Free Like Never Before by Melissa Tagg

headline.”
    â€œThat’s not why—”
    â€œAnd what really makes me sick is you’re still the town golden boy while my dad’s in and out of the hospital, forced into a retirement that’s killing him as much as his disease you couldn’t wait to publicize in a splashy front-page article.”
    No, that’s where she was wrong. He’d cared. He’d hatedwriting that story. Didn’t matter that it was the truth, that Freddie had backed him, that voters deserved honesty. “He had a serious, congenital disease, Jen. A degenerative disease, and he purposely misled voters. He lied about hospital stays.”
    Why was he even trying to defend himself? Jen and her whole family had made it plenty clear years ago there wouldn’t be any reconciliation. He’d written the story exposing her father’s illness. Basically ruined the man’s campaign . . . his entire career.
    Interestingly, as much as he’d hated the experience, it’d shaped his future in ways he couldn’t have imagined at the time. While covering that campaign, he’d gotten his first real taste of the political world. Had found himself reading press releases and listening to speeches and mentally rewriting them in his head.
    And when his story about Jenessa’s dad made national news, he ended up with connections that led to covering the Iowa caucuses for a couple national media outlets. By the end of that summer, he’d reconnected with Theo, an old friend from college—a California kid who’d never seemed to fit his poli-sci major.
    But apparently he’d taken his studies seriously enough.
    â€œJust stay away from my dad, okay?” Jenessa’s voice jutted in. “Don’t visit him while you’re here. His health is getting worse, and the last thing he needs is to see you.”
    â€œJenessa.” This time it was Hugh’s voice behind him, censure in his tone and pace swift as he entered the room. He strode past Jenessa and rounded his desk.
    â€œSorry, Hugh.” Jenessa straightened the globe atop its stand, refusing to look at Logan as she marched toward the door, heels clicking as the rug gave way to hard flooring.
    Logan rose to his feet. “Jen?”
    Her footsteps paused.
    â€œI’m only here a couple weeks.”
    She didn’t face him.
    â€œLast thing I’d want is to make anything worse with your dad. I’ll . . . keep away.”
    No acknowledgement. Only the latch of the door.

    Maybe—probably—she was a hundred kinds of crazy. But tonight crazy felt good.
    Especially with the whole News staff gathered around the oblong table, their laughter mingling with the live music and buzzing chatter filling The Red Door, Maple Valley’s newest and nicest restaurant. Outside its gaping front windows, another round of spring snow glistened under the light of lampposts that wrapped like a line of sentries around the town square.
    Amelia set her last folder in front of Owen and returned to her own chair, her puffy winter coat slung over the back.
    â€œWait, you brought us all here to work?” Kat Chin, the ad manager, flipped open her folder. “I thought this was, like, staff party time. A morale boost or something.”
    Across the table, Owen fiddled with his straw wrapper, tearing the paper into tiny bits and letting them sprinkle to the tabletop. “You’re not the only one who got blindsided.”
    Poor Owen. He’d been the one to suggest dinner at The Red Door before calling it a day. Hadn’t known until everyone else showed up that Amelia had gone and invited the rest of the team—and decided to present her plan for saving the News .
    A plan that just might work. And she had Logan Walker to thank.
    His hypothetical answer to her not-at-all hypothetical question had crawled into her brain and stayed there, lulling her into her first good night’s sleep since