The Story Of Us

by Teri Wilson

  He was nailing this!

  “So, as you can see, we will turn the Waterford business district into a mixed-use space, which will drive revenue for the entire town.” Sawyer paused, giving his client a chance to take everything in as the animated slide slowed to a stop.

  He glanced down at the architectural model in the center of the conference table while he waited. The miniature building had taken him weeks to get just right. All the effort had been worthwhile, though. It was a perfect replica of his design, from the multiple floors of industrial-style loft apartments that topped the structure all the way down to the retail space at the street level. He’d even managed to find tiny trees that looked almost exactly like the hemlocks and Douglas firs that lined the streets in Waterford.

  That particular detail had been important to Sawyer. Over a decade had passed since he’d set foot in his hometown, but he remembered it as clearly as if it had been yesterday—soft, damp earth beneath his feet, the cool, and fresh scent of pine needles and trees so lush and green that he’d never seen anything like them, before or since.

  He remembered more, too. He remembered how quaint and cozy the old houses in Waterford felt, tucked beneath the shadow of one of the most ancient cedar forests in the Pacific Northwest. He remembered learning to toss pizza dough high in the air at his first summer job. He remembered Sundae Madness at his favorite ice cream stand by the lake.

  He remembered sharing those sundaes with Jamie Vaughn. She’d been his high school sweetheart, his very first love.

  Since his underwhelming breakup with Sarah a few months ago, he’d even wondered if Jamie might have been his only love. But he’d chalked that thought up to the simple fact that he’d been neck-deep in Waterford nostalgia lately. It was normal to feel a bit sentimental while working on a project for his hometown, right?

  “I like the adjustment,” Dana Sutton, Vice President of Ridley Property Development, said with a nod, dragging Sawyer’s thoughts back to the present—back where he was supposed to be. Where he wanted to be. “I think the Waterford Council will, too.”

  He breathed a triumphant sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

  Dana angled her head toward him, the blunt edge of her smooth blond bob skimming the collar of her white power suit. “Sawyer, how many projects have you done for Ridley? Five?”

  He gestured toward his PowerPoint presentation. “If you pick this one, seven.”

  She nodded. “Seven. Impressive. I’m going to let you in on a little secret.” Dana stood, striding past the conference room windows and their sweeping views of Portland down below. Sawyer followed her, because he supposed it was the right thing to do.

  “The Waterford Project isn’t secured yet,” she said without bothering to turn around, as she clearly knew he’d be right on her heels. “It will be. Which is where you come in.”

  Dana slowed down enough for him to fully catch up.

  “Me?” He started to feel uncomfortably warm again. He’d done his part—more than his part, technically. This was the second full set of designs he’d come up with.

  “You’re from Waterford,” Dana said. “A point you made in your initial presentation.”

  Behind her, the Willamette River glittered jade green as it snaked its way through downtown Portland. Sawyer could see the snow-capped peak of Mount Hood in the distance, looming over the city he hoped would soon become his permanent home.

  He wasn’t a kid anymore—he’d just turned thirty-five. He’d had enough of crisscrossing his way all over the country. He wanted a home. A life. If he could just get a permanent position at Ridley rather than continuing on as a freelance architect, he might be able to make that happen.

  “I am…” He nodded, wondering where this conversation could possibly be headed. So far, it didn’t yet sound like the permanent job offer he wanted.

  “That’s going to help us when it comes to persuading the community.” She beamed at him as if he was the answer to all of her problems.

  She wasn’t actually suggesting that he go to Waterford, was she?

  Sawyer shook his head. “Hold on, Dana. I haven’t been back in a very long time. And besides, I’m just the architect.”

  “But you could be more,” Dana said. Yep, she was definitely suggesting a trip back home. Her enthusiasm almost made Sawyer wonder if she had a suitcase already packed for him, ready to go. “Here’s your opportunity. The Waterford Council wants us to present our designs in a couple days before they take an initial vote next week.”

  If the vote was scheduled for next week, he’d only have to spend a few days in Waterford. But it had been ages since he’d set foot there. No way could he effectively sway the vote.

  Dana seemed to think otherwise, though. “We’ve secured several properties already, but their sales are contingent on this project going to the next step. Help Ridley take that next step, and we can talk about bringing you in-house.”

  Sawyer opened his mouth to protest, then promptly closed it when he fully absorbed what she was saying. A permanent job at Ridley—exactly what he’d been hoping for.

  Finally.

  “So, no more per-project bids?” he asked, just to clarify. After years of freelancing, it almost seemed too good to be true.

  “How does that sound to you?” Dana smiled.

  “That sounds great.” Count him in. He’d do pretty much anything for a real job with real benefits. Something that would let him settle down in a real home. He had so many frequent flyer miles that he could’ve probably flown to the moon and back for free. First class.

  “Good.” The matter all settled, Dana nodded.

  Sawyer wished he shared her confidence that his presence in Waterford would make a legitimate difference in the council’s decision. What was he supposed to do—dust off his old letter jacket and remind all the locals that back in high school, he’d been crowned homecoming king? As marketing strategies went, it wasn’t exactly a solid one. Besides, shouldn’t his architectural plan be good enough to stand on its own merits?

  But he’d make it work. Sawyer’s closest friend, Rick, still lived in their hometown, so at least he’d have a comfortable place to stay, plus a respected local business owner to vouch for him. Towns that had been on the map for a while weren’t always keen to roll out the welcome mat for real estate developers. Having Rick on his side couldn’t hurt.

  Sawyer had his work cut out for him, hometown connections or not. He could do this, though. He had to. Living out of a suitcase and working on projects all over the country was beginning to wear on him. He’d spent the last three Christmases in three different cities, and he wasn’t sure he could even name them off the top of his head. He just needed to get to Waterford, convince the council to approve his plans for the redesign and then he could hightail it back to Portland.

  Permanently.

  Besides, it was only a few days out of his life. How hard could it be?

  After breaking the news about the town council meeting to Aunt Anita, Jamie returned to True Love Books and did her best to put on a happy face. She unboxed the latest shipment of romance novels and put together a new Valentine’s Day display, complete with paper flowers she and Lucy had made one night while sharing a bottle of rosé. They’d used pages from vintage books to make the petals, and the end result was a dreamy bouquet of words, perfect to accompany the new selection of romantic reads.

  Even Jane Eyre roses weren’t enough to make her forget about the blue flier tucked into the pocket of her dress, though. She kept taking it out and reading it again, just in case she’d missed some crucial detail.

  None of this escaped Lucy’s notice, of course. The first few times Jamie succumbed to the urge to re-read the flier, Lucy didn’t say anything. She polished the glass cake stands on the bookshop’s café counter until they shone and busied herself with arranging pink-frosted cupcakes into a perfect pyramid, until she
apparently could no longer hold her tongue.

  “Maybe it won’t be that bad?” she ventured, peering over Jamie’s shoulder at the paper in her hand. Jamie had unfolded and refolded it so many times that it was beginning to look like bad origami. “I mean, the flier only says they’re discussing a project.”

  Jamie turned to face Lucy and finally released the sigh she couldn’t hold in any longer. “This happened a few years ago in Tanner Falls. Some developers came in and said they were going to do some ‘improvements.’” Good grief, she was using air quotes. Caution: now entering full rant mode. “They wiped out all of the stores in the business district and then built them back up to look like something out of an H. G. Wells novel.”

  Lucy’s eyes lit up. She’d always been a big fan of The Time Machine. Jamie sort of wished she had one of those, so she could go back to this morning and ignore her stack of mail entirely.

  She held up a preemptive finger. “And not one of the cool ones.”

  They weren’t talking The Time Machine. The developers had gone completely War of the Worlds crazy on poor Tanner Falls. It was almost unrecognizable. People who’d been in business for years no longer had a place in the trendy, new version of a town that no longer resembled itself.

  “Well, if they do go forward with something like that, they at least have to buy you out.” Lucy gave her a tentative smile.

  She had a point. Still, Jamie’s passion for her bookstore went way beyond the financial ramifications of being forced to close up shop. “But I’d still lose the store, and I’ve dreamed about owning this place since I worked here in high school. It’s the reason I fell in love with reading and writing and storytelling. I don’t want another store. I want True Love.”

  This place had been a haven for Jamie, her own personal paradise, for as long as she could remember. She’d been just a little girl the first time she’d walked through True Love’s door, but the comfort of being surrounded by all those love stories was a feeling she’d never forget. Mr. Ogilvy, the prior owner, used to let her go there after school every day and read for hours. The first chapter book she’d finished, cover to cover, had been a beautifully illustrated hardback edition of Little Women. She could still remember the smell of its pages and the soothing weight of it in her hands, as if she’d been holding onto a whole new world of happy-ever-afters.

  As soon as she’d turned sixteen, she’d begged Mr. Ogilvy for a job. She’d loved working at True Love so much back then, she would’ve done it for free.

  She still would, if not for pesky little details like her mortgage, groceries, utilities and Eliot’s premium cat food. Only the best for her favorite ginger! No offense to Prince Harry, always a close second.

  “Come on.” Lucy took her by the wrist and began dragging her away from her Valentine’s display.

  Jamie lost her grip on the blue flier, and it floated toward the floor. Eliot, ever vigilant, did a little butt wiggle and then pounced on it.

  Jamie groaned in protest, but Lucy was relentless. She grabbed Jamie’s red coat and flung it at her, all the while maintaining a firm grip on her arm. “I know something that’s going to make you feel better.”

  Doubtful…highly doubtful.

  But she didn’t have much of a choice, and honestly, Jamie was up for anything that might get her mind off of real estate developers, even if only for a minute or two. So she shrugged into her coat and let Lucy steer her toward the set of French doors at the back of the store that led to the courtyard behind True Love Books.

  She breathed a little easier once they were outside. The courtyard was one of Jamie’s favorite places in all of Waterford, not only because it had been her own creation, but because at its center stood the oldest tree in the business district. The Oregon ash was over two hundred years old, with a trunk so thick that Jamie couldn’t even wrap her arms all the way around it. She’d been reading books beneath the shade of its branches since she’d first learned how to decipher words on a page—for so long that the tree had become a loving symbol. Not just of Waterford’s past, but of the promise of its future, as well.

  That tree was timeless.

  Jamie’s first order of business after she’d taken over True Love Books was to clear out the area around the old ash tree and make it into a wonderland of twinkle lights, lush potted ferns and cozy café tables. Ballet-pink roses from Anita’s Flowers decorated every surface, floating in glass bowls. The overall effect was like something out of a fairytale—just what Jamie had been hoping for.

  “Is that Jason?” She peered through a cluster of greenery at an Asian man in his late twenties, sitting at one of the tables opposite a pretty young woman whose dark hair was twisted into stylish updo.

  They were holding hands, and something about Jason’s dapper coat and tie, coupled with the way he was reaching into his jacket pocket with his free hand, made Jamie think something special was about to go down.

  “Uh-huh. He met Lisa in the travel section last year,” Lucy whispered. “And I think he’s going to propose!”

  She pulled Jamie closer to her side and they crouched further out of view.

  “I think you’re right.” Jamie held her breath as Jason rose from his chair and then bent down on one knee.

  Should they be watching this? Maybe not. But Jamie couldn’t resist a True Love proposal. Lucy knew her so well. This was indeed the one thing that was sure to lift her spirits. Her eyes filled with unshed, happy tears—

  Until someone spoke directly into her ear, completely spoiling the ambiance. “What are we looking at?”

  Jamie and Lucy both flinched.

  Busted.

  Jamie glanced over her shoulder, heart pounding a mile a minute. Rick Turner—friend, local chef and fellow busybody—was crouched right behind them, grinning.

  “Rick!” Jamie whisper-screamed at him.

  He laughed. “What?”

  “Shhhh!” Lucy give his shoulder a playful swat, which was completely useless since Rick had been a defensive lineman in college and still somehow maintained his football player physique, despite his penchant for rich Italian cuisine.

  “There’s a proposal,” Jamie explained under her breath, turning her attention back to the courtyard so she wouldn’t miss the good part.

  Just in time! Jason opened a red velvet ring box to reveal a glittering diamond solitaire, and Lisa gasped, pressing her hands to her heart. The look on Jason’s face was so tender, so full of hope and promise, that for a second, Jamie was tempted to re-think her recent decision to stop dating.

  But not quite. She was perfectly content with just Eliot and her books, thank you very much. If that made her sound like a spinster from a Jane Austen novel, then so be it.

  Lisa, on the other hand, seemed ready to sprint down the aisle. She beamed at Jason and broke down in tears as she gave him her answer. “Yes.”

  “Awwww,” the eavesdroppers all said in unison.

  Seriously, though. They should probably make themselves scarce so Jason and Lisa could celebrate in private. Jamie tugged on Lucy’s sleeve and they tiptoed back through the French doors into the bookstore, with Rick following on their heels.

  Jamie wasn’t sure why Rick had stopped by, but she had a definite feeling it didn’t have anything to do with re-stocking the baked goods in True Love’s café.

  “How many proposals does that make?” Lucy said as they passed the wall near the back of the store that was thoroughly covered with pink roses. It was the shop’s most Instagrammed spot.

  “Four since I bought this place.” Warmth filled Jamie’s chest. Moments like this reminded her just how special True Love was, not just to her, but to the entire community of Waterford.

  “This shop really is a lucky charm for love.” Rick cast a quick glance at Lucy and then looked away before she noticed. Poor guy.

  “Ooh, I’m going to use that.” Jamie poin
ted at him. Not a bad catchphrase, although the fact that Rick had been harboring a secret crush on Lucy for nearly a year without making any visible progress didn’t exactly bode well for the whole good luck charm theory. It would help if he would simply tell Lucy how he felt.

  Obviously.

  “Which brings me to…” Rick pulled a red card from behind his back and held it up for them to see.

  Jamie read the white cursive letters swirling just below a rendering of a heart-shaped dinner plate. “‘Recipe for Love?’ It’s…a cooking class? For Valentine’s Day?”

  Lucy plucked the card from Rick’s hand and studied it. “Not all of us are on a romantic time out.”

  “Hiatus,” Jamie corrected.

  Hiatus just had a better ring to it than time out, like it was a voluntary thing and not some kind of punishment. Which it totally wasn’t. Her dating hiatus was working out quite well. She should’ve tried it years ago after her breakup with Sawyer O’Dell.

  Lucy rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed either way. “My boss, the incurable romantic who owns a romantic bookstore while actively avoiding romance. Do you see the irony here?”

  Rick laughed, and Jamie glared at him. Seriously? He was mocking her when she knew his deepest, darkest secret?

  “Is this for couples only?” Lucy pulled a face. She definitely wasn’t part of a couple, which made it even more frustrating that Rick couldn’t bring himself to confess his feelings for her.

  Jamie had come close to telling her about a million times, but Rick had sworn her to secrecy. Besides, she generally liked to limit her meddling to eavesdropping on couples getting engaged in her courtyard.

  Still, it was just so obvious. How Lucy had gone this long without figuring it out was a complete and total mystery. Maybe if Lucy read more Agatha Christie and less H. G. Wells, she would’ve picked up on a clue and realized that Rick worshipped the ground she walked on.