Page 13 of The Story of Us
She shoved the copy ofPersuasiononto the nearest bookshelf and led him around the corner, past the blooming flower wall and out the French doors onto the smooth pavement of the courtyard. Thank goodness no one was busy getting engaged out there at the moment.
Sawyer glanced around at the twinkle lights woven through the latticework fencing and the elegant topiaries arranged in large potted plants. “I don’t remember this courtyard.”
Exactly. That was the entire point of ushering him outside. It was neutral territory—mostly, anyway. The cafe tables and sitting area hadn’t existed back when Sawyer had been quarterback of the Waterford High football team.
He looked like he could still score a winning touchdown, though. The peacoat couldn’t hide his broad, muscular shoulders. There were new crinkles around his eyes and the slightest touch of gray at his temples, but those little details just made him seem more manly. More grown up.
She averted her gaze to look at something that didn’t make her heart feel like it was about to beat right out of her chest. “Oh, but you remember the tree, right? The tree was always here. In fact, they actually built the bookstore around it so they wouldn’t have to take it down.”
Sawyer tilted his head back to see the very top of the old Oregon ash. Its pale gray branches looked almost white against the clear blue sky. A muscle flexed in the corner of his chiseled jaw, and Jamie almost tripped over a fern.
She cleared her throat. “But yeah, this courtyard was completely overgrown. I talked Mr. Ogilvy into letting me clean it up a few years ago. And we’re hoping to expand. Or I should saywerehoping to expand.”
Was she rambling? It felt like she was rambling.
“Youwere? But not anymore?” Sawyer arched a brow.
“Ah, it’s a long story.” Jamie kept walking, making a wide loop around the courtyard. “These developers are buying all of the land in the business district. And, I mean, you know they’re just going to destroy everything.”
Sawyer stumbled a little. “Destroy?”
She was getting ahead of herself. The town council meeting was still scheduled for later in the afternoon, and Jamie definitely intended to make her thoughts on the subject heard. She refused to believe all hope was lost already. “Well, it’s not decided yet. But they’re having a meeting later to see if they’re going to move forward with the project. You know what business developers do, though. They just tear everything down and put up something hideous.”
Sawyer slowed to a stop and frowned. “It might not be hideous.”
Did it even matter what they built if it meant the end of True Love? “Well, I’m sure they will not leave my little bookstore unscathed.”
“Your…” He glanced at the store and back at her. “Wait, you…you bought the bookstore?”
“Yeah. Oh, yeah.” Had she not made that clear already? “I bought it a few years ago, just like I always said I would.”
Did he not remember, or did he simply think that everyone moved away from their hometown and never looked back?
“I had no idea,” he said, blinking rapidly before letting out a strangled-sounding laugh.
“Well, how would you? You’ve been gone for fifteen years.” There. She’d said it. “Unless Rick tells you everything.”
“Not that thing,” he said under his breath.
She was a little stumped as to why he seemed so surprised. He’d just seen her on top of a ladder shelving new books. Did he really think she was still working part-time in the afternoons for Mr. Ogilvy?
“Well, enough about me.” She pasted on a smile. “How are you? What are you doing back here?”
She was dying to know. Rick hadn’t breathed a word about Sawyer coming back. And Sawyer’s crisp blue dress shirt and the messenger bag that was currently slung over his shoulder kind of made it seem like this was more than simply a vacation—not that it seemed likely he’d come to visit on a whim after all this time.
“I…um…” His face went blank for a second, and then the chime of a cell phone had him reaching for his pocket. “Oh, excuse me. Hold on…”
Jamie nodded, wondering who would be calling him. Then she wondered why she cared as two bothersome words echoed in her consciousness:romantic hiatus.
Sawyer’s brow furrowed as he glanced at the screen of his ringing iPhone. “Oh. Um, sorry. I have to…”
“Oh.” Jamie nodded again while Sawyer held the phone to his ear. She couldn’t seem to stop.
“Hey, Dana. Can you hold on just a second?” Sawyer glanced up from his phone with an apologetic smile. “I have to take this.”
Whoever Dana might be, she was clearly important to him. And that was perfectly fine. Jamie didn’t even know Sawyer anymore.
Seeing him again had been nice, though. Not quite as agonizing as she’d originally feared.
