Page 43 of Rumors in Bayberry
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 theGazette.She needed to finalize Hampton and Quacker’s story.She loved the story.It would be a good way to end things with theGazette.
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 theGazette’snumbers 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.”
