She sat straighter now, smiled confidently. “Talk numbers to me, Buck. What do you think Stuart might take to sell out his share, and how long might you commit as a co-owner?”
Buck gave her a number. She found a pen, scrawled the figure on her palm.
“And as for me, I’d say one year.” His words were slow and measured, like he was thinking as he talked. But beneath the words, she could sense he, too, was excited about the idea. “I’d commit to a full year of wait-and-see, with the caveat that I could pull out if the numbers nosedive. But I’m gonna need to pray on this, talk to my wife.”
“Let me do some talking and praying on my end, too, see what I can come up with.”
They hung up, and Rebecca found that her hands were shaking. This might be the craziest and best idea she’d ever had.
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“Wait—you’d own the paper with Buck? No more Stuart?” Millie’s eyes were wide as she and the other staff gathered in their rolling chairs around Rebecca Monday morning.
Dinah eyed Tiff nervously, but Tiff just stared at her boss.
Rebecca gazed back at them. Since Saturday, she’d done a lot of praying, had a lot of honest talks with herself and with God. For the first time since she’d moved to Dahlia, she’d avoided talking to Granny about it. She wanted the choice to be all hers, was afraid that confiding in anyone, even Granny, would cloud her decision.
Now, as she spoke to her staff, there wasn’t a shadow of a doubt. She felt in her bones that God wanted her to do this, that this was her next step. And she planned to do everything in her power to make it happen. No more holding back.
She was giving it all—to Dahlia, to its people, to God.
“The way I see it, we have a few options.” She ticked off the choices on her fingertips. “Option one, we close down and become a branch of W Media, but you all are out of a job. They only need an editor. Option two, we get sold to the Charlotte folks, only we become the South Carolina regional branch of their operation, which doesn’t do terribly much for this town, and frankly, I think it’s a bad move from the town’s perspective. Or three, we try it this way—I become co-owner, and we go all-out and see if we can make this ship sail like never before.”
Rebecca paused to let the words sink in.
She added, “There’s a Rotary Club grant we can apply for to help, and some Chamber of Commerce funding, too, but beyond that, I’m putting everything I’ve got on the line here—everything. If we sink, I lose it all and I’m out of a job. And so are you.”
No one spoke.
Finally, Millie said, “Honestly, Rebecca, I think I’m overwhelmed. I expected you were waiting for the next ride out of here. Yet now here you are, offering to pony up gobs of money not only to save this paper but our jobs, too?”
Tiff and Dinah didn’t say anything, just looked at Rebecca.
Rebecca took a breath.
“Millie, you’re right. For a long time I was doing just that—waiting for the next job to come my way so I could get as far away as I could. But I’ve done a lot of soul-searching. And I think theDahlia Weeklydoesn’t deserve to get shut down because it’s had a few editors, including me, who weren’t worthy. I don’t think the town deserves a paper that doesn’t understand its readers, either. I’m not exactly sure why, but I can’t seem to leave this place, can’t seem to move on until I’ve set things right. If ever. So if you’re in, and only if you’re in, I want to do this thing.”
Millie pursed her lips. “You’re probably crazy as a loon, but if you want to throw all your savings at this newspaper, you’ve got my support one hundred percent.” She got up, wrapped her arms around Rebecca. “I think you’re doing the right thing, and I’m proud to say I’m in.”
Tiff gave an excited bounce, began to clap.
“I’m in, too! I’ve been waiting for the right time to tell y’all this, but, well ...” Tiff’s voice began to rise, became even more high-pitched, and tears pooled. “Bobby Smathers proposed! And, well, I’d love nothing more than to stay on as assistant editor of our town’s paper.”
Dinah’s jaw dropped as the others began to talk all at once.
“Well,” Dinah finally said, “I guess Smathers Grocery is our next official full-page advertiser.”
Everyone giggled, and Millie, Rebecca, and Dinah gathered Tiff in a big hug.
“Congratulations, Tiff,” Rebecca told her, feeling a rush of genuine care and happiness for the young woman. It was a beautiful thing watching someone come into her own.
“Thanks.” Tiff blushed from ear to ear. “So, Boss, tell us what to do to help now. Can we canvas the streets, appeal to the Chamber or to Rotary on your behalf?”
“I think the first thing we can do is pray for God’s guidance and hand in all of this as we move forward.” Millie held out her arms. “Rebecca, may I lead?”
Rebecca nodded, smiling, and they all joined hands as Millie began to pray.
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