Page 8 of Christmas By The Book

“You just look familiar for some reason,” she replied, squinting at me, as though she could place me if she just looked hard enough.

“No clue why that might be,” I replied, and I looked past her to the back room again. Was that woman ever going to show her face? Maybe I had put her off somehow. I wasn’t sure what I might have done to keep her hiding out back there so long, but she must have had good reason.

“She’s probably just busy,” Haley assured me, seeming to notice the way I was staring. “She’ll be out eventually. Here, let me get you a bag for this.”

She grabbed a bag for my book, and took her time tucking it in, along with my receipt. I was going to send myself into bankruptcy buying books if I wasn’t careful. Glancing at my watch, I let out a sigh. I knew I would have to get going soon, what with the interview coming up, but I just wanted to try a little longer before I walked out.

“You got somewhere to be?” she asked, and I nodded.

“I have an interview at a hardware store,” I replied. “Hoping that’s going to be my job while I’m here.”

“Oh, you don’t want to be late for that,” she replied seriously. “The owner’s a real stickler for time.”

I sighed. “I guess I’ll try again later,” I replied. “Maybe go for dinner instead of lunch?”

“I think she’d love that,” Haley told me brightly. She seemed to really like the idea of me taking Jorja out, which indicated to me, at least, that Jorja wasn’t seeing anyone. I didn’t know how a woman like that had gone un-snapped-up in a town as small as this, but I wasn’t going to go complaining about it

“What time does your interview finish?” she asked.

“About five.”

“I’ll tell her you’re coming back around then, you can try and talk to her when you’re done,” she offered.

“Thanks, Haley.”

“That’s okay,” she replied. “You’re new here, you need all the help you can get, right?”

I chuckled. “I heard small towns were friendly, but I didn’t expect this.”

“You’ll get used to it,” she replied.

“I really have to get going,” I remarked, taking another look at the door as though I could summon Jorja with the sheer force of my want to talk to her. “But I’ll be back later.”

“See you then!” Haley replied, waving me off.

I pushed my hands into my pockets and headed outside, where it had just started to snow. I tipped my head back, letting the light drops land on my face. I was still getting used to the weather out here, and I hadn’t exactly picked the most hospitable time to travel to a small town like Mastin Falls, but this was supposed to be a new experience for me, right? I wasn’t going to get that if I sat around in my comfort zone.

Anyway. The hardware store. I didn’t know why Jorja had been so intent on avoiding me, but I knew better than to push my luck. She would talk to me when she was ready, and I intended to do everything I could to convince her to give me just one evening before she went to hide out in that back office again.

I grinned at the thought. I had a good feeling about her. I had a good feeling about this town in general, actually. And hey, if nothing else, at least I had a few more books to read, right?

Chapter Six

Jorja

I STARED DOWN AT THE bills laid out on the cramped desk in front of me. I didn’t even know where to start.

Next to the stack of bills that needed to get paid was the envelope that Wharton had given me. Which I knew would be the answer to all my questions, all my struggles, if I was to just accept his help and sell this place to him, and yet...

I pressed the tissue to my face again, trying to pull myself together. I was so overwhelmed, I didn’t even know where to start. The weight of all of this seemed to be pressing down on my shoulders, and I had no idea how much more I could take before it crushed me entirely.

What was that Seth guy doing back here? I just didn’t get it. He had already gotten his book. Maybe he had come back to return it because the copy was too scuffed up. That was just what I needed, the last little bit of profit I had been able to hang on to today out the window.

Five days. The next bill was due in five days, and I knew I didn’t have the money to pay it. All of this just felt so painfully, completely impossible. My grandma had gone through times of struggle with the store, of course she had, but she had always been able to come out the other side in one piece. It had never gotten this bad. Or maybe it had, and she just hadn’t let me know about it because she knew I would worry. I had always been an overthinker, ever since I was a kid, probably thanks to losing my parents so young.

I wished she was with me right now. I wished she was here, so she could put her arm around me and tell me that everything was going to be okay, even if I knew there was no way it was the truth. She always had this knack of making me feel better, even when things felt impossible. She had this softness to her, this warmth, that made everything in the world feel possible to me.

But she was gone, and it was just me, and keeping this place alive lay entirely on my shoulders. If I screwed it up, then there was nothing and nobody to fall back on.