Page 58 of Rumors in Bayberry
“Me?”He smiled as he attempted to stifle a cough and lost the battle.
“Yes, you.I didn’t know if we’d ever get to talk like this again.”And then she thought of him rushing out of the burning building.The fresh images in her mind sent chills down her arms.“You’re a hero.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.You saved Binx.Although, he’s not very happy with you for wrapping him in a blanket.”
“I know.I feel bad but I had to.I didn’t have a leash for him, and I…”Cough.Cough.“Needed to keep him safe from the fire.How is he now?”
“From what I hear from Kate, he’s fine.A little mad and hiding under the bed.”
“That’s where I found him…under your bed.”
Her heart swelled with gratitude.“Thank you.I don’t know what I would have done if”—her voice cracked with emotion—“if something had happened to Binx…or you.”
When she looked into his eyes, she felt herself being drawn to him.It was as if there were a magnetic draw between them.The next thing she knew, she was leaning down to him.Her eyes fluttered shut, and then her lips touched his.
His arm reached up and wrapped around her back.His fingers combed through her hair, sending goosebumps cascading down her spine.
Boy, had she missed his kiss.It felt as though their lips hadn’t touched in years, and in reality, it had only been days.With his lips moving over hers, she could lose track of everything.
She loved him.She loved him in a way that she’d never loved anyone in her life.
Lip to lip.
He didn’t think this would ever happen again.
When he’d been caught in the fire, Reed didn’t think he’d see her again.And now that he was with her, he never wanted to let Sadie go again.When he’d been in that fire—when his exit had been cut off—when he wasn’t sure he would make it out—he’d thought of her.
He had no idea where they went from here.The one string that held them together had just burned.Perhaps the newspaper hadn’t experienced much damage.Maybe they’d put out the fire before it was able to reach the office.He could only hope.
Because if the newspaper burned to the ground—if theBayberry Gazetteno longer existed—then their careers would pull them apart.She would end up in Brussels.He would end up back in Chicago.
Sure, they’d talk often in the beginning.But as time went on, the calls and texts would grow less and less.There would be no future for their long-distance relationship.And now with her in his arms, well, his one arm, he knew that a part-time relationship wouldn’t be enough for either of them.
“Excuse me.”
Sadie jumped back like a firecracker had gone off between them.Color bloomed in her cheeks as she avoided his gaze.A smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.If he’d had any doubts that she felt something for him, too, he didn’t any longer.
“Sorry to interrupt,” the hospital staff said.“I’m here for your breathing treatment.”The woman looked at Sadie.“It’ll be a little bit.You can wait in the waiting area.”
“Can’t she stay here?”Reed asked.
The woman hesitated.“I suppose.”
After the treatment, he was feeling better.All he wanted to do was leave the hospital, but they wouldn’t release him.They kept telling him his oxygen level wasn’t where they wanted it to be, so they were keeping him overnight.And the problem with that was that they didn’t have a room upstairs for him.So, he stayed in the ER, and it wasn’t the quietest place.
He told Sadie to go home.When her bottom lip quivered, and her eyes glistened, he realized the fallacy of his words.She didn’t have a home to go to.Then he made matters worse when he apologized to her, because then the tears rolled onto her cheeks.
Making a mistake every time he opened his mouth, he shut up.She settled back in the chair and stared at some videos on her phone.He found that when he put his head back and closed his eyes, he was exhausted.He tried to stay awake, but his eyelids grew heavier.He fought it, and then the calm, soothing blackness took over.
The peaceful oblivion didn’t last long, because the hospital staff kept poking and prodding him throughout the night.Sadie stayed quiet and out of the way, but she was there for him.And when anyone asked, he introduced her as his girlfriend.It felt surprisingly normal.In fact, he could easily get used to it.
In the next breath, he reminded himself that anything more than friendship was never going to work.And yet he clung to the idea that the newspaper office might have survived the fire.Maybe then he could talk Sadie into taking over the paper.
In between the needles and the exams, he would drift off to sleep.It was amazing how running into a fire and then escaping it could wipe a person out.He felt guilty for being stretched out on a bed while Sadie was trying to get comfortable in a hard plastic chair.
By 8:00 a.m., his oxygen was where they wanted, and he’d been examined by the third or, maybe it was the fourth, doctor.Either way, this guy said he could go home and rest.Reed couldn’t wait to get out of there.It felt like he’d been there for a week or more.
