Page 16 of Christmas in Watch Hill
ELEVEN
NORA
“Ican’t believe you,” Tara said only a few seconds after Scott left the store. “I’ve been standing here trying to figure it out, and I can’t. I mean, I really don’t understand you, Nora.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked as I finished filling out the receipt for the online order I’d been filling before Scott stopped by the store.
“He did something amazing. He offered you a way out of this.”
I didn’t look up from the package. “I know, but it’s not right.”
“What the heck?” The sharpness in her voice made me look up from my work. “This is ridiculous.”
“I can’t make all these changes. I can’t. My mom and dad . . . I can’t destroy what they had.”
“Yes, you can. Maybe youhaveto.”
“No. Not if it means undoing all the work they did.”
“You’re too stuck in the past, and that is a huge problem, Nora. You’re spending all this time focused on what used to be and you are missing what is right in front of you.” She glanced in the direction of the front entrance as if it would make Scott Parker magically reappear. “You know, I’ve tried so hard to help you over these last few years, but I realize now you don’t want any help. You just want to wallow in your grief and sadness, never moving on with your life, never moving forward.”
“That’s not true.”
She shook her head, her jaw flexing. “I can’t do this anymore. I am . . . I’m tired.”
“What does that mean?” My stomach twisted. “What are you saying?”
“I’ve had enough.” Tara thew up a hand, dismissing me as she walked to the office where we kept our coats and purses. When she reemerged, she had one arm through her woolen peacoat. “I wanted to help you keep this place open, but over the last few months I’ve realized you don’t want to change, no matter how much you need to. And I can’t take it anymore.”
“Come on—”
“No, Nora. I’m done with this. Your heart’s not in saving this place, and you don’t want to change, even though it’s the only way we can keep it all going. I’ve put too much time and effort into this store over the years, and I’m not going to let this be my last memories of it. I have other things I could be doing right now.”
As I stared at her, she buttoned her coat, then gave me a resolute, firm look, her eyes narrow, her face tight. “Goodbye, Nora,” she said. “Everyone has to move on sometime.”
