Page 13 of Rumors in Bayberry (The Bayberry, Vermont #3)

Chapter Nine

H e needed to think like a businessman.

It was easier said than done.

The next morning, Reed yawned repeatedly. He hadn’t slept much the night before. He’d tossed and turned. He’d reprimanded himself for letting things get romantic with Sadie.

He told himself it wasn’t all his fault. He didn’t know who she was when they’d first met. By the time he realized who she was, he was utterly captivated by her. He wanted just a little more time with her looking at him like he’d hung the moon. Was that so wrong?

Probably. He should have stopped the thing that was growing between them as soon as he found out her last name. As soon as he knew she was related to the owner of the Bayberry Gazette .

He’d never had this problem before. He never let himself get distracted when he was on a business trip. And now he had a sinking feeling his upcoming meeting would be a total bust.

Still, he showered and dressed in his usual khakis, blue button-up collared shirt, and blue sports coat. He stuffed his feet into a pair of white sneakers. With his leather bag slung over his shoulder, he headed out the door.

He swung by the Steaming Brew and got a large black coffee to go. He needed all the caffeine he could get to keep from yawning his way through this meeting. And this was one of the reasons he had rules about staying focused on business trips.

Sadie’s friend… What was her name? Oh, yeah. Abby waited on him. She was pleasant and a bit chatty about the festival. She must not have spoken to Sadie yet, or she wouldn’t have served up his coffee with a smile.

Until now, he’d always showed up at meetings well-rested and on top of everything to do with the paper. This morning, he was guzzling coffee, hoping it would wipe out the fuzzy feeling in his mind.

As he walked through town to the Bayberry Gazette’s office, the people who passed him on the street shared friendly greetings. Some of them eyed him up. He wondered if they’d seen him the prior evening with Sadie.

He responded with a smile and a good morning to each of them. He wondered if they would smile and greet him if they knew how his evening had ended. On second thought, he knew they wouldn’t be too fond of him. With the way everyone liked Sadie, they would run him out of town.

Although, they didn’t have to worry. He wouldn’t be in Bayberry much longer. He was certain that as soon as he walked into the newspaper office, their working relationship would be severed. Her father would tell him to leave Bayberry and not look back. And honestly, he would deserve it.

Much too soon he reached the office. He paused outside the door and checked the time. It was five till eight. He liked to have his important meetings first thing in the morning when everyone was fresh and ready to get down to business.

He tried the doorknob. It easily turned. He pushed the door open and stepped inside. He’d been in a lot of newspaper offices since he’d launched the Rumor Quill . Each newspaper was unique in their own way.

This place felt like it was stuck in the nineteen fifties. The only difference was that instead of typewriters on each desk, there were older model computers.

If this deal went through, and he didn’t think it would after his mess-up, this place would have to be updated. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d had to upgrade a newspaper office.

He glanced around and noticed an office in the back with large windows. There was a gray-haired man sitting at a desk. When he glanced up and noticed Reed, he waved him back.

Reed glanced around and noticed a swinging gate at the end of the counter. He made his way through it and then zigzagged past the desks in the newsroom.

Mr. Plummer stood and moved to the doorway of the office.

Reed extended his hand. “Hello. I’m Reed Stanton.”

Mr. Plummer shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you in person.”

“Aren’t you going to say hello to me too?” Sadie moved toward the doorway, coming to a stop next to her father.

How was it he hadn’t seen her? Surely, she hadn’t been ducking out of the way and trying to avoid him. That didn’t seem like her style.

“Uh, yes.” He swallowed hard. “Hello, Sadie.”

She opened her mouth to say something but then wordlessly closed it. She glared at him before turning away so that he could no longer see her face.

Mr. Plummer returned to his big chair behind the equally big desk. “You can call me Samuel.”

Okay. This cordial greeting was not what he’d been expecting after things had gone so wrong with Sadie. Was it possible she hadn’t told her father what had happened between them? And if not, why? Was there a chance she was willing to forgive him? He could only hope.

“Have a seat.” Samuel gestured to the two chairs on the other side of the desk. “We have some business to discuss.”

Sadie sat down in one of them. She still wouldn’t look at him. She stared straight ahead. He moved behind her chair and took a seat in the chair next to hers.

Reed slid his leather bag off his shoulder and rested it on the floor next to his chair. “First, I have to tell you that I love your town.” He glanced over at Sadie. “And thanks to your daughter, I got to experience a lot of it.”

Samuel got a serious look on his face. “I don’t like that you went around me and approached my daughter first.”

“I didn’t.” When Reed saw the confusion on the man’s face, he attempted to explain. “When I first met your daughter, I had absolutely no idea who she was.”

When Samuel’s gaze moved to her, Sadie said, “It’s true. We didn’t even exchange first names over dinner. And…”

Samuel waved off his daughter. “I don’t need to know it all. So long as you two weren’t talking business, we’ll just move forward from here.”

This was not the reaction Reed had been expecting. When he glanced over at Sadie, she glanced away. She obviously wasn’t ready to forgive him, but she was willing to give him a fair shake as far as business with her father was concerned.

Being the professional, he pushed aside his feelings for Sadie. It was time to take care of business and nothing else.

“Sir, I’ve looked through the sampling of papers that you sent over.

I like the recent changes to the paper. The local stories are what we’re looking for.

And many of those stories I think would appeal to a large audience.

” When he glanced over at Sadie, she still wasn’t looking at him, but he could tell that she was listening.

“But I still have some concerns. I’ll need to review some more of your subscription numbers as well as your social media numbers. ”

“Social media?” Samuel looked at his daughter.

Was that a frown on the man’s face? Reed felt as though he were missing something. Though he normally would have inquired, his instinct was to remain quiet and let the scene play out.

Reed cleared his throat and started again. “A social media presence is vital to our plan. You do have social media accounts, correct?

He knew the answer to the question, but he was curious to hear what Samuel would say. Something was going on here, and he was curious to know what was happening that no one seemed to be talking about.

Samuel cleared this throat. “I don’t think the social stuff is important.”

“Our numbers are growing every day,” Sadie rushed to say. “I can get you numbers.”

“If the social numbers aren’t what you’re expecting, are you going to pull out?” Samuel sent him a pointed look.

“Even if he does, we’ll be fine,” Sadie said.

“Reed?” Samuel sent him an expectant look.

“I can’t say, sir.” Reed shifted in the chair. “I would need to do some more research.”

“What sort of research?” Samuel asked.

“There are a number of factors such as how long ago the social media accounts were started, the rate of growth, and the number of trending stories.”

“I’m afraid my father changed his mind.” Sadie turned and looked directly at him.

“Sadie, stop.” Samuel’s voice had an admonishing tone. “You know that’s not true.”

Sadie looked at her father. “This is wrong.”

“Not now, Sadie.” Samuel turned Reed. “What else do you need?”

Reed’s gaze moved between father and daughter. He thought all of the anger and frustration would be aimed at him. Instead, it seemed to be coursing between those two.

“I would like to speak with each of your staff,” Reed said.

“I would like to learn about each of their duties. If this deal were to move forward, it would mean restructuring and possibly reducing your staff.” He’d already informed Samuel about this, but he wanted to make sure to remind him of the stakes. Nothing would stay the same.

“You can’t do that.” At last, Sadie was looking at him and not in a good way. If looks could kill, there would be nothing left of him but scorched earth.

Okay. So, Sadie was opposed to this sale. Her father appeared to be anxious to be rid of the paper. If that were the case, why didn’t Samuel give the paper to Sadie?

They continued to talk about what to expect if this deal went through. All the while, Reed could feel Sadie frowning at him. He couldn’t wait until this meeting was over, because he had a hundred questions for her.

But when the meeting ended, he didn’t get a chance to speak to her privately. She opened the door and left without another word to him.

“I’m sorry about my daughter.” Samuel walked over to him. “She just learned about the potential sale this weekend.”

“She doesn’t appear pleased about it.”

Samuel sighed. “She isn’t.”

“But I thought she was a foreign correspondent.”

Samuel nodded. “She is. And she’s a really good one. But I’ve had some health problems lately.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” He didn’t recall Sadie mentioning it.

“While I was dealing with my health, Sadie moved home to keep the newspaper running. Now it’s time for her to get back to her life, and I don’t have what it takes to keep this place going.”

And now it made sense why Samuel was in a hurry to sell the Gazette . But it didn’t explain Sadie’s resistance to the sale.

Sure, the paper was owned outright by Samuel, but Reed had been around long enough to know the pull family had over the sales. If Sadie didn’t want this sale to go through, she’d find a way to stop it. Even if she didn’t, it would be messy. He could imagine the town getting involved.

He didn’t do messy. If this was any other town, he’d have already thanked Samuel for his time, and he’d be making tracks out of town. But this was Bayberry, Sadie’s hometown, and he couldn’t leave. Not yet.

“Why do you think Sadie is resistant to the sale?” Reed wanted to know what he was up against.

“The paper has always been owned by someone in the Plummer family. This is where Sadie learned to love the written word. I think she’s torn over her love for chasing the story and her sense of obligation to this paper.

” He let out a heavy sigh. “I didn’t want her to stay here these past several months, but she wouldn’t listen to me.

My daughter has a strong sense of loyalty.

I won’t be responsible for her giving up on her dreams. It’s time she leaves and chases her next big story. ”

Reed looked toward the door that Sadie had exited. “It appears your daughter doesn’t agree with you.”

Samuel let out a chuckle for the first time. “It isn’t the first time we’ve butted heads, and it won’t be the last. Don’t worry about my daughter. I’ll deal with her.”

Reed wanted to tell him that whatever he’d done so far wasn’t working. Although, at this moment, Reed would be willing to bet most of her anger was probably aimed directly at him.

But he had other concerns at the moment. After learning Samuel was leaving the paper, Reed had even more reservations about purchasing it.

“After the sale of the paper,” Reed said, “would you consider staying on and writing some more articles? I must say that I’ve really enjoyed them.

The series about the food trucks was interesting because it didn’t just talk about the food, which I tried, and it was as delicious as was stated in the paper, but the article went deeper and gave the reader a sense of the cook behind those delicious entrees.

But the article about the pig and duckling was my favorite. ”

A proud smile came over the older man’s face. “You liked those, huh?”

Reed nodded. “The article about the pig adopting the duck was full of emotion from the sadness of loss, to the joy of finding a new love to the unusual bond of a pig and duckling. That’s why the story went viral.

If you can keep writing those sorts of stories, this deal could be a big success for both of us. ”

“I see.” Samuel shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Then we might have a problem.”

Reed knew Samuel was going to push retirement, and he understood. A health scare would do that to a person. But maybe he could make it so Samuel didn’t have to deal with the stress of running the office. He could just write the articles.

“What if all you had to do was write those articles that have your readers asking for more? And you let me worry about the office. We’ll get a manager to deal with the day to day.

” His mind was already jumping ahead and figuring out the nuts and bolts of having the owner step away from the day-to-day operations.

“I’d say it won’t work.”

Reed met his gaze. “You could at least give it some consideration. I didn’t think you’d be so willing to throw away a really good opportunity.”

“The problem is that I didn’t write those articles you enjoyed so much.”

“You didn’t?” He recalled the byline. “But it said: S.J. Plummer.”

Samuel nodded. “It’s a tradition in my family that the first born be given the initials S.J.”

Reed’s mouth gaped. Why hadn’t he put it together before now? “Sadie.”

Samuel smiled and nodded. “Sadie Jane Plummer. I’m Samual James Plummer.”

So, Sadie was the voice and heart behind those articles. Now what was he supposed to do? He had no idea because she was leaving to go off on assignment in the Middle East or some such place.

He looked back at Samuel. “Would it be correct to assume you offered her the paper and she refused?”

Samuel shook his head. “That’s not what I want. I don’t want her to give up her dreams.”

“But don’t you want the paper to stay in the family?”

Samuel shrugged. “I guess if I knew that this is truly what Sadie wanted then yes, it’s what I would want.

But I know her future isn’t here. If I chained her down with this paper, she’d end up miserable.

And that’s not what I want for her. As it is, I feel guilty for all of the time and energy she’s invested in the paper because I’m selling it. ”

Reed didn’t know what to make of all the information he’d gleaned that morning. The only thing he was certain of was that the Bayberry Gazette wouldn’t be the same paper without Sadie’s voice. So, where did that leave him?