Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Julia Owens parked her car on the street outside the house of her boyfriend, Cooper Harris, and smiled. She’d parked there so many times, it was beginning to feel as though the road was developing grooves for her car’s wheels.
It was a crisp, sunny Saturday morning, and she took a deep breath of the pleasant-smelling air as she stepped out of her car. She was so looking forward to fall, and all of the different delights that always accompanied it. She was looking forward to this fall in particular, because now she had Cooper and Macey to share it with.
Her stomach grumbled, and she thought eagerly about the breakfast that she was going to get with Cooper that morning. She glanced at her watch as she walked up to the house. She wanted to make sure she had enough time to show Macey the snacks that she’d made for her before she and Cooper dropped the little girl off at daycare. She looked down at the tote bag she was carrying, feeling proud of what she’d made. She’d done research on some of the best homemade snacks for toddlers, since she wanted to give Macey special care. She’d made cinnamon apple chips, sliced pears spread with ricotta cheese, and yogurt bites, and although she’d been surprised by how time-consuming making the snacks had been, she liked the idea of giving Macey healthy snacks. Besides, she’d nibbled some of the snacks herself while making them and she’d found them to be delicious as well as fun to create.
Next to the snacks, in the tote bag there was also a little baby doll. She’d seen it at the Rosewood Beach toy store a few days earlier, when she’d been window shopping with Hazel and Dean. She’d immediately thought of Macey and had decided to surprise the little girl with the doll right away, rather than wait for her birthday or Christmas to roll around.
When she’d first met Cooper—after he’d saved her from falling into a puddle by catching her in the rain—she had been unsure about how she would handle helping care for the little girl. She’d never expected to be dating a man with a child. She’d never spent much time with little children, and she didn’t know if it would be beyond her scope or not. But the more time she’d spent with Macey, the more she’d come to adore the little girl. Now, she always looked forward to seeing her almost as much as she looked forward to seeing Cooper. Her relationship with the two of them was, besides her relationships with her family members, one of the best things in her life. Cooper was always supportive of her, encouraging her new favorite hobby of cooking, and cheering her on when she had to work long hours handling the financial side of her family’s restaurant, The Lighthouse Grill.
Before she got a chance to ring the doorbell, the door was tugged open by Cooper, who immediately greeted her with a grin and a big hug.
“Hey, sweetheart.” He kissed the side of her head affectionately. “Good morning.”
“Good morning.” She grinned at him, and then felt Macey’s chubby little arms wrap themselves around her legs. “Good morning, sunshine!” She reached down and lifted the little girl up into her arms to give her a proper hug. “I have some presents for you.”
“Presents!” Macey squealed. “Thank you!”
“Good job, Macey.” Cooper gave his daughter a high-five, praising the way she’d said “thank you” without being prompted.
Julia reached into her tote bag and pulled out a bag of cinnamon apple chips and two Tupperwares filled with yogurt bites and the pears spread with ricotta cheese.
“I made you these yummy snacks. And they’re healthy.” She winked at Cooper. “There are some yogurt bites, some apple chips, and some pears spread with ricotta cheese. And I put snacks for you to take to daycare today into this little tin with the fairies on it. There’s a couple of yogurt bites and some pear slices in there.”
“Thank you, Julia.” Cooper gave her a sideways hug, smiling at the way his daughter seemed thrilled by the snacks. “Those sound great.”
“Here’s this tin for her to take today, and I can go put the rest of the snacks in the refrigerator.” She started toward the kitchen but stopped when Cooper handed her back the tin.
“Go ahead and put that in the fridge too. I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I think those snacks sound a little too messy for daycare. But I’ll give them to her later. Besides, I already packed her bag for daycare last night.”
“Oh, sure.” Julia felt a slight flutter of disappointment, but she took it in stride. She reminded herself that her affection for Macey didn’t make her a child expert, and there were still a lot of things she was learning.
“Well.” She grinned at the little girl. “I have something else for you too.” She reached inside her bag and then presented the baby doll. “Ta da!”
Macey gasped and reached for the doll. She held it tightly for a few moments, and then Cooper gently picked it up.
“Look, Macey.” He crouched down to be on her level. “She’s got a pretty little bonnet with this flower on it, and these beautiful silver buttons on her dress. Wow. What do we say to Julia?”
“Thank you!” Macey gave Julia another hug.
“You’re so welcome.” Julia drew in a breath, feeling her heart warm to see the toddler look so happy.
Cooper stood up and tucked the doll onto the top shelf of the closet. Julia watched him in surprise.
“I was thinking she could take that to daycare,” Julia said, feeling disappointed again.
Cooper shook his head. “Sorry.” He grimaced sympathetically. “That doll is an antique, and it’s more for decoration than a toy. Or maybe for an older child, but I’m worried those antique buttons could cut her. They’re so thin. And the doll is made of porcelain, so if she drops it and it breaks, then she really could get cut.”
“Oh.” Julia felt deflated. “I’m sorry, I?—”
“Don’t be sorry.” He pulled her toward him and gave her a quick kiss. “You’re being so sweet, and Macey and I both appreciate it so much. We’ll give her that doll when she’s a bit older. That should be perfect.”
She bit her lip, wanting to tell him that she’d done her research and found out that the doll was supposed to be two-year-old friendly. It was a new toy and was probably made to look like an antique doll without actually being one. After a moment, however, she decided that it was best not to argue about what he thought was best.
“Come on, Macey, are you ready to go see your friends?” Cooper asked, smiling at the little girl.
“Yeah!” Thankfully, Macey seemed to have forgotten all about the doll. Cooper picked up her daycare bag and took her hand.
“You go get her settled into the car, and I’ll drop these snacks off in the fridge,” Julia said, smiling.
“Sounds good. See you in a couple of minutes.” He blew a kiss at her and stepped out through the front door.
Julia hurried into the kitchen, where she carefully tucked the snacks inside the refrigerator. She sighed as she placed the little tin on the top of the Tupperware stack. She didn’t think that pears and ricotta cheese would be too messy for daycare, but she reminded herself that Macey would enjoy the snacks at home.
And at least I’ve become more of an expert in child snacks, she thought with a chuckle as she made her way back to the front door. I’ve got some recipes under my belt, and I know what kinds of snacks Cooper doesn’t want Macey to bring to daycare.
She locked the front door behind her and made her way to Cooper’s car, where he was just getting Macey settled into her car seat.
“You need some water, Macey?” Julia asked as she and Cooper sat down in the front seats of the car.
“I just gave her some orange juice before we left.” Cooper smiled at her as he started the engine, and the sound of a kiddie songs CD suddenly filled the air.
“Oh, sure.” Julia smiled. “You’re always on top of things like that.”
He reached over and squeezed her hand as a way of thanking her for the compliment. “I’ve had to do everything on my own for a while now. I was always nervous I wasn’t doing enough, so I’ve tried my best to be on top of everything.” He laughed.
She shook her head, squeezing his hand back. “You’re a great father. I don’t know why you ever worried.”
“Well, she can really be a handful sometimes.” Cooper grinned at Macey through the rearview mirror. “Can’t you, kiddo?”
Macey offered him a pleased, chubby smile, and Julia and Cooper laughed.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the brightly colored daycare. Cooper parked the car, and Julia got out, intending to get Macey out of her car seat. By the time she reached the other side of the car, however, Cooper had already done so.
They walked inside the daycare together, and Macey looked excited. Julia saw a little table where a bunch of toddlers were sitting, scribbling happily on a large sheet of paper with crayons.
“Look, Macey, maybe you can color—” Julia started to say, but when she turned around, Cooper had already led his daughter over to a little reading nook where one of the teachers was getting ready to read a story out loud.
Once Macey had settled down happily on a bean bag chair next to the other kids, Cooper turned to Julia with a smile. “Are you ready to go get breakfast?”
“Let me say ’bye to Macey quick before we go,” she said, taking a step forward.
Cooper shook his head. “It’s best to just slip away quietly while she’s distracted with something else. She knows we’re coming back for her. This way she won’t cry or make a fuss.”
Julia pressed her lips together and nodded. “Okay. Let’s go then.” She’d wanted to say goodbye to Macey, but she understood the logic behind what Cooper was saying. After all, he had a lot more experience in dropping his daughter off at daycare than she did.
They made their way out of the building, both of them looking over their shoulders as they went to make sure that Macey was still happy and occupied. Once they’d stepped back out into the sunlight, Cooper took Julia’s hand.
“What do you think? Pancakes or waffles? Or a skillet?”
“Oh, gosh, I don’t know. They all sound amazing.” She smiled at him, but inside she was feeling disappointed. She couldn’t help feeling that he didn’t need her help at all with his daughter, who she had come to love with all her heart.