A Place for Daydreams (Rosewood Beach #3)

Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

Julia felt a warm breeze ruffle against her face, and droplets of cool water landed on her arms. The air was filled with the invigorating smell of chlorinated water, and she took a deep breath, smiling. The sounds of splashing and children laughing surrounded her, and she felt lighthearted and in a playful, energetic mood.

She and Cooper and Macey were at the Rosewood Beach splash pad, enjoying one of the last hot days of the year. Even though the sun was hot that day, there was still a certain scent in the air that hinted at autumn. It was gorgeous weather, Julia thought, and she felt thrilled to be able to spend time outside with people she loved.

“Is it fun, Macey?” she called to Cooper’s daughter, who was standing underneath a large plastic flower that was raining down waterdrops.

Macey, who was wearing a pink and yellow frilly bathing suit, laughed and clapped her hands. Julia’s heart melted, and she felt an urge to scoop Macey up in her arms and give her a big squeeze. Since she herself wasn’t wearing a bathing suit, however, she decided to stay where she was, away from the plastic flower’s stream of water.

Cooper was standing closer to his daughter, hovering near her as if worried that she might fall. He was wearing jeans and a paint-flecked work shirt, but he’d gotten soaked by the splash pad already. Both he and Julia were barefoot, and he had his jeans rolled up almost to his knees. He was watching his daughter with a look of total adoration on his face, and Julia couldn’t help grinning at the sight.

“You know what would make it ever more fun?” Julia asked Macey.

Macey looked up at her with big happy eyes, smiling expectantly.

“I think…” Julia took a couple of steps closer to Cooper and Macey. “That what would make it more fun… would be… a splash attack!”

Laughing, she bent down to splash Cooper and Macey with the shallow water of the splash pad. It was difficult to do, since there were only a few inches of water on the ground, but the way that Macey immediately started laughing was well worth the challenge.

“Oh, yeah?” Cooper laughed. “Retaliation!”

He grabbed Julia around the waist and tugged her under the spray of water coming from the plastic flower. She laughed hysterically as she tried to wiggle away from him, and then gave up. He dipped her back into a kiss, and she thought to herself that she never would have thought that getting kissed on a splash pad could feel so romantic.

She felt water splashing against her shins, and a moment later she and Cooper looked down to see Macey splashing them with water just like Julia had splashed her and Cooper a moment ago.

“Wow, you’re a fast learner, Macey.” Julia gave the little girl a high-five. “You’re really good at splashing.”

Macey offered her a chubby smile, and Cooper picked his daughter up and gave her a big squeeze, just like Julia had wanted to earlier. He kissed Macey on the cheek and danced with her under the spray of water for a little while. Julia’s heart warmed as she watched the two of them, and she thought to herself that she couldn’t wait until her bond with the little girl was even stronger.

Finally, Macey started to wiggle out of Cooper’s arms, so he set her down on the ground.

“I think she wants to play with those toddlers,” Cooper said, nodding toward a group of little kids who were sitting down in a section of the splash pad that had squirts of water fountaining up from the ground.

He led Macey over to where the other kids were, and then he took Julia’s hand.

“Let’s sit on this bench right here,” he suggested. “I don’t feel the need to be so close to her now that she’s sitting down. She isn’t going to slip and fall.”

Julia smiled, glad for a chance to talk with her boyfriend for a while. They settled down comfortably on the bench, watching the way Macey was splashing happily with the other children.

“Oh, she’s a sweetheart.” Julia gazed at the toddler, feeling her heart ache with love.

“She’s a scamp.” Cooper laughed. “I’m completely soaked.”

“Mmm, I’m pretty sure you did most of that to yourself. Like when you were holding me underneath the stream of water.”

Cooper grinned and leaned back against the bench. “Oh, that was well worth it.”

She laughed and wrapped her arms around him, and he kissed her affectionately.

“So tell me how you’ve been,” he said. “How have things been going at the pub?”

“Oh, it’s a whirlwind as always. Not a day does by when we don’t have some kind of bizarre problem.” She laughed. “But it’s always fun. We’ve got a great team—we’re so great at putting out fires, I think I’m going to buy everyone little medals that say, ‘Champion Firefighter.’”

He laughed at her joke. “What kind of fires? Do you run low on supplies?”

“Oh, nothing like that. Mom’s so good at making sure we have everything we need in stock, and the cooks are great at communicating when we’re unusually low on something.”

“So what kind of things go wrong?” His brows furrowed curiously.

“Oh, where to begin?” She laughed. “Sometimes things go wrong with the building itself, like the day that we found out we had a wasp nest in the corner of the patio. Thankfully no one got stung, but there were some close calls and some unhappy customers.”

“I remember hearing about that,” he said, shaking his head sympathetically.

“From whom? Us or one of the unhappy customers?”

He laughed. “I believe it was my beautiful girlfriend who told me about it.”

“You have a beautiful girlfriend? Wow. What are you doing hanging out with me?”

“Yup, the prettiest girlfriend in the world.” He gave her a kiss, and her heart swelled with affection for him. “So anyway, tell me more about these fires.”

“Hmm. Well, one day one of the teenage waiters knocked over a bag of flour in storage. The whole room was covered in a film of white dust, and it took us hours to clean it up that night after the pub closed.”

“Couldn’t you just leave things a little dusty?”

She shook her head. “We offer gluten-free options at the pub, which means we need to ensure that some things the guests are eating don’t have gluten in them. We can’t cook with things that are covered in a film of flour without a little flour getting into all of the food.”

He nodded. “Makes sense. Wow. I bet that kid felt bad.”

“Oh, he did.” She chuckled. “But we were nice about it. And he stayed to help us clean it all up. That’s the last time he wasn’t careful in the storage room, let me tell you. Oh, and then…” She put a hand to her mouth to stifle a laugh as another incident rose up in her mind. “Mrs. Billings was in one afternoon, and Alexis saw her putting salt into her coffee. You know, like a salt packet instead of a sugar packet. Alexis didn’t have time to stop her and then she felt like she should just keep her mouth shut so Mrs. Billings didn’t get embarrassed. But then when Mrs. Billings tasted her coffee, she said it was the worst coffee she’d ever had and made a whole scene. Alexis had to point out that she’d used the salt packet, which was still lying on the table, and everyone was staring.” Julia wiped a tear away. “Mrs. Billings left her a twenty-dollar tip that day.”

Cooper chuckled. “Well, at least she was nice about it in the end.”

She nodded. “But I think customers bring the most chaos to the pub. Which is probably to be expected. George Melder keeps trying to bring his dog into the pub. We have to keep explaining to him that because his chihuahua isn’t registered as a service animal, she isn’t allowed inside because of people’s allergies and because some kids are scared of dogs. Well, anyway, it’s gotten to the point where he’s been sneaking her inside in his jacket. She sits in the corner of the booth next to him and he sneaks her bites of his food. It’s so cute that usually we just turn a blind eye to it and take care to wipe the booth out when they’ve left.”

“Oh, I’d love to see that.” He grinned. “Next time it happens, tell me and I’ll run over there so I can witness it.”

She grinned back at him. “It’s every Thursday afternoon for lunch, at noon exactly. You could set your clock by George.”

They both chuckled, and then they fell quiet for a few moments. Julia turned to watch Macey, feeling delighted by how happy the little girl was.

“Are you sure you still like it here, Julia?”

She turned to her boyfriend in surprise. His expression had grown serious, and she grabbed his hand. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I know you have fun at the pub, but Rosewood Beach is such a big change from New York. I just wondered if sometimes you miss the big city. I’m sure people are more sophisticated there.”

He cocked an eyebrow as he said the last bit, imitating someone fancy, and she laughed.

“Oh, I can assure you, there are just as many characters in New York as there are here in Rosewood Beach,” she told him. “Probably more, actually. And I would never want it any other way. Sometimes people make trouble, but they keep things interesting too. And I love my job. I love fighting for the progress of something I care about, not just numbers on paper. I can literally get my hands dirty at the pub, working hard to make sure it’s doing well. I love that. And I love working with my family.” Her tone took on a tender quality as she added, “And besides, you’re not in New York. I love being here with you.”

His expression softened. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

She kissed him. “There is no place I would rather be.”

Their attention was abruptly drawn to Macey when the little girl let out a squeal of displeasure. One of the other children had probably splashed her with water, and her face was scrunched up as if she was close to tears.

“Uh oh,” Cooper said, standing up. “I guess it’s time for dinner.”

He went back onto the splash pad and scooped Macey up into his arms. The little girl leaned her head against his shoulder in a way that made Julia’s heart melt.

“Are you ready to go home and eat some dinner, Macey?” Cooper asked her, kissing the top of her head.

“Yeah,” Macey said, and yawned.

“I’d be tired too if I just had that much fun.” Julia reached out to smooth an errant lock of the girl’s hair. “Sometimes fun can be exhausting.”

Cooper chuckled, and they turned toward the entrance to the splash pad, ready to get back into his car and head to his house. A few moments later, however, someone called Cooper’s name eagerly.

They turned and saw a family approaching them. The man had a thick black mustache and Julia thought he looked familiar. Next to him was his smiling wife and two kids, both of whom were a few years older than Macey.

“Dave!” Cooper grinned and shook the other man’s hand in a friendly manner. “I haven’t seen you in, gosh, two hours?”

Dave laughed. “Thought you were rid of me for the day, didn’t you?”

Julia chuckled. It was clear that this was one of Cooper’s co-workers, and she enjoyed seeing the friendly camaraderie that the two of them shared.

Cooper grinned. “This is my daughter Macey, and my girlfriend Julia.”

“Macey I’ve met, Julia I think I might have seen around before.” Dave shook Julia’s hand. “This is my wife Stacey and our kids, Harrison and Levi.”

Stacey and Julia smiled at each other and shook hands. The kids looked up at Julia and Cooper a bit warily.

“Are you coming bowling with the rest of the guys tonight?” Dave asked Cooper. “Should be a great time. Tony wants to celebrate his tenth year with Greener Pastures, so he offered to buy everyone pizza.”

“Bowling?” Cooper looked confused.

“Yeah, have you seen the group chat? He just suggested it about an hour ago, but it sounds like almost everyone is in. You should come by. I hear you’re a mean bowler.”

“Oh, I haven’t seen the thread. I haven’t checked my phone in about an hour and a half.”

“Too busy watching that one, huh?” Dave nodded his head toward Macey, who had fallen asleep on Cooper’s shoulder. “She looks like a little wild one.”

Cooper laughed. “She might look like an angel right now, but she is a wild one sometimes.”

“You should go, Cooper.” Julia smiled at him. “That sounds like a lot of fun.”

Cooper glanced hesitantly down at Macey. “I can’t bring Macey with me to a bowling alley, not when she’s so tired like this.”

“Don’t worry about it!” Julia touched his arm. “I’ll take care of her for the evening. I’ll make her dinner and read her stories and tuck her into bed. We’ll have a great time, and you can spend time with the guys.”

Cooper swallowed, clearly hesitating. Then he shook his head. “Thank you for offering, sweetheart, but she’s so tired tonight and she’s been a bit sad lately. I think it’s best if I do the usual bedtime routine with her.” He smiled sweetly at her. “But I appreciate you being willing to do that.”

Julia’s heart sank. Although Cooper was being as sweet as always, she wished that he treated her more equally when it came to taking care of Macey. She found herself wondering what it might be like if she and Cooper ever got married. Would he still insist on taking care of Macey even when Julia could tap in and do it for him? Would she always be the “non-parent”?

“Another time, Dave.” Cooper smiled at his friend. “Give Tony my congratulations. Ten years is a big deal.”

Dave sighed, although he was still smiling. “Oh well, more pizza for us, I guess. Have a good night, Cooper.”

“You too.”

Waving goodbye, Cooper and Julia started to walk toward the parking lot again. She couldn’t help feeling sad and disappointed. She wished that Cooper trusted her more to take care of his daughter, and she wished that she was able to spend more quality time with Macey.

“You okay, sweetheart?” Cooper asked her when they were almost to the car. She realized that he had been watching her as they walked, and his expression looked worried.

“Oh! Yes, of course. Everything’s fine.” She put on a smile. “Why?”

“Well, you’re acting quiet, that’s all.” He smiled back, but his eyes looked a little troubled, as if he didn’t quite buy her answer.

She considered bringing up her frustrations for a moment, but then she decided that she didn’t want to mess up a lovely day. “I’m just tired, I guess. Like I said to Macey, sometimes having fun can really tire you out.”

He laughed and slipped his hand around hers. She smiled at him, repressing a sigh. She told herself to be grateful that she got to spend the evening with him and Macey, but she couldn’t help wishing that he was willing to let her care for his daughter more.