Page 94 of The Lighthouse at the Cove
The day’s events scrolled through her mind as she stared at the ceiling. Hugging her arms to her middle, she rolled to her side. She suddenly remembered that Kam had texted her but she hadn’t responded. Kaiah considered calling her, but she was just so tired.
Closing her eyes, she tried to stop the thoughts swirling through her mind. But she kept replaying Reid’s warm presence in the hospital, his arms wrapped around her before he left, and Piper’s tears in her bedroom.
They were both so important to her. And now she didn’t know how she was ever going to leave them.
Chapter 23
Kaiah examined her makeup in the mirror one last time and brushed her hands down her purple sundress. She’d awakened feeling refreshed after her reaction to the beestings yesterday, and after having breakfast with Reid, Becca, and the girls, she had hurried up to the apartment to shower and get ready to spend the day at the festival.
She checked the time on her phone. She had fifteen minutes before they’d planned to leave, which meant she could check her email. Kaiah climbed onto the sofa and opened her laptop. She checked her third Coral Cove article—and was shocked to find thousands of people had shared it, and more than fifty thousand had liked it.
Okay, this has to be some sort of record. Viral again? Am I the Shakespeare of small towns?
Basking in the glow of her success, she clicked around to see if anyone famous had seen it—Simone Biles shared it on her Instagram Stories! Ahh! She clicked around some more, hoping to see anotherfamous name among the shares. But one second later, her blood ran cold.
Under the Likes, near the very top, was Hayes Walker.
Ugh.
“Just go away, Hayes,” she muttered before opening her email. She found the usual messages with news updates, ads for clothing sales, and requests for donations. But nestled in the digital junk mail was an unexpected name, Anita Williams. Kaiah read the subject line attached to her message:Possible Interview, and she froze. Then, taking a deep breath, she clicked on the message:
Dear Kaiah,
A colleague atUS Road Tripbrought your Hidden Gems: Coral Cove articles to my attention. I’m impressed not only with how you’ve painted a picture of this charming place but also by how you highlighted its small-town community spirit. A deeper dive into your stories further showcased your talent at painting pictures with your words.
Needless to say, I’m impressed with your talent, and you might just be what we need here atUS Road Trip. Our goal at our magazine is to highlight different places around the globe, from the exotic to the ordinary but unknown. We also believe in featuring compelling stories about those living in our global community. Your articles seem to embody our values.
I’m excited to share that we have an opening on our staff, and I’d love to discuss this with you. Our home office is located in Washington, DC. We take pride in having our staff writers based on-site to foster a collaborative environment.
We’d love to have you on our team. If this sounds like something that might interest you, please reach out to me at your earliest convenience. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Anita Williams
Managing Editor
US Road Trip, Washington, DC Bureau
Oh. My. Word.
It was happening.US Road Tripwas interested in her.
US Road Trip!
She swallowed a screech. A premier travel magazine wantedherto write for them. This was a huge step forward, getting her even closer to writing forTravel and Culture. It was the kind of job she’d been dreaming of since she was a little girl, filling notebooks with stories. No more scrounging for freelance gigs. No more endless pitching to land a story. A real travel budget. A 401(k).Dental!She was growing giddier by the second.
She skimmed the email one more time, pinching herself to make sure it was real. But something stuck out on her second read.
“Our home office is located in Washington, DC. We take pride in having our staff writers based on-site...”
Oh.
Oh no.
She’d have to move to Washington, DC.
Not only would she have to leave New York, but she’d also have to leave the dream of Coral Cove behind. Which meant leaving Reid and Piper behind.
