The Story Of Us

by Teri Wilson

  Anita nodded.

  Their troubles had just gotten exponentially worse. Jamie let her head fall backward and she groaned. “Ugh.”

  There was one thing to do—go straight to the other business owners and try her best to persuade them to reject the deal. Wasn’t that what Sawyer was doing—but from the other side?

  Two could play at that game. She might not know how to toss a pizza in the air, but her passion for the business district was unparalleled. Maybe everyone just needed to be reminded why the neighborhood needed to be saved.

  She could do definitely do that. Actually, she had to, because the only way they were going to be able to convince the town council to vote against the re-design was by standing together as a united front.

  She darted back to True Love Books, fired up the espresso machine and then left again, holding as many Valentine’s-flavored lattes she could carry. Sawyer wasn’t the only one who had access to caffeine. Jamie’s lattes had plenty of it, and hers came with a dash of raspberry creme.

  Sure enough, she managed to lure a few folks out of their shops for a spontaneous business meeting by one of the charming little benches that lined the streets of the district—benches slated to be demolished under Sawyer’s minimalist, IKEA-like plans.

  Aunt Anita sat down on the bench, while Olga, Beth and Chuck stood sipping their coffees. Jamie took a deep breath, ready to plead her case, but Olga cut her off.

  Not the greatest of starts.

  “It’s a good offer, Jamie.” Olga pulled her copy of the flier from the pocket of the camel coat she wore over her pink tights and ballet clothes.

  Beth nodded. “I could pay off my second mortgage.”

  “And aren’t we just delaying the inevitable?” Chuck asked.

  Getting him to join their conversation at all had been a major victory. He’d only agreed to show up after Jamie offered to try her hand at pizza-tossing. Desperation at its finest.

  “No. No, the vote on the fourteenth is to see if the council recommends going forward with the project. We stop it there, and it’s done.” They could nip this entire thing in the bud with one simple meeting. It was really the only way to get rid of Ridley. And Sawyer, obviously, but she couldn’t think about that now. It was too confusing. “We all stick together and we say ‘no,’ we actually can sway the council’s vote.”

  “I know Councilwoman Baker is in favor of it going forward,” Chuck said, as if the matter was already decided. “And her husband owns Golf Mart over on Third Street. Now that’s a big chunk of land.”

  Not ideal, but they still couldn’t just roll over and let Ridley win.

  “All of us together is even more land, more property, more voices,” Jamie said, hating the note of desperation in her voice, but she couldn’t seem to keep it at bay. “How many of you all remember what happened at Tanner Falls?”

  A collective groan went up from everyone assembled. Jamie had managed to home in on a sore point. “How many of those store owners didn’t even have a place to go back to? Or a place they could even recognize?”

  The area had been completely demolished. Shops that sold antiques that had been in place for over a hundred years were gone, replaced with a tech store and hipster hangouts that sold moustache wax, acai bowls and hemp-infused dog treats. Not that Jamie had anything against hipsters. Hipsters were lovely. Hipsters got excited about things like manual typewriters and crocheting and avocado toast, all things Jamie adored as well. It just wasn’t the same, having everything trendy and soulless, aimed at a generic “type,” in a town where the shops used to be charming and full of unique character. What’s worse, when the new development took over, the original shop owners who’d been in business in Tanner Falls for years had no place else to go. They’d been forced to either retire or move to an entirely new city.

  No one wanted that to happen in the town they loved so much.

  “We all want what’s best for Waterford. We understand the importance of bringing in new people to our district. It’s why we started the Fire and Ice Festival,” she said. They couldn’t give up. The festival was just days away, and it seemed to draw more and more people to the area every year.

  If the festival didn’t do the trick and put a stop to the redevelopment talks, perhaps the best way to persuade the others to take a stand against Ridley was to remind them how much their businesses meant to them.

  “Look, you all know how much I loved my bookstore, even before it was mine.” She pressed her hands to her heart. True Love Books was a part of her. Without it, she’d be lost, and she knew she couldn’t be the only one who felt that way about his or her business. “But I believe all of you love your stores just as much.”

  A hush fell over their little group, until Olga reached out to squeeze Jamie’s hand. “I’ve been in the same dance studio for over twenty years. I don’t know where I’d be without it.”

  “Right. And if we are all one voice at that council vote, maybe you won’t have to, Olga,” Jamie said.

  Hope fluttered inside her. Maybe, just maybe, her words were starting to sink in. She searched the faces of her friends surrounding her, and there was a newfound spark of determination in just about everyone’s expression.

  With one exception. “What’s on your mind, Chuck?”

  He looked far too sheepish all of a sudden and couldn’t seem to bring himself to meet her gaze.

  Please, please, please don’t let that mean what I think it means.

  Chuck took a deep, pained breath and finally looked her in the eye. “Well…”

  The morning after his lunch date with Jamie and the meeting at the pizzeria, Sawyer was back in the business district, ready to continue his campaign to win hearts and change minds. Now that he had at least one business owner on his side, he hoped others would follow.

  The council members would be the ones casting the actual votes, but the thought of the town council going forward with the project against opposition from the shop keepers made his stomach churn. He knew he shouldn’t feel that way—not when he firmly believed that the plan was the best thing for Waterford. If the re-design didn’t go through, the business district’s slow decline would continue and all the shops would close, one by one, until there was nothing left. He’d seen this kind of thing happen over and over again. Revitalizing areas like Waterford was part of his job, and he was quite good at it. The project should be a home run for everyone. The shop owners would get a generous buyout, the town would get a bustling business district again, and he’d get just the kind of job he’d been hoping for.

  And yet, he couldn’t find a way to feel totally comfortable with the situation. Maybe because the line between personal and business was becoming blurrier by the second. He cared about this town in a way that he’d never cared about another project before—and he cared about the people involved…maybe more than he should.

  Yesterday had been a good day, though. A very good day. Chuck and his dad had seen the light, which meant things were finally looking up and there was a chance he could get his job done without breaking any hearts.

  Other than the most important one of all.

  An ache settled in the back of his throat every time he thought about Jamie. He told himself she could rebuild. She could reopen True Love Books in one of the retail spaces of the multi-use complex he’d planned. Or if she truly couldn’t stand his design—and part of him winced at that thought—she could find a new location. But he’d been in town for days already and she was more resolute than ever. She’d never give up her original bookshop without a fight.

  Sawyer stopped in front of Waterford’s old theatre building to admire its architecture—its stone facade and rough-hewn arched doorway. He’d always been passionate about the details that made up a building. He loved the way that simple things like brick and mortar came together to form something bigger and grander than the sum of its parts. The piece
s of Waterford came together in a way that he’d always found beautiful and special. But that didn’t mean change was necessarily bad. He just needed to keep reminding himself that what he was doing was a good thing. The right thing.

  Whether Jamie agreed with him or not.

  He resumed walking, picking up his pace, but his cell phone rang before he reached the next street corner. He dug around in the pocket of his peacoat for it and, for a split second, fantasized that maybe the call would be from her.

  It wasn’t, of course.

  Dana’s name lit up the screen instead, and when he answered the call, she launched into a discussion without bothering to say hello. “Chuck Blevins from the pizza place sent in his agreement this morning.”

  She must have been calling him during a mid-morning Starbucks run, because Sawyer could hear the hum of Portland’s city streets in the background—cars slicing through the rain, honking horns, jackhammers. All things notably absent where he stood right now. “That’s good news.”

  “He liked the idea of one of his dad’s old employees being in charge of the redesign,” she said. Then she added a rare, “Good job.”

  He should have been thrilled. The contract made things official—Chuck and his dad were on board, which meant Sawyer was one step closer to the permanent job he desperately wanted at Ridley. But as he stood talking to Dana, his gaze drifted across the street where he noticed Jamie and Anita talking to a small group of other business owners. They all had paper cups in their hands—non-Ridley cups, he noted—but judging from their glum expressions, it wasn’t merely a casual coffee date.

  “How’s it going with the bookstore?” Dana said.

  He gave a start. He’d forgotten he was in the middle of a call. “Jamie and I are talking.”

  It was the truth, technically. Plus, he really wanted to try and keep Jamie out of Dana’s crosshairs.

  But of course, she pressed for specifics. “About her supporting the project?”

  Across the street, Jamie and her group disbanded. Chuck Blevins was the first to leave, walking in the direction of the pizzeria with his head bowed and shoulders hunched. The others followed suit, Olga and Beth going their separate ways while Jamie and Anita walked together, arm in arm.

  “It’s a work in progress,” he muttered under his breath.

  Dana’s tone took on a distinct note of displeasure. “As long as there is progress before the council vote. There’s a reason Ridley chose you for this.”

  He was well aware of the reason. He was also aware that Jamie and Anita both looked visibly shaken, and he was pretty sure that his very presence in Waterford as a Ridley representative was the root cause of their distress. His pizzeria conquest suddenly didn’t feel much like a victory anymore.

  He swallowed hard. “I remember.”

  The rest of the day passed in a blur for Jamie as she went through the motions of smiling at customers, helping them choose books, and keeping up her usual level of animated chatter.

  True Love Books had always been Jamie’s happy place. She loved her customers…but today she just wasn’t feeling it. All she could think about was her conversation with Anita, Olga, Beth and Chuck earlier, and the horrible sense of dread that had settled in the pit of her stomach since she’d learned Chuck had signed the paperwork to sell his property to Ridley.

  She couldn’t believe he’d caved. Now all the other businesses in the district would probably fall like dominoes until she’d eventually be forced to close her doors. The worst-case scenario suddenly seemed like a very real possibility.

  At the end of the day, she locked the doors, slipped into her red swing coat and placed Eliot’s cat carrier on the counter, dreaming of a bubble bath and a rom-com movie. Anything to get her mind off of the proposed Ridley project.

  And Sawyer O’Dell. Because, really. Weren’t the two just about synonymous at this point?

  “Eliot?” She leaned over the counter but couldn’t spot her kitty anywhere until he popped up onto the countertop, seemingly from out of nowhere.

  Meow.

  She scratched behind his ears and he purred, long and loud.

  “Aw, good boy.” Jamie held him up so that the two of them were eye to eye. “Okay, Eliot. What’ll we do if we can’t save this place, huh?”

  Eliot blinked his glittering cat eyes, taking it all in. Jamie couldn’t imagine what he would do all day if he couldn’t come to True Love. He was much too social to be stuck at home all day. If the store closed, numerous people, plus the world’s sweetest cat, would suffer. Not just Jamie.

  But she couldn’t think about that right now. She’d been thinking of little else all day, to no avail. Right then, she just needed a break from it all.

  “There you go, bud.” She tucked Eliot inside his carrier and zipped it up tight, for once anxious to get home and try to forget about True Love for a while.

  But as she reached for her keys in the flowered china dish by the register, her gaze snagged on The Story of Us box. She’d tucked it by the register so she could read the rest of Mary and Harris’s letters, but she hadn’t found the time. Maybe a little non-fiction romance reading was just what she needed tonight.

  She slid the box toward her and flipped it open. Just one letter, then she and Eliot would go home for some serious couch time.

  Darling Mary. Words alone cannot express how grateful I am that you did not listen when I told you not to write. Each story you relay to me of the people back in Waterford reminds me anew what it is I’m fighting for—it is love.

  How could she stop there? Impossible…

  An hour later, post-bubble bath and tucked under her favorite flannel blanket in her pink heart–patterned pajamas, she opened the next. And then the next.

  Each one was a love letter, not only between two people who’d fallen for each other, heart and soul, but also to the people of Waterford…to the town itself.

  Though we have been apart for what feels like ages, my love for you remains ever steadfast, ever true. Please keep the stories coming, my dear. Your words inspire me and bring me hope.

  Love,

  Harris

  Once Jamie had read them all, she started over again from the beginning. She wished the town council could see all of these heartfelt words. She wished everyone in Waterford could. Maybe then they wouldn’t be so quick to erase over a hundred years of the community’s history.

  Wait.

  She sat up straight, heart pounding with adrenaline. A sleepy Eliot peeked at her through heavy eyelids.

  There was a way for everyone to see these letters, and Jamie knew precisely how to make it happen. She searched for her cell phone among the folds of her blanket until she found it, then fired off a text to Lucy.

  Meet me at the bookstore early. I have an idea.

  Chapter Thirteen

  A good night’s sleep and about a thousand photocopies later, Jamie felt completely reinvigorated and ready to fight for True Love.

  After giving Lucy a rundown of the letters, they’d zipped over to the mail center down the street to make copies of the two most sentimental missives between Mary and Harris and purchase stacks of pink and gray envelopes. Then they came back to the store and formed a two-person assembly line to get the copies folded and inserted into the envelopes. Copies of Mary’s letter went into the pink envelopes while Harrison’s went into the gray ones.

  “So, we’re going to keep half the copies of these letters here and take the other half to the Fire and Ice Festival,” Jamie said, reaching for the embossing stamp and sealing wax they were using to give the letters the perfect vintage touch.

  “Bring people from there to here.” Lucy grinned.

  Jamie nodded. “And here to there.”

  “So they can read what happens next.” Lucy finished stuffing her stack of envelopes and reached for more.

  The Fire and
Ice Festival was the perfect opportunity to showcase the letters. The festival brought more people to the area than any other Waterford event, plus the timing was perfect because the town council vote on the Ridley design was scheduled for February fourteenth. Since the festival took place right before Valentine’s Day, Mary and Harrison’s letters would have maximum impact.

  Jamie got chills just thinking about it. Mary and Harrison had been the original owners of the bookshop, and now they just might be the ones who ended up saving True Love. She couldn’t imagine a better happily-ever-after ending.

  Joy welled up in her heart. They could do this—they could save the business district. “Exactly. Yeah, I want these letters to inspire people and help them reconnect with the town’s history. Maybe then they’ll be less eager to tear it down.”

  Her hands stilled as another idea hit her, and the envelope she was holding fluttered to the floor.

  Lucy cocked her head. “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking…” She was thinking a lot of things. Since the Ridley people and their blue flier rolled into town, her mind had been spinning so fast, she could barely keep up. But right this second, she was thinking that maybe the residents of Waterford and the town council weren’t the only ones who needed to reconnect with the town’s history. There was someone else who needed to embrace the city’s roots, to rediscover everything that made Waterford so special.

  And what better way to do it than a trip down memory lane? Not just a figurative one, but an actual tour through the cobblestone streets and old brick buildings that told Waterford’s story. And their story.

  She bit her lip and cast a pleading glance at Lucy. “Can you watch the store a while?”

  She hated to ask. They had so much on their plate already, but as usual, Lucy was more than ready to step up to the plate.

  “Yeah.” She shrugged as if it were no big deal.

  But it was. Lucy’s friendship was precious, and Jamie didn’t even want to think about what it might be like to not see her every day at True Love.