Small Town Christmas (Blue Harbor #4) - Olivia Miles Page 0,66

be child-friendly.

“I can’t stay long,” she explained when he reached for her coat.

“Of course. The shop must be busy,” he said, and she narrowed her eyes.

Like he cared. Or like it mattered, not if the store would be closed after the holidays.

She blinked back the tears that stung her eyes, threatening to fall, and held out the box, her excuse for coming, even though she had planned to give it to him this week anyway. Tonight, even. “I found this, in the shop,” she explained as he popped the lid.

From the back room, the music was replaced with the sounds of a television. The soundtrack was unmistakable and one of her favorites. Under normal circumstances, she would have commented, eagerly asked to see Georgie, maybe even stayed to watch the holiday movie. But today she hoped that Georgie was too distracted by the film to pop her head out or say hello. Seeing her now, with those bright eyes and sweet smile, would be make all of this much more difficult than it already was. And Cora couldn’t lose her nerve.

She couldn’t deny what she had been told. Even if that was all she suddenly wanted to do.

A day ago, this felt like the most hopeful Christmas yet. And now, well now she was starting to understand why some people didn’t find it in their hearts to celebrate every year.

“Your grandmother collected them,” Cora explained when Phil held up the small porcelain object in the shape of a dove. A peace offering, she realized, only she wasn’t sure an ornament could make a difference now.

Not with someone who didn’t understand the meaning of Christmas.

“I remember these…” Phil marveled.

“Well, you said that you didn’t have any of the decorations, so when I saw this…I thought it might help you remember that one Christmas you spent here.”

“You certainly like to uphold traditions,” he said, the corner of his mouth lifting into a smile.

“If you don’t carry on traditions, they slip away,” she said, giving him a long look. It was what had happened to him, she realized now, to the Keatons, and everything they held so dear.

And she’d vowed long ago not to let it happen to her.

“Have you decided what you plan to do with the house?” she asked, seizing the moment. “After the holiday?”

He raised his eyebrows, carefully returning the ornament to the box and avoiding eye contact. “Georgie is already asking about spending the summer here. She wants to swim in the lake.”

Cora pursed her lips. “I’m not surprised.”

He was finally forced to look at her, and when the smile fell from his mouth and his eyes shadowed, the silence confirmed everything she’d feared.

He blew out a breath. “To be honest, Cora, I had planned to sell the place. My grandparents don’t need it. They won’t be coming back. And…there didn’t seem to be any point in holding on to it.”

“And my shop? The property on Main Street?” She stared at him, half in challenge, half willing it to not be true.

He held her gaze for a beat before shaking his head. “I had no ties to this town, Cora. It’s not personal.”

“It is personal,” she said in an angry whisper, not trusting her emotions to get the better of her, when Georgie was in the next room. “It’s very personal. That building isn’t just my business. It’s my home. And that shop…” She pulled in a shaky breath. He knew what that shop meant to her. To this town.

“I wanted to tell you, Cora, so many times. And then…”

“Yes,” she said, straightening her back. “And then…what exactly? Tell me, Phil, because I’d like to know. What exactly was all of this? A way to soften the blow?”

“No!” he said. He pulled in a breath, raked a hand through his hair. “I came in that day, when you were on the ladder. I had planned to tell you then.”

She barked out a laugh. “Thanksgiving Day, you mean? You had planned to tell me on Thanksgiving that you were selling the property out from under me?”

She realized by the shame in his eyes that he hadn’t even considered how poor his timing would have been. “I did. Yes.” He shook his head. “I honestly didn’t even think. The holidays never meant much to me.”

“So I’ve noticed.” It was cruel, perhaps, and by the hurt in his eyes, accurate.

“And then I came back the next day, hoping to tell you…and you were so good with Georgie. It was like overnight she