A Place for Daydreams (Rosewood Beach #3)

Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Dean stood in front of his bathroom mirror, combing his wavy hair back. It looked neat and tidy for a few seconds, and then immediately bounced back to looking tousled. He chuckled, deciding that his hair had a mind of its own, and he might as well give up on trying to make it look sleek.

He reached for his toothbrush and began to brush his teeth, glancing at the clock on the wall as he did so. He would need to leave in another five minutes if he wanted to be on time for his physical therapy appointment.

He was just about to leave the bathroom when he stopped and glanced at the cologne bottle that Alexis had given him for Christmas. It was resting on his bathroom counter, near the mirror, and for the most part, he’d only been using it as decoration, since it was a glass bottle in the shape of a car.

I might as well try to smell extra nice for this PT appointment, he thought. I mean, I’m going to get all sweaty. I’m sure some cologne will help me stay smelling fresh.

He didn’t admit it to himself, but deep down he knew that he wanted to use the cologne because of Noelle. He wanted to impress her.

He left the bathroom and made his way to his bedroom, where he grabbed his wallet and tucked it into his back pocket.

“Okay,” he muttered, checking his pockets. “Phone, keys, wallet. I should be good—oh, I should bring a water bottle.”

Noelle had told him that the clinic provided complementary water bottles to patients that had forgotten to bring water, but she’d encouraged him to bring his own water bottle along to his appointments. He hurried into the kitchen, where he got a clean water bottle out of a cupboard and filled it with water from the refrigerator.

He paused for a moment at the back door, wondering if there was anything else he needed to remember to bring to his PT appointment. He realized that he felt jittery, almost nervous, and he shook his head at himself.

Come on, Owens, he thought. It’s not a big deal. You’re just going to move around for a while.

He left his house and made his way to his car. He glanced at the time on the clock once he’d started the engine and realized with a jolt that he was going to be a minute late. He grimaced as he pulled out of the driveway and made his way along the streets of Rosewood Beach. He drove carefully, but he tried to add a little speed to his drive whenever he could. He didn’t want to be a minute late to his appointment, he’d been hoping to be right on time.

His efforts were rewarded, and he found himself walking into the physical therapy clinic at exactly the time that his appointment was scheduled.

The receptionist greeted him with a smile. “Welcome in, Mr. Owens. Noelle is waiting for you in her office.”

“Great.” He smiled, all of a sudden feeling butterflies in his chest. “Thanks.”

He made his way to Noelle’s office, the door of which was already ajar. He stepped through it and saw Noelle seated at her desk, wearing pink scrubs and smiling slightly as she scribbled something down in her planner. In the next moment, she looked up at him and offered him a radiant smile.

“Dean! So nice to see you.” She stood up and extended her hand for a shake. He took it and shook it firmly. “Welcome in. How are you doing?”

He sat down across from her. “I’m doing well. A little tired, but not too bad today.”

She nodded, jotting what he’d said down in a notebook, which he noticed had purple-lined pages. “Hopefully at the end of our session today, you’ll feel more energized, but even if you feel tired, that’s okay too. We want to trust the process.”

He nodded, watching her hands as she wrote. She had small, gentle-looking hands, he noticed. Her fingernails were fairly short, but she’d painted them in a glossy gold color which shimmered in the light coming in through her office window and he thought they looked beautiful.

She looked up and smiled at him. “And before we even get started on official business, I wanted to thank you for the excellent work you did on my car. It’s running great, and I’ve been noticing all the extra things you did for me, like vacuuming and polishing the headlights. It was really very kind of you, and I wanted to express my gratitude.”

“Oh, don’t mention it.” Dean could feel heat creeping up his neck, but he smiled through the way he was suddenly feeling flustered. “I just wanted to make sure you felt welcome here in town. I remember you said you haven’t been here for all that long.”

She smiled warmly at him. “Well, it was very thoughtful. I’m going to recommend your place to everyone I know. I’ll be sure to spread your name around town.”

He laughed. “To be honest, most people here probably already know about me. There are advantages to being the only mechanic shop in town.”

She shook her head, smiling. “Then I’ll tell all my friends from out of town to bring their cars here too—even the ones who live on the other side of the country.”

“If you do that, I’ll be so busy, I won’t have time for PT. I’m sure you have a lot of friends.”

For a moment, they sat there grinning at each other, both of them laughing slightly.

“How did your excursion on Saturday go?” he asked her. “Do you feel like you got to see all of Rosewood Beach’s many attractions?”

She shook her head. “Oh, hardly. I mean, I saw a great deal of them, but I barely walked through a quarter of the town. I got really sidetracked in the parks. I love nature, so I paused to look at all of the details there, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh, I do, for sure. I also love hiking. There’s so many things to pay attention to. Sometimes hikes are about the exercise, and sometimes they’re about slowing down to notice all of the amazing things that nature has to offer. Like different kinds of leaves and insects.”

“I agree. Usually, we go through life at too quick of a pace to stop and really appreciate the things around us.”

She was looking at him with a warmth in her eyes that he liked very much.

“You know, if you want, I could show you around town.” He cleared his throat slightly. “I’ve lived here all my life, so I know all the good places to see. What do you say?” All he could think about was how easy she was to talk to, and how he wanted more opportunities to talk with her. Besides, showing her around town seemed like the neighborly thing to do.

“Really?” Her face lit up. “I would love that. It would be so fun to get a tour of Rosewood Beach from an expert.”

He grinned. “Great.” He felt a flurry of excitement over the fact that she’d said yes. “What day of the week might work well for you?”

“I have off on Friday. Would that work with your schedule?”

He nodded. “I own the shop, so I make the schedule. It’ll be easy for me to make that my day off as well.”

“Perfect.” She turned to her computer and began to type rapidly.

“Are you putting it down in your schedule?” he asked, chuckling slightly.

She shook her head. “No, I’m checking the weather. Ah! Should be a beautiful day that day. Sunny, slightly cool. Perfect jacket weather.”

“Well, fantastic.” He found himself grinning at her, and he noticed that she was wearing a pair of gold earrings that had small diamond studs on the sides. She seemed to have applied a little more makeup than usual, and in the next moment, he realized that she’d applied a rich perfume, just as he’d put on cologne.

His heart rate picked up a little as he wondered if she’d done those things because she knew that she was going to see him that day.

Oh, come on, Dean , he told himself, trying his best to brush those thoughts aside. Don’t flatter yourself so much. She probably just felt like dressing up a little bit today—or maybe she has an event right after work.

Even so, he couldn’t help admiring her earrings and appreciating the lovely way she smelled.

“Well, now that we have that plan all good and settled, I guess it’s time to get to the real reason why you’re here.” Noelle smiled, standing up. “You ready for some physical therapy?”

He liked the energetic, cheerful way in which she spoke. It helped him feel less nervous about how the physical therapy might make him feel.

“Sounds great.” He stood up, smiling back at her. Even though he felt a little trepidatious about physical therapy, he didn’t feel trepidatious at all about the day that the two of them had planned on Friday.