When it came to Jeremiah, I didn’t think twice about flaunting my curves. I yearned for his attention like a giddy little schoolgirl.
Much to my disappointment, Jeremiah was always a gentleman. He never came even close to crossing the taboo line I yearned for him to cross. No matter how hard I tried, and boy did I try.
“Are you even listening to me?” “Yes,” I lied.
“Then what did I say?” He stared down at me with such a serious expression on his face that I burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?” He crossed his arms in front of his chest.
“Just that you remind me of my dad right now,” I said, wiping the tear from my eye from laughing so hard. “So serious. So mad. You look like you’re ready to burst a blood vessel or something.”
He stared at me stone-faced. He was always composed. Collected. I loved that about him. His composure was a galaxy away from the manners of all the immature boys I grew up around.
“I am mad.”
“But why, Jeremiah?” My chair made a scratching sound as I scooted back from my desk. I stood up, but even standing, he still towered over me. He was at least a foot taller than me, but I didn’t let that phase me. He had never scared me before, and I wasn’t about to let him get to me now either. “You’ve always taught me to focus on the positive. It was all good, all very positive.”
“When I’m ready to share my personal life in the media I want it by my terms, Elle.” He placed his hands on the desk and leaned across.
I leaned forward too, my hands on the desk, mirroring him.
“Jeremiah, I hate to break it to you, but once you became a public figure, your personal life became fair game. And if I wasn’t writing about you, then who would you prefer? Others are writing about you right now, and I’m sure you’re aware it isn’t all that good. I thought you could use some positive publicity for a change, considering all that’s going on in the mayor’s office right now, and talks of possible jail time. It’s all too absurd for me to just stand around and not do anything!”
I didn’t think his frown could deepen, but he did it. Deep frown lines etched into his face, making him more attractive and adorable.
God, he’s perfect.
“My daughters mean the world to me. And everything you know about me because of my friendship with your father is off limits, got it?”
Hot as sin and a great dad. How much more perfect can he be?
“Don’t you want to get re-elected, Jeremiah? We need to distract the media from the shitstorm and showing that you’re a good family man does exactly that.”
Jeremiah’s eyes fell. He stared down at my desk, at nothing in particular. He didn’t answer me. I gave him a good two minutes, and he didn’t say a word.
Finally, he growled, “Please respect my wishes, Elle.” He straightened himself and turned on his heels.
My eyes fell to his ass even though I knew I should behave myself.
Yep, still as tight as ever.
The years hadn’t taken any sort of a negative toll on that man’s body.
He didn’t say anything more to me, just punctuated his point with a slamming of my office door. I stood at my desk for a moment, staring at the door. His scent lingered in the room, surrounding me like a familiar blanket.
I closed my eyes again, and this time, the memories came flooding through me.
“Come on, Elle. You’re making words up now,” Jeremiah barked. “Whizbang? Carl, get over here. Your daughter’s cheating again.”
I giggled. “Whizbang is a word! Look it up on that fancy smartphone of yours.”
The year was 2007, and the first iPhone had just come out. Jeremiah had never been excited about the latest gadgets, but he was the owner of a big, fancy construction company. His contractors insisted the phone would replace his laptop for work. He didn’t even use the damn thing; it stayed in his pocket most of the time.
He nodded and pulled it out. “Alright, I’ll do that.”
“For the record, it’s an adjective that means lively or sensational. It was also used during World War II. A small caliber, high-velocity shell.”
I watched as his eyes nearly popped from his skull. “How did you know that?”
I shrugged and took a sip from my lemonade and gave him a flirtatious blink. I was sixteen years old, still in high school, and I loved educating the older man. Especially since Jeremiah was smart – super smart. He had an engineering background, so math and science were more his forte.
Still, I loved impressing him with my vocabulary and often learned new words just so I could have moments like this.
If only I had the words to articulate how I felt about him.
A knock on the door pulled me from the reverie.
“Yes?” I muttered, secretly hoping it was Jeremiah. I wanted nothing more than for him to come back into my office and tell me how happy he was to see me back in Liberty. To tell me he missed me and was so grateful for what I’d done.
But it wasn’t Jeremiah. My assistant editor, Lucy, stood in the open doorway. “Is everything okay in here?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine.” I sat down at my desk, my gaze falling on the paper Jeremiah had left behind.
My pride and joy, my entire life’s work, was wrapped up in that paper. As the owner and editor of the Liberty Leader, it was my responsibility to bring the news to the people. It has always been my dream – maybe not so much in Liberty, but as I aged, I felt compelled to return to my roots.
This was where I was happiest in life and I wanted to return to that.
Especially after losing my dad.
Lucy took a seat across from me and saw the paper. Her face scrunched up as she read the headline and the first few lines. “What was he upset about? I don’t get it.”
A sigh escaped my lips. “It’s a long story, Lucy. A very long story.”
This newspaper was everything I had worked for. My dream. I should be happy; I had everything I needed. Yet something was still missing.
“Well, if it’s any consolation, my mama always said that if someone doesn’t like what people say about them, maybe they should be a better person.”
I frowned. “Jeremiah is already a good person. One of the best people I’ve met. That’s the problem. I only wrote about the good things, the person I know and-”
Lucy wasn’t getting it. The lights were on, sure, and she was watching me with her big, brown eyes, but not an ounce of what I was saying would matter to her. Unless you knew Jeremiah – really knew him – you wouldn’t get it. He didn’t open up to just anyone, and most people would never get to know the side of him I did.
“Never mind. Let’s drop it. How’s the article on the Liberty basketball team coming along?”
“It’s coming along just fine. But, I mean they lost badly. We’re writing about it anyway. There’s not much else going on to replace it.”
The question was did anyone care? We weren’t a sports town, which was fine. Our kids played basketball for fun, not glory. It kept the game a little purer, in my opinion.
“You know what? Nix it. Don’t write about them losing. Maybe interview the coach instead, talk to him about the teamwork, or something else. Don’t focus on the negative.” “But it’s the news,” Lucy said.
“Yes, but let’s be honest, Lucy, It’ll only bring the kids down, and this town doesn’t need another disappointment.”
I sighed and rubbed my temples. The fact was, print journalism was on the way out, and no one cared about it much anyway. Liberty was small enough that everyone knew what was going on without picking up a paper. It was tradition for many families to do so, the older citizens, of course. But the younger generation had yet to pick up on that habit if they ever would.
I was on a sinking ship, and I knew it. I knew it when I bought the paper from Jasper Townsend, but I thought I could turn it around. I thought there’d be some kind of news, talking to the local businesses, exploring the beauty of Liberty, and of course, covering the good side of politics.
Like how people like Jeremiah had real aspirations for our town.
“Sales down again?” Lucy asked, reminding me that she was still in the room.
“Sales were never up to begin with.”
“I’m sure something will work out.”
She was so sweet and naive, much like I was when I entered the industry. I became a journalist to try and make a difference in the world, to share the news, and to hopefully open people’s eyes to the world around them.
The one thing that kept me getting out of bed was doing everything I could to keep our town from losing one of the best mayors we’ve had in decades, especially if there was something I could do to get him out of his damn way.
Jeremiah didn’t want me involved, but this was about much more than our relationship.
Both he and my dad taught me to hold tight to what I believed in, no matter the odds. I wasn’t going to give up, not without a fight.
Jeremiah Jenkins may have been jaded by life from one too many disappointments, but I still believed that good could prosper evil.
He dedicated most of his life to others. It was my turn to be there for him.
And if I was being 100% truthful, it was my opportunity to once and for all to prove that was much more than just a kid.
I was going to go after what I wanted, and I wasn’t going to give up.