Holiday Reunion (Hollyberry Harbor #1)

Chapter 14

FOURTEEN

James hadn’t worked this hard in a long time—and especially not so close to the holiday. His board members weren’t happy about the work schedule either, but at least they were getting everything done the right way. The last three days he’d pulled a couple all-nighters scrapping all of his original plans and replacing them with something even Sarah could be proud of.

The harbor was going to turn into a year-round Christmas village much like the one Sarah had designed for the festival. However, it would be done with a modern flare.

James still wanted to attract tourists—that would bring in the revenue the area desperately needed. But the harbor needed to maintain a degree of tradition to set it apart from other small towns that had done something similar. There were aspects of Hollyberry Harbor that made it special. He planned on highlighting all of them.

It hadn’t taken much to get the board to approve the changes—well, after James had shown them the financials from the festival. The numbers spoke for themselves.

James raked his hands through his hair, his eyes bleary.

“What are you still doing here?” His secretary’s voice filled the void of his office.

Without looking up from his paperwork, he pressed his fingers to his temples. “I need to make sure everything is perfect before I sign off on this project.”

“I’m sure you’ve thought of everything.” She moved farther into the room, her fingertips touching the edges of the documents. There had been a time once when he’d thought there could be feelings between them, but that time was long gone. These days, there was only one woman who had captured his thoughts, and she was still in Hollyberry Harbor. Courtney picked up one of the proposals. “It’s an interesting concept to be sure. I plan on paying a visit when I get the chance.”

James rose from his chair and took the paper from her hand. “Are you a big fan of Christmas?”

“Of course.” She smiled warmly. “Though I would expect that it will draw more children with their parents than individual adults.”

“You might be right about that. But then again, there’s just something about being able to pretend it’s Christmas no matter what time of year it is.” He grinned. “What would you say if you could go somewhere even in the summer and it was still winter?”

She appeared to be captivated by his question.

“I’ve got some contractors working up a project. It’s going to be a tall building with a built-in snow machine. I’m not sure of the schematics of it, but I plan on having a space for snowball fights and a place to make snowmen. Think of it like a laser tag activity but with all winter concepts. We’ll even have the ice-skating rink inside.”

Her eyes grew round. “That sounds like quite a project. I didn’t know the board approved that.”

“They didn’t,” he said simply. “It’s my own pet project.” He knew he wouldn’t be able to get the board’s approval for something so out of the ordinary—especially since he didn’t know if it would work. Truth be told, he was terrified it wouldn’t work out. Instead of the company financing it, he’d gotten several different investors.

“If it works out like you’re hoping, then I’m definitely going to have to check it out. What made you decide you wanted to do this?”

“The snow arcade?”

She wrinkled her nose with a laugh. “You’re not calling it that, are you?”

He shrugged. “It’s a work in progress.”

“To answer your question, I was talking about the Christmas village. What changed? You never told me why you wanted to do something different.”

His thoughts immediately drifted to Sarah and her love of the season. He’d seen her joy and enthusiasm bring their little part of town to life. Her heart was the reason he’d decided to make these changes. If it hadn’t been for her, then he would still be stuck with his original plans. They would have worked, but they wouldn’t have been enough to get her back.

“Uh oh. I know that look,” Courtney mused.

“What look?” James forced his gaze to the paperwork, and he gathered up what he could without looking like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“ That look. The one telling me you did all of this for someone—and that someone is a girl.”

His eyes cut to meet hers. “It doesn’t matter if my choices were because I was influenced by a girl. They’re good ideas.”

“I didn’t say they weren’t. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Courtney laughed. “What I mean is sometimes we do something for someone and in the end, it doesn’t work out. I don’t want to see you hurt.”

It was already too late for that. His heart had been torn out of his chest and stomped on. But he wasn’t going to let it stop him from what he was doing. He had one last shot at showing Sarah he was on her side.

The snow activity center had been funded by enough investors he’d been able to allocate some of the money with their blessing to Sarah’s shop. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure how that bakery would turn out, but he wanted to have the ability to offer her the choice.

James looked up at his secretary once more. “I know what I’m doing. Don’t worry about me.”

“Well, it’s officially Christmas Eve. You should probably head home.”

He glanced at his watch. It was just past midnight. If he left right now, he might be able to find a flight or a bus back to Hollyberry Harbor before morning. He’d be exhausted, but he needed to make sure he saw Sarah before anything else changed.

James’s taxi pulled up to Lake Harbor Avenue and the disgruntled driver looked at him through the mirror over the large front window. “Thirty-six dollars.”

James pulled out a fifty and handed it to the man over the back of the seat. “Keep the change.” He pushed the door open and stepped out with the duffle bag he’d thrown together last minute. Then he reached for his satchel that was filled with all the documents he would need to show Sarah. All the work over the last several days had to be worth it. That’s what he kept telling himself as he trudged down the snowy sidewalk toward the shops. The sun was just coming up over the horizon and the only people on the street were those who ran the businesses on the strip.

He adjusted the strap of his duffle and picked up his pace, only to come to a sudden stop as Sarah exited from her bakery a few paces ahead of him.

She froze much like he did. Her eyes took him in, sweeping over him from his head to his toes. In her hand she held the handle for a small rolling suitcase. “James,” she whispered. “What are you doing here?”

His gaze darted to the suitcase. “Are you going somewhere?” He shook his head. That didn’t matter. What mattered was showing her what he’d put together and doing it before she had a chance to yell at him or tell him to leave. “Never mind. I wanted to show you the new plans for the harbor.”

She held up her hand. “James, I don’t need to?—”

“Just hear me out, okay? I thought a lot about what you’d said when we were planning for the festival. I heard every bit of it. And I came to the realization you were right. Everything you said?—”

“James, it’s fine. I don’t?—”

He dug into his satchel, his duffle slipping from his shoulder and landing on the snowy sidewalk. “No. You have to see this. You were the inspiration for all of it.” His fingers wrapped around the main proposal and he shoved them at her. “You need to see it. All of it.”

She stared at the papers he held in his hand, not moving. He couldn’t tell if she was upset, he was there, or just upset about how everything had ended. Either way, she didn’t look thrilled.

James moved closer to her, his voice lowering. “I hate how we left things. I let my defenses get the better of me. I should have?—”

“James,” she whispered, “you don’t understand?—”

“But I do. I want you to have the baker the way you always dreamed for it to be. You built this dream with your father and this place just wouldn’t be the same if you couldn’t find joy in it.”

Her mouth fell open.

“It’s right here.” He motioned toward the documents in his hand. “But that’s not all. I changed everything—with the board’s approval, of course. And I want you to take a good, long, hard look at it and tell me if you think it could work.” He fidgeted, still not sure where she was at with this whole thing. He’d bombarded her—surprised her. How else was she supposed to respond to him? He moistened his lips and took her hand so he could shift the papers to it. “I bought out the bakery free and clear,” he whispered. “And I’m going to gift it to you.”

Sarah shook her head. “I can’t?—”

“You can. And you will. This isn’t negotiable. The bakery is yours. It always has been.” He closed his eyes briefly in order to calm his racing heart, but he failed in his attempt. “People are going to say this is the worst business decision of my life, but there it is. Of course I would love to partner with you—in a more silent means, but I completely understand if that isn’t something you’re open to.” He searched her eyes and found himself holding his breath for her response. This could go so many different ways and all he could do was hope she’d be open to his offer.