Page 20 of Rumors in Bayberry (The Bayberry, Vermont #3)

Chapter Fourteen

I t’s time to make a decision.

The next day, Sadie resigned herself to the fact that when her editor called with a new assignment, she was leaving. She pushed away her doubts. This was the path she’d been on since she graduated college. It didn’t make sense to change directions now.

She’d been in her apartment all morning. She thought her father would have called when he had questions about the new processes that she’d put in place, but her phone had been quiet.

That was fine. It was obvious her father didn’t need her—need her input—even though she’d been the one keeping the paper going for the past several months.

Sadie had been busy cleaning and packing the apartment. She wanted to be ready when her call came. She wanted to be in the position where she could walk out the door without any strings.

“Mrrr…”

She looked down to see Binx rub over her ankles. Okay. Maybe one adorable, purry string.

She glanced up at the clock. It was almost his dinner time. Binx never let her forget to feed him. It made her wonder if he’d starved before he crossed her path. The thought made her sad.

She bent down and picked him up. He rubbed his whiskers over her jaw. She scratched behind his ear. It made his purring louder.

She snuggled him close to her. She was going to miss him so much. She’d never had a pet growing up. Her mother was allergic. So, Sadie didn’t know how much she would enjoy having a furry companion.

She lifted the cat so she could look into his green eyes. “How am I supposed to say goodbye to you?”

“Mrrr…”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t speak kitty.”

“Mrrr…” This time it was louder.

“Oh. I know what you said. You want your dinner.” All of a sudden, tears burned the back of her eyes.

She wasn’t a crier. Not that she didn’t cry. She had spilled a ton of tears over the years, but they didn’t come easily. There was deep emotion attached to them.

And this evening, she was taking Binx over to Kate’s house. Kate had agreed to take him in while Sadie was gone. But she never expected how hard this would be.

She blinked repeatedly. She was not going to cry. It was just a cat. But she knew that Binx was so much more than just a cat. Binx was there to welcome her home. He was her buddy on the couch when it was time to watch a movie. And he kept her feet warm in bed at night.

Sadie poured some kibble into his bowl and then got him fresh water. She put the bag of kibble in the box of cat supplies that she’d already packed. It was almost time to leave.

She didn’t want to wait until the last minute to place him in his new home. She needed to know it was working out before she left town. She thought if she knew Binx didn’t need her any longer, it would be easier to step onto the plane.

Leaving had never been this hard before. And then she thought of her last article for the Gazette . She needed to finalize Hampton and Quacker’s story. She loved the story. It would be a good way to end things with the Gazette .

Her last article…

The seriousness of her decision weighed on her. She’d never noticed until then how much she had to give up in order to be a foreign correspondent.

And then there was the thought of leaving Reed.

Then again, even if she stayed, it wasn’t like Reed was going to stay in Bayberry.

The thought filled her with sadness, which surprised her.

How was it possible that he happened into her life, turned her life upside down, and now she had feelings for him?

He needed to see her.

Reed had spent all day at the newspaper office, but thoughts of Sadie had lingered around the edge of his mind. He’d worked all of the numbers. He’d merged the Gazette’s numbers into worksheets and emailed them back to the main office in Chicago.

The numbers looked good. Really good. But when he looked at the numbers a year prior, they didn’t look so good. The difference between then and now was Sadie.

This deal would not work without her. And yet he knew that mentally, she already had one foot on that jet to take her a world away from Bayberry—away from him. He gave himself a mental jerk. He had to stay focused on the newspaper.

He’d been putting off making her an official offer to take over the paper, but he supposed it couldn’t wait any longer. Come Friday, he was flying back to Chicago.

When he sent the last email to headquarters, he looked up and found that most everyone had left for the evening.

Samuel was still in his office. Reed wondered if he was still there because he was waiting around for Reed to finish his work.

Reed felt bad. He knew Samuel was still not one hundred percent physically.

Reed had just been so caught up in his work he’d lost track of the time.

He moved to the open doorway and rapped his knuckles on the doorframe. “Do you have a moment?”

Samuel lifted his head and waved him inside. “What do you have on your mind?”

Reed took a seat. “Your daughter.” And then realizing how that might sound, he said, “I want to know if you have any advice for me on how to talk your daughter into staying on at the paper. Permanently.”

Samuel frowned at him. “If that’s what I wanted, I wouldn’t have invited you here. I wouldn’t need you.”

Reed leaned back in the chair, as though the words had smacked him in the face. How did he not know this? He felt as though he wasn’t on the top of his game. And he knew what the problem was—Sadie. She had him totally distracted.

He focused on the man across the desk from him. “Why wouldn’t you want Sadie to take over? It’s a part of her heritage. And then there’s the part of her being an exceptionally talented wordsmith.”

Samuel’s bushy brows drew together. “I thought you were getting to know my daughter. How could you have missed the part about her being anxious to explore the world for the next big story?”

Reed rubbed the back of his neck as he chose his next words carefully. “But have you noticed that she’s putting down roots here?”

Those bushy brows rose on Samuel’s face. “How so?”

“You mean other than the obvious—making this paper her own by modernizing it? Then there’s the part of her being on the Pumpkin Festival committee. And she even has a cat.”

“A cat?” Samuel sat forward. “My daughter doesn’t have a cat.”

Reed nodded. “She does. He’s coal black, and his name is Binx.”

“Oh.” Samuel looked flustered. “I didn’t know. She didn’t tell me.”

“Have you ever sat down and talked to Sadie about the paper? Have you ever even considered giving the business to her?”

Samuel shook his head. “I didn’t want her to feel obligated to run it.

That’s what happened to me. I wanted to play football, but my father pressured me into working in the family business.

He said football was for kids. He didn’t think I’d make it in college.

And if I did get that far, I’d get injured and be washed up.

Anyway, I don’t want to put my daughter in a similar position. ”

Ouch. It didn’t sound like Samuel had an easy time of it as a kid. Now Reed finally understood why Samuel was determined to sell the paper, but Reed didn’t feel that was right either—not without Sadie’s consent.

“Maybe if you would just talk to her the way you just did with me, she’d understand that she was free to make her own decision.”

Samuel shook his head. “She’s already made her decision.”

Reed sighed. He wasn’t sure where he was supposed to go with this conversation. If Samuel was going to be that stubborn, Reed had no choice but to lay all of his cards on the table.

Reed leaned forward. “Sir, I’ve gone over all of the numbers, and I think the Bayberry Gazette would fit well within our program...”

“That’s great.” A smile lit up the man’s face, easing the worry lines. “Why didn’t you say so?”

“I wasn’t finished. The deal will only work if Sadie is a part of it.” His voice was firm because this stipulation was non-negotiable.

Samuel’s eyes grew dark as his brows furrowed together. “I told you that isn’t going to happen.”

“Then I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t buy the paper.”

“Get out!” Samuel’s face grew red as his anger flamed. “Get out. And don’t come back.” When Reed opened his mouth, Samuel shook his head. “I don’t want to hear it. Just go.”

Reed gathered his things and headed out of the office. He thought Samuel was making a big mistake. He didn’t know why the man was being so stubborn. Sadie was a grown woman who could make up her own mind.

His hand rested on the doorknob. He hesitated. Everything was telling him to go back and try to reason with the man, but one glance over his shoulder at Samuel slamming files down on his desk told Reed that now wasn’t the time for that discussion.

He opened the door and stepped out into the cool evening. He’d taken no more than two steps when he heard, “Mrrr…”

And then there was a cat rubbing over his ankles. Reed squinted into the night. “Binx, is that you?”

“Mrrr…”

“What are you doing out here?” He reached down and picked up the cat. “Sadie must be worried about you. I think we better get you home.”

He walked the few steps to Sadie’s front door. He rang the doorbell and waited. Binx purred as he rubbed against Reed’s jawline.

He rang the doorbell again. And he waited some more.

“It doesn’t look like she’s home.” Wanting to keep the cat from running off again, Reed tried the doorknob, but it wouldn’t budge.

This wasn’t good. Once Binx got bored of him, he would want down, and Reed wasn’t sure how he was going to keep him from wandering off.

Then, remembering that Sadie had given him her phone number, he used his free arm to reach his cell. With one arm, he held on to the cat. With the other, he attempted not to drop the phone as he tried to find her number.

It took a few balancing acts, but at last the phone was ringing. When it went to voicemail, Reed frowned. This couldn’t be happening.

He tried her number again. He willed her to pick up. The cat was getting heavy and wiggly.

After a few rings, Sadie answered. “Reed, I can’t talk now.”

“Sadie, I have your cat.”

“What? Where?”

“I’m standing outside your place. You need to hurry. I don’t know how much longer he’s going to let me hold him.”

“I’ll be right there.”