A Place for Daydreams (Rosewood Beach #3)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Dean Owens shut the door to his office and took a deep breath. Through the window, he could see the charming Main Street of Rosewood Beach, his hometown on the shores of Connecticut. A few of the trees that bordered the sidewalk were already starting to flush with the first warm colors of autumn. He watched a dried leaf scuttle across the sidewalk in a gust of wind, and he glanced up at the cloudy sky, wondering if it might rain.

He sighed and sat down in the comfortable swivel chair behind his desk. He could hear the sound of his employees still working hard on cars out in the garage of his auto repair shop, and he winced a little, wishing he was still working with them. He always felt bad about taking breaks, especially so late in the workday like this, but his hands were throbbing and his chest felt heavy with fatigue.

He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, remembering what it had been like to work a full day of work before his diagnosis with osteoarthritis. He’d gotten tired, but not like this. There was the almost pleasant fatigue that came with long hours of physical exertion, and there was the cold, achy fatigue that he was feeling at the moment.

He smiled wryly, reminding himself that things could be a great deal worse. He had a lot to be thankful for. He owned the auto repair shop, business was booming, and he had smart, capable employees who did their jobs well. In addition to that, he had a wonderful family who made him happy every day.

Despite how busy they all were from balancing their personal lives with running the family restaurant, The Lighthouse Grill, they always found time to be with one another and offer support and encouragement. His twin sister Hazel was especially caring, and often made him and the other mechanics a batch of cookies.

He smiled, thinking about how when his sisters Alexis and Julia had come back into town for their father’s funeral, he’d expected them to return to their homes in New York and Los Angeles soon afterward.

Instead, Julia had stayed to date a young single father named Cooper Harris, and Alexis had found herself wanting to stay in her hometown rather than return to an empty L.A. mansion and a distant husband. Now that Alexis’s husband Grayson had moved to Rosewood Beach to show her how committed he was to revitalizing their marriage, it seemed that everyone in the Owens family was in Rosewood Beach to stay.

He felt grateful that his family had been there when he’d first learned of his condition. Although he hadn’t wanted to tell them about it right away, he knew that it was their love and support that had enabled him to stay positive in spite of the new and unexpected difficulties he was experiencing.

He’d expected them to take it hard and start treating him differently, and he hadn’t wanted to face that right away. However, although they’d been sad, they were also determined to keep his spirits lifted, and that helped greatly. They also encouraged him to slow down and take breaks, and although it wasn’t something he wanted to do, since he didn’t want to have to alter his life while he was still so young, he was already reaping the benefits of getting more rest.

At first, he’d felt that his diagnosis meant that he was going to have a different life from the one he’d always dreamed of having. He’d felt that a romantic relationship was no longer in the stars for him. After confessing that to his family, however, they’d urged him to keep his heart open to love anyway. They kept telling him that he was still a sweet, funny, hardworking guy and that any woman would be lucky to have him.

He had to admit to himself that, despite his diagnosis, he did feel as though he had something to give. There was a large part of him that still wanted to settle down and have a family of his own someday.

There was a soft knock on his office door, and a moment later his employee Keith stuck his head inside the room. “Hey, boss, that car is here for the brake replacement. Do you want to do that one, or—” Keith’s voice got quieter, and he seemed to be taking in how exhausted Dean looked. “Or I can take care of it if you want.”

Dean grimaced a little bit. Brake replacement was a difficult job, and it was ordinarily one that he liked to do himself, since the brakes were the most important safety feature on any car. Keith was a highly capable employee, however, and he trusted him to do the job well. “I hate to give you such a big task, but I’m just not up for it. Sorry, Keith. I know I’d said I wanted to do that car myself, but my body just isn’t playing fair right now.”

“Don’t you worry about it.” Keith shook his head. “I could use the extra money anyhow.” He winked cheerfully and disappeared, and Dean smiled to himself, thinking about how lucky he was to have such a supportive, cooperative staff.

A moment later, however, his spirits dropped again. He suddenly felt overwhelmed by how quickly his life was changing. He never would have hesitated to take on a physically challenging task in the past, but now he felt as though if he tried to pick up a tool, his weak hands might drop it. He dropped his head into his hands, wondering what on earth he was going to do.

“Dean!”

He looked up, startled, to see his sister Alexis Bennett walking into the room. Her long reddish-brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she was wearing jeans and a plain white blouse, which implied that she was on her way to work at the pub that night.

“Hey, Alexis, what’s?—”

She shook her head, coming to sit down on the edge of the desk near him. “You look exhausted. You’re pale, and there are huge circles under your eyes. You’ve clearly been doing too much work all week. Go home and rest, please. There’s no reason for you to be sitting in here. Go somewhere more comfortable.”

Dean shook his head. “I’m fine, really. Yes, I’m a little tired, but I’m taking a break. I don’t want to go home now, my shop closes in an hour. I can stick it out that long.”

Alexis crossed her arms, and she got a look in her eyes that he knew meant business.

“Do your guys need you here in order to do their jobs correctly?”

“Well, no, but?—”

“And are you the only person who can lock up for the night?”

“No, I’m not, but?—”

“Dean.” Alexis’s tone was gentle. “You need to be realistic and accept the facts. This isn’t the way to take care of yourself. There are ways to ensure that you still have a great quality of life—but being in denial and pushing yourself too hard too often are not two of those ways.”

Dean took a deep breath and sighed. For a moment, he was at a loss for words. “Alexis, I don’t know what else to do. This is what I do. I work. I’m a mechanic. I enjoy it, and I take pride in it. I want to live a normal life, and I have no intention of succumbing to aging way too soon because of this.”

“I know.” She reached over and squeezed his hand. “I understand how you feel, and I know how hard it is. I wish you didn’t have to go through any of this, but I believe there’s a way for you to still feel young and fulfilled, and also take care of yourself so that you don’t feel like this.”

“I hope you’re right.” He sighed, finding it difficult to keep his spirits up.

“This isn’t the Dean I know. Being so tired is making you feel downhearted. You go home and rest. We’re going to figure this out, but right now all you need to do is take care of yourself in this moment.”

“Okay.” He smiled weakly. “You’re right. I should go home and rest.”

She smiled back at him and stood up. “Make yourself some tea and a nice meal. Read a book or watch a movie. Do something you enjoy. You’ll feel better in no time.”

He stood up. “You want to walk out with me?”

“Well, I’m not staying here without you.” She laughed.

“Let me just tell the guys that I’m going home and I’ll be right back.”

He popped into the garage to let his employees know that he was going home for the night. They seemed understanding and sympathetic, and even though he didn’t want their pity, he felt grateful that they were so willing to stick with the work and close up the repair shop without him.

“Call me if you have any questions or something goes wrong.” He drummed his fingers along the door frame, wishing he had the energy to stay.

“We will, but everything’s going to go fine. These cars are in good hands. You get some rest, boss.”

Dean smiled and went back into the office, where Alexis was standing by the door, texting someone with a dreamy smile on her face. Dean grinned when he saw her, guessing that the person that she was texting was her husband Grayson.

“You ready?” she asked him, looking up and smiling at him.

“Yeah, I’m ready.” He repressed a sigh, still not wanting to leave his shop, but as he and Alexis stepped out into the late afternoon sunshine, he had to admit to himself that it might be nice to sit out on his porch for a while and read a book. It was a beautiful, cool afternoon, and there was a crisp scent in the air that heralded the coming of autumn.

The siblings began to stroll along the sidewalk together, and Dean noticed that Alexis was headed in the direction of The Lighthouse Grill, not her new house.

“Are you on your way to the pub?” he asked her.

“Yup.” She chuckled. “It’s just another day of scribbling down orders of tuna melts and bringing people sides of ranch.”

He glanced at her, wondering if she was starting to get tired of waitressing. She was still smiling, but there had been a slight edge of frustration in her voice. “Are you not enjoying it anymore? I remember you’d said you loved working alongside our other family members as a waitress. You’d said it was just the spark of adrenaline you’d been missing back in L.A.”

“Oh, I’m still enjoying it. I’m sure I always will, although I never would have thought that I’d be so content to be a waitress back when I was a model. It’s a far cry from being on the cover of a Los Angeles fashion magazine, but it’s been so invigorating to have real work to do. And I do love working with our family so much. It’s just that sometimes being a waitress feels too repetitive. It’s not that I mind the job, it’s that I miss having a creative outlet. I want to be able to do something that involves my imagination. There’s not much creativity involved in waitressing.”

“Hey, have you ever tried rearranging people’s food on their plates to make faces? I did that once in high school. Dad almost fired me.”

Alexis threw her head back, laughing. “You did, huh? No, I haven’t tried that, and I don’t think making faces out of food would be enough to scratch my creative itch, anyway.”

“Well, I bet you’ll come up with something that will. You should ask that handsome hunk of a husband of yours. I know he’s usually got his head in numbers, being a finance guy, but I’d wager that he could offer you some good advice.”

“Hmm, that’s a good idea.” She got the dreamy smile on her face that she’d had when she was texting in Dean’s office. “He’s a pretty smart man.”

“I’ll say. He realized that his neglect of you was about to end your marriage, so he sold his extremely lucrative finance company and moved out here to be with you in a grand gesture. Most people aren’t that smart. Most people would have chosen money over happiness.”

She grinned. “He is smart. And it’s not like we’re without money, either—that new financial consultant job of his pays great. Not as much as before, obviously, but who needs to be that rich?”

He smiled at his sister. “You’re smart too. You had a big mansion and all the money you could want, and you’d rather be here with your family.”

“Hey, you guys are much better than a bunch of big empty rooms.”

They gave each other a sideways hug, and Dean felt another surge of gratitude that she was back home again.

“Well, I’m really glad you’re happy, Alexis. I really am.”

“Thank you. I never could have imagined things would end up like this right after Dad died. I was so sure I was going to lose Grayson. But now things are going great with us, and I’m so grateful to have my husband back again.” They walked quietly for another few moments, and then she bumped her shoulder against his playfully. “You’re next. We’re going to find you a woman.”

He grimaced good-naturedly. “We’ll see. I’m starting to wonder if I’m just destined to never find love.”

She shook her head firmly. “Every single woman in this town considers you to be a dreamboat. It was the same way in high school, and it’s still true.”

“Oh, it is, huh? And how do you know this?”

Her eyes danced gleefully. “I have my methods.”

He chuckled and knocked his shoulder against hers in return. “Okay, Madam Matchmaker.”

They gave each other a hug at the corner and she started to make her way to the pub, calling to him to make sure to get good rest.

“I will!” He waved as she disappeared around another corner. He started walking again, moving slowly as he made his way back home. He thought to himself that although he was apparently considered a catch by the single ladies of Rosewood Beach, he still didn’t feel confident that he would ever find love. He’d never found a girl that he felt he’d like to spend the rest of his life with, and now that his diagnosis was part of his reality, love seemed out of the question sometimes. He didn’t know how on earth he would be able to add a relationship to his life when he was already struggling just to work and spend time with his family without getting exhausted.

He reached his house and smiled quietly to himself. Resting sounded great to him, now that he’d arrived home. He decided he would drink a glass of apple juice and read a mystery book while sitting out on his porch. Then all at once he found himself wishing that he had someone to come home to, not just an empty house.

We’ll see what happens, he thought as he began to unlock his front door. I hope Alexis is right. Having someone to love could be wonderful.

Noelle Calhoun smiled as she closed the cover of her planner. She tucked the pink pen that she’d been using into her pen holder, which was silver and shaped like a little owl. She glanced around her office, thinking to herself that she should go around to some rummage sales that weekend and try to find more charming paintings and photographs to hang on the walls.

She’d moved to Rosewood Beach recently, and she was still settling into her new physical therapy office. She’d decorated it in pastel colors, which she found calming and uplifting at the same time. Her desk was organized but a little messy at the moment, since she was a little behind in her work. She smiled as she looked at the photograph of her and her grandparents which was sitting next to her computer. She’d moved from Wisconsin to Rosewood Beach to be closer to them, since they’d lived in Rosewood Beach for years. She’d always loved her grandparents, and being able to spend more time with them than ever before felt incredibly rewarding.

She was enjoying her new busy schedule, but she was still adapting to it, and little tasks kept creeping up on her unexpectedly. Not only did she have a lot of new patients, but she was still moving into her new place. In addition to that, she was making a point of spending plenty of time with her grandparents, and she was also determined to learn how to cook better. When she’d lived in Wisconsin, she’d ordered takeout for a lot of her meals, but now that she was in a little town that sold delicious local produce and had a wide variety of affordable items at the grocery store, she was determined to learn how to cook the kind of fancy, creative meals she’d always wanted to.

Besides , she thought, grinning to herself, there’s just something about this town that makes me want to be healthy and productive like that. People here make it look so easy to take care of yourself.

When she’d first moved to Rosewood Beach, she hadn’t been sure that she would like living in such a small town, but now that she was settling in, she was enjoying being there very much.

She leaned toward the bouquet of flowers that was resting on the edge of her desk and took a long sniff. She smiled cheerfully, thinking to herself that buying the bouquet from the general store that morning had most definitely been the right choice. She’d wanted a little something extra to brighten up her office, and the bouquet of daisies and chrysanthemums was just doing the trick. She thought about how the bouquet was just one of many nice things that had come her way since moving to Rosewood Beach. So far, she’d found a wonderful old book at the library, a lavender lemon doughnut at Seaside Sweets Bakery that was her new favorite dessert, a quiet spot overlooking the ocean in one of the town’s parks, and now this beautiful bouquet of flowers.

I have a feeling that I’m really going to like it here in Rosewood Beach, she thought. It’s a welcoming place in so many ways.

As if to prove her thought, at that moment her fellow physical therapist, Chip, knocked on the door of her office.

“Hey.” Chip stuck his head inside the door and grinned at her. “You’re done for the day, right? No more appointments?”

“Nope, I just finished my last one,” she said. She grinned back. “Why? Are you done too?”

“Yup, I’ve been done for an hour. I’ve just been sitting around catching up on paperwork. What do you say to going to get some of the best hamburgers in town?”

“Sounds incredible.” Her stomach growled at the thought, and she chuckled. “Where do we find these fabled best hamburgers?”

“At The Lighthouse Grill.”

“Oh, sounds charming.”

“It is. It’s been family-run for decades. It’s probably the most popular place in town.”

“Well, no wonder, with those hamburgers.” She stood up and grabbed her purse off a coat rack before turning to Chip. “Let’s go. I’d love to.”

“Perfect. Let me close up my office quick, and I’ll meet you in the lobby in two minutes.”

Chip disappeared, and she took a few moments to tidy up her desk a little. She thought about how kind Chip had been ever since she’d arrived to share the physical therapy practice with him. He was a good-natured, professional colleague, and already a good friend.

So far, she hadn’t met too many other people in town, but she knew that gradually, she would get to know more and more of the people of Rosewood Beach. She smiled to herself before leaving the office, wondering what interesting people she was going to meet in the coming months and years.