*****
From there the meeting was a blur. While Kate took notes as citizen after citizen spoke about protecting their local heritage, Quinn found it hard to concentrate. He was nominally there as back up, but one look in her direction and he knew he wasn’t needed. She knew what she was doing.
After the meeting was over, it was no different. Quinn watched as Kate made the rounds easily with everyone important in the room. Martha Paletta appeared to be practically eating out of her hand as Quinn stood nearby.
“We’ve got great plans for the place,” Martha was telling her. “We have a Christmas tree farm all set up for winter. In the meantime, we’ve just been planting a large vegetable garden. I know the folks around here aren’t much for pumpkins—for obvious reasons—but there’s still no reason not to grow some and sell a bundle in Fairfax County. Course I don’t think we have the manpower to pick everything out there, but it’s a start at paying some of the bills and the Phillips were incredibly kind to…”
Quinn lost interest. No wonder Summer had beat him on this story. A reporter was no good unless his story interested him. You do what you must to fill a paper, but you are never going to really own a story unless it owns you a little too.
Maybe I can take up an interest in dog shit, he thought. I can be the go-to guy for pooper scooper stories. He sighed. Quinn thought he should just be happy with what he had.
Quinn saw that he was not the only one to notice Kate’s easy access to the powers-that-be. While Kate sat down briefly with Martin Heller, local developer bogeyman, Quinn saw Summer staring in disgust.
Just because he could, Quinn decided to needle her a little.
“Looks like Kate is fitting in just fine,” he said as casually as he could.
“Martin chases anything in a skirt,” Summer replied.
Quinn leered at Summer for dramatic effect.
“Last I checked, you were wearing one too,” he said.
Summer waved him away.
“The guy won’t talk to me since I ran that profile of him,” she said.
Quinn thought back to the story three months ago. It hadn’t been his beat then—but he was forced internally to acknowledge it had been a good profile. Very tough, but not unfair. Just because Summer was a pain didn’t make her a bad reporter.
Of course, he was not about to tell her that. Instead he just grunted and Summer wandered away, casting dirty looks in Kate’s direction.
When most of the room had cleared, and Martin had walked away looking pleased with himself, Kate finally turned in Quinn’s direction.
“You didn’t have to wait for me,” she said.
“Well, it was so clear you needed my help.”
She laughed. “Yeah, I’m quite shy, I’m sure you noticed,” she replied.
“Also, I thought I could give you a lift. I didn’t think you had a car.”
“I do, although I walk a lot,” she said. “But it’s getting late. That would be nice.”
They walked outside and Quinn took a deep breath. There was a smell in the air. He could never place it, but it reminded him of leaves blowing in the wind, night coming quicker—fall, in other words.
“It smells nice, doesn’t it?” Kate asked.
“Nothing like it,” he said. “Leesburg’s small enough so there isn’t much pollution. The air is nice and clean.”
He walked her to the car and opened the door for her before getting back in the driver’s side.
“So where’s home?”
“Leesburg Inn,” she said.
“I hope the company is paying for some of that until you find a place.”
“What do you think?”
“My guess would be no because they are cheap bastards.”
“Good guess,” she said.
It was not a far drive. Quinn was more than a little disappointed about that.
“So what’s up with you and Summer?” Kate asked.
Quinn practically choked and had to will himself not to stray from the road.
“I deeply hope I misunderstood that question,” Quinn replied.
“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. If I hit a nerve or something.”
“Well… I… No… I… just.”
Quinn looked over at her to see her smiling slyly back at him.
“You’re taking the piss, aren’t you?” he asked.
“If you mean making fun of you, yes,” she replied.
“Sorry—I’ve been around Janus too long. For the record, there is nothing between Summer and I, nor has there ever been, nor will there ever be.”
“Don’t worry, it seemed pretty obvious she wasn’t your favorite person.”
“Kate, I’ve met many people in my life,” he said melodramatically. “A lot of politicians, lobbyists, heads of trade groups. Some are great, but others are the most self-important people you could ever meet. And Summer beats them all with room to spare. She is the most effortlessly self-involved person I’ve ever met.”
“Sounds charming.”
“Also, she has a persecution complex a mile wide. She thinks everybody is out to get her.”
“Is she right?”
“Well, some of the time. In terms of her reporting though, Summer’s intense and definitely no slouch. She’s desperate to make it to The Washington Post—absolutely consumed by the idea.”
“She already works there,” Kate said.
“Yes and no. The Loudoun Extra is very segregated from the main paper. So around here she can say she works for the Post, but it isn’t like she can escape Loudoun exactly. They view her as belonging to a satellite—and slightly inferior—office. So she works her butt off to try and get stories into the main paper. Something that will help her prove to them she’s ready for the big time.”
“Hard to do, I’ll bet.”
“Sure. My point is she’s tough. If you want to beat her, believe me when I tell you I would like nothing better. But she’ll give you a run for your money. You might be able to charm people to tell you the truth, but she will beat them over the head with a stick until they give her what she wants.”
“Don’t worry, I can be plenty aggressive when I need to be,” Kate said.
Quinn looked at her. For a moment, she looked so serious that he was worried he had offended her. But she smiled back at him.
“Here we are,” she said.
They pulled into the Leesburg Inn. Quinn pulled up to the door hoping she might stay in the car a while longer, but she thanked him for the ride and was almost out of earshot before he thought to stop her.
“Hey wait,” he called.
She turned around.
“I meant to tell you this earlier. Some of us go to this bar on Saturday nights. It would be cool if you could join us.”
Kate paused and appeared to consider the offer. Quinn hurried on as if he wasn’t nervous, but casual.
“It’s the Leesburg Tavern—right off Market Street.”
“All right,” she replied. “What time?”
“Around seven. We have dinner and there is usually a good band there for an hour or two.”
Kate nodded. “Sounds good,” she said. And she was through the lobby doors before he could say another word.
Quinn saw her stride through the lobby and lost sight of her.
He felt strangely pleased with himself. He hadn’t asked her out, but it was a beginning. Things are looking up, he thought.
He enjoyed the moment, not knowing just how short it would be.