Chapter Twenty-Three
Jorja
“O H, MY GOODNESS, IT’S so good having someone around to do the heavy lifting!” Haley exclaimed with a wink as she emerged from the back with a coffee for both of us. She handed me the mug, and I took a long sip as I watched Seth unloading boxes from the back of the truck.
“Agreed,” I replied. And it didn’t hurt at all that our newest employee was such good eye candy on top of everything else.
It had been two weeks since that storm on Christmas eve, and Seth and I had been virtually inseparable ever since. I couldn’t get enough of his company, couldn’t get enough of how I felt when we were together. It was so new, so precious, but already felt so strong at the same time, like the two of us had just been waiting to find each other like this, and now we had, nothing would get in our way.
He had handed in his notice at the hardware store so he could start helping out with the bookshop full-time. It had been his suggestion, as I would never have pushed him to make a choice as big as that, and I didn’t want anything to get in the way of his new life here. But he insisted, said that he had always dreamed of working around books, not just being on the covers of them, and there was no way I was going to deny him the chance.
We had been doing some redecorating with the money that had come in from his hard work, and the place was looking as good as new—maybe even better. The windows had fresh frames on them, the paint had been touched up, the finish on the antique bookshelves re-painted; when Haley arrived back from her trip to see her family, her jaw dropped as she laid eyes on the place for the first time.
And it seemed like Seth’s little boost to my customer-base had carried over into the new year. Not that we were strapped for cash, after that amazing boom right before Christmas, but more people were coming in than ever before. Plenty of them to pick up the sequels and series of books that Seth was on the covers of. I wasn’t sure if they were actually reading them, or just collecting them for the novelty of having books featuring a model they actually knew, but it didn’t matter. As long as that money kept rolling in, I was just fine with that.
And I wasn’t jealous at all of all the attention Seth got. He was so gracious about it, but so firm in laying down his boundaries, making sure everyone knew that he was interested in me and me alone. Nobody in town could have missed that; he held my hand everywhere we went, and he would gush about me to anyone who would listen. At least, that was what Haley had told me. It was super sweet, and I couldn’t have been happier with his newfound presence in the store.
And at my place, too. Though we weren’t officially living together yet, he had been staying at my grandmother’s house most nights, and the place finally didn’t feel too big for me and Mia with him in it.
“How are you guys getting along?” Haley asked me, dropping her voice so Seth wouldn’t be able to hear us. She had been more than a little smug when she had returned from her trip to find the two of us together. I was pretty sure she took pride in the fact that she had nudged me toward accepting that first date.
“Really well,” I replied. “And he gets along with Mia, too. But the only problem is, I think she’s starting to like him more than me.”
“What a little traitor!” Haley exclaimed, just as the door chimed. I glanced up, to see Mrs. Braithewaite from the craft store down the street stepping inside.
“Oh, hello!” I greeted her. I was a lot more confident these days with Seth around, knowing I was the first choice for someone like him, it was enough to boost anyone’s ego, and, with everything he had told me about taking risks, I had decided that my resolution this year was to be a little more forward when it came to socializing.
“Hello, dear,” she greeted me, and she reached into her purse to pull out her wallet. “I was wondering if you had anything more in that brilliant series you got me into.”
“The horror short stories? Let me have a look,” I replied, as I headed into the stacks to see what I could find. I wouldn’t have imagined someone like her would be into horror, but she had torn through about three of the books in the last few weeks, and I was so glad she was enjoying them. Matching someone with their perfect story was a special feeling, and I planned to do it as much as possible over the course of this year.
“Here you go!” I told her brightly, as I arrived back at the counter with the next in the series. “You let me know if you enjoy it, okay?”
“I will,” Mrs. Braithewaite replied, giving me a smile, before she headed to the door. On her way, she passed Councilman Barrett, the head of our county council, who held the door for her as she went.
“Is there anything I can help you with, Councilman?” I greeted him, as he made his way over to the counter.
“I’m actually not here about books today, Jorja,” he remarked.
I furrowed my brow, and saw Seth glancing over behind him, a look of concern on his face.
“Is everything all right?” I asked, anxiety creeping up my spine. Had something happened with Wharton again? I was so worried that I was going to lose this place, after everything we had done to keep a hold on it.
“Nothing to worry about,” he promised, lifting his hand to soothe me. “I just wanted to let you know that Mr. Wharton has been removed from his position as head of business development on the council. It turned out he had been using some... less than savory methods to get what he wanted.”
I winced. That didn’t sound good.
“And, as far as I know, he’ll be leaving Mastin Falls at the end of the month,” he continued.
I breathed a sigh of relief. Knowing that I wasn’t going to have to deal with him again, it felt like a gift.
“That’s such a relief,” I confessed. “But I’m not sure why you’re telling me this?”
“Because we’re going to need someone to step up and take his position,” he explained. “And, well, given how long your family business has been in Mastin Falls, we thought we would ask you to run for it.”
I gaped at him for a moment, too shocked to reply. “You want... you want me to run for it?”
“Yes,” he replied. “Your grandmother’s business is one of the oldest in the town these days. And her legacy lives on through you. There are a lot of people who think you would be a wonderful fit for the position, should you be interested in taking it.”
“I’ve never even thought about getting involved in politics,” I blurted out. “I don’t know if I could even do it.”
“Of course you could,” Seth told me as he joined us at the counter, flashing me one of those dazzling grins that still made me swoon a little bit.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “I... I’ll think about it. Is that okay?”
“There’s no rush,” Barrett replied with a smile. “Take your time. Just know that you’ll have my full support, should you decide to go down that route.”
“That’s good to know,” I murmured, and Seth cocked an eyebrow at me. I knew what he was thinking, I could tell just from a glance—he was reminding me how good it could feel to take a risk, to dive head-first into something you might never have been able to imagine before. This was pretty far out of my comfort zone, but at the same time, this community had come together to help me when I had needed it most. Maybe this could be my way of paying them back?
Barrett left, and Haley nudged me.
“Look at you, moving up in the world,” she teased me. “You’re going to be running this town before you know it!”
“I haven’t even agreed to run yet,” I laughed, as Seth slipped an arm around my waist.
“I think you might have made up your mind already,” he murmured, dropping a kiss on my cheek. I snuggled into him for a moment, and then shook my head.
“How am I supposed to run for any kind of office if I can’t get the Christmas decorations down in time?” I fussed, pointing toward the window display, which was still untouched. “Come on, let’s get this put away, it’s going to be Valentine’s Day soon.”
Truth be told, I had been avoiding putting away the Christmas stuff, because I had been hanging on to the joy of this past Christmas for as long as I could. It had been one of the most special Christmases I had ever had the luck to experience. The Christmas where he came into my life, and everything felt like it slotted into place. But we were moving forward now, into the rest of the year, and I wanted to see what it had waiting for me.
“Let me go grab some boxes from the back to pack everything into,” Haley told me, as she headed to the storage cupboard. Seth and I made our way to the window display, where I ran my hand fondly over the music box again, with the carved dancer in her delicate pirouette on top of it.
“One last song?” Seth suggested.
“One last song,” I agreed, and I cranked the handle one more time. The notes of “Silent Night” drifted through the air around us as the dancer made her slow rotations one last time before we put her away for the rest of the year.
But, just as the final note played, I heard something click.
“What was that?” I murmured, peering in close. Had it broken? I would have to take it to get fixed, there was no way I was losing this.
“I think it’s that compartment,” Seth remarked, as he turned the box around and pointed to the compartment on the far side—the very same one that had been jammed tight shut all of this time. My eyes widened. He was right—it had popped open, just an inch or two, but there was no mistaking it.
“What the—?!” I gasped. “It’s been jammed shut for years. I didn’t think I would ever get it open again.”
“What’s inside it?” Seth asked, staring down at it curiously. I hesitated for a moment before I opened it. What if, after all this time, it just turned out to be empty? It didn’t matter. I had to know, one way or another.
I opened it up, and, inside, there was a small piece of paper, folded up tight. I pulled it out, and twisted it around so I could get a better look at what was on it.
And, there, in my grandmother’s handwriting, was my name.
“Is that...?”
“Yes,” I breathed, already knowing what Seth was going to ask. “It’s...it’s my grandmother’s writing.”
He didn’t rush me as I slowly unfolded it, a waft of her perfume rising from the pages—dusty and musky and sweet, it flooded my mind with a thousand memories of her, so many it almost brought tears to my eyes.
Inside, the note was short, but, as I read it aloud to Seth, it felt like the most precious thing in the world.
“To my dear granddaughter Jorja, please always remember that life is a miracle, and wonderful things will happen when you embrace it to the fullest. If you get the opportunity to take a chance on love, take it. Love, Grandma.”
I took a deep, shaky breath once those words were out of my mouth. There it was—her last message to me. How long had it been in there, and why had the box finally opened now? It was as though someone out there knew I was finally ready to read those words and believe them. Like I was finally able to take the advice laid out for me in her handwriting for the first time.
I looked over at Seth, who was smiling at me, and he reached for my cheek.
“Well, what do you say, Jorja?” he murmured. “Do you feel like taking a chance on love?”
I smiled back at him, biting my lip.
“I guess I could see my way to it,” I shot back playfully. And, with that, I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him, feeling as light as the dancer twirling on top of the music box.