Page 28 of Meet Me at the Christmas Cottage (Jonathon Island #6)

“See you tomorrow! Thanks for all your help today,” Dani called as Jonah and Bronte left the Grand. Liam had offered to take them back on the snowmobiles, but Bronte had said she’d rather walk, hoping she’d be ready to sit and work for a while by the time they made it back to the Whites’ house.

“You did a great job on that ceiling. All those ornaments, they look so cool,” Bronte said, snow crunching under her feet, arms swinging at her sides.

“Why, I thank you.” Jonah mock bowed. “By the end, your bows weren’t looking quite as wonky.”

“Hey.” Bronte nudged his shoulder with hers. “Making bows is not as easy as it looks.”

They’d just made it to the first line of stores when the Fudge Shop on the Corner came into view. She stopped. It was still open. Good. She needed ice cream sustenance before a long writing session. “I heard there’s ice cream in this fudge shop.”

Jonah stopped next to her and they peered inside. Lily was wiping down the countertop, moving items back into their places, bopping along to unheard music. Declan came up behind her and snuck a kiss on her cheek. Bronte’s heart fluttered at the sight.

“There is, but they’re probably closing up soon. You look kind of cold for ice cream. Besides, shouldn’t we eat dinner first?” Jonah raised an eyebrow in her direction.

Bronte clenched her jaw to keep from shivering.

“Gasp! Jonah White, I’ve already told you before, it is never too cold for ice cream.

And it’s on our way home. Let’s go.” Bronte pulled him into the fudge shop, ignoring his mention of ruining dinner.

Psh. They were adults. They could eat dessert before dinner.

Maybe Bronte would steal a kiss as second dessert before dinner.

She ducked her head at the thought, praying her face didn’t show how hot it felt.

They made their selections, with apologies to Lily for coming in so close to closing time, and headed back down the sidewalk.

“You know, someone else I knew used to like getting ice cream in the winter.”

“Oooh, like an ex-girlfriend?” Bronte teased, wagging her eyebrows.

Jonah dipped his head. “Yeah, I’ve really only ever had one.”

If he’d only ever had one, that meant…“Bree?” Bronte’s stomach dipped. She shouldn’t have said anything. Dani had told her Jonah would kill her if he found out she’d told Bronte about Bree. Would Jonah really be mad at Dani? Bronte wasn’t good at this friend thing.

But Jonah just let out a chuckle. “I shouldn’t be surprised you know. Who told you about Bree?”

“Dani.” Bronte ducked her head. “Please don’t hate her. She was just…” But Bronte didn’t know why Dani had decided to tell her about Jonah’s ex.

“I should have known.” Jonah pushed out a chuckle and ran his hand down his face. “This town is so small, nothing gets by anyone.”

Biting her lip, Bronte considered dropping the subject, but her curiosity won out. “What happened?” Why would anyone give someone like Jonah up?

“We had our whole lives planned out. We got engaged right out of high school, we were going to have six kids, all with names starting with J?—”

“Oof, that’s a little excessive, don’t you think?”

Jonah grimaced. “Yeah, well, we were engaged forever, never really setting a date, and when I came home on a leave about seven years ago, she let me know that things had changed and she’d decided she didn’t want a family.

Or to be married to a military man. And she wasn’t interested in waiting until I got out. ”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

“That had to be hard.”

“It was for a while, but after things calmed down, I realized that we were young when we made those plans.” His shoulder rose in a shrug.

“Maybe I was still holding out for the six kids—not with names all starting with J—but Bree changed her mind, and that was okay. I guess we just weren’t meant to be. ”

Even if he seemed nonchalant about it, Bronte still heard the underlying hurt in his voice. She regretted she had ever questioned that he never felt true pain as she had. “Still, I’m sorry.”

“Thanks, but I’m good now.”

He said that, but Bronte heard something in his voice. Regret, maybe?

Chill bit Bronte’s cheeks as she tucked further into her coat.

The sun started disappearing over the water.

Maybe they should have taken Liam up on his offer of a ride back, but then they wouldn’t have gotten ice cream, and Bronte would already be back to work.

She’d enjoyed the break and wasn’t ready for this day to end.

“Question.” Bronte took the last bite of her ice cream and tossed the empty cup and spoon into a nearby trash can.

“Shoot,” Jonah said, finishing the last of his ice cream and disposing of his trash as well.

“You said that if you weren’t a surgeon, you wanted to open a bookstore on the island.” Jonah stiffened next to her, so she hurried on. “So if you could put the bookstore anywhere here, where would it be?”

They paused at the end of the sidewalk. Jonah considered her for a breath before grabbing her hand. “Come here.” He pulled her farther across Jonathon Boulevard and down Main Street.

Bronte squeaked in surprise but followed. They didn’t stop until they’d made it to the other end of Main Street, stopping in front of an empty shop. Jonah held his hand toward the dark store. “This would be my bookstore.”

Bronte narrowed her eyes at him, a grin on her face. The letters on the window that’d once spelled out Island Bookstore were peeling and half gone, spelling I l nd Boo sto instead. She pressed her face to the window and looked inside.

Empty shelves lined three of the walls. A dark chandelier hung down in the middle of the room, a broken couch under it.

There looked to be a good layer of dirt and dust on the wood floors, but with a little elbow grease, they would be stunning.

A wooden counter stood off to the side, and Bronte could imagine Jonah in the space, recommending books, face lit up when he talked about his favorite ones.

“Jonah, this is perfect!” Bronte jumped back from the window.

Jonah grinned. “Yes! This used to be one of my favorite shops as a kid. It started having trouble when Mr. Johnson—that’s the owner—had a heart attack, and then the lack of tourism just drove it into the ground, and well—” Jonah shrugged his shoulders.

“I think this would be amazing.” Something had come alive in Jonah’s eyes as he’d shown her the bookshop. “I agree with you. The island needs a bookstore.”

“Yeah? I’ve been thinking about giving Mr. Johnson a call and seeing if I could work out a deal with him. There are even a couple of little apartments over the top. It probably needs a lot of work, but it’d be cool.”

“No, Jonah, it’d be amazing. I really think you should do it.” Bronte clutched his arm.

“I don’t know. It would be great, but I’m supposed to be the island doctor, which, let me remind you, is a very stable job.

Being a business owner is tough. At least the clinic is already established.

How am I supposed to support a family on a dream?

I don’t know if I even have the business sense to make an indie bookstore work. Maybe if I called Oliver…”

Bronte frowned. “Who’s Oliver?”

“Oliver is Dani’s brother,” Jonah said as if being snapped out of his thoughts. “He’s a good friend, really business savvy. He mentioned the bookstore was for sale. I think he might have some ideas on how to make a bookstore profitable.”

“I think you should do it.” Bronte bobbed her head in a curt nod. “Call Oliver. See what he can tell you. Besides, it might be good if you had a somewhat solid plan in place before you talk to your dad.”

“You know, you might be on to something,” Jonah said, turning them to head back in the direction of home, but not before looking over his shoulder one more time at the sleeping shop.

Bronte could see the spark of a dream firing in his chest, and the wall that surrounded her heart started to crumble.