Just for This Moment (Wishful 4)

“Jay had some ideas for how we could improve our work flow to allow you more freedom to work from your home office under normal circumstances.”

“Yeah?” All hail my favorite tech guy, he thought. “I’ll give him a call a little later.”

Maybe there was some software or equipment he could buy in the name of work-life balance. Now that he had full access to the trust, he had some more flexibility in his spending. Though Mr. Moncreiff, the attorney who handled Gram’s affairs—and Granddaddy’s before that for decades—might just have a coronary if he asked to pull out any more than he already had to pay off his investor. Myles could just imagine all the thoughts about recklessness and irresponsibility floating through the old man’s head.

Simone rose. “I’m off to finish the article on the new small business incentive program.”

Myles blew out a breath. “I guess I’m about to shoot down Vanessa’s counter offer. Might as well get it over with.”

“Good luck with that.”

Once she’d gone, Myles picked up his phone, thumb hovering over the keyboard. Piper had only been at work for an hour. And she’d been aggravated with his mother hen routine before she left. Maybe he’d give it a while longer before he checked in.

Shifting gears, he called Vanessa.

She answered on the second ring, her voice brisk and efficient. “Well, I didn’t expect to hear from you quite so soon. I assumed you received my counter?”

“Oh, I received it. Had a good laugh.” He could all but hear her bristle over the phone.

“I was perfectly serious, Myles.”

“I’m sure you are. But you’re coming at me with big city tactics. This is a small town paper, V. We’re doing okay, and we’re growing, but we don’t have the kind of resources to give you what you want.”

“So what’s your counter?”

“I don’t have one. This is a job opportunity, not a flea market. The bottom line is that I can’t give you the kind of salary you expect. I can’t even offer you what you probably deserve.”

“Then why exactly are we having this conversation?”

Why indeed?

“Because I think you can share my vision. Because I think that after years of working in big city papers, you’re sick of the corporate policies and having little to no say in your assignments or the overall finished product. I think you’re tired of being one voice among many. I think you’re questioning whether you want to raise your daughter in a place where she’ll likely end up in private school. Where she’s never going to have friends down the street or be able to play in the yard without direct supervision. Which is assuming you ever found an affordable place with a yard. I think you worry about her growing up so close to the cesspool of DC, and you’re starting to get nostalgic about your small town upbringing.”

“You’ve been thinking an awful lot.” Her tone was the verbal equivalent of eyes narrowed in offense.

“The fact is, Vanessa, what I’m offering here isn’t just a job. It’s a chance at a different way of life. You’ve got the package I put together on the schools, the real estate, even the art scene for your wife. It’s almost the lowest cost of living in the nation, in a town that’s in the middle of a renaissance. And it’s a chance to get in almost at the ground floor, a chance to really influence that renaissance, that community, through this paper. An opportunity to forge ties and create something that has a more lasting and meaningful impact than an op ed piece no one will remember next week or next month. Real human journalism.”

Myles took a breath. “I can do what I’m doing on my own. I’ve done damned well with my limited staff so far. But I want someone to share that with me V. And I wanted that to be you.” He still did, if he was honest. And that drove him to one last hail Mary pass. “Now I know you like to play hardball. You’re damned good at it. I wasn’t prepared to offer you anything more than what you’ve already seen, but on the off-chance that this makes a difference, I’m willing to throw in ten percent ownership of the paper.”

“Why would you do that? The Observer is your baby. You love that paper.”

“I do. I’ve put my blood, sweat, tears, and money into it. I’ve just paid off my original investor so that I have sole ownership.” Okay, not a hundred percent true until tomorrow, but there was no reason to quibble. “But I love my wife more.” The admission echoed through him like a gong. He loved Piper. He’d known it for weeks, but it was the first time he’d said it aloud. And it felt good to say it, to admit it to someone. Myles hated that it hadn’t first been to Piper herself. Something he’d rectify as soon as he saw her again.

“I didn’t know you were married.”

“For less than a month. But she’s the best thing in my life, and it’s not worth working myself into the ground and losing her. I need help. And if that’s not going to be you, I need to find someone else.”

That was it. Everything he had rolled into probably the most honest pitch he could make. Myles held his breath waiting to see if she’d bite.

Vanessa was quiet for a long moment. “When do I start?”

~*~

“Thank you for seeing me.” Piper clasped her hands, hoping Gram Stewart wouldn’t try to take one and find out exactly how sweaty they were.

Suzanne stepped back from the front door Piper had been surprised she answered herself. In a place like this, she’d expected a butler or something.

“I have to admit I