Page 71 of In This Moment

“That’s a firm no, and I’ll elaborate a step beyond so there’s no confusion. Graham goes, I go. He stays, I stay. None of which has anything to do with personal feelings.”

***

Brown bag of market sandwiches in hand, Graham stepped out of the deli onto Main and glanced at the sky. Angry black and greenish clouds hovered over the town like a shroud. They’d been calling for storms all day. Luckily, nothing serious, but the static in the air was palpable. Hopefully, it’ll have cleared out by the time he and Rebecca had to head home. Neither of them had driven today.

Townsfolk had started to thin on the cobblestone sidewalks in preparation, but there were a few stragglers, Mrs. Boone included. The mayor’s secretary looked up from digging in her purse and smiled at Graham. Her lime-colored dress seemed to make the salt-and-pepper coifed hairstyle appear green, too. Or maybe that was the clouds overhead.

“Can I give you a hand with anything?” She seemed aflutter.

“No, but aren’t you a dear! Mr. Davis wanted me to grab his lunch for after his meeting with Rebecca. Honestly, why he couldn’t just get it while over here, I’ll never know. That man!”

“Right,” he mumbled, distracted. Gunner Davis’s little red sportscar was parked outside The Gazette across the street, about five shops down. Rebecca hadn’t mentioned a meeting. “What’s he want with her?”

He was more than a little concerned Gunner would try to throw his weight around. He’d assured Graham he wanted no hand in things when it came to the newspaper, that he’d stay out of the business end, but after that impromptu drop by last time, Graham wasn’t so sure. The mayor had been cryptic and…well, weird. It hadn’t sat right in Graham’s gut ever since.

“Oh, about taking over The Gazette, of course!” She fumbled in her purse, muttering about a wallet, while his stomach landed somewhere near his knees. “There it is. You have a blessed day. Stay dry, young man.”

“You, too,” he managed, staring at The Gazette’s window.

The Earth could’ve rotated the sun and they developed a cure for cancer in the amount of time he stood at the curb, frozen. A hollow fissure formed in his chest, just below the knot in his trachea.

A meeting implied scheduling. Which meant, Rebecca had known Gunner would be by, and during lunch when Graham typically left the office.

Taking over The Gazette? His worst nightmare. That Gunner would replace him or stop the press altogether had been looming over Graham for months. He had nowhere to go if this didn’t work out. No one would hire him. What had Gunner’s secretary meant by that statement? Was he being fired? Replaced by Rebecca?

Had she known?

The worst, the absolute worst part, was the possibility she’d been in on it from the start. Had they used him and his skills to get the print in the black again, and then planned to toss him out? Had their romantic relationship been a ruse?

No. That wasn’t like her. He dismissed the errant thought immediately. She didn’t have it in her to hurt another or be deceitful, to any degree. She was more honest than any ten people he’d come across in his career. What they shared was real and vivid and potent. But…

He straightened, cold to the bone.

But, would she accept his job if it had been offered to her?

After mulling it over, he didn’t think so, nor did he think she’d have known what Gunner was up to before today. She had done nothing but defend Graham since he’d hired her. She hadn’t succeeded out in the big bad world. His career had nosedived straight into a flatline. And when push came to shove, she was a local, him merely an outsider, which would matter to Gunner.

Shit. There was only one way to find out what was going on, but his feet weren’t cooperating.

Whatever. Checking for cars, he crossed the street and strode to the office, yanking the door open.

Rebecca, still at her desk, peeked over her monitor. Next to her, Gunner stood with his arm resting on her cubicle, a never-may-care expression as he glanced at Graham.

He set the sandwiches on the entryway table. “What’s going on?”

She rose and opened her mouth, but Gunner got the jump on her.

“I was going over some Gazette business.”

Graham tilted his head despite the oh-shit pummeling his innards. “Wouldn’t that involve me being present?”

“Not in this case.”

Temples throbbing, Graham looked at Rebecca to gauge her response. She could be quite expressive when her guard was down, and he desperately needed reassurance. The chewing of her lower lip and wrench in her brows indicated nothing short of being caught red-handed.

Brick by brick, his world began to implode a second time. Except, this time, he’d not done anything wrong. Pointedly, he stared at Gunner, waiting him out.

“Whelp.” Gunner dropped his arm and strode to the front of the room near the display stand. “I came to ask Miss Rebecca her thoughts on taking over the Gazette.”

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