Christmas in Angel Harbor - Jeannie Moon Page 0,66
upset she was, this wasn’t the time. It was her business, and she had a right to know, but the news about Tara had pushed her to her breaking point. Granted it was good news, but Jane was crushed at the idea of her daughter being so far away. She had so many other things on her mind, did she really need the stress about her store right now?
He’d tell her, just not tonight.
Gently, he turned her toward him, taking her face in his hands. Her eyes, bright with tears, reflected the jeweled lights that were strung in every tree.
“I wish I could help.” Once again he squashed the little voice screaming at him to tell her what he’d found out. He could fix it.
“That’s sweet, but unless you’re going to help me keep her prisoner, I don’t know what can be done.”
“Uh…” The thought of it actually made him smile. “I haven’t known Tara long, but I doubt she’d be a particularly cooperative prisoner.”
“You would be correct.”
“Everything will work out.”
“You don’t know that,” she said. “What if she goes and she hates it? What if—”
“Shhh. Stop torturing yourself.” Dan could feel the tension in her body rachet up. “If she hates it, she’ll come home. And you’ll be there for her just like always.”
“Will I? I’m still wondering if I’ll even have a business. My attorney is worried. I can feel it.”
Keeping the information about the store from her wasn’t going to be easy. The Fallon woo-woo was legend in town. He should know better than to mess with it. Still, he wanted to reassure her. “The bookstore is an institution in Angel Harbor. It’s as important as Old First Church or Village Hall. I doubt the town would let anything happen.”
He knew damn well that if the building was being used legally and there was proper zoning, there wasn’t much the town could do.
“Now you’re trying to placate me. You know there’s nothing the town can do. I’ve even thought of moving. If something happens, I guess I could…”
“Jane, try not to get ahead of yourself. You don’t know what’s going to happen.”
She stared at him, her eyes piercing through the darkness like a pair of cat’s eyes. “That’s true, but I don’t know how to just shut it off. That must be some special gift and I don’t have it.”
“I wish I could help.”
“How can I be feeling like this?”
“Like what?” he asked.
“I feel like I’ve lost control of everything. It’s Christmas and I want it to be wonderful, but knowing this is the last time I’ll have Tara home full time, I want it to be special. That email tonight from Dublin just drove home that she’s not going to be around, and she could be thousands of miles away. Everything is happening so fast. I want her to have good memories, to know I’m proud of her.”
“She knows, honey. She knows.”
Jane was on a precipice, the cusp of great change, and watching her fight against the fear and self-doubt, holding it together for everyone around her, was the most extraordinary thing. This woman was remarkable. If he was in possession of just a fraction of her bravery and her nerve, he’d be able to face all the changes he wanted to make. The life-altering kind that, with luck, included Jane for the rest of his days.
She was, without any doubt, the best person he knew. There was never a moment that went by that Jane’s light didn’t affect someone. He only wished she could see that brightness herself.
“Can we talk about something else?” She gazed up at him, and he fell deep into the misty depths.
That simple request, right there, ended any deliberation he was having with himself. He’d figure out a time to tell her about the store, but tonight she needed some peace.
“Tell me about the lights,” he said, tucking her head under his chin. “The town didn’t always go all-out like this for the holidays.”
“No. The decorations have been growing over the past ten years. It went in stages. The gazebo was always lit, even when we were kids, as was the tree.”
“I remember.”
“But we added the pier, and the walkway, and then the other trees…” Light and color danced around the snow-dusted park, making it look like it was covered with glitter just like the floor in the children’s room earlier.
“We? Tell me about the we.” He knew what her answer would be before he even asked the question.