Read Online Sugar Rush by Donna Kauffman - Free Book Online Page A

stodgy, narrow-minded view of how the world should be, bless his heart,” Alva said, and Lani couldn’t really tell if she was sincerely worried about the man ... or wanted him dead. “I tried to explain that it was hardly an unbiased, balanced, and fair approach to reporting the news when he only printed the parts he personally approved of. We might as well just call it the Dwight Bennett Herald then. But actually, dear, it was an article in this morning’s paper that brought me in here to see you. Of course we’ve all read the little write up about your boss coming right here to our island! And bringing his television show along with him!” She clasped her hands together, purse still tightly tucked under one arm. “Isn’t that just the most exciting news we’ve had in ages?”
    “Former boss,” Lani clarified, not that it would matter.
    “Why, you’ve been holding out on us, Miss Lani May,” Alva said, her tone scolding, even as she smiled. “Surely you’ve known all along about this little surprise visit. Were you the one to coordinate the show coming here? Certainly that’s the way to guarantee a big debut at your first fall festival.” She leaned closer, clutching her tiny bag to her thin chest. “Naturally, I wanted to be the first to talk to you about getting him to stop by the club tournament Monday night. Talk about distractions! And, just between us, if I scoop that story, Dwight will simply have to let me have my column.”
    “Well, I don’t have anything to do with—wait, I thought you wanted to write an advice column? A Dear Alva sort of thing. What would Baxter dropping by the poker tournament have to do with that?”
    Alva straightened, squaring her narrow shoulders. “I want to write what the women on Sugarberry want to read. A little advice here, a little gossip there. The kind of thing everyone goes to Cynthia’s salon to find out. Or Laura Jo’s. But then it has to make the rounds, and surely you know how it gets turned entirely upside down and backwards from how it actually happened. Not that anyone intentionally twists the truth, of course.”
    “Of course.”
    “I just want to put the news all in one convenient place and tell it like it really is, as it actually happened. Along with that, of course I’ll offer advice as I think it would benefit everyone. A true public service.” She smiled so sweetly, Lani thought she actually believed that. “Trust me, it’ll be the first thing they turn to when they pick up the paper. Mark my words.”
    Lani didn’t doubt it. “Sounds like you have it all figured out, Alva, and I wish I could help you with your scoop, I truly do.” The bells jingled on the door, so Lani leaned closer and hurried to say what she had to say, wanting to close that particular conversational thread—the thread being Baxter—before it got picked up by the next customer. Alva had a point—a big one—about how the actual details of this story or that one were forever getting spun all out of proportion to the original happening. “Unfortunately, I don’t have anything to do with Baxter’s itinerary while he’s here. I found out about the show the same time you did. So, I can’t do anything about getting him to come to your club—”
    “What club would this be?”
    At the sound of the new voice, Lani looked up ... and there he was. How was it he always seemed bigger than life, no matter the size of the room he was in? It’s that smile , she thought, as Alva spun around and beamed up at him with enough wattage to light the Vegas strip.
    “Why, my goodness gracious,” she said, fluttering a hand over her hair, then tucking her purse smartly back under her other arm. “I can hardly believe my own eyes. If it isn’t Baxter Dunne, Chef Hot Cakes himself. Right here in our little town. My, my, and look at you.” She glanced at Lani, then beamed right back at Baxter. “Quite the tall drink of water, aren’t you? I had no idea. The television doesn’t