Page 86 of Piece By Piece

She held out her good hand.

“Well, go ahead. Give it here.”

He handed her the envelope.

She looked at the name on the front.

“Did you turn down the deal?”

“Yep. This morning.”

She nodded.

“Well, that’s a good start.”

She tucked the letter into her apron pocket.

“I’ll give it to her this afternoon. But, Grant…”

“Yeah?”

“I’m telling you, this letter better be good because that girl is worth all the best words you’ve got.”

“I know.”

“Well, go on then. I’ll handle this part.”

He stood up.

He turned around at the end of the porch.

“Dixie?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. For all of it. The cookies, the matchmaking, and I guess just the way you let people land here and become your family.”

She waved him off with her good hand.

“Get out of here before you make me cry. I’ve got a reputation to keep.”

Dixie took the letter to the bookstore at four o’clock.

Liza was behind the counter handling a return.

Dixie walked in, put the envelope on the counter without saying a word, and walked right back out.

The bell chimed twice, once on the way in, once on the way out.

And then the store was completely quiet.

Liza looked down at the envelope.

It was her name in Grant’s handwriting, blue ink.

She picked it up and could feel the weight of it.

Not the physical weight, but the other kind, the weight of someone who had written words straight to her, and meant them.