Page 42 of Christmas By The Book

“I think you might have made up your mind already,” he murmured, dropping a kiss on my cheek. I snuggled into him for a moment, and then shook my head.

“How am I supposed to run for any kind of office if I can’t get the Christmas decorations down in time?” I fussed, pointing toward the window display, which was still untouched. “Come on, let’s get this put away, it’s going to be Valentine’s Day soon.”

Truth be told, I had been avoiding putting away the Christmas stuff, because I had been hanging on to the joy of this past Christmas for as long as I could. It had been one of the most special Christmases I had ever had the luck to experience. The Christmas where he came into my life, and everything felt like it slotted into place. But we were moving forward now, into the rest of the year, and I wanted to see what it had waiting for me.

“Let me go grab some boxes from the back to pack everything into,” Haley told me, as she headed to the storage cupboard. Seth and I made our way to the window display, where I ran my hand fondly over the music box again, with the carved dancer in her delicate pirouette on top of it.

“One last song?” Seth suggested.

“One last song,” I agreed, and I cranked the handle one more time. The notes of “Silent Night” drifted through the air around us as the dancer made her slow rotations one last time before we put her away for the rest of the year.

But, just as the final note played, I heard something click.

“What was that?” I murmured, peering in close. Had it broken? I would have to take it to get fixed, there was no way I was losing this.

“I think it’s that compartment,” Seth remarked, as he turned the box around and pointed to the compartment on the far side—the very same one that had been jammed tight shut all of this time. My eyes widened. He was right—it had popped open, just an inch or two, but there was no mistaking it.

“What the—?!” I gasped. “It’s been jammed shut for years. I didn’t think I would ever get it open again.”

“What’s inside it?” Seth asked, staring down at it curiously. I hesitated for a moment before I opened it. What if, after all this time, it just turned out to be empty? It didn’t matter. I had to know, one way or another.

I opened it up, and, inside, there was a small piece of paper, folded up tight. I pulled it out, and twisted it around so I could get a better look at what was on it.

And, there, in my grandmother’s handwriting, was my name.

“Is that...?”

“Yes,” I breathed, already knowing what Seth was going to ask. “It’s...it’s my grandmother’s writing.”

He didn’t rush me as I slowly unfolded it, a waft of her perfume rising from the pages—dusty and musky and sweet, it flooded my mind with a thousand memories of her, so many it almost brought tears to my eyes.

Inside, the note was short, but, as I read it aloud to Seth, it felt like the most precious thing in the world.

“To my dear granddaughter Jorja, please always remember that life is a miracle, and wonderful things will happen when you embrace it to the fullest. If you get the opportunity to take a chance on love, take it. Love, Grandma.”

I took a deep, shaky breath once those words were out of my mouth. There it was—her last message to me. How long had it been in there, and why had the box finally opened now? It was as though someone out there knew I was finally ready to read those words and believe them. Like I was finally able to take the advice laid out for me in her handwriting for the first time.

I looked over at Seth, who was smiling at me, and he reached for my cheek.

“Well, what do you say, Jorja?” he murmured. “Do you feel like taking a chance on love?”

I smiled back at him, biting my lip.

“I guess I could see my way to it,” I shot back playfully. And, with that, I stood on my tiptoes to kiss him, feeling as light as the dancer twirling on top of the music box.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Jorja

“AND THE SECOND ANNUAL Mastin Bookshelf Christmas fair is officially open!”

Haley clapped, along with Toni and Gayle, our two new employees. It might just have been the five of us—the three of them, plus Seth and me—but I still wanted to make the announcement feel special.

“And I bet it’s going to be even more successful than last year,” Seth remarked, as we headed outside to start manning the tables.

“I know it will be,” Haley called to us, as she carried out another box of books. “I keep telling you, Jorja, we’re not going to be able to keep up with everyone with the stock we have in.”

“Well, we’ll do our best,” I replied, as I planted myself down behind the table. Mrs. Braithewaite, along with a few of her friends from her Bridge club, were already waiting impatiently to start sorting through the book deals. I swear, they had been single-handedly keeping the store afloat the last year, with how much they had been spending on bringing books to their new weekly book club.