Page 66 of Rumors in Bayberry
“I was wondering if I could speak to Sadie.”
The smile fell from Helen’s face.“I’m afraid you’re too late.We already dropped her off at the airport.”
“Oh.”He was really hoping to see her.
Her mother gestured for him to follow her.“Can I get you some coffee?”
He stepped into the kitchen to see Sadie’s father sitting at the table, which was covered with legal documents.Reed felt as though he were interrupting something.
“I don’t want to bother you,” he said.
“Nonsense.”Her mother turned to her husband.“Samuel, move your papers.Reed needs a place to sit down.”
Samuel gathered his papers, but in the process, a page fell to the floor.Reed bent over to pick it up and in the process, he saw the word insurance.He assumed Samuel was working on the insurance claim on the newspaper office.
He placed the paper on the table.“Are you thinking of rebuilding the newspaper?”
Samuel shook his head.“I don’t see the point.I can’t run it.”
“But there’s Sadie.”The words slipped out before he could stop them.“She could run it.She has run it.”
Samuel shook his head.“This is the way it has to be.”
“Oh, Samuel.”After Helen handed Reed a cup of coffee, she sat down at the table.“I wish you wouldn’t be so stubborn.”
“It’s better this way,” he said.”
“For who?”Helen frowned at her husband.“I can tell you right now that it isn’t better for me.I miss our daughter.I loved having her here.”
Samuel’s gaze lifted to meet his wife’s.In that moment, the man looked as though he’d aged ten years.“I’m going to miss her too.”
If there was a way to save the paper, Reed was certain Sadie would want him to attempt it.And so, he pulled the small notebook from his pocket.“Sadie wrote me something that I think you should hear.”
Immediately, Helen sat up straight.“What is it?”
“It’s a letter she wrote me.I won’t bore you with most of it, but there’s a part I think you should hear.”He skimmed down over the page until he found the right section.He cleared his throat and started to read.“I hope you’re able to find another small town paper to join the Rumor Quill.I wish I could have been a part of it.I’m missing the Gazette more than I imagined possible.I would have made a good editor-in-chief.But it just wasn’t meant to be.”
Her mother gasped, and then she turned to her husband.“You have to fix this.”
Samuel looked overwhelmed.“Even if I wanted to, I can’t fix it.There’s nothing left of the paper.Besides, Sadie is gone.”
Helen turned to Reed.“Go to her.Please, ask her to come home.Tell her that her father has had a change of heart—”
“Helen…”
“Oh, hush.You’ve had time to fix this, and you didn’t.Now I’m going to do it.”Her gaze moved from her husband to Reed.“You care about our daughter, don’t you?”
He nodded.“But she’s gone.”
Helen shook her head.“Not yet.Our daughter likes to arrive at the airport hours early.Her flight isn’t until eleven fifteen.If you hurry, you should be able to catch her.”
She didn’t have to say another word.Reed was out of his chair and out the door before he realized he hadn’t thanked her for the coffee or said goodbye.He had a feeling Helen understood his haste.
After trying to phone Sadie and getting her voicemail, he drove his rental car as fast as he dared.Would he make it in time?It was the question he kept asking himself.
The faster the time passed, the faster he drove.He might have broken the speed limit.Luckily, he didn’t get caught.He didn’t even want to imagine the looks the police officer would have given him when he explained that he’d been trying to catch up to the love of his life.
It was true.He didn’t know when he’d started to fall for her.It could have been in line at the food truck.Or it might have been when she took him to his first hay bale maze.But he knew he was already falling head over heels the first time he’d kissed her.
