Page 14 of The Story of Us
“Of course,” she said, shooing him off. “Yeah, go. It was great to see you again.”
“Good to see you too. Bye.” He was already walking away, practically sprinting toward the courtyard exit. “Hey, Dana. Yeah…”
He waved at her one last time before he disappeared.
“Bye,” she said, and her heart gave a little squeeze.
Then she took a deep inhale, squared her shoulders and marched back inside her bookstore. This was nothing more than history repeating itself. Jamie had grown accustomed to saying goodbye to Sawyer O’Dell a long, long time ago.
Jamie put on a brave front when she went back to shelving books, but it would have been nice to have had some time to regroup after her high school sweetheart resurfaced out of the blue, quoting Shakespeare and acting like he’d just walked out of the pages of a Jane Austen novel. A break was definitely in order. Fifteen hours or so would have been nice—one for each year that had passed since Sawyer O’Dell had broken up with her the summer after their high school graduation.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have fifteen hours to spare, since the town council meeting was scheduled to begin less than an hour after Sawyer left.
She shelved like a madwoman, channeling all of her confusion into getting the shiny new books perfectly displayed before it was time to close up and head to her aunt’s flower shop so they could walk to the meeting together.
She debated whether or not tell Anita that Sawyer had dropped by…and ultimately decided against it. Anita had always loved Sawyer.Everyoneloved Sawyer. But if she mentioned it, the fact that he was back in town would become athing. And Jamie had already decided it definitely wasn’t a thing. It was a non-thing, really. Sure, it had been nice to see him, but she had more important things to think about.
Namely, saving her bookstore.
The town council meeting was set to take place at the Waterford Community Center, an old church that had been converted into a theatre and meeting hall. With its tall steeple and arched stained-glass window, it had always been one of Jamie’s favorite buildings in the business district. Even though the space hadn’t served as a house of worship for thirty-some-odd years, it still carried the distinct, comforting aroma of candle wax, furniture polish and old hymnals. Light spilled in from the nave windows overhead, and every tiny sound echoed off the smooth oak floors.
As lovely as the old building was, Jamie hummed with nervous energy when she and Anita walked through the door. The turnout for the council meeting was huge. They were ten minutes early, and the foyer was already packed. A few of Anita’s friends huddled in a group around the coffee station, and she peeled off to greet them while Jamie took in the architectural plans displayed on large easels around the perimeter of the room. A scale model of a hyper-modern superstructure that looked more like a spaceship than a building sat on a table beside a podium.
Jamie stared at it, aghast, until a nice-looking man in a sleek business suit and red power tie approached her.
He smiled. “It’s Jamie Vaughn, right? With True Love Books?”
“And Cafe, yes.” She nodded.
“Eric Duncan.” He held out his hand. “I’m new to the city council, and the area.”
“Nice to meet you, Councilman.” Jamie shook his hand and smiled back at him.
“I’m glad you dropped by to see the designs for the development.” He tipped his head toward the miniature spaceship.
Ugh.
“Proposeddevelopment,” she corrected.
“Proposed development.” He let out a soft laugh, and the corners of his eyes crinkled. He seemed nice, at least. Not like the sort of person who would want to tear down a bookstore. “We’re hopeful it will generate some much-needed interest in the local business community.”
“Well, what about the Fire and Ice Festival? It has drawn a lot of interest in the area and been very popular for the last three years,” Jamie said.
Practically everyone in Waterford came out for the festival which was a street fair held in the heart of the business district in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day. All the local businesses set up booths and the whole area was decorated with flaming heart-shaped torches and grand ice sculptures—hence the festival’s name. In just three years, the Fire and Ice Festival had become a full-fledged Waterford tradition.
Eric nodded. Good. At least he’d heard of the event. “And I hope it continues to be, but we should consider all options.”
“Sure. I just have a million questions.” She could hear herself talking too fast, but Eric the Councilman was beginning to glance around, distracted, and she still had a lot to say. “Starting with what happens to the existing stores if this project goes through?”
Someone in the periphery called his name, and he cut her off. “I’m sorry, could you excuse me for a second?”
Then Eric and his power tie were gone before she’d made any headway whatsoever. Super. She lifted her chin, determined. There had to be someone else influential she could talk to before the meeting commenced.
She peered into the crowd, searching for another member of the town council, but froze in place at the sight of a familiar chiseled face. Her breath caught in her throat.
Sawyer?
His gaze flitted toward her and they locked eyes for a moment across the packed room. Sure enough, it was Captain Wentworth himself, smiling and shaking hands with Councilman Eric.
