"What a drag. Schuyler Square finally gets a juicy murder and it turns out to be nothing more than a slimy fling between a rich creep and a temporary waitress. I am never going to break into the National Enquirer." A frown formed between Mindy Cooper's large brown eyes as she contemplated serving the rest of her career as editor of the Schuyler Square Times. Ugh. She needed to rethink this job situation in the worst kind of way.
"Your empathy for my parents is underwhelming," Kirk remarked. "Would it kill you to remember that Ron Schuyler was my biological dad?"
Oops. She'd been putting her foot in her mouth more and more around Kirk lately. Or maybe he was just a little too touchy for his own good. "Sorry," Mindy replied. "I'll try not to mope so much but it's just that this was such a good story. Even you can see that, Kirk, biological dad or not."
Kirk didn't answer her. He could be annoying like that--not always answering her or looking bored while she was telling him about her latest scoop. Was it possible that her dream man was turning out to be a dud? Mindy decided that it was more than possible: it was highly probable. Mindy just didn't seem to have any luck when it came to romance. "Would you talk to your mom about that story on her house?" she asked. "If I'm not going to have Ron to write about maybe I can tweak readership with a series on Mary Austin. That's an unsolved mystery just begging to be explored."
"I already told you that I'm not going to bother Mom about that," Kirk said tightly. "Why don't you put something newsworthy in your paper--like a story on that high school kid who won the scholarship to Harvard?"
"Yawn!" Mindy said. "Who cares about stuff like that? People want to read about drama, not some dopey kid's boring little dream. Besides, what's so great about Harvard? Schuyler Square Community College is good enough for the rest of us! Now are you going to ask your mom about letting me do a story on her house or do I have to do it?"
"Mindy, no one will care about an ancient murder." Kirk spoke slowly, like he thought Mindy was hard of hearing or that her IQ had just dropped about 40 points.
"I can make them care. That's what talented journalists can do."
"Would you leave my mother out of it?"
Once a mama's boy, always a mama's boy. "I don't think so. She is living in the house and there is that Schuyler connection."
Kirk looked at her evenly. "Mindy, we need to talk."
Mindy didn't have to wait for the next sentence. "Leave a check for what you owe me for the rent on the kitchen table," she requested. "It's been fun, Kirk."
Without another word, Kirk left the room. Shaking her head, Mindy wondered how she could continue to pick one lemon after another. She really did need to move. The eligible men in Schuyler Square were so...predictable. Well, this was probably all for the best. Now that Kirk was out of her life she could pursue the Mary Austin murder/Ron Schuyler/Veronica Channing love triangle with a vengeance.
Mindy smiled to herself. So her love life handed her lemons. It was up to her to turn those lemons into front page, sensationalistic scented lemonade.
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