Page 31 of Rumors in Bayberry (The Bayberry, Vermont #3)

Chapter Twenty-Three

H e loved her.

And she definitely loved him.

Sadie couldn’t stop smiling as they drove back to Bayberry. She glanced down to where their fingers were entwined. When this day started, she was miserable. Now, she was so happy she wasn’t even sure her feet had touched the ground when they’d walked to the car.

She just hoped Reed liked her plan, because it involved him too. That was what she’d been lost in thought about when he’d shown up at the airport. It would take a lot to make it work, but she thought they could pull it off.

When they reached her parents’ house, she ran to the front door and burst inside. She was so anxious to tell them her plan. They weren’t in the living room. She headed to the kitchen. They weren’t there either.

“Mom! Dad!” She paused and listened.

“Out here,” her mother said.

Sadie followed the voice to the back porch. Her mother was smiling and crying what Sadie hoped were happy tears.

Sadie walked straight to her. “Hey. You’re happy to see me again, aren’t you?”

“Of course.” Her mother swiped away the tears. “It’s just been a very emotional day.”

“And we’re not done yet,” Sadie said.

Her mother’s brows scrunched up. “What are you talking about?”

“You’ll see.” Sadie’s gaze moved to Reed, who was standing by the doorway.

“I should go,” he said. “We can talk later.”

“You aren’t going anywhere.” Sadie approached him and then took his hand. She led him to a chair. “Sit. You’re involved in this too.”

“I am?” He looked totally confused.

“Well, now that we’re officially a couple…”

“You are?” Her mother’s voice rose with excitement.

Sadie glanced over her shoulder, grinned, and nodded.

“Oh.” Her mother’s face filled with a great big smile. “This is working out better than I could have imagined.”

Sadie turned her attention back to Reed. “With all of your business trips and being situated in Chicago, I want to see you more than once a quarter.”

He nodded. “That would be nice, but you know it’s not going to be easy. I have a full schedule.”

She nodded. “I understand. Just give my idea a chance.”

“Okay. If you can make our schedules work, I’m all for it.” He leaned back in the chair as though he were prepared to hear her out.

Now that she had everyone’s attention, she turned to her father. “Do you want to rebuild the newspaper?”

Her father hesitated. “I don’t think it’s possible.”

“That isn’t what I asked you. If you didn’t have to invest any of your time or effort, would you want to rebuild the paper?”

This time, there was no hesitation in his answer. “Of course.” His bushy brows drew together. “But I don’t know how you’re going to do it. Everything burned down.”

“Well, I would have thought of this sooner, but the shock of the fire and then the scare of having Reed in the hospital, well, I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“It was a lot,” her mother said. “We’re all still recovering from the shock of it all.”

Sadie looked at her father. “You know all of the work I did to modernize the business?” When her father nodded, she continued. “It will save the business.”

“How so?” Her father genuinely looked curious.

“Well, I saved everything to the cloud.”

“The cloud?” Her father’s brows once more scrunched together. “What’s that?”

“It’s storage for digital files—the backbone of our business. With those vital files, we can rebuild the business.”

“But all of the machines are ruined,” her father said. “We lost all of our back copy.”

Reed spoke up. “We can replace the machinery with something that runs faster, so it will cut down on printing time.”

Sadie nodded in agreement. “And copies of all our back editions are now at the library.”

“What?” Her father looked astonished.

“I didn’t have a chance to tell you, but I kept thinking that the backroom was a fire hazard. Little did I know that we were about to have an actual fire. So, I had it cleaned out. I thought it would be good if the public could access the back issues.”

“It sounds like you’ve got it all figured out,” her father said. “You don’t need me.”

“Of course we need you. You have the biggest contribution.”

His bushy brows rose high on his forehead. “Doing what?”

This was the tricky part, and she didn’t know how her parents would feel about it. “Well, you’d have to provide the land for the newspaper office, and we would need the insurance money to rebuild.”

Her gaze moved back and forth between her parents. As they looked at each other, it was like they were having a conversation without moving their lips.

And then her mother nodded. “I always thought Florida was too hot.”

Her father looked directly at Sadie. “If we do this, are you prepared to give up your traveling and writing those heart-wrenching stories? I really want you to be honest with yourself and us.”

Sadie was quiet for a moment, not because she was considering her answer. She already knew what was right for her. But she needed the right words to explain it to her father so he would believe her. Up until this point, they’d had a breakdown in communications, and she wanted that to end now.

“Those stories that I wrote are very important to me. I will never forget the people I met along the way. But there was a lot of devastation—a lot of misery buried in those stories. They’ve left their marks on my heart and took a toll on my soul.

Maybe I’ve gotten too soft, but it’s time that I step back.

I need to remember that for every painful story, there’s an uplifting tale.

Right now, I feel a need to show my readers that there is still goodness in this world. ”

Her father stood and approached her. He looked into her eyes. “I love you. And all I want is for you to be happy. Will the newspaper make you happy? Truly happy?”

“Yes, it will.” She nodded. “And I love you too.”

Her father smiled at her. “I figured that out after you stuck around, even though I’ve been a growly old bear lately. I apologize. I’ll work on doing better.”

He reached out and gave her a hug. She felt closer to her father in that moment than she’d felt in a long time. Things at last were coming back together.

Her mother came and joined their hug. “And there is peace at last.”

When they pulled apart, Sadie turned to Reed. “I know you’re wondering what all of this has to do with you. Well, I’d like to contract with you.”

“Contract with me?” He got to his feet and approached her. “What does that mean?”

“It means I’m not willing to sell my family’s paper, but I would like to work with the Rumor Quill .”

“I don’t know.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “We’ve never done that before.”

“It’s okay. You can think about it and get back to me.”

He let out a little laugh. “That didn’t take long.”

“What?” She had no idea what he was talking about.

“For you to take on the persona of the editor-in-chief.” He smiled at her. “I think you’re going to do an amazing job.”

“So, then, you’ll accept the offer?” She sent him a pleading look.

“Nice try. I have to talk to Brad and our legal team, but if it’s possible, I’ll make it work.”

“Thank you.” When she glanced around and noticed her parents had quietly slipped inside the house, she stepped closer to Reed. She slipped her arms around his neck. “And I would like to offer you the offices over the newspaper.”

“But that’s your apartment.”

“It was my apartment. I’m planning to put down permanent roots. I was thinking of getting a house—one big enough for a family.”

He wrapped his arms around her waist. “Aren’t you getting a little ahead of yourself? I haven’t even proposed.”

“But you will.” She truly believed it. “And I only want to buy a house once. Maybe you should help me pick it out.” She grinned at him.

“Um… Okay.” He smiled back at her. “These offices you’re offering me, are they for anything special?”

She nodded. “They can be a satellite office for the Rumor Quill . Because you aren’t going to want to travel as much now that we’re together.”

“I’m not, huh?” Happiness flickered in his eyes.

“And miss out on this?” She lifted up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. Before he could kiss her back, she pulled away. “Right?”

“I feel like you are way too good at negotiations.”

“I’m just watching out for you.” She continued to grin at him. “What do you think?”

“I think we have a lot to discuss, but first I need more of this…” He dipped his head and pressed his lips to hers.

Things were working out just the way she’d dreamed they would.

She kissed him back. The next time would be her turn to give in.

But she would worry about that later. Right now, she had more important things to think about—like how long they could stay in each other’s arms before her parents came looking for them.