“You’ll be fine. You’re a brilliant reporter and journalist, Louise. Trust me—you’re going to be fine. Anyway, who’s there? Who’s looking for me?”
“Well… a certain tall, dark, and handsome man.”
“A certain tall, dark, and handsome man? I don’t know who you could be talking about.”
“That man. Hunter. Hunter Waverly.” She sounds gleeful, but my heart drops, and I freeze.
“Wait, what? Do you know why he’s there?”
“I don’t know. But he walked into the office, demanding to see Holly, and now he’s in her office. I don’t know what they’re talking about, but it seemed important.”
“That’s interesting.” My heart starts racing, and I’m about to ask her another question when Ginny comes from the back of the store with a stack of books in her hands.
“Hey, Louise, let me call you back in a little bit, okay?” I hang up quickly and rush over to Ginny, grabbing the books from her. “Ooh, the new books came in?”
“Yes, these are new books for the sci-fi section,” she says, beaming. “Will you put them away for me?”
“Of course, Ginny. More than happy to. I am so thankful to you and Otis for hiring me. I really appreciate it.”
“Darling, we love having you here at the bookstore. You know we’re getting older now, and it’s a lot of work. When your grandparents said that you left theWhisper Cove Guardian, well… we knew we would love to have you.”
“My grandfather sure loves to talk,” I say, laughing. “But yeah… I mean, I was about to get fired anyway.”
“I just think they run that paper horribly. That Holly—she doesn’t have a good reputation whatsoever.” Ginny is trying to support me, and I love her for it, but it doesn’t make me feel better about the situation.
“I guess she’s doing her job and trying to get subscriptions up. But I wasn’t able to do the job she wanted me to do, so I figured it was better to leave.”
“Well, dear, you’re doing amazing at the bookstore, and we would never ask you to leave. In fact, maybe one day, you’d like to buy it from us. Not that we’re ready to leave it just yet,” she adds with a wink.
“That’s sweet. Thank you.” I start sorting the books into stacks so that I can shelve them in alphabetical order. My mind is not on the task at hand, though. I really want to call Louiseback. I really want to know what Hunter is doing at the paper. But I don’t want to be weak-minded or weak-willed. I am already depressed he hasn’t responded to any of my text messages. It is understandable that he hates me. I would hate me. I lied and betrayed him, in his mind. The worst part was that he admitted that he loved me, as well. I ruined what could have been the greatest love story of my life. I grab a stack of four books and head to the shelves, trying to think about anything other than him.My phone rings again, and I can’t stop myself from answering, hoping it’s Louise with more information. This time, it is Emma.
“Hey. What are you doing?” she asks.
“Just about to stack some books. What’s up?”
“Hunter’s in the office.”
“I heard. What’s going on?” I sound desperate.
“I don’t know. He’s talking with Holly. My brothers were saying they had an offer for the paper. I’m wondering if the offer was from him.” She pauses. “I miss working with you, Gina.”
“I miss you, too, but what do you mean about the offer?”
“Maverick said someone wanted to buy the paper. I don’t know if it’s Hunter or not, but he’s here, and he’s been in Holly’s office for like thirty minutes.”
“I mean… good for him if he wants to buy the paper. He’s a billionaire. He can do what he wants. I don’t care. I’m not a part of that world any longer. I love working at the bookstore. And I’m working on writing a book about the history of local residents in Whisper Cove. The dynamics between money, power, and—” I pause. “I mean, I already told you this, I don’t want to bore you.”
“I love hearing about the book you’re writing. I think it’s such a cool idea. Did you decide if you were going to make it a murder mystery?”
“Yeah, I think I am. It’s going to be set on a wealthy estate and the handsome con artist dies first, and then a character by the name of Gerry gets locked up, for being a bitch.”
“Ooh Gerry S?”
“Of course.”
“And what about her friend Gerry A.”
“Also locked up, in a stinky cell.”
