Turn Over

“I want to keep my job.”

I shook my head. “Think bigger than that. You’re taking information to her. You’re giving her something. What can you get?”

Her face twisted in a frown. “I don’t have any information. What are you talking about?”

I had debated how to let this play out, but this would be win-win for both of us.

“I have a story for the News & Record. That’s going to be the card you play.”

“You do? What is it?” She was on the edge of the seat. I could see the fire in her eyes.

“We’ll get to that.”

“Mason, if you have a story for me, I need it.”

“I thought you said you couldn’t separate me from work. This story is very specific to one of my latest acquisitions.”

The darker it got, the more I realized the weekend was almost over. Tomorrow was already a beast of a day. I would be on conference calls from seven until seven.

“You didn’t mention you had acquired anything new.” Her eyes narrowed. “What is it?”

“I buy and sell every day. You know that. But you could tell your editor you have a scoop on a South Padre land deal that has a dir

ect impact on the resort. Trade her the story for a chance to focus on the features you really want to write.”

“A trade? But you aren’t going to tell me what it is?”

My hand squeezed her knee. “Remember the mother and daughter from the Cove?”

“Shawna and Lindy? Of course.” She lowered her eyes. “They remind me of—”

“Your sister. I know. I thought the same thing when I met her.”

“You met Shawna? When?”

“I didn’t have much choice after that article you wrote. You basically crucified me in that story.”

“They are going to be homeless, Mason. It wasn’t as if I could put a happy spin on it.”

I took a second to pour another glass of wine for myself. Sydney was still working on hers. The bottle was almost empty.

“No. You’re right. There’s no way to make people losing their homes a happy ending, but I have good news.”

She stared at me, the expectation circling her eyes. “What is it?”

“I am the proud owner of a new campground on the sound side of the island. Shawna and Lindy will be moving in two weeks.” I grinned.

“Are you serious?”

I nodded. The wine was dry and crisp. “It was a good business move. I can relocate ten residents. The mother doesn’t get kicked out on the street. I built in a cushion for the demolition budget, so I’ll use that to make the abandoned lot livable. In a few years when all of this blows over I’ll sell it.”

“But then what will Shawna do?”

“Hopefully by then she’s not still living in a camping trailer.”

“So you did this for the press? To kill the story I wrote?” Her brow was starting to furrow and the lips I loved to kiss so much weren’t smiling.

“Darlin’, I’m building that resort. Things are going to come up along the way. This was one of those things, and I took care of it. I’m happy the mom and little girl have a place to go. But I didn’t promise her anything other than I would get her moved. I don’t owe her a damn thing.”