fretted until Josh wanted to explode. Only when he’d gotten the job at the school and moved into the cabin had things settled down. He’d hoped that, with time, his father would accept him as a partner in the family business, but that didn’t seem likely to happen anytime soon.
By now the sun was lower in the sky, sinking toward the horizon. His mother expected him for dinner and he still needed to clean up. He’d stop by his cabin to shower and change, and at dinner they’d talk about the prom or local politics or national news. Nothing important. Nothing to mend the rift between father and son.
CHAPTER FOUR
“I’ VE GOT a new assignment for you, Amy.” Ed Burridge, editor and publisher of the Hartland Herald, stopped beside Amy’s desk in the paper’s storefront office.
Amy looked up from her computer, wondering if the little thrill that ran through her at those words would ever go away. Of course, she was so new to journalism that every assignment was a novelty, but every time she hoped this newest story would be her big break—the one article that would catch the attention of magazine editors and help her land her dream job in the city.
“I want you to go to the high school prom. Talk to the kids, soak up the atmosphere then write a feature,” Ed said.
The smile with which she’d greeted Ed vanished. “The prom? Are our readers really going to be interested in a high school dance?”
“They are.” He held up one thick finger, prepared to lecture. A stocky man who favored brightly colored aloha shirts and faded khakis, Ed had taken over the paper two years previous and was constantly on the lookout for ways to boost circulation and make the weekly more profitable. “Small-town life revolves around the school. Every parent with a kid at the prom, every sponsor of the night and every chaperone is going to want to read about themselves. Parents whose children aren’t yet old enough to attend but will soon will want to find out what to expect. Other people will read just to see what’s going on, or to relive their own proms. We can’t lose with this one.”
“But surely there’s other news....”
“Honey, in a town this small, everything is news. Have you read our Police Report lately?”
The weekly Police Report was one of the most popular features in the paper, though it consisted mostly of the local cops responding to barking dog complaints, helping people who’d locked their keys in their cars and putting stray cows back into pastures. Amy hadn’t decided whether people read the report so religiously in hopes of one day reading about a real crime, or for the reassurance that crime so seldom happened in their hometown.
“Cody should go.” Relief flooded her at the idea. “After all, he’s a high school student. He’d be perfect.”
“Cody’s still down with mono. His mother isn’t letting him go anywhere.”
Amy recalled that Cody’s mother ran the local grocery—the paper’s largest advertiser. “Then we could ask another student. Some aspiring journalist.”
“I don’t want an aspiring journalist, I want you. Charla came around yesterday looking for chaperones, and I signed you up.”
“I might have known Charla had something to do with this. I already told her I wasn’t interested.”
“Why wouldn’t you be interested?” Ed asked. “It’s a prom, not a forced march. You’ll go, you’ll have a good time
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