Christmas in Angel Harbor - Jeannie Moon Page 0,28

if that’s it.” Danny moved the arm she was holding and looped it around her shoulder, pulling her close. “I’m glad you were free tonight. This was nice.”

Jane looked up. His smile was sweet and genuine, revealing the lone dimple in his right cheek. “I’m glad I was free too.”

“Your store is hopping. I’m so impressed. It’s much more than retail space.”

“It is. It’s part store, part community center. The town depends on us. I’m thinking about expanding. You’re the first person I’ve said that to out loud.” She hesitated. The evening had been lovely, and Jane didn’t want to spoil it.

He noticed. Danny’s pace slowed and he turned to her.

“What?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” That was a lie—she did want to talk about it. She wanted to tell someone, if only to let go of the feelings she’d been carrying around. But not here, not now with the quiet streets whispering to her to enjoy this moment.

“Too late to stuff that one back in the bottle. What gives?”

Jane was at war with herself. She had so much to be grateful for, but life as she knew it, the one she’d nurtured all these years, was going to change and she didn’t know if she was ready.

“I said ‘us.’ There’s not going to be an us in a few months. Just me. I bought my mother out of the store last year, and she’s going to spend the colder months where it’s warm, do some traveling. Tara will be going to college at the end of the summer.” Just the thought of it brought raw emotion to her throat, so she urged him back to their walk before she completely broke down. She was excited for her mom, and for Tara, but that didn’t mean she didn’t hate how it was going to affect her.

“Change really sucks sometimes.”

“It really does,” she agreed. “I don’t know. Nothing is sitting right with me. My whole life feels like it’s in flux.”

“Is there something else?” He picked up on her worry.

Was there? On paper, everything seemed fine, but Jane wasn’t so sure. “I can’t get an answer about my lease. I should have seen the renewal by now, but I haven’t. My attorney has been trying to talk to the landlord, about the existing space and expanding into the small house next door, but he keeps getting the runaround. He said I shouldn’t worry.”

“But you are worried.”

“I’ve always had the new lease in hand well before the old one expired.”

“When is that?” He still had his arm looped around her as they walked. She found the contact wonderfully comforting.

“The end of February.”

Danny took a deep breath and she could see his brow furrow as he thought. “From a legal standpoint, you have plenty of time.”

“Oh, I know I do.” He was absolutely right, but that did nothing to quiet the sinking feeling in her stomach.

“But?”

“I don’t know. It’s just…a feeling. That’s all. I’m probably worrying for nothing.”

“You’ve always had solid intuition. Is there some reason you think they won’t renew?

“Not specifically.”

“How long has the store been there? A hundred years?”

Danny’s question made Jane think about the photos of the bookstore over the years that graced the walls in the shop. It had been a remarkable evolution and the memories eased her into telling the story.

“Almost. The Van Velt family has owned the building that houses the store, and the one next to it, since the mid-thirties. The original Mr. Van Velt, whose name was Charlie, was friends with my grandfather. He leased him the building because he believed in Daddo. He agreed that Angel Harbor needed a bookstore, and that a new business starting up during the Great Depression would give the town hope. Charlie Van Velt knew Paddy Fallon would take good care of the property, and he did. Over the years, any improvements that were made have been at our expense, but the Fallons didn’t mind because the place was home.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see she had his full attention, so she kept going.

“Mr. Van Velt left the building to his kids, and they left it to theirs. The whole time, the lease stayed in effect.”

“Wow. That’s unheard of.”

“One of his great-grandchildren said pretty much the same thing. The family left Long Island in the late eighties, I think. The man, Charlie’s great-grandson, came by the store last summer when they were on their way to a wedding at a vineyard out east. He