Page 37 of Valentine's in Bayberry

When he smiled at her, her stomach dipped. She chose to ignore the response. After all, it meant nothing.

“Can I help you with the photos?” she asked.

“Sure. I just don’t know what to do with them. My mother is insistent that she’s moving.”

Carrie’s chest tightened as worry coursed through her body. “Is she moving to London with you?”

“I tried to talk her into it, but she insists that she’s not leaving Bayberry. She says this is her home, but she wants to get a smaller place so she doesn’t feel so isolated.”

Carrie expelled a pent-up breath. “I can understand. If she’s in town, she can walk everywhere and not have to worry about driving.”

He nodded. “That’s what she said. So, my job is to get this place decluttered and ready for potential buyers.”

Carrie glanced around. There were pieces of furniture and knickknacks everywhere. This was going to be a big job. “Where would you even start?”

He stared down at the photos. “That is why my visit with my mother was so long. She wrote out detailed instructions for me. We went over them line by line.”

“Oh.” She felt bad for him. This wouldn’t be easy. “What can I do to help?”

His gaze met and held hers. “Thanks for the offer, but you have enough to do with your new business.”

“I am busy, but only until six o’clock. I am free in the evenings.” And then she recalled the Happy Hearts week. “Next week, I do have to step out for a little bit each evening for Happy Hearts, but that shouldn’t take me too long. And I have all day Sunday and Monday when the shop is closed.”

His gaze searched hers. “You’d really want to help me?”

“I can’t believe you have to ask. Haven’t we always helped each other? Like the time my father broke his wrist, and you helped me cut down the Christmas tree, get it in the house, and set it all up. Or the time my dad was out of town and my mother was insistent the garage be cleaned out before he got home. We never would have finished that without your help.”

A smile lifted the corner of his lips and put a twinkle in his eyes. “I hadn’t thought about those times in a while. I remember a time when you were mad at your mom because you wanted to go to the football game, but she said the yard had to be mowed before you left.”

“I forgot about that. I can’t remember why I was so insistent I had to go.”

“I do. You were all crazy for Fred.”

She rolled her eyes. The guy was three years older than her. “Yeah. And I don’t think he even knew I was alive.”

“Well, it was his loss.”

The thing about Jackson was that he’d always been there for her. He knew more about her than anyone else. She was lucky to have a friend like him. Not everyone was so fortunate.

“We better start cleaning these up.” She leaned forward to straighten up a stack of pictures. She stared down at the top photo. “Do you know any of these people?”

He moved over next to her. He pointed out the few people he knew. And for a while, they thumbed through the photos.

He sighed. “I wish my grandparents would have written down the names on the back of each photo.”

“It is a shame.” She studied one photo. It looked like it was taken at a birthday party. “Hey, that’s Penney Taylor.”

Jackson took the photo from her and studied it. “I think you’re right.”

“We could ask her who she knows in the photos.” Carrie gave it some more thought. “I know, what if we create some sort of collage and ask the town to identify the people?”

“I don’t know.” He straightened a pile of photographs. “I don’t want them ruined.”

“True.” She gave it some more thought. “We could post them online on the Bayberry community page.” When he gave her a puzzled look, she said, “You know. The social media page on MyFace where the locals report local news.” The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. “More than just locals visit the page. People who have moved away use it as a way to keep in contact.”

He hesitated. “I don’t know. I’d have to ask my mother.”

“Sure.” Carrie nodded. “We can ask her on Sunday when we visit. That is if you think it won’t upset her.”

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