Page 52 of The Story of Us
“You did?” Ah, now the recent run-ins with Karen Van Horn made more sense. She’d obviously filled her son in on the recent happenings with Ridley Development. She’d probably even told Matt that Sawyer was back in town.
“The second I saw your face in the photo…” He set down his mug and sighed. “I just got hit with the biggest wave of regret. I miss you, Jamie.”
This was it—the big moment she’d been dreaming about since love had walked out the door and left her behind. He was saying everything she’d longed to hear.
Except every time she’d imagined being on the receiving end of those words, they’d been coming out Sawyer’s mouth. Not Matt’s.
She blinked. “Just all of a sudden?”
“No, it’s always been a struggle,” he said, and the gleam in his dark eyes was so earnest that Jamie had to look away. Matt cleared his throat. “Are they tearing down the bookstore?”
“I don’t know. I hope not.” It was the million-dollar question, wasn’t it? It was also the sole reason she was better off sitting across her kitchen table from Matt Van Horn than sharing an umbrella with Sawyer O’Dell.
“If it were to close…” Matt’s voice drifted off and his gaze grew soft.Here it comes. “Would you be open to moving back to Texas with me?”
She should have been thrilled. Matt’s return was the perfect fantasy of the heartbroken—the ex coming back to beg for another chance. How many times had she dreamed of Sawyer doing this exact thing after he’d left for Columbia? She’d just always thought a moment like this would make her feel happier than she did right then.
Matt pressed on. “You could come to Austin and start your own bookstore there.”
Problem: Matt wasn’t Sawyer.
But in a way, neither was Sawyer. He’d changed.
“Oh. Um.” She shook her head. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t even consider moving to Texas, not when she was still fighting for her bookshop. Just talking about re-opening True Love in Austin felt like giving up, and she wasn’t ready to throw in the towel. “Matt.”
“We had something, Jamie. I let that get away once. I’d be a fool not to try again.” There they were again—those perfect, perfect words. “Would you think about it?”
Deep down, she knew she should tell him no. She didn’t want to think about getting back together with Matt or moving clear across the country. Thinking about those things would mean giving up on True Love, and on the Waterford she’d always known and loved. And she couldn’t do that…not yet.
But he’d done the one thing Sawyer had never been able to do—he’d come back and told her he’d made a mistake. That he’d like another chance with her. What more could she want?
Maybe it was time to stop living in the past and grab hold of what life had to offer. Here…now….in the present. Nothing had actually changed between her and Sawyer. He wasn’t back in Waterford to stay. He was still trying to close down True Love, and she was still determined to save it.
Matt, on the other hand, had come all this way and put his heart on the line.
For true love.
For me.
He wasn’t pressing for an answer, only a promise to think about what he’d just offered. She could do that. She probablyshould. Clearly, she wasn’t thinking straight if she’d just nearly kissed Sawyer, so she nodded even though she felt like crying.
How could she say no?
Sawyer spent the next day forcing himself to forget about almost kissing Jamie Vaughn. He tried everything. He buried himself in work, sketching and re-sketching his designs for Ridley, even though they were pretty much perfect already. He added a tree here and there and even spent half an hour varying blades of grass from one shade of green to the next.
When that didn’t take his mind off things, he took off with his messenger bag slung over his shoulder and went door to door again, schmoozing business owners. His heart wasn’t in it, though. He could barely concentrate on what anyone said. He’d nod and smile and do his best to say something charming, but all the while he kept seeing Matt in his head.
Matt, of Matt & Jamie.
Matt the dentist, who was supposed to be in Texas.
Matt, who’d come charging back into town to win Jamie back.
Admittedly, Sawyer couldn’t know that for sure, but he had a definite feeling. Matt just had that look about him—the confident stance, the puppy dog eyes, the overeager smile. He’d definitely been on a mission, and it didn’t seem to have anything to do with flossing or brushing twice a day. The man hadn’t even seemed to care that he’d stumbled upon a private moment between Sawyer and Jamie. He’d simply swooped in on his white horse and taken over.
The horse had been metaphorical, of course. And Jamie hadn’t exactly seemed thrilled at his sudden reappearance. She’d seemed more stunned than anything.
But Sawyer hadn’t heard a word from her all day, and that didn’t bode well.
