Instantly, Garrett’s expression changed. “I like that.”
“Then that’s what we’re going to do,” Jessie said.
Katherine’s gaze narrowed to a pinpoint. “Mac wants a talking head.”
“Well, I don’t.” Jessie gestured for Garrett to get up. “It’s my show and my subject. Let’s do it this way.”
Katherine looked at the videographer for help, but Russell shrugged. “I can make it work.”
“But can it be edited?”
“Just give it a chance,” Jessie said, already nudging them out of the house. “And the whole family should be out there. With dogs. That’s the spirit I want in this.”
It was as if she’d waved a magic wand over Garrett; he changed completely. In less than half an hour, they were gathered in the training area. Shane was teaching a gorgeous retriever to be a therapy dog, and they got great shots of that beautiful creature. And the dog.
Lola did her trick, and even Liam came out with two law enforcement K-9 shepherds who were as daunting as he was, letting the dogs, but not himself, get some airtime.
Jessie spent a few minutes with Dr. K as he described the morning he woke up and decided to plant the seed of an idea in his children’s hearts and how it bloomed and grew into one of the elite canine training facilities on the East Coast.#p#分页标题#e#
Finally, it was time to talk to Garrett, who’d watched his family and felt a hundred percent more comfortable.
Jessie sat next to him on a split-rail fence that didn’t enclose much but separated two of the facility buildings. Katherine and Russell followed, and finally, the camera started rolling on her subject.
“Comfortable now?” she asked quietly.
“On this fence? It’s my favorite seat in the house.”
“Why’s that?”
He put his head back and laughed, a beautiful sight she hoped Russell caught. “You would ask why,” he said, inching closer. “I spent hours here as a kid watching Shane and Liam train dogs. And that story my dad just told? I was sitting right here on this fence that morning. I looked up there.” He pointed to a large window on the second floor. “I saw him in the window, and even from this far away, I could see the…pain on his face.”
He turned to her, ignoring—or forgetting—the camera. “And when he came downstairs with his crazy idea that we take our home and turn it into a full-fledged facility, I had that feeling.”
“What feeling?” she urged.
“Same feeling when I had the idea for PetPic. That feeling that when something is right…” He paused and looked into her eyes for one, two, three heartbeats. Loud, slamming heartbeats. “It is right.”
“And this is, er, was, right?”
“In every way.”
Without thinking, she gripped the fence a little tighter, willing herself not to swoon on television. Wasn’t easy. “So tell me a little bit about what that feels like,” she asked, knowing the meat of the profile would be right here, when he talked about his passions and what drove him.
“Feels good.”
“Having that great idea?” she prodded when he didn’t elaborate.
“To know when something’s right.” His mouth kicked up a little. “Don’t you think?”
So he was comfortable enough to flirt on camera, which wasn’t what she wanted right now. “Go back to that day again,” she suggested. “Tell me what you thought when your father described his vision.”
Now that she knew the pain he’d been in that day—the pain of losing his mother on the heels of a woman he loved and a child he was prepared to accept as his own—his story sounded different to her ears. Richer. More real, somehow.
Katherine stepped a little closer, but still out of camera range. “Can I throw in a few questions, Garrett? We’ll just film the answers, kind of as B-roll to pepper throughout the interview.”
“Sure.” Then he looked at Jessie. “If that’s okay with you.”
Up to a point. “Go ahead.”
Katherine nodded. “Are you generally happier around dogs than people, Mr. Kilcannon?”
He considered that with a smile. “You might say that.”
“Do you find them to be more dependable and loyal than people?”
He threw a look at Jessie. “Why do I feel like this is a trick question?” Then he looked back at Katherine. “Let’s just say I respect both equally.”
“And would you—”
Jessie put her hand up. “This really isn’t the direction I want to go,” she said. “And I don’t want to subject Garrett to a barrage of questions. In fact, I think we can do the B-roll with dogs, and it’ll be much more colorful than him talking about them.”