Page 21 of Midnight Clear

Her mother’s eyes glittered with tears, but they didn’t fall. “I know you do. All I want is for both of you to be happy. And all I’m saying is that maybe you don’t realize how much people loveyou, because you don’t think you deserve it. But you do deserve it. Having Mitch Jacobs for a father didn’t break you. It shaped you. Now it’s time to figure out who you really are and forgive the kid you were. Your father’s shortcomings weren’t your fault.

“I don’t know the future,” she continued. “But I’ve known the O’Haras since I married your father. Anne O’Hara gave me a job and paid me more than any sane woman should because she wanted to save my pride and make sure we could keep a roof over our head. And then she got her friends to hire me. She sat me down and gave me coffee and food and conversation when I didn’t have anyone, and I love her for it. She’s been my friend a long time.

“I’ve watched Hank grow up, mostly from a distance, and I’ve heard Anne’s heart when it comes to her sons. And I can tell you that Hank is a good man and he’s a compassionate man. He has a servant’s heart, and he wants to help no matter where he is or who he’s dealing with. It’s part of the reason he’s been so successful in business.”

“So you think I’m some sort of project for him?” Sophie asked, her spine straightening.

“Don’t put words into my mouth, young lady,” Maggie said. “I’m saying that if you soften your heart and take down that guard you keep wrapped around you, that you might find a true partner in life. And I think deep down, that’s something you want, but it’s also something you’re scared of.”

Sophie didn’t know how to respond. She was numb, and she wanted to deny the things her mother was saying. But she couldn’t.

Her mother sighed and came up to her, putting her hand to her cheek. “I love you.”

“I know you do,” Sophie said.

“Good. Now give yourself a break. You’ve always been much harder on yourself than anyone else. Now sit down and let me fix you some eggs before you fall over. You should probably still be in bed.”

“I spent yesterday sleeping,” Sophie said, but she dropped into the kitchen chair. Daylight was streaming through the windows, but the sky was overcast as the snow continued to fall. She wrapped her hands around her cup and finally asked the question she’d been dreading. “What time are you leaving?”

“As soon as I leave here,” she said. “I said my goodbyes to Junie last night. The moving truck will be at the house at nine. We’re all packed and ready to go.”

Sophie’s chest tightened, but she tried to smile. “Well then, I hope you’ll join me for breakfast.”

Maggie smiled. “I’d love to.”

ChapterEight

Hank had cometo visit her again that afternoon. She’d been propped up in the living room by the fireplace, enjoying the tree and watching the snow swirl outside, when he’d knocked on the front door.

When she let him in it wasn’t flowers he was holding in his hand, but a beautiful snow globe. And then she realized when she took it in her hands and shook it that the town inside was Laurel Valley.

“It’s beautiful,” she said.

“It made me think of you,” he said simply and came inside.

She found he was easy to talk to, and that they shared a lot of the same memories because they’d grown up in Laurel Valley. They knew the same people and remembered the same events. Their paths had crossed more than they’d realized.

And then they’d debated about which was better—books or movies—and she’d been shocked to find out that he had never loved reading because he’d struggled with dyslexia as a child. But he loved movies.

She’d shared with him howThe Velveteen Rabbithad been a favorite of hers as a child, and that she’d lost herself in books as a way of escaping reality because of her father. He’d told her funny stories about his brothers and their Christmas traditions.

He’d never once brought up the bookstore. Instead he’d kissed her on the forehead and left. And then the next day he’d brought her a first edition ofThe Velveteen Rabbit.

“What are you doing?” she asked, staring at the cover and running her fingers over the lettering.

“I’m romancing you,” he said.

“Oh.”

For the next two weeks Sophie felt like she was living someone else’s life. She’d gone back to work, impressed to find that Anne O’Hara and her recruits had, in fact, held down the fort while she’d been sick and also scanned and shelved the shipment she’d received.

Someone had also fixed the heater and the stair railing, though Hank hadn’t admitted that he had when she’d asked him. Just like he’d fixed her front porch and her gate no longer squeaked.

“Must have been an elf,” he’d said with a shrug and a smile.

She’d never officially been romanced before, and she was starting to understand the euphoria of the first loves that she’d only ever read about. But despite the fact she’d felt like she’d been walking on a cloud for the past couple of weeks, there was a heaviness in her gut—an impending doom of a conversation she knew had to happen. He’d invited her to spend Christmas with his family in three days. And she’d accepted. But she felt like the whole world was crashing down on top of her.

She had a matter of weeks before the city shut her down, and she was no closer to getting the money she needed to bring the store up to code. There was no other option. She was going to have to sell and start over. She couldn’t afford one of the storefronts along the main streets. As Laurel Valley had been molded into an exclusive resort town, the restrictions and prices had increased as well.

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