The Story Of Us - Teri Wilson Page 0,46

her gaze snagged on The Story of Us box. She’d tucked it by the register so she could read the rest of Mary and Harris’s letters, but she hadn’t found the time. Maybe a little non-fiction romance reading was just what she needed tonight.

She slid the box toward her and flipped it open. Just one letter, then she and Eliot would go home for some serious couch time.

Darling Mary. Words alone cannot express how grateful I am that you did not listen when I told you not to write. Each story you relay to me of the people back in Waterford reminds me anew what it is I’m fighting for—it is love.

How could she stop there? Impossible…

An hour later, post-bubble bath and tucked under her favorite flannel blanket in her pink heart–patterned pajamas, she opened the next. And then the next.

Each one was a love letter, not only between two people who’d fallen for each other, heart and soul, but also to the people of Waterford…to the town itself.

Though we have been apart for what feels like ages, my love for you remains ever steadfast, ever true. Please keep the stories coming, my dear. Your words inspire me and bring me hope.

Love,

Harris

Once Jamie had read them all, she started over again from the beginning. She wished the town council could see all of these heartfelt words. She wished everyone in Waterford could. Maybe then they wouldn’t be so quick to erase over a hundred years of the community’s history.

Wait.

She sat up straight, heart pounding with adrenaline. A sleepy Eliot peeked at her through heavy eyelids.

There was a way for everyone to see these letters, and Jamie knew precisely how to make it happen. She searched for her cell phone among the folds of her blanket until she found it, then fired off a text to Lucy.

Meet me at the bookstore early. I have an idea.

Chapter Thirteen

A good night’s sleep and about a thousand photocopies later, Jamie felt completely reinvigorated and ready to fight for True Love.

After giving Lucy a rundown of the letters, they’d zipped over to the mail center down the street to make copies of the two most sentimental missives between Mary and Harris and purchase stacks of pink and gray envelopes. Then they came back to the store and formed a two-person assembly line to get the copies folded and inserted into the envelopes. Copies of Mary’s letter went into the pink envelopes while Harrison’s went into the gray ones.

“So, we’re going to keep half the copies of these letters here and take the other half to the Fire and Ice Festival,” Jamie said, reaching for the embossing stamp and sealing wax they were using to give the letters the perfect vintage touch.

“Bring people from there to here.” Lucy grinned.

Jamie nodded. “And here to there.”

“So they can read what happens next.” Lucy finished stuffing her stack of envelopes and reached for more.

The Fire and Ice Festival was the perfect opportunity to showcase the letters. The festival brought more people to the area than any other Waterford event, plus the timing was perfect because the town council vote on the Ridley design was scheduled for February fourteenth. Since the festival took place right before Valentine’s Day, Mary and Harrison’s letters would have maximum impact.

Jamie got chills just thinking about it. Mary and Harrison had been the original owners of the bookshop, and now they just might be the ones who ended up saving True Love. She couldn’t imagine a better happily-ever-after ending.

Joy welled up in her heart. They could do this—they could save the business district. “Exactly. Yeah, I want these letters to inspire people and help them reconnect with the town’s history. Maybe then they’ll be less eager to tear it down.”

Her hands stilled as another idea hit her, and the envelope she was holding fluttered to the floor.

Lucy cocked her head. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking…” She was thinking a lot of things. Since the Ridley people and their blue flier rolled into town, her mind had been spinning so fast, she could barely keep up. But right this second, she was thinking that maybe the residents of Waterford and the town council weren’t the only ones who needed to reconnect with the town’s history. There was someone else who needed to embrace the city’s roots, to rediscover everything that made Waterford so special.

And what better way to do it than a trip down memory lane? Not just a figurative one, but an actual tour through