by Teri Wilson
He turned it over to inspect the wax seal that held the envelope closed—shimmery gold with the shape of a heart pressed into its center. There was no reason for him to read it. Jamie had shared the entire stack of Mary and Harrison’s correspondence with him a few nights ago in the courtyard behind True Love. He wasn’t sure what had possessed him to pick it up in the first place.
But he felt compelled to read it all of a sudden, as if fate had placed in his pocket for just the right moment. A ridiculous notion, but Sawyer couldn’t resist slipping into a nearby coffee shop where he could sit and read it.
Like all the other storefronts in the business district, the coffee shop was all decked out for Valentine’s Day. Pink and red paper chains hung from the ceiling, and the tabletops were all decorated with fragrant bouquets. Sawyer ordered a plain cup of decaf and chose a seat along the bar facing the window. A vase filled with velvety red and white long-stemmed roses loomed beside him, yet another reminder that he’d botched things with Jamie on the eve of the most romantic day of the year.
You were just doing your job, he told himself.
Sometimes he really hated his inner voice, so he chose to ignore it and instead, unfolded Harrison’s letter and read the words as if he’d never seen them before.
My darling Mary,
Even though we are separated by countless miles and an ocean of worry, I still feel your presence deep in my heart where I have kept you since the moment we met. As long as you continue to believe in me, believe in us, I know we can overcome any obstacle, no matter how great. Because that is the nature of true love—it always finds a way.
Always.
Sawyer could have written the letter himself. He felt the same way about Jamie as Harrison had about Mary. He and Jamie had been separated by more than just miles—they’d been separated by time. More than a decade. Still, he’d always held her in his heart—so deeply that he hadn’t been able to have a real relationship with anyone else. He understood that now. He hadn’t been able to fall in love because he was already in love. With Jamie.
But if their love was true, wouldn’t it somehow find a way?
Could it still?
Sawyer’s jaw clenched. He closed his eyes for moment and wondered if he’d been a fool to believe that he and Jamie could somehow overcome the obstacle of the Ridley project.
He wanted to believe love would find a way. He just didn’t know how. But then…
He opened his eyes and lifted his gaze skyward, and he saw the tree—the beautiful old oak that Harrison and Mary had so painstakingly crafted their bookstore around—and it seemed like a sign.
If Harrison and Mary could build around the tree, couldn’t he do the same? Couldn’t he build something new while preserving history at the same time?
He sat for a moment, thinking about all the hours he’d put into the architectural plans for Ridley—starting over completely after his first proposal was rejected. He and Dana had spent months debating every single detail. The town council had already seen the drawings, the PowerPoint presentation and the scale model he’d spent weeks putting together. Scrapping everything now and starting over from scratch would be crazy, if not impossible. The council meeting was scheduled for tomorrow!
It just couldn’t be done.
But Harrison’s letter came back to him, again and again.
As long as you continue to believe in me, believe in us, I know we can overcome any obstacle, no matter how great.
Sawyer believed in Jamie, and he believed in their future. So he grabbed a paper napkin and a pen from his messenger bag and started sketching.
He drew for hours, barely noticing when the crowd around him grew thin. One napkin turned into two, then two into four, until he’d come up with a rough sketch of the entire business district, stitched together on coffee shop paper goods.
It could work. Maybe. But he was going to need to pack up and head back to Rick’s house so he could have access to his laptop and electronic drawing tablet.
He drained his cup and stood, because he also needed something else—a heaping dose of caffeine. He had a long night ahead of him.
At closing time, Jamie tucked Eliot into his purple kitty carrier, locked up and headed home without a backward glance. She didn’t run her fingertips over the rows of books on the shelves like she sometimes did, silently wishing them goodnight, nor did she polish the big jade leaves of the waterfall orchids like Anita had taught her to do. She didn’t even pack up the pretty chiffon dress and kitten heels she’d planned on wearing out to dinner with Sawyer.
For once, she just wanted to get away—to leave True Love Books and go someplace else. Or maybe she needed practice walking away from the place she loved more than anywhere else on earth. Because like it or not, that’s what she was going to have to do. She’d tried her best to save her shop, but she no longer had a choice. Come tomorrow, she was going to be forced to sign the contract with Ridley. If she didn’t, she’d be left with nothing—not even enough money to rebuild.
It was nauseating. Thinking about it made her physically ill, so once she got home, she decided to skip dinner. Instead, she burrowed beneath a pile of blankets on the sofa with Eliot and her computer.
Fighting for True Love had left her little to no time for writing, but a day or two ago, she’d been struck with sudden inspiration and had started something new, something unlike anything she’d written before. She couldn’t get Mary and Harrison out of her head. Their love letters were so tender, so special. How amazing would it be if she could write a romance novel based on their love story?
Eliot stretched out beside her to meticulously groom his front legs as she opened her laptop to read the notes she’d typed up when the idea for the new manuscript first struck her.
The Story of Us
Novel idea
Mary and Harris
Point of view? Maybe switch between?
Life story? Love story?
Jamie’s hands hovered over the keyboard, but she couldn’t bring herself to actually type anything, even though deep in her heart she knew that this was it—this was the story she wanted to tell.
But right now, it just hurt too much. She couldn’t do it, because somewhere along the way, she’d started thinking of Mary and Harrison as reflections of her and Sawyer. Reading their letters had been like looking in a mirror.
And now, she’d probably see Sawyer tomorrow for the last time—right at the moment when she lost everything that mattered most to her. This time, it was her choice to end things between them, even if it was one she’d never wanted to make. At least she hadn’t simply waited around for him to leave her again. She’d made the difficult choice, the right choice to protect herself. To protect her heart.
And you ended up heartbroken anyway.
She bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from crying. No more. The romantic hiatus was officially back on. Technically, she’d never called it off, and it wasn’t as if she and Sawyer had actually gotten back together…
She blinked hard, but a lone tear managed to break free and slide down her cheek. The title at the top of her word document seemed to mock her.
The Story of Us
Could a person on a romantic hiatus even write a love story?
Doubtful—and the romantic hiatus was definitely still a thing. In fact, it might always be a thing. She was starting to think she was better off alone.
She reached for the delete key, ready to put the story of Harrison and Mary—and Sawyer and Jamie—behind her once and for all. That story was over. For good.
But she couldn’t seem to press that button, no matter how hard she tried.
Sawyer hadn’t pulled an all-nighter since college, and he’d forgotten what a toll it took on his body. His head ached, his eyes felt as if someone had poured sand directly into them, and he kept bumping into things as he changed int
o his best suit and packed his messenger bag. In general, he felt like garbage.
But somewhere beneath the fog in his head, hope stirred. Somehow, over the course of the past ten hours, he’d managed to completely alter the architectural plans for the Ridley project. He’d also put together a completely new animated diagram, showing the extent of the construction in detail—both old and new. He was one hundred percent ready for the town council meeting, which was scheduled to take place in the early evening.
Sawyer had a feeling the town would be pleased with what he’d come up with, even Jamie. Especially Jamie. He hoped so, at least. But right now, his biggest obstacle wasn’t the Waterford council or the business owners or his own sleep-deprived state. It was Ridley. More specifically, Dana Sutton, who didn’t have clue what Sawyer was up to.
He had to tell her, obviously. He’d need her approval in order to move forward with the new design at the council meeting. And getting that approval was going to be tricky. She’d see no reason whatsoever for reinventing the wheel when they had a solid plan currently in place and Ridley already had the majority of the town on its side. He’d have to be awfully convincing, so he didn’t waste any time. He headed straight to Portland without bothering to call first, and when he burst through the doors of the Ridley offices, he found Dana sitting in the conference room with her morning cup of coffee and an untouched muffin.
She did a double take when he strode into the room. He was supposed to be in Waterford, not Portland, but they didn’t have time for lengthy explanations at the moment, so he launched straight to the heart of the matter.
“There is a tree in the courtyard of True Love Books & Cafe,” he said, walking directly to Dana’s seat at the head of the table.
She abandoned the papers she was reading and cocked her head. “…Okay?”
Sawyer did his best to ignore the fact that she was looking at him as if he’d lost his mind. Maybe he had, but he’d managed to find his heart.
“The original builders crafted the entire store around that tree.” He spread his arms out wide.
“Yeah. And probably chopped down a bunch of others in the process.” Dana stood and planted a hand on her hip, a sure sign that he needed to get to the point.
“We don’t know that for certain. But what we do know is that they went to extraordinary lengths to keep that tree alive and thriving.”
Dana’s gaze narrowed. “Where are you going with this?”
Sawyer took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. “I have an idea for the Waterford redesign.”
“I know.” She laughed. “I’ve seen it.”
“No.” He shook his head. “No, a new idea.”
And for the first time since Jamie told him goodbye, he thought that maybe—just maybe—that heartbreaking conversation didn’t have to be the final page of their story, after all.
This wasn’t The End.
It might even be time for a new beginning.
Chapter Nineteen
If there was a worse place than an all-romance bookstore for someone to try and power through heartbreak on Valentine’s Day, it had to be a flower shop.
Jamie popped into Anita’s Flowers at lunchtime, hoping for a reprieve from the lovey-dovey shoppers who’d been browsing through True Love Books & Cafe since sun-up. People were still dropping by to read Mary and Harrison’s letters, but most of the customers at this point were looking for last-minute Valentine’s Day presents. Jamie had been recommending romantic reads, wrapping gifts and selling poetic Valentine cards for five hours straight. She needed a break. In truth, what she really needed was a pair of bunny slippers and a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream, but those things would have to wait until after the town council meeting. In the meantime, she needed her aunt’s shoulder to cry on.
Except she hadn’t anticipated being confronted by dozens upon dozens of long-stemmed red roses and festive Valentine’s bouquets. She probably should have. Scratch that—she definitely should have. But she’d been so desperate for a reprieve that she’d temporarily forgotten that flowers were the number one Valentine’s Day gift of choice. Fanciful arrangements covered every possible surface in her aunt’s shop. The rare spaces that weren’t occupied by pink and red blossoms were filled with heart-shaped balloons and giant plush animals—teddy bears dressed in red bow ties and cute white doggies holding roses in their mouths. It was kind of like getting bonked on the head by Cupid…
Or a hardback copy of Persuasion. Take your pick.
Fortunately, Anita had hired extra help for the day so she remained her perfectly unruffled self, the perpetual calm in the center of Jamie’s storm. Anita took one look at her, then led her to a stool behind the front counter and held both her hands while Jamie poured her heart out. She told her aunt everything about the day before, from the pretty pink dress and the anticipation surrounding her dinner with Sawyer to the confrontation with Dana Sutton, and the realization that she’d let herself forget what Sawyer had come to town to do.
“I knew it. I could feel Sawyer slipping back into my heart and I should’ve stopped it immediately.” She sliced a hand through the air, as if it would have been just that simple to cut off her emotions. In a perfect world, it would. In a perfect world, her bookstore wouldn’t be in danger, either.
Anita reached to tuck a lock of Jamie’s hair behind her ear and then cupped her face. Her hands smelled like roses and baby’s breath—like Valentine’s Day itself. “No, you shouldn’t have. Never stop love. Just because you love someone and it doesn’t work out doesn’t mean there isn’t value in the experience.” She released Jamie’s face and shrugged one shoulder. “Even the dentist.”
“Matt,” Jamie said flatly.
It would have been so easy to convince herself that Matt was the right choice for her, especially now that True Love was on the brink of closing its doors. He’d been ready to share his life with her, and he was a good man.
But he wasn’t Sawyer.
“Matt.” Anita nodded and gave Jamie a tender smile. “I mean, you learned something from him, didn’t you?”
She had. She’d learned she wanted to hold out for her wow instead of settling for something that just wasn’t right—but look where that decision had gotten her. “I don’t want to look back. At least not with Matt. But, is that all there was between me and Sawyer? The past?”
Maybe she was just confused, lured by the sweeping feeling of nostalgia that had come over her when he’d walked into True Love Books after so many years. He’d come back into her life in almost exactly the same spot where they’d first met, the bookshelf where fantasy met the classics. But maybe the notion that they belonged together after so much time apart was the fantasy.
Her throat grew thick. Falling in love with Sawyer again hadn’t felt like a fantasy—it had felt real. It had felt true. But everything had gotten so complicated that she wasn’t sure what to believe anymore.
“I’ve seen how you two look at each other now, and there’s no doubt about how you feel.” Anita’s smile grew wide. “And I think it’s always been there. That’s how it is with true loves.”
She made things sound so simple when, in fact, they were anything but. True love was about fate and destiny. It was about invisible forces bringing two people together in a way that couldn’t be stopped. If what they’d found was true love then it should be easier than this, shouldn’t it?
“Here I am, about to lose this bookstore that I practically grew up in—where he and I met—where I have put my heart and soul.” She let out a shuddering breath. “All for a project that he is a part of. How can that be true love?”
Jamie shook her head and thought about the first thing Sawyer said to her when he came back to Waterford.
But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks?
He’d quoted Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet, specifically. It had seemed so lovely at the time, so romant
ic, even with his inaccurate balcony reference. She’d been so swept off her feet by those infamous words that she’d forgotten that Romeo and Juliet didn’t end in happily ever after. It was a tragedy.
No matter what happened with the Ridley project, there was no happy ending to be found here. Not when one of them would be in for a major disappointment. That didn’t sound like a romance to Jamie, and it definitely didn’t sound like true love.
But as Aunt Anita was quick to remind her, she and Sawyer weren’t characters in a book. They were living, breathing people, and the real world didn’t always play by literature’s rules. That’s what made it real instead of make-believe, fact versus fiction.
“True love doesn’t have to be perfect,” she said. “It just has to be true.”
Just a few hours later, Jamie took a seat beside Rick, Lucy and Aunt Anita at the town council meeting. She’d moved through the remainder of the day in a daze, smiling at customers and wrapping Valentine’s Day gifts in shiny red paper, trying not to think too hard about what Anita had said earlier.
True love didn’t have to be perfect. What did that mean, exactly? Was she supposed to pretend that Sawyer didn’t have anything to do with the demise of her business? She wasn’t sure she could.
Even if Jamie somehow managed to close her bookshop’s doors and let herself keep falling in love with Sawyer, there was always the chance that one day, her grief would rear its ugly head at some unexpected, wholly inappropriate moment. Like maybe one day she and Sawyer would take a fabulous vacation and just as they reached the top of the Eiffel Tower, Jamie would turn to him and wail, “How could you do it? How could you make me give up True Love?”
It would be awkward to say the least. Awkward, and very much possible. Jamie was used to wearing her heart on her sleeve, not repressing her feelings. She’d always considered that to be a good thing, but now she wasn’t so sure.