All Wrapped Up (A Pine Mountain Novel) (13 page)

He didn’t even make it to his desk before he pounced. “It seems you’ve got an angle on this fire story after all. You
know
this hometown
hero guy?”

“I did,” she corrected, proceeding with her caution flags on high alert. “When the story broke, I hadn’t spoken to him in seven years.”

Gary’s face bent into a dangerous frown. “And you didn’t share this little nugget because . . . ?”

“I didn’t think he’d talk to me.” The truth burned a path out of Ava’s mouth, but she kept to it all the same. “And I didn’t want the assignment
because I knew him. I wanted it because I was the best reporter for the job.”

“Yet even with an in, you couldn’t seal the deal.”

A hard flush of warmth stole over Ava’s face as she stood stiffly across from her boss. “I got the story as an exclusive, just like you asked.”

“Sounds to me like you got
half
the story,” he said, pressing his palms into his giant monstrosity of a desk to lean
in and peg her with a beady stare. “The boring half, that is. You landed the exclusive scoop on Pine Mountain’s biggest news event in God knows how long, with a source you know personally, and all you managed to scrape together were a bunch of watered-down factoids.”

“You had final approval before the story ran.” Ava clamped down on her impetuous tongue, channeling all her effort into smoothing
her words. “If you had an issue with my article, I’d have been happy to hear your feedback last night.” Not that she could’ve changed anything, because every shred of what Brennan had reluctantly given up had gone into the piece she’d written. Damn it!

Gary gave an ungracious snort. “You’re kidding, right? In case you haven’t noticed, we’re not here for a tea party. It’s our job to sell papers,
Mancuso, and I can’t do that with dead space. Do you want to know where I’ve been all morning?”

Ava waited, certain she was going to find out regardless of her answer, and Gary didn’t disappoint. “I’ve been sitting in Royce’s office, listening to how our quarterly sales numbers so far have sucked more wind than an F5 tornado.”

Shock lanced through Ava’s gut. “Mick Royce?”

She’d met the eccentric
owner of the
Riverside Daily
a mere handful of times. The only thing that overshadowed the man’s odd personality was his reputation as a shrewd and savvy businessman.

“Yes, Mick Royce.” Aggravation painted Gary’s features, twisting his thin mouth into an ever thinner line as he pushed off from his desk. “He wants to know why we’re consistently being outsold by the
Bealetown Bugle
, and when I
look at articles like yours, I’ve gotta admit, I don’t have a good answer.”

“My story on the fire is the truth.” Ava might be on precarious ground, but damn it, she was going to
stand
that ground. “I know it’s not as flashy as you wanted, but—”

“But nothing. According to you, it was just the appetizer. Now you’re going to get the four-course meal.”

Ava gasped at the demand, certain she’d
misunderstood. “I don’t even know that there’s anything more to tell. Not for sure, anyway.”

“That’s not what I just heard you saying to Ellis in your little pajama party out there. Looks to me like you weren’t good enough to get the whole story from this guy the first time around, and halfway doesn’t cut it,” Gary said.

And of course Ava couldn’t argue. She believed in the article she’d written,
but she also couldn’t deny that her big-story instincts had been howling from the minute she’d laid eyes on Brennan outside Joe’s Grocery.

“Okay, yes,” she admitted, fiddling with the hem of her sweater. “It does seem like there might be a pretty compelling human interest story beneath the surface. One that I didn’t cover in my article. But Brennan wasn’t willing to tell it, Gary, and you can
believe me when I say that not only did I try my best to engage him, but there are no other leads.”

“Well, you’d better be prepared to find some.” Gary’s sweat-laced brow creased, his beefy face pinched tight with disdain. “You’re swimming in different waters now that Royce is on the warpath, and it’s about time you
finally
learned how to work a source to get a story that’ll sell, no matter
what.”

Ava’s gut pitched with unease, but she had no choice but to go for full disclosure. “I know Brennan. Personally.”

The implication hung in the air like laundry on the line, but Gary just looked at her with extreme impatience. “Please. I don’t care if you run off to Vegas to marry the guy. A story’s a story. As long as it’s true, I don’t give a shit how you get your information. And trust
me, you need all the intel you can get on this guy.”

Her spine snapped to its full height. “I’m sorry?”

“You asked for the big time, Mancuso. Now you’ve got to step up to the plate. Clearly, you’ve got an in with this guy now, and it sounds like there’s a hell of a story somewhere in your hometown hero’s past. Judging by how much he hates the spotlight, I’d say it might even be a scandal.”

No way. There might be a story there, one worth telling even, but Brennan couldn’t possibly be tangled up in anything nefarious. He’d risked life and limb to save a kid from a burning building, for God’s sake.

“That’s a little extreme, don’t you think?” Ava asked, in a last-ditch effort to dissuade her clearly delusional boss.

But his rat-like eyes just narrowed further as he zeroed in on
her.

“What I think is that you need to do better than the utterly forgettable article that ran in today’s paper. You wanted a blockbuster story—
this
story—and now it’s time to deliver. I’m not getting shit-canned before you, and Royce is looking for heads to roll. Either you come up with something better than this before those year-end sales numbers come out in three weeks”—Gary paused to whip
a copy of today’s paper from the cluttered surface of his desk—“or you can find a job being a substandard reporter somewhere else. The choice is yours.”

Chapter Thirteen

Ava slumped into the plush cushions of her favorite oversized chair in the Sweet Life, desperate for comfort that didn’t come. Four days had passed since her showdown with Gary, and though he’d steered pretty clear of her after issuing his nasty ultimatum, the sly side glances he shot in her direction were reminder enough.

Get a massive story on Brennan—for real this time—or
get packing. With a résumé that would read
I’m not even good enough to cut it at a small-town newspaper
.

But Brennan wasn’t talking, and what’s more, Ava wouldn’t pressure him to. Steamy feelings aside, she’d never believed in shady journalism, and even in the face of Gary’s threats, she wasn’t about to start now. She had nothing to go on other than her gut, and as desperate as she was for a
story, Ava couldn’t make one up out of ballsy determination and thin air. She’d just have to find a different story, something else worth telling, to get Gary off her back and her name on the front page.

Even if the most exciting thing she’d been able to turn up all week was the Riverside annual fruitcake chucking contest.

“No offense, but you look like someone just stole your puppy.” Her
brother’s voice threaded past Ava’s grim thoughts as he leaned in to top off the holly-printed coffee mug sitting on the side table between them.

“Have you ever noticed that when someone kicks off a sentence with
no offense
, they’re usually about to offend you?” Although she’d meant to deliver the words with a hearty dose of her trademark sarcasm, they came out embarrassingly soft.

“Hey, I was kidding. I didn’t mean to offend you,” Pete said, his dark brows lowering in concern. “Is everything okay?”

Great. The last thing Ava needed was for Pete to worry about her. He’d sacrificed enough of his life doing just that already.

She worked up a smile, albeit a lopsided one, and stuffed down her churning thoughts as best she could. “Yeah, sorry.
I’ve just got a lot on my plate at work.”

Not only that, but she was supposed to meet Brennan at the lake in less than an hour. Ava had waffled over the idea of canceling, but she didn’t have his number and—surprise, surprise—her online search for it had yielded bupkus. Sure, they’d had an incredible time together earlier in the week, sliding right back into the easy comfort and flirty banter
that had made her fall for him seven years ago. But she had fallen then,
hard
, and no matter how good Ava had felt spending time with him in their little yoga session, she had no intention of being that vulnerable ever again. Being around Brennan, with those sexy shoulders and that
really
sexy stare, might just be too tempting. And too dangerous.

Even if the danger was sizzling hot.

“Come
on,” Pete said, interrupting Ava’s dismal thoughts with a grin. “It’s a gorgeous winter Sunday in the mountains.” He made a grand gesture to the sun-drenched windows lining the mostly empty bakery behind them, the contents of the coffeepot in his hand giving a soft slosh. “You’re way too serious. Forget work and live a little.”

“Okay, who are you and what have you done with my brother?” Ava
laughed, her sassy tone returning to her voice. “You never forget work. Although I have to say, my taste buds are thankful.”

She took a deep inhale, letting the earthy scent of fresh coffee and the butter-sweet smell of pastries-in-progress chip at the edges of her stress. As ugly as life got, at work or otherwise, she could always count on Pete to make her feel like things might not be so bad.

“Hmm. There are more important things in life than punching the clock. Even when you love your job.” Her brother passed off the coffeepot to the teenager who had been working behind the counter, his expression slipping back to concern as his wife, Lily, muscled an oversized tray of her famous eggnog snickerdoodle cookies past the swinging door from the kitchen at the back of the shop.

“Here,
let me get that for you.” Pete rushed to slide the stainless steel tray from Lily’s grasp, placing it on the work space behind the gleaming glass display counter before steering her over to the couch across from Ava. Wow, Lily must really still be under the weather if Pete was getting jumpy over a double batch of cookies.

Her sister-in-law rolled her pretty blue eyes, planting her kitchen clogs
on the mahogany floorboards with a sigh.

“Honestly, I’m fine, Pete. You don’t need to—” Lily’s protest got lost in the wake of Pete’s movements as he nudged her into sitting on the couch.

“Hold that thought. I’m going to grab you a bottle of water.”

Ava watched, both bewildered and totally amused as her normally cocky brother blazed a nonstop path to the built-in cooler behind the main bakery
counter. After a quick murmur to the teen behind the register, he returned with just as much speed, cracking the lid on the plastic water bottle before handing it over.

“There you go. Lucas has us covered for a few minutes so you can take a break.”

“At least you’re equal opportunity with your coddling,” Ava said, wiggling her brows playfully at Pete. “Although really, the couch treatment might
be a little extreme.”

“Ava’s right,” Lily agreed, and whoa, come to think of it, she did look pretty wiped out. She blinked, her lashes creating even deeper shadows against the dark circles under her eyes. “If I take a water break after every batch of cookies, we’re never going to get anything done around here. Especially with Christmas only two weeks away.”

Pete shook his head, pressing his
palms into his apron-clad hips with an expression Ava knew all too well. “You need to take it easy,” he said, but Lily cut off his argument with a good-natured—albeit weak—laugh.

“Are you seriously going to be this protective the
whole
time? I give you less than a month before you end up even more exhausted than me.”

“Jeez, Lil. How long are you planning on being sick?” Ava shifted to grab
her coffee cup, belatedly realizing that both Lily and Pete were exchanging twin wide-eyed, oh-shit glances.

“I told you I wouldn’t be good at this. I suck at secrets,” Lily murmured, pinching the bridge of her nose just below the frames of her slim red glasses. Pete sat on the couch next to her, hooking an elbow around her shoulders and dropping a kiss to the crown of her head.

“Don’t worry
about it, Blondie. It was killing me anyway.”

Ava’s pulse pushed tight in her veins. “What’s going on, you two? Lily, are you okay?”

Oh God
. Pete and Lily were the only family Ava had, and Lily really did look exhausted. If something serious was wrong with her—

“I’m pregnant.”

Ava jerked upright, her palms growing instantly slick. “With a baby?” she blurted, clapping her hands over her
mouth the instant the idiocy had crossed her lips. But holy crap! The moment deserved a little craziness. Pete and Lily were going to be in charge of raising an entire human
being
.

Pete laughed, reaching for Ava’s hand to give it a squeeze. “Um, actually no.”

She wrinkled her nose, the hard prickle of a blush sweeping up toward her ears. “Okay, okay. I know it was a stupid thing to say, but
you surprised the hell out of me. You don’t have to make fun.”

“I’m not making fun of you, Ava.” Pete sat back, brushing his palm over Lily’s denim-wrapped knee. “You were right. Lily’s not pregnant with
a
baby.”

The words trickled in, Ava’s brain kicking them over just a fraction too slow. “Wait . . .”

“She’s pregnant with two.”

“Oh my God, you guys are having twins?” Ava’s confusion
exploded into a hard shot of excitement in three seconds flat. She might’ve been too cynical to believe that relationships could end up in true love before Pete had met Lily, but they really were the exception to the rule.

“Yeah.” Lily dropped her gaze to the dark green apron knotted over her midsection, starting to giggle. “It’s such a relief to be able to say it out loud.”

“I wanted to tell
you the other day,” Pete added, sliding an apologetic glance in Ava’s direction. “But we thought we should wait until the doctor said everything’s perfect.”

Ava couldn’t pretend to be mad, not even to give Pete a hard time. She jumped from her overstuffed chair to hug first Lily, then her brother. “Everything
is
perfect! I can’t believe by this time next year, you’ll be parents. Twice.”

“Not
only that, but you’ll be an aunt, twice.” Pete unwound from their embrace, his expression playfully stern. “And believe me, Lily and I are expecting you to take your job very seriously.”

“Please.” Ava scoffed, although the endearment was more sweet than sarcastic. “Like I wouldn’t. I’m going to be so in your face when these babies are born, you’ll both be sick of me.”

Ava’s breath clattered
to a sudden stop in her lungs. Gary hadn’t minced a single syllable regarding the fate of her career if she couldn’t land a high-magnitude story ASAP. Ava had been desperate to stay close to her brother under normal circumstances, but now that he and Lily were starting a family? No way could she leave the Blue Ridge. She needed to be here now more than ever.

And that couldn’t happen if she earned
herself a pink slip and a résumé full of more holes than a pound of Swiss cheese.

“Whoa, are you okay?” Lily’s hand closed over Ava’s forearm in a flash. “I know we kind of dropped this on you, but—”

“No, no, no,” Ava argued, trying and failing to paste a smile on her mouth. God, she had to get out of here. A killer story wasn’t just going to fall into her lap, and her time was seriously limited.
“Of course I’m okay. I’m thrilled for you guys. I, ah, just forgot that I’ve got some loose ends to tie up for work, and I’m on deadline.”

“Anything we can do to help?” Lily asked.

The question sent a dual flood of guilt and determination through Ava’s chest. She couldn’t drop the ball on this assignment and be forced to leave the only family she had.

She wouldn’t.

“Nope. I’ve got to take
care of this one on my own. Thanks for the offer, though.” Ava shouldered her bag with a swoop, keys jingling against her clammy palm as she plucked them from the outside pocket. “I’ll catch you guys later. And congratulations again.”

Pete frowned for just a split second before hugging her tight. “Just remember what I said about work. It’s not always the most important thing.”

Ava’s smile
was stretched thin enough to ache. “You got it, big brother.”

It was the first time in their entire lives Pete had said something Ava didn’t believe.

 

 

Brennan’s gaze did a methodical three-sixty around the marina leading to Big Gap Lake for the twentieth time in as many minutes. His eyes moved carefully behind the cover of his Oakleys, taking in the snow-dusted clapboard covering
the tackle shop to his left, then the narrow strip of pavement housing the cluster of wooden benches where he sat, and finally, the weathered, silvery expanse of the pier jutting out into the sparkling dark green water. The hiking trails leading out from the top of the pier were well traveled and clear despite the chill in the air, and the handful of well-bundled fishermen on the far end of the
lake proved that the marina wasn’t just for warm weather.

Brennan surveyed the place, gathering details and soaking in what little warmth he could from the midday sun, yet all the while, a knot formed low and hard in his gut.

Ava was nowhere to be found, and she was fifteen minutes late.

He should’ve given her his cell phone number, he thought with a silent curse, or at the very least, gotten
hers. But after how freaking easy and good it had felt to flirt with her at his apartment the other day, especially in the face of his sister’s guest list revelation and the back spasm that had accompanied it, Brennan had thought this date might end with a sizzling repeat of their earlier kiss, minus the smoke alarm.

What he
hadn’t
thought was that Ava might not show up.

Just as it had never
occurred to him that she would run out on him seven years ago.

“Fuck it.” Brennan pushed to his feet with a hard exhale. Loose gravel from the path in front of him crunched beneath his heavy-soled winter boots as he aimed himself on a straight shot toward the parking area. He and Ava might’ve shared an incendiary kiss, and yeah, listening to her open up a little—not to mention opening up a little
himself—had made him feel lighter than he had in years. But he had to be nine kinds of an idiot to have forgotten that she’d blazed a one-way trail off Sapphire Island seven years ago. She might’ve had good reasons to run at the time, but they didn’t change the facts.

She
had
run. And now she was running again.

Brennan crested the upward slope from the marina to the parking lot, fully intent
on getting in his Trailblazer and hauling himself out of Dodge. Adrian had given him the day off, but they still might be busy enough to need an extra set of hands at the Double Shot. He could do a hell of a lot worse than put in a hard night’s work, and anyway, head down, eyes forward might give him a chance to finally figure out how to deal with Alex and Cole attending Ellie’s wedding. At the
very least, an extra shift would exhaust him enough to catch a few hours of decent sleep.

Brennan dug into the pocket of his black canvas jacket for his keys as he approached his Trailblazer from the side, but a scrap of bright color caught his attention from the corner of his eye.

Four spaces down and nearly out of sight, Ava stood next to her car, wearing a cherry red scarf and the most
pained expression he’d ever seen on her pretty face.

“Ava?” He took a few steps closer, his pulse going from zero to oh-holy-shit in less than three seconds. She’d said to meet her at the pier, but... “What are you doing all the way up here?”