Page 25 of The Big Scoop

“Oh, you’re not going to deny it? Well that might be the first honest thing you’ve said to me—”

“I bought them to save them, Gwen!”

My voice caught in my throat and I froze. Harrison’s face was flushed and his chest rose with every deep breath he took. I searched his eyes for signs of deception but saw none. But then again, if he’d been lying to me this whole time, why would I be able to tell the difference now?

“Bullshit,” I muttered.

“I was going to tell you once the deal went through,” he replied, taking his phone from his back pocket. “I know how much they mean to you—to the town—so I had Audrey talk to Tony about buying them so we could make sure nothing happened to them.”

He started scrolling through his e-mail as I tried to process what I was hearing. It was possible, and I wanted to believe him, but I wasn’t about to let him off the hook that easy. I’d spoken to enough crooked businessmen and local politicians to know that a person could sound sincere and smile to your face and be lying their ass off the whole time.

“Look! Look!” he said, showing me his phone. There was an e-mail chain from him and Audrey. He read it out loud. “Audrey, I want to buy the Macadam Pines from that Tony Russell character. Can you get on it?”

He scrolled to her response.

“Sure, but why?”

And then his.

“Gwen doesn’t want them cut down and developed. I’ll buy them and preserve them as a park. Maybe we can even change the name to Gwen’s Pines.”

My heart shook and I felt a blush tingle in my cheeks.

Was this really possible?

I glanced up at Harrison, who had his eyes fixed on me. I was starting to believe him; I wanted to believe him, but he must have seen that I needed more, so he kept reading.

“Wow, you must really like her, huh?”

Again he looked at me, and again I felt those feelings starting to rise up inside me, taking over the anger and betrayal that had taken over.

“I know it sounds crazy,” he continued, reading his response. “But I think she might be the one. Let me know what he says. We’ll me in Amalfi for a week or so.”

The one…I thought, feeling the tears well up in my eyes. Could this be real? It could have been another trick, but why? He’d already made the deal. He didn’t need anything else from me. If he’d just been using me to get what he wanted, he could let me leave now and it would be no skin off his back.

Unless...

“I didn’t want to tell you this way,” Harrison said, putting his phone away. “I wanted it to be a surprise. I was going to have a new sign put up at the lot where we first…well, where we first…connected that night.”

I cry-laughed, remembering the night I’d been lying on the hood of my car when Harrison pulled up.

“I was going to bring you there and show you it in person,” he continued with a sigh. “But I guess the world just wanted to make things difficult for us for some reason.”

He reached out for my hand and I let him take it. Like the beaches beneath us, I felt the waters of despair inside me beginning to subside and drift away. The sun suddenly felt more warm on my face and everything around me felt brighter.

I looked at him, Harrison Night, the man I’d been so convinced—twice now—was a huge asshole, and realized that I’d been wrong about him from the start.

There was no scoop here or exposé about the big bad billionaire coming to town to destroy it. In fact, there was an opposite story to be done, about the guy who’d not only brought jobs and business to Derby, but had also gone out of his way to save a local landmark and preserve it for the townspeople.

“Harrison,” I whispered. “I—I don’t even know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” he replied. “I should have told you what I was up to. Then you wouldn’t have freaked out when you saw the e-mail from Audrey. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” I replied. “It was my fault.”

“No,” he said, wiping a tear from my cheek. “I just wanted to surprise you and it backfired.”

I slumped forward against him and buried my face in his strong chest.

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