Paper Hearts (34 page)

Jacob didn’t have words. He just smiled and followed her to the front of the store. She opened the door and led him outside, hugging a clipboard to her chest. “I want you to get the full effect.” She pulled out her sketch
 
—the sketch she’d drawn just for him
 
—and pushed open the door.

With the sketch held up, she began to explain the plan for the clinic. “I think we’ve captured a warm, welcoming environment without sacrificing any of your professionalism.” She waved her hand toward the reception area, then turned his attention to the waiting room, which would have a separate section for contagious patients “because there’s nothing worse than going in for an ingrown toenail and coming out with the flu.”

Jacob laughed. He followed her through the entire space, then outside and into The Book Nook. When they walked through the back door and into the store, he could tell she’d already closed up shop. The space had an emptiness about it even though most of her inventory appeared to be intact.

“Abigail.” He turned to face her, but she quickly interrupted.

“It’ll look completely different once this wall is gone. Can you imagine how open it’ll be?” She referenced her sketch, pointing out how the two spaces would become one.

She practically buzzed as she described it all, filled with a kind of infectious excitement, and by the time her tour ended, Jacob could hardly wait to open the doors.

“And that concludes your personal tour.” They stood in The Book Nook, the noise of next door a world away. “What do you think?”

Her eyes were full of hope like a child giving a parent a handmade present.

“Abigail . . .” Jacob searched for an appropriate response but came up empty. “I wanted you to have the space.”

“No.” She took a step closer. “This is your second chance. You might not think you deserve it, but you do.”

He didn’t believe her. Not yet. But he wanted to. He wanted to see himself the way she apparently saw him. “Thank you.”

“I had to do some damage control,” she said, turning her clipboard over to reveal a newspaper article with a photo of the paper hearts.

He read the headline aloud. “‘From Evil Landlord to Hopeless Romantic: Dr. Jacob Willoughby Penned Loves Park Paper Hearts.’” He looked at her.

“I thought the best way to make the town fall in love with you was to tell them the truth about who you are. I hope that’s okay.” She hesitated. “And it’s taken the focus off how your wife
died
and put the focus on how she
lived
. The response has been
overwhelming. People have been coming down every day to help get your clinic off the
 
—”

Before she could finish, he closed the gap between them and covered her mouth with his. He held on to her tightly, willing away a lump that had formed in his throat and thanking God for bringing him this second chance
 
—for bringing him a woman who knew exactly what he needed when he didn’t even know himself.

He pulled back and let his forehead rest on hers. “I think you might’ve saved me, Abigail.” He stepped away so he could see her eyes. “You could’ve had everything you wanted.”

She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his chin. “No. I realized what I really wanted was you.” A shyness came over her.

“Why? After everything I kept from you?”

“Because I love you, Jacob. And love isn’t perfect. If it were, we wouldn’t need God to get in the middle of it.”

“God, huh?”

She scrunched her nose. “He had a lot to do with all this, I think.”

He drew her closer, letting an idea pass through him. All along, God had been for him. Even the painful parts of his life had led him here, to this part of his story. So how could he hold that against a God he used to treasure so much . . . and was learning to treasure again? “I think you might be right, Abs.”

She grinned. “It’s Abigail.”

He kissed her again. “Yes. It most certainly is.”

V
ALENTINE’S
D
AY MORNING,
Abigail awoke early to the sound of her phone buzzing on the nightstand beside her. She picked it up and saw a text from Ursula.

Need your assistance. Come to this location.

It was followed by an address Abigail didn’t recognize. She frowned.

The phone buzzed in her hand again.

Hurry up.

Abigail rushed to get herself ready, not sure how to dress for an emergency call from Ursula Pembrooke. She pulled on a pair of jeans and a warm argyle sweater, then typed the address into her phone’s GPS. When she realized she was going to an empty spot on the edge of Old Town, Abigail racked her brain. There was nothing there. Old Town ended and the ski resorts began. What was Ursula doing in the middle of the dead space between the two?

As she drove, she attempted to call the woman, but Ursula didn’t pick up. She drove past Jacob’s clinic, slowing to admire the progress they’d made. Willoughby Medical would be open in just a few short months, and she loved that she had played a part in that. When she’d called in a favor with the local cable channel, they had agreed to air the story about Dr. Jacob Willoughby, and Abigail had been happy to go on the air to discuss why she thought Loves Park should get behind his new medical practice.

People had come out in droves to assist with renovations in both halves of the building. They were smitten with the paper hearts and anxious to help the one who’d started such a tradition in the first place. She knew her town would embrace him once she explained the truth. Sure, she got the occasional question about how she felt losing her store, and she always answered with the truth. “It’s sad anytime one chapter ends, but mostly I’m looking forward to what the next one brings.”

“And what will that be?”

Abigail allowed herself a moment to dream when the question arose. She hadn’t given up on her idea of turning her love of furniture restoration into a business
 
—it just had an unknown backdrop for now. Maybe she’d start selling pieces out of her garage until she built up enough money for an actual space.

Maybe she’d take a business class. Or an art class. Or become a crazy librarian. The point was, she’d decided to trust God to get her to the next season and to take care of her once she was there.

Gigi and the rest of the Volunteers had shown up that first day beaming with pride. “I just knew you and the doctor would be perfect together,” she said.

Ursula shot her old friend a look. “Shut your yap, Gigi. I’m taking credit for this one.”

Doris sighed. “These two. They hardly remember it was my suggestion in the first place.”

“He sure is handsome,” Tess said.

Evelyn pulled Abigail into a gentle hug. “You seem so happy. You deserve it.”

Abigail hugged the other woman. She’d heard rumblings about the truth behind Evelyn’s seemingly perfect marriage, and while she didn’t want to put too much stock in town gossip, she had to assume everything wasn’t perfect for her.

But her well-wishings were genuine. Despite her own troubles, Evelyn wanted the best for Abigail, and that realization made her thankful she’d somehow found new friends in the unlikeliest of places.

Abigail responded by handing each one a task and putting them to work for a change. “It’s your civic duty,” she’d said.

She’d never been more nervous than the day they agreed to reveal the plan to Jacob.

The memory of his kiss lingered. She could replay that moment, the startled look on his face, over and over again. She’d never seen such tangible evidence of the healing power of unconditional love.

God had made clear to her exactly what he needed, and it had changed him.

Her love had changed him.

He said she’d saved him, but she knew better. It was the other way around. She hadn’t even known she needed to be rescued from her monotony, from her hiding place. He’d seen that in her.

“Your destination is on the left,” the robotic GPS voice told her, interrupting her musings.

Abigail looked around. There must be some mistake. The GPS had led her to Matthias Linden’s old, abandoned white barn set back from the road. She turned left toward the barn and stopped the car to double-check the address. Ahead, she noticed the door to the barn stood open.

And the address was correct.

What were these crazy women up to now?

Abigail drove toward the building, admiring the distressed
paint on its sides. She’d always loved that old barn. It had been in the Linden family for years. Matthias had turned into a mean old man and was something of a legend in Loves Park. He’d chased teenagers from his property with a shotgun on more than one occasion. What would he do if he caught her out here, roaming around his empty barn? With no witnesses, he could get away with murder.

She shuddered at the thought but quickly dismissed it. Matthias might be ornery, but he was no killer.

Abigail parked her car in front of the barn and shut off the engine. She got out and took in the postcard-perfect picture in front of her. What a great piece of land. Matthias was smart to hold on to this stretch. Why he needed it, she’d never understand, but if it were hers, she wouldn’t part with it either.

She walked toward the barn and peered around the partly open door. “Ursula?”

No answer.

The barn door let in a little light, but the space was mostly dark, maybe even creepy. Abigail pulled her phone from her back pocket and started to dial the old woman’s number when she heard a click. The entire interior of the barn filled with white light from overhead.

Abigail gasped as she saw the strands and strands of white lights draped from the rustic wooden beams, illuminating the open space of the old barn. A breeze washed in from outside, and above her something fluttered in the wind. She reached up and inspected what she discovered was a strand of paper hearts.

Another light drew her attention to the back of the barn’s interior, where she saw a long, wide counter and a hand-painted sign that read,
The Paper Heart
.

What was this?

“Ursula?”

“She’s not here yet.”

Abigail watched a figure appear from the shadows. Jacob.

She expelled the breath she only then realized she’d been holding. “What’s going on?”

“What’s it look like?” Ursula came up behind her, Doris and Gigi following closely. And from the other direction, Betsy and Teensy appeared.

Betsy beamed. “It’s your new store.”

“But not till after tonight,” Gigi said.

Abigail shook her head. “What’s tonight?”

“The Paper Heart Ball, of course.”

She frowned. “I don’t understand.”

Ursula glared at Jacob. “Didn’t you tell her anything?”

He hadn’t taken his eyes off Abigail since he emerged from the darkness. “You all kind of interrupted me.”

The ladies looked at each other. “You want us to leave?” Ursula shot him a look.

“How about we just go over there?” Gigi said, pointing to the opposite corner of the building. “You’ll never know we’re here.”

Not likely.

They moved away, but Teensy stood still, staring at the two of them.

“Mom?”

“This is better than I ever imagined.” Teensy took Abigail’s hands in her own. “I knew you just needed a little push.”

Abigail glanced at the Volunteers and back to her mom. “You put them up to the matchmaking, didn’t you?”

Teensy shrugged, then reached over and squeezed Jacob’s hand. “Mother really does know best, dear Daughter.”

“Teensy!” Ursula hissed, motioning for Abigail’s mother to join them. She did, leaving Abigail beside Jacob, questions spinning around her too quickly to process.

“Well, what do you think?” he asked.

“I’m not sure what to think. I’m not sure what’s going on.”

“I didn’t feel right putting you out of business,” he said, looking away. “But I knew you weren’t going to let me talk you out of it.” He smiled. “You’re pretty stubborn.”

“I feel really good about everything, Jacob,” she said. “I don’t hold anything against you. I think this was supposed to happen all along.”

He took her hand and pulled her in a few steps farther, toward the back of the building. “I think so too.”

“Is this . . . ?” She ran a hand over the long counter she’d only glanced at before.

“The mercantile counter.”

“How did you get it here?” She took a step back and admired it. It looked perfect in the old barn, a makeshift wall behind it decorated with paper hearts in all different colors and sizes.

“I have
 
—” he looked at the ladies in the corner
 
—“connections.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“You said your plans for the shop were your big dream, the one that scared you.” Jacob leaned against the counter.

“Yes. Very much.”

A warm smile crossed his face. “I think maybe it’s time to go for the big dream, Abigail.”

She swallowed. “What do you mean?”

“Maybe you lost a good thing so you could find a great thing?” His casual nonchalance had returned, but the pain behind his eyes seemed to have disappeared. He looked genuinely joyful. “You did something incredible and selfless for me, so I wanted to return the favor. I wanted to help you see that you can go after the thing you want most
 
—right here.”

“In this barn?”

“Yes. Your barn.”

“My barn?” She turned and looked toward the front of the room, where light streamed in through the open door. “Matthias Linden owns this barn.”

“Everyone has a price, Pressman,” Ursula called from the shadows in the corner.

Tears sprang to her eyes.

“Can you see it?” Jacob stood behind her, his breath on her cheek as he whispered near her ear. “Filled with all the things you love? All the things you’ve created?”

She nodded but said nothing, her imagination already running ahead of her like a child who refused to slow down. She could almost hear the women of the town coming together right here in this barn to create and learn and help each other. She’d loved The Book Nook, but this space was full of hidden treasure.

And she had to believe her father would love it too.

“How did you do this?” She turned toward him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

He glanced over her shoulder. “Like I said, I had some help.”

Ursula plodded toward them. “I own the place, Pressman. I’m your landlord now.”

Jacob smiled. “I didn’t think I wanted that gig again.”

She grinned back. “I’m a difficult tenant, aren’t I?”

“The worst.”

She looked at Ursula. “How did you get Matthias to sell?”

Ursula stood a few feet away now, hands on her hips. “That man has always been sweet on me.”

Gigi and Doris exchanged a knowing glance. “Is that right?” Gigi asked.

Ursula spun around. “Don’t go getting any crazy ideas, Gigi. I’m way too old and set in my ways to ever think about anything as ridiculous as love again.” She looked at Jacob, then at Abigail. “I mean, you two go for it and everything, but it’s not for me.”

“Ursula.” Abigail took a step forward. “How can I ever repay you?”

Her eyes narrowed. “One month at a time,” she said.

Gigi smacked her on the shoulder. “Tell her the rest.”

“What rest?” Ursula barked.

“The part where you prove you’re not as mean as everyone thinks you are.”

“Oh. That.” Ursula took off her glasses, cleaned them with squinted eyes, and put them back on. “All your rent payments go toward the purchase of the barn.”

Abigail nearly gasped.

Doris let out a squeal. “Isn’t that wonderful? We didn’t even have to twist her arm, Abigail
 
—she volunteered.”

Abigail moved toward Ursula, who stepped back.

“Don’t hug me or anything.”

Abigail grinned, then extended a hand in Ursula’s direction. Ursula looked at it for a moment as though it might carry a contagious disease, but finally she shook it.

“Thank you, Ursula.”

The old woman looked at Jacob. “Thank your doctor. It was all his idea.”

Teensy rushed closer. “He hung the lights and the paper hearts and everything.”