Page 107 of The Lighthouse at the Cove
A middle-aged woman with frizzy gray hair and a pencil balanced behind her ear appeared at the end of the table. “What can I get y’all?”
“I’ll have the pancake special and a coffee,” Hayes said.
The woman wrote on her notepad and then turned her attention to Kaiah. “And you, sweetie?”
“Uh.” Kaiah’s head was spinning, and food was the furthest thing from her mind. “The same.”
“Great.” The woman scribbled the order, took their menus, and left.
Hayes leaned toward her. “Kaiah, think about it. This is everything you’ve wanted,” he said. “You’ll have the freedom to write all kinds of stories, anything you want. And the sky’s the limit. If you want to go to Alaska and write a story about the Indigenous people there, you can. Or if you want to go to the Amazon and write about how people are protecting the rainforest, you can. We have a tremendous budget, and all you have to do is pitch the articles that mean something to you, anything you want to sink your teeth into.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “So what’s the catch?”
“No catch.” He held up his hands. “I’m just offering you a job.”
She studied him with suspicion. “Really? Just a job, huh?”
“Yes. I know it’s over between us. You’ve made that clear, and I respect it. But just consider becoming a staff writer for me. Please. You’re the best person I know for this position. I mean that.”
She moved her fingers over the cracked vinyl bench while she mulled over everything Hayes was offering her—a career with a salary that would give her a decent life and the freedom to write stories that mattered.
This was it. This was her dream coming true right in front of her eyes.
But if it was the best choice for her, then why was she hesitating to say yes?
The server set two mugs of coffee on the table along with a small container of creamers and then walked away again.
Hayes stirred creamer into his mug and took a sip. “So what do you say, Ky?”
She glanced out the window, then back at him. “I need time to think about it.”
“How much time?”
She paused, considering. “I don’t know.”
Silence settled in the booth, and she stirred creamer and sweetener into her coffee but couldn’t bring herself to drink it. Nothing was appetizing right now.
“And who’s that Reid guy?”
Kaiah studied her coffee and considered how much to tell Hayes. Even though Reid had rejected her, she still felt compelled to protect him and Piper. “A friend.”
“How’d you find this place?”
“I was on my way to South Carolina and my car broke down.” She slumped back against the booth. “Reid rents out his apartment, so I stayed there. I got Daisy back this morning.”
“What took so long? Did the engine blow up or something?”
She shook her head. “The parts were on order from the UK.”
“So you started writing about the place since you were stuck here. That’s why you wrote about the festival and the lighthouse, right?”
“Something like that,” she muttered before sipping her coffee.
The server brought their food, and she picked at hers while Hayes wolfed down his pancakes and talked on and on about how wonderful his life and job were in California.
She only half listened. The other half of her brain was pondering if Reid had really meant what he said. That it was over, and that it had been “fun.” Those words had gutted her.
Surely Reid was as heartbroken as she was.
