Page 15 of The Story of Us
“Hi,” she mouthed, waving at him before she could stop herself.
Something strange was going on. What on earth was he doing at the town council meeting? And why would he possibly be interested in schmoozing with a local politician?
Sawyer broke away from his chat with Eric to head her way, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe she’d finally get to the bottom of his sudden reappearance.
“Jamie!” He flashed her a crooked smile.
The dimple in his left cheek that she’d always loved so much was still right there, looking as boyish and charming as ever. Because of course it was.
She opened her mouth to say something witty yet probing, but before she could utter a word, Aunt Anita returned with a squeal.
“My goodness. Sawyer O’Dell?” Anita looked him up and down as if he were some kind of handsome mirage.
Sawyer’s face split into a wide grin and he wrapped his arms around her. “Hello, Anita.”
Jamie stood by awkwardly while they hugged and tried not to think about how Anita had doted on her the entire summer after graduation, determined to help mend Jamie’s broken heart. There had been copious amounts of ice cream and trips to the Waterford animal shelter to bottle-feed orphaned kittens. Anita had been amazing, and by the start of Jamie’s first college semester, she’d felt almost whole again.
Still, Anita had never once bad-mouthed Sawyer back then. And all those ice cream dates and kitten outings suddenly seemed forgotten…
Which was completely fine.Jamiewas completely fine, thank you very much. She was over Sawyer O’Dell.
She grinned brightly at him, just to prove it. “So. Nothing for fifteen years and then I see you twice in one hour?”
“Um. Yeah.” Sawyer glanced back and forth between Jamie and Anita, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and back again. He seemed a little uncomfortable all of sudden. Guilty, even. His bone structure, however, remained annoyingly perfect. “Well, I wasn’t exactly sure how to broach the subject earlier…”
“Sawyer?”
His eyes cut to a woman dressed in an elegant white blouse and an expensive-looking black pantsuit who was sashaying toward them, intently focused on Sawyer.
“Are the designs ready to show?” she asked, completely ignoring Jamie and Anita’s presence.
Sawyer nodded. “Yes. They are queued up.”
Designs?
Whatdesigns?
Somewhere in the periphery, Jamie could see Anita nervously fidgeting. But she didn’t dare drag her attention away from Sawyer and the strange woman, who she suspected might be named Dana.
“Excellent.” The woman nodded, finally appearing to notice Jamie and Anita. Sure enough, a D-shaped charm hung from a delicate gold chain around her neck. “Hello. Are you local business owners?”
Jamie was too busy staring daggers at her to say anything, so Anita jumped in with an introduction. “Yes, we are. I’m Anita Vaughn from Anita’s Flowers. And this is my niece…”
Jamie raised her hand. “Jamie Vaughn. True Love Books & Cafe.”
She glanced at Sawyer. Beads of sweat were starting to break out on his beautiful forehead.
“Nice to meet you both.” Dana’s glossy blond bob swung as she spoke. “I hope you’ll be as excited as we are about the vision we have in mind for the project.”
“Proposedproject,” Jamie countered. She really wished she didn’t have to keep saying that.
Dana gave a dismissive wave of her hand, clearly unconcerned with semantics. “I’m confident that Sawyer’s designs will help persuade the council to go forward.”
Sawyer’s smile froze in place, and Jamie stared at him in complete and utter horror.
“Ready?” Dana smiled widely at Sawyer before heading for the podium.
He went still for a second, like a deer in headlights.
