Page 42 of The Story of Us
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 pieces 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. Therightthing.
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 thereisprogress 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.
