The Story Of Us

by Teri Wilson

  Lucy bit her lip and stared silently for a prolonged moment, before finally caving and admitting the truth. “I’ve liked Rick since the first moment I saw him.”

  Jamie gasped. How had she not known that Lucy had liked Rick all along? After all those months of listening to Rick wax poetic about Lucy. All those crazy schemes of his, trying to get her to notice him…

  This was unbelievable. Lucy had liked him all along! Rick was going to flip.

  Should she tell Lucy that Rick was head over heels in love with her? All this secret, unrequited love stuff was just crazy. On the other hand, Rick should be the one to tell Lucy how he felt, shouldn’t he?

  He should. Definitely. But keeping it inside was so hard. Jamie clamped her hands over her mouth to keep herself from blurting out the truth.

  Lucy shook her head and sighed again. “Quentin could not compare.”

  Jamie jumped up and down like a kid on Christmas morning. She just couldn’t help it.

  Lucy pointed a finger at her. “You cannot say anything!”

  She couldn’t be serious.

  “But I want to…” Jamie flailed a hand toward Rick’s booth.

  “No,” Lucy hissed.

  This was not happening. How many more Valentine’s Days was Jamie going to have to watch those two pine silently for one another? “It’s just—”

  It’s just that I know he feels the same way about you!

  “Uh-uh,” Lucy shook her head.

  “I think—”

  “I said no.”

  “But—” Jamie was on the verge of all-out begging now.

  “I said no!” Lucy hissed, then she turned to face a young woman approaching the True Love Booth. “Oh, hello. A customer.”

  Jamie refused to be so easily dissuaded. Lucy and Rick clearly belonged together. She knew it, Lucy knew it and Rick knew it. Fortunately, there was one other person who knew it, too.

  And he just might be able to help Jamie get this romance going in time for Valentine’s Day…

  After helping Rick with a few things at the booth, Sawyer made his way to the Ridley coffee and hot chocolate cart. Considering this was Ridley’s first appearance at the Fire and Ice Festival, he was thrilled that he’d managed to snag a decent spot, almost in the center of the town square. He and his barista passed out hot beverages and chocolate dipped strawberries while beside them, a sequins-clad twirler spun a flaming baton.

  He’d be lying if he said he didn’t sneak a glance at Jamie now and then, even though the idea that he might spot Matt over at the True Love Books booth made him grit his teeth. He had to do something; either step aside or make a real move. Maybe even ask Jamie out on an actual date for Valentine’s Day.

  Sawyer tried to formulate some kind of game plan, but he grew a little panicky when his gaze drifted over to Jamie’s booth and he realized Lucy was handling things solo. Jamie was nowhere to be seen. He tried not to imagine her on a moonlight stroll somewhere with Matt while someone dressed up as Cupid shot flaming arrows over their heads. The image planted itself in his mind though, and he couldn’t shake it. Not even as he supplied Beth from the hobby shop with a steady stream of caffeine and did his best to talk her into signing a contract with Ridley.

  But then somewhere over Beth’s shoulder, he finally spotted Jamie again, waving and trying to get his attention.

  Dare he think it? This seems promising.

  He excused himself from the discussion with Beth and made his way toward Jamie, who seemed to vibrate with intensity the closer he got. He wasn’t sure whether that was good or bad, but he couldn’t postpone the Matt discussion forever.

  “Hey, yeah.” He smiled at her. She was so beautiful in the darkness, all windswept hair and eyes lit up like sparklers.

  “We have to do something,” she said.

  Agreed.

  But what?

  “About Matt?” Sawyer nodded. “I think we should just…”

  Send him packing.

  He couldn’t say it, obviously…but he wanted to. Oh, how he wanted to…

  Jamie held up a hand. “About Lucy.”

  “Lucy?” he echoed.

  “Lucy.” Jamie’s upturned face split into a giddy grin. “Lucy likes Rick.”

  He knew it!

  Thank goodness. Sawyer’s days as a wingman were coming to a close. “Hallelujah! I’m going to go tell him.”

  He took a step toward the bistro booth, but Jamie’s snagged him by his coat sleeve and reeled him back in. “No! No, you absolutely cannot tell him. I made a promise, and it would be a violation of trust.”

  “So.” Sawyer glanced from Rick to Lucy and back at Jamie. “What do we do?”

  Jamie shrugged. “Well, we have to get them together.”

  Obviously.

  And yet…

  “I thought we weren’t scheming,” he said.

  “That was before I realized the feelings were mutual,” Jamie countered.

  “I’m just going to nod like that makes sense,” he said, nodding.

  “Valentine’s Day is in two days.” She threw her hands up, and Sawyer bit back a smile. When Jamie set her mind on something, there was no stopping her. Rick and Lucy would probably be engaged by the end of the night. “This whole festival is about music and romance and love and food and fun…”

  Food!

  Sawyer snapped his fingers. That was it.

  “And food,” he said. Then he repeated himself, slower, so she’d get the idea. “Fooood.”

  Jamie gasped, eyes dancing. “Food!”

  Sawyer gave her a meaningful nod. He hoped Rick was ready—at least one of them wouldn’t be spending Valentine’s Day alone.

  Twenty minutes later, after Jamie had told a tiny white lie in order to get Lucy to venture over to Rick’s booth, she grabbed Sawyer’s arm again—this time in order to pull him behind the trellis at the True Love Books & Cafe booth so they could hide and observe. She had a feeling that Rick and Lucy would be too self-conscious to admit their feelings for each other if she and Sawyer were anywhere in their field of vision. She didn’t want to risk anything. It was the perfect chance for them to finally admit they were crazy about each other—Rick plus Lucy forever. No more models. No more sweater guys. Just…

  Wow.

  Jamie crossed her fingers, and her toes, and just about everything else that could possibly be crossed and tried to resist the crazy urge to bury her face against Sawyer’s shoulder and breathe deep. He smelled like chocolate and romance—like a Valentine. Intellectually, she realized this was due to the fact that he’d been manning the Ridley cart for the past few hours, but she was having trouble thinking clearly at the moment. All the surrounding hearts and flowers at the festival were clearly getting to her.

  She was supposed to be concentrating on Lucy and Rick. They needed all the positive thoughts they could get. She had a brief reprieve from Sawyer’s closeness when he leaned away to peer around the edge of the latticework wall.

  But then she remembered the rules and swatted his elbow. “Hey! No spying.”

  They’d already meddled enough, hadn’t they?

  “They’re right out in the open,” Sawyer whispered. “Rick would totally spy.”

  He had a point. Jamie had witnessed Rick’s nosy streak on more than one occasion.

  She relented, albeit a little guiltily. “Okay, a little bit of spying.”

  She peeked around the corner of the lattice, and Sawyer tucked himself right behind her in order to peer over her shoulder. A shiver skittered through Jamie at his nearness. He felt too good, too right, which was totally not the way she should feel about getting cozy with him.

  But before she could move an inch, Lucy arrived at Rick’s booth and it was too late.

  “Hey, Jamie says you need help handing out samples.” Lucy gestured toward a t
ray of cups filled with—what else—risotto.

  Rick’s eyebrows drew together. “She did?”

  Behind Jamie, Sawyer groaned.

  Come on, Rick. Get a clue.

  “Don’t you?” Lucy tilted her head, then her expression went from hopeful to disappointed. “Right,” she said, shoulders sagging.

  She turned to go, but Rick finally seemed to realize Jamie had sent Lucy to him for a reason.

  “Wait, wait, wait.” He ran around to the front of the booth to stop her. “Wait! Yes! Help. Here.”

  He handed her a cup of risotto, but instead of passing it on to a customer, she dug in. “So I know what I’m serving.”

  Rick just chuckled.

  “Mmm.” Lucy pointed with her spoon. “You really do make great risotto.”

  Rick shrugged. “I’ve had some practice lately.”

  Understatement of the century.

  Lucy ate another spoonful. “How long is lately?”

  Jamie held her breath and prayed that Rick understood Lucy’s question. She wasn’t actually talking about risotto. She’d been carrying a secret torch for Rick since the day they’d met, and she wanted to know if her feelings had been returned all along.

  They had—Jamie knew how much Rick cared about Lucy. All he had to do was tell her.

  “August ninth, two years ago,” Rick said in a soft voice—so tender and gentle that Jamie almost didn’t catch his words. Even if she hadn’t, she would have known he’d finally confessed his feelings simply by the look on Lucy’s face. Her eyes grew wide, and she looked like she was on the verge of dropping her risotto.

  Rick shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Please tell me Quentin isn’t going to show up any second—”

  Lucy cut him off. “He’s not.”

  “Why not?” Rick dipped his head to meet her eyes with a questioning gaze.

  Lucy swallowed. “Because he’s not my wow.”

  Sawyer grabbed Jamie’s hand and squeezed hard. It was happening!

  “Kerpow,” Rick said, and when Lucy’s face went blank, he explained. “That’s what I call it. Called it…when I first saw you.”

  Lucy stared at him for a long moment. Then she set her empty risotto cup aside, grabbed Rick by the lapels of his coat and hauled him toward her for a kiss.

  Ahhhhh!

  Jamie’s gaze flew to meet Sawyer’s. They looked at each other for a beat, and then…Jamie wasn’t entirely sure how it happened, but the next thing she knew, she’d thrown herself into his arms. They jumped up and down in silent celebration for Lucy and Rick—at least it started out as a celebration. Sawyer spun Jamie around and around, and then…

  Well…he didn’t let go. And neither did Jamie. She couldn’t seem to tear herself away from him—the soft wool of his peacoat against her cheek, the comforting strength of his arms, the exquisite beat of his heart as it crashed against hers. It was too much. Too overwhelming. Too…

  Wow.

  The realization hit her like Cupid’s arrow, straight to her heart. Sawyer was her wow. And her kerpow. Sawyer was the one. He always had been, and he always would be.

  She blinked up at him. Oh, gosh. What did this mean? What was she supposed to do with this information—the wholly inconvenient fact that she just might be in love with Sawyer O’Dell?

  He smiled down at her, and she took a tiny backward step out of his embrace. “I need to clear up a few things,” she said.

  Sawyer drew in a long breath. “Matt?”

  Right. Matt. Jamie needed to be honest with him once and for all, but there was also a more urgent matter at hand.

  She nodded. “And the council vote is in a couple of days. And I don’t know what my life is going to look like, and I just don’t know if now is the right time…”

  No matter how she felt about Sawyer, she still had every intention of fighting for True Love Books, and he remained the face of the opposition. That very real fact posed a serious obstacle—one that seemed far too important to overcome. Not to mention the fact that he would be packing up and moving back to Portland any day now.

  This was crazy. She couldn’t…they couldn’t…

  Sawyer held up a hand. “How about this—I take you to a pre-Valentine’s dinner tomorrow. And we’ll see where it goes from there.”

  A deep longing whispered through Jamie. She wanted so badly to say yes. So, so badly. But she also didn’t want to get left behind again, especially if True Love wouldn’t be there to cushion the blow.

  It was just dinner, though. How much harm could come from sharing one simple meal?

  And we’ll see where it goes from there.

  “Okay.” Her throat went dry, and she had difficulty swallowing all of a sudden. She was going on a date, an actual, real date—for Valentine’s Day—with Sawyer, her one true love and her current nemesis. What was she thinking? “Tomorrow it is.”

  “I’ll see you at True Love.” A smile tugged at Sawyer’s lips, and his dark eyes went liquid in the fiery light of the festival. A girl could forgive a lot of things looking into eyes like those.

  Jamie wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or a bad one.

  Her heart thumped hard. “Okay.”

  “Okay.” He nodded and lifted his hand in a wave as he backed away. “Bye.”

  “Bye,” she said, breathless.

  She stood for a moment after he’d gone, concentrating on the simple mechanics of breathing in and out and trying to imagine which would be worse—a future without True Love Books & Cafe or a future without Sawyer. Both seemed unbearable, so she tucked her hands into her pockets, pasted a smile on her face and took her place behind the counter at her booth.

  The festival was drawing to close, and Mary and Harrison’s love letters were nearly gone. Jamie smiled to herself as she thought about so many people in Waterford being touched by their story. As tumultuous as the past few weeks had been, there’d always been one constant—love. Whether it was romantic love, love for the community or something far simpler, like the love for books, Waterford was rich in it. The happy glow on Lucy’s face when she floated back to the booth seemed to put a gigantic exclamation point on that fact.

  Jamie jumped up and down and gave her a big hug. “I’m so happy for you.” When they stepped apart, she winked and added, “And so relieved I don’t have to listen to Rick go on and on about how amazing you are.”

  Lucy laughed. “Oh, no. You are still going to have to hear about that. And don’t think I’m not going to ask you a million questions about how much you knew the whole time. But not now, because Rick’s taking me to dinner.”

  Jamie clapped her hands. Love was definitely in the air. “Oh! Well, go get ready. I’ll pack up.”

  Lucy gave Jamie another quick hug and practically skipped back toward Rick’s booth. Jamie shook her head. Those two were going to make an adorable couple. She was thrilled for them, even if she still couldn’t seem to figure out how to give herself the same sort of happy ending.

  Case in point—Matt, whom Jamie spotted walking slowly toward her as Lucy and Rick disappeared, arm-in-arm. Her stomach tied itself into a nervous knot as she realized what she was feeling. No wow, no kerpow, just…friendly affection and slight wistfulness knowing there could never be more. He just wasn’t The One, and she was pretty certain they’d both known that all along.

  “Hi.” She held up a hand.

  “Hi,” he said, but stopped short of giving her a hug or a kiss on the cheek.

  Her throat tightened. She was doing the right thing. She’d made her decision even before she’d fully accepted her feelings for Sawyer, which was why she’d called Matt earlier in the day and asked him to meet her. She just hadn’t been ready to share that information with anyone until she’d told Matt first. She owed him that much.

  “Thank you for coming,” she said.
r />   “Thanks for calling me so soon.” Matt gave her a quiet smile. “Have you thought about what I asked?”

  “I have.” She nodded. “It’s been buzzing around my head since I saw you.”

  “But, it’s a ‘no,’” he said, beating her to the punch.

  She wasn’t sure how he knew, but she had a feeling that when he really thought about it, he’d realized she wasn’t his wow any more than he was hers. He might want her to be, but she wasn’t. And that was okay.

  She took his hands in hers. “Matt. I know there’s a part of me that could talk myself into getting back together with you, but it wouldn’t be right.”

  He nodded slowly, taking her words in.

  “Aw, I’m sorry, Matt.” She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight, much like the way she had when they’d said their goodbyes before he’d first left for Texas. But this time was different…this time, they were parting for good.

  “Bye,” she said as she pulled away.

  “Good-bye, Jamie.” He nodded again, and something about his expression told her he knew her decision was for the best.

  She hoped so, anyway. But her heart still gave a tug as he walked away.

  There was now one less thing standing between her and Sawyer, and even though the remaining barriers still seemed impossible to overcome, she let herself be happy for a moment. Hopeful, even. The fourteenth was right around the corner, and she might just have a Valentine of her own this year, after all.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Eliot prowled along the Valentine’s display table at True Love Books & Cafe the following afternoon, tiptoeing on his tiny ginger feet. His red heart-shaped tag dangled from his collar as he meowed at customers who stopped to pet him before selecting a letter from two baskets labeled Harrison and Mary.

  Jamie smiled at her bookshop kitty. He seemed to be enjoying the huge influx of Valentine’s Day shoppers as much as she and Lucy were. Before the store opened its doors earlier in the morning, a line of people had already formed outside, anxious for another installment in Mary and Harrison’s saga. All day long, gasps could be heard throughout the store as readers finally learned that the lovestruck couple had been the original owners of True Love Books. It was the perfect Valentine surprise.