A Place for Daydreams (Rosewood Beach #3)

Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Hazel tucked the last dinner plate into the sink and turned to her daughter with a smile. “Are you ready?”

“Yes!”

It was the evening that they’d planned to have their spa day on, and both Hazel and Samantha were bubbly with excitement. They’d made sure they had everything ready to go the day before, and they’d just finished up a quick and delicious dinner of homemade barbeque chicken pizza.

“What’s the first step?” Samantha asked as she put a jug of chocolate milk back into the refrigerator.

“The first step is putting on our silky pajamas and robes.”

The day before, they’d gone to the store and picked out matching sets of pink silky pajamas and robes. Samantha had said they looked like princess pajamas, and they reminded Hazel of the kinds of things that movie stars wore in old black and white films.

The two of them scampered upstairs to their bedrooms to get ready. Hazel changed into her soft, slippery pajamas and put on the robe, tying the sash gently around her waist. She pulled her hair back into a messy bun so that it wouldn’t get in her way when they were putting on their face masks.

“There,” she said to her reflection with a grin. “You look like you’re ready for some relaxation.”

She left her bedroom and found Samantha waiting for her in the hallway, bouncing up and down like a jackrabbit with excitement.

“Oh, you’re adorable!” Hazel cooed, giving her daughter a hug. “Before we do anything else, we should take a selfie.”

They posed in the upstairs hallway for a few selfies, and Hazel made a mental note to send the pictures to her sisters later. She knew they’d love to see them. But for the rest of the night, she knew that true relaxing involved turning her phone off. She turned off her cell phone and tucked it inside a little bookshelf that was nestled against a wall in the upstairs hallway.

“There,” she said, sighing with satisfaction. “Let’s go look at the next thing on our list.”

They’d written up an agenda for the evening, mostly for fun, but also because Hazel had read once that planning things in detail could make them more relaxing so that there wasn’t any decision-making stress involved.

They went back downstairs to the living room, where they’d already set up their foot soak buckets, manicure supplies, and face masks. The coffee table was absolutely covered in girly products, and Hazel thought to herself cheerfully that it had never looked better.

“Okay,” Samantha said, reading the list they’d made. “First thing is face masks and foot soaks. Well, actually the next thing is turning on our spa music playlist.”

Hazel did the honors, going over to her laptop and turning on the spa music playlist they’d made. She also turned on the TV and pulled up a video of a crackling fireplace mixed with the sounds of a windy rainstorm.

“Oh, I love that.” Samantha grinned. “Okay, then after foot soaks and face masks, we put lotion on our feet and put the socks on, and we give each other shoulder massages, and then it’s manicures and pedicures.”

“Sounds perfect.” Hazel smiled at her daughter, feeling more relaxed already. “Oh! We almost forgot the candles.”

They went around the living room, carefully lighting a collection of scented and unscented candles. They’d carefully chosen which candles to use, making sure that the scents would blend well together. There was lavender, eucalyptus, peppermint, and sandalwood, and soon the room smelled absolutely incredible.

The last thing left to do was prepare the hot water for their foot soaks. Once that was done, Hazel poured it into the buckets and tested the temperature, making sure that it was hot enough to be relaxing without being uncomfortable. Next, they poured the lavender scented Epsom salts into the foot soak buckets, and the room was immediately filled with the rich, relaxing aroma of lavender.

“Oh, this is nice.” Hazel sighed, amazed that her homey little living room could be transformed into such a relaxing paradise. “Good job, honey.”

“Good job to you too!” Samantha was sitting down on the couch and sliding her feet into her foot soak. “It was your idea.”

Hazel sat down next to her daughter and slipped her feet into the hot water of her foot soak. She sighed involuntarily, feeling tension she didn’t even know she had leaving her body immediately.

Samantha made some kind of happy murmuring noise beside her, but for the next few minutes, they were both quiet, listening to the relaxing sounds that filled the room, feeling the hot water of the foot soaks on their tired feet, and smelling the wonderful, calming aromas that filled the room.

“Hey.”

Hazel opened her eyes, feeling Samantha tap her arm gently.

“What is it, honey?” she asked, feeling almost as if she was being roused from a nap.

“Face masks,” Samantha said, holding up a couple of shimmery plastic packets.

“Right.” Hazel nodded. “Good call, we almost forgot about those.”

They unwrapped their face masks and placed them gently on their faces. The cool, moisturizing mask felt incredible on Hazel’s skin. She adjusted it carefully, smoothing the damp fabric across her face, and then sat back, feeling a wave of contentment. She closed her eyes again, thinking to herself that she was starting to feel the stress that she’d been carrying ever since finding out that Jacob had a girlfriend begin to melt away.

After a few more minutes of relaxing in silence, she and Samantha began to talk. They giggled over a story that Vivian had told them the other day of something Julia had done as a little girl, and they discussed things that they wanted to bake together.

“How’s school going?” Hazel asked after a while.

“Oh, school is great. Sometimes I feel tired and I’d rather be doing something else, but I like being there with my friends. And we’re learning a lot of interesting stuff.”

“You’re still doing really well, according to your teacher. I’m really proud of you.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

Samantha’s smile looked funny through her face mask, and it made Hazel laugh, and then Samantha started laughing too.

When their attack of giggles was over, Samantha said, “And I’m really excited about the school dance. I’ve never been to one before. Everyone talks about it almost every day.”

“Oh, I remember school dances.” Hazel smiled, feeling a surge of nostalgia. “You get to wear a pretty dress and all your friends are there. We always thought the decorations were so cool—there’s usually a lot of color and sparkly things. It’s so much fun to listen to the music and dance. And you start to feel a little more like an adult, I guess. I remember that being really exciting when I was your age.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Hazel felt a pang of sadness. She didn’t feel ready for Samantha to be growing up. Her little girl was still so young and innocent, and she thought about all of the big girl problems that Samantha would have to be facing soon. She didn’t want her daughter to have to deal with the struggles that came with growing up.

There are a lot of joys involved in growing up too, she reminded herself. It’s not as though it’s all bad.

Still, she felt a sudden cloud of worry for a moment. Then she brushed those thoughts aside, reminding herself to focus on the present and enjoy the time that she was spending with her daughter right then and there.

“I’m so excited.” Samantha wiggled a little, looking up at the ceiling as if she was seeing other things in her imagination. “The theme for the dance is The Wizard of Oz , so there’s going to be a yellow brick road in the gym, and they’re going to make one of the back walls look like the Emerald City. All green and sparkly. We’re going to take so many pictures.” She laughed.

“That sounds like fun! Do you know what kind of dress you want to wear? Do you want to try to match the theme?”

“Oh, I do. Willow is wearing a black dress and red shoes and she’s going to give herself green eyeshadow, so she kind of looks like the Wicked Witch of the West. Oh! And she’s going to wear striped stockings with her dress. It’s going to be awesome. And then?—”

“She’s wearing makeup?” Hazel hesitated. She’d told Samantha that she didn’t want her to wear makeup until she was older, because she didn’t want her to be too preoccupied with her appearance.

She wondered if Samantha would ask to wear makeup to the dance, and what she should say if she was asked for permission. Hazel thought that maybe a special occasion like that would be an okay time to wear makeup, especially if her friends were already doing it. She didn’t want Samantha to feel left out. Then again, what if all of her friends started having bad habits? Then Samantha would have to feel left out, because Hazel would never agree to certain kinds of things?—

“Mom?”

“What?” Hazel turned back to Samantha, shaking her head as if that could clear away all of the thoughts that had suddenly swarmed her. “Sorry, honey.”

“You totally checked out for a second. I said, ‘Yes, she’s wearing eyeshadow, but I don’t want to wear any makeup.’ Maybe paint some glitter on my face, but I don’t want to try to wear lipstick or anything like that.”

“Oh.” Hazel smiled at her daughter, feeling relieved. “Sounds great. I’d love to help you put glitter on your face.”

“Thank you! That goes with my theme. See, Willow is going as the Wicked Witch of the West, so then I thought that I could go as Glinda, that good witch who shows up at the beginning of the movie in a pink bubble and she’s all smiley and stuff.”

“I remember. That sounds like an awesome idea. You’re going to make an adorable Glinda.”

“Thanks, Mom. I have my dress all picked out. Well, I have four different dresses picked out, and I just have to decide between them.”

“What if one of them is gone before you decide?”

Samantha shook her head, grinning. “No, Mom, they’re all online.”

“Oh. Right.” Hazel nodded as Samantha got her cell phone out of her pocket and started to pull up pictures of dresses. Mother and daughter leaned in close together to look at the phone screen and admire the dresses.

All four of the dresses were pink, and two of them had fluffy tulle skirts. Hazel found herself captivated by the sight of the dresses, and she remembered how fun it had been to look for fancy dresses like that—although she had done all her shopping in person.

“Oh, those are all so cute. Honestly. I don’t know how you’re going to pick one.”

“I know!” Samantha sighed happily. “A good problem to have, I guess. Which one would you pick, if you had to decide between all four?”

“Oh, gosh.” Hazel leaned in toward Samantha’s phone, looking at the pictures as Samantha scrolled back and forth between them. “I think… if I absolutely had to decide…”

Samantha realized that her mother was pausing for dramatic effect and laughed. “Come on, Mom! Which one?”

“I think this one.” Hazel tapped the dress that Samantha had on the screen at that moment. “I love the tulle skirt with the glitter in it. Not a lot of social engagements allow for you to show up looking sparkly, so I say go for it.”

“I’m going to get glitter everywhere though, aren’t I?”

“Well, of course. That’s because you’re magical.” Hazel booped Samantha’s nose gently with her fingertip. “And I don’t mind you getting a little glitter in our house—and I’m sure there will be plenty of glitter at that dance anyway. I’m so excited for you! You’re going to have such a great time going with Willow.”

Samantha smiled, but Hazel could see right away that her daughter was about to throw a plot twist her way. Samantha’s eyes were suddenly dancing with excitement. She hesitated for a moment and then spoke slowly.

“Well, actually, even though Willow and I are planning our outfits around each other, I’m hoping to go with someone else. You know, like officially go with someone.”

There were a few seconds of silence as Hazel started to process her daughter’s words. “You mean… as in, you want to go with a boy?”

Samantha’s giggles confirmed that before the almost-teenager spoke. “Yeah. I mean, I don’t know if he’s going to ask me or not, but I’ve been really hoping.”

Hazel felt her heart rate pick up. Of all the things connected to Samantha growing up that made her nervous, this was by far the most nerve-wracking one. She immediately felt a flush of worry, and her mind began to race, wondering how old this boy was and if he was a good person or someone selfish and inconsiderate.

She tried to remain calm as she cleared her throat. “A boy, huh? What’s his name?”

“His name is Austin,” Samantha said, and it was clear from her swooning tone that she had more than just a little crush on him. “He’s so cute, Mom. I’ve had a crush on him ever since the first time I saw him in literature class. He’s got this wavy blond hair. He kind of looks like a movie star. And he’s got the best laugh. Like, he’ll be talking with his friends and then all of a sudden everyone in the room can hear this amazing laugh. Usually it’s kind of obnoxious when people laugh really loudly, but it isn’t when he does it. His laugh sounds really nice. He just kind of brightens up the whole room.”

“He sounds like a nice guy.” Hazel did her best to smile. “Is he? I mean, does he seem like a nice person?”

“Oh, so nice. He’s got a dog and he’s been training it really carefully. I’ve heard him telling his friends about it. And he’s got a little sister who he babysits. Sometimes I’ve seen her run out of the car to hug him when we’re all getting picked up at school.”

“That’s great.” Hazel cleared her throat again, still trying to get her heart rate to go back down. “He sounds nice.”

“Oh, he’s more than nice. He’s wonderful.”

For a few moments, neither of them said anything. Samantha looked as though she was lost in some kind of happy daydream, and Hazel felt as though she was having a bad dream. She’d known that Samantha would start to like boys and want to go on dates at some point, but she’d never heard her daughter mention boys before. She hadn’t had any idea that Samantha was starting to feel those kinds of things already.

It’ll be fine, Hazel told herself firmly. This is just a part of life. He seems like a nice boy. But ? —

Her heart twisted as she imagined Samantha having to watch as Austin developed a crush on some other girl and started dating her instead. Then she shook herself. They were still too young to date, she didn’t need to worry about that. But she could tell that Samantha had really gotten her hopes up about the dance.

There were a lot of girls in Samantha’s school, and it was more than possible that Austin wouldn’t ask Samantha to the dance. He might not ask anyone at all, or he very well could ask another girl and Samantha would get hurt.

“Tell me about when you went to your first dance, Mom,” Samantha said, turning to her mother with a grin. “Was it fun? Who did you go with?”

“Oh my,” Hazel tried to shake the cobwebs of worry from her brain. “Yes, I remember it being very fun. I went dress shopping with my sisters and they helped me pick out a dress. It was pale blue with a skirt that spun out amazingly when I twirled. I put it on a whole hour before the dance started so that I could stand in the living room and just twirl around.” She laughed a little at the memory.

“Did you go with somebody?”

“Did I? I don’t even remember—I don’t think we were really going with people at that age.”

She thought about her first dance, trying to recall, and then she remembered that she had wanted to go with someone. She’d wanted to go with Jacob, and he’d gone with one of the other girls.

She swallowed, not wanting to think about how long ago her crush on Jacob had started.

“Hmm. Going dress shopping does sound fun.” Samantha sounded eager. “Maybe we can use these dresses I picked out as inspiration but go shopping in person. Maybe we could get Grandma and Aunt Julia and Aunt Alexis to come with us.”

“That sounds like a lot of fun.” Hazel smiled at her daughter, genuinely excited about the prospect of getting to go dress shopping with her and the other women in the Owens family. “I’ll call all of them later tonight and see when they’re free. Friday’s probably a good day, yeah?”

“Works for me,” Samantha said cheerfully.

“Okay, great.” Hazel leaned over and kissed Samantha on the side of the head. They went back to being quiet, but Hazel no longer felt relaxed and peaceful.

She was remembering how much she’d liked Jacob, even at Samantha’s age. Her crush on him had felt like some Romeo and Juliet fantasy, and she’d hoped that he would someday walk up to her and ask her on a date or tell her he liked her and was interested in her. She sat with her eyes closed, beginning to remember all kinds of things, even an old dream she’d had once in which he’d given her a bouquet of roses in front of the whole school.

After a while, she’d stopped liking him so much and moved on to other crushes—but it was only after he’d started dating other girls and she’d cried herself to sleep a couple of times. She felt a rising panic, worrying that Samantha was going to end up feeling hurt in the same way. Jacob had seemed so wonderful, just like Austin seemed wonderful to Samantha, and even though Jacob had never done anything to hurt her, she’d felt so let down when he wasn’t interested in her. And here she was, years later, feeling the same way again.

And then, after Jacob, Hazel had fallen in love with and married Samantha’s father, who had turned out to be unreliable and uncaring. Hazel never wanted her baby daughter to have to go through something like that.

Feeling restless, she opened her eyes and looked at the time. “I think it’s time to take our face masks off, honey,” she said, feeling relieved to have something to do. “Then we can moisturize our feet and start doing our manicures.”

“Ooh, yes please!” Samantha sat up eagerly, ready for the next part of their spa night.

Hazel smiled at her, telling herself firmly that she was going to put aside her worries for the rest of the night. She needed some time to process, so she could figure out how to handle this new era of life. Thinking about it any more that night was just going to freak her out, and that would be a shame, since relaxation was the goal of the evening.

“Perfect. What color do you want to paint your nails?”

“I want that pink color,” Samantha said, pointing to a hot pink nail polish bottle. “It’s such a happy color.”

Hazel chuckled. “You’re right. It’s a very happy color.”

They continued to enjoy their spa night together as they painted their nails and chatted. After a while, Hazel’s nervousness melted away and she found herself enjoying the evening again. Samantha was always fun company, and Hazel’s body was responding well to the way she was pampering it. She knew that soon, she would need to face her fears about Samantha being interested in boys, but for the time being, she just got to have a fun, relaxing night with her daughter.

Dean leaned back in his armchair, letting out a long yawn. He stretched, pleased to find that his body felt more loose and relaxed than usual. It was clear that physical therapy was starting to help him already, and that gave him a sense of hope like he hadn’t had in a while.

He set down his book on a little table resting next to the armchair and glanced at his watch. It was almost nine p.m., and he was getting sleepy.

I’m an adult, he thought with a chuckle. I can go to bed whenever I want. Time to go to bed.

He stood up and wandered into the kitchen, where he poured himself a glass of milk and turned out the lights. He carried the milk upstairs with him along with his book, his mind going over the events of his day. It had been a good day, productive and pleasant. Best of all, he’d had more energy than he’d had in a while, and even though he was feeling tired and sleepy at the moment, he was relishing the fact that his symptoms were improving.

He sat in bed for a while, reading more of his book and slowly sipping his glass of milk. Outside, the night was turning blustery, and he wondered if an autumn storm was on its way. He glanced out the window a few times, enjoying the sight of a brilliantly silver moon shining through the tree branches.

Finally, he got back out of bed and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth. By that point, he was so sleepy that his eyelids were drooping, and he could feel that all his limbs were heavy with drowsiness. He was just making his way back into his bedroom when his phone began to ring.

He picked it up from where it was resting on the end of his bed and saw that the caller was one of his friends who he’d met at a car show several years before. They shared a love for car restoration and often swapped advice and tips on where to find hard to locate parts. He answered the phone eagerly, suddenly feeling more awake.

“Hey, Shawn!” Dean found himself grinning. “How’s it going?”

“Dean, my man! It’s been too long. How have you been holding up?”

They spent a few minutes catching up, but Dean found himself holding back from sharing the news of his diagnosis. He didn’t want Shawn to feel bad for him, and he wanted their conversation to be about the positive things that were going on in their lives.

“So the reason why I’m calling?—”

“Yeah, at this hour?” Dean’s tone was playful. “It’s time for bed. I’m in my pajamas here. You could have woken me up.”

Shawn’s big booming laugh practically made the phone vibrate. “You’re getting boring, huh? Wow.”

“Oh, yeah. I even drank of glass of milk while reading first.”

“I’m going to have to save you from yourself. Luckily, I have just the thing to make you feel less boring. I’ve got a 1980’s Mustang on my hands, and I just don’t have the time to fix her up. What do you say? Are you up for the challenge?”

“Oh, man.” Dean felt his heart stir with excitement. He loved Mustangs, and he’d been wanting to get his hands on an older one for a while. “That sounds amazing, Shawn, it really does, but I?—”

“Oh, come on, Dean. It’s free. I’m just handing you pure gold here.”

Dean scratched the back of his neck, feeling a tug toward the idea of fixing up the car. In the past, he would have leapt at such an opportunity without hesitation, but now he was struggling to make a decision. It was something he wanted, there was no doubt about that, but he wasn’t sure if he would have the energy for it. What if he tried working on the car, and realized that it was too much for him? He felt sure that he would feel even more disappointed about not having the energy to fix it if it was actually there with him instead of miles away.

“Well, Shawn, I’d love to, you know I would. And I appreciate you calling me and offering it to me. But I’ve been running into some health issues and I’ve had to take it easy lately.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. Nothing terminal or anything like that. Just a lot of fatigue and soreness.”

“Well, don’t let that stop you from living your best life. I mean, take care of yourself and everything, but they say that doing things that bring you joy is good for your body. Why don’t you take a look at the Mustang and see what you think? It’s not like you’d have a deadline to finish it up. Heck, take ten years to do it, who cares? You wouldn’t have to work on it right away, and you could do it slowly once you do start.”

Dean found himself smiling, suddenly filled with eagerness. He realized that Shawn was right, and that taking a look at the car would be the most logical path forward. Besides, Shawn was a good friend of his, and Dean wanted to show him his gratitude by being willing to come and look at the car that Shawn was offering. “Okay, you got me. Those are some good points. I’ll take a look at it.”

“I knew you wouldn’t be able to turn it down!” Shawn crowed. “You’re too much of a car buff.”

“Well, yes, and Ford Mustangs are especially near and dear to my heart.” Dean couldn’t help grinning. “Thanks again for offering, I really appreciate it.”

“Of course! I can’t wait to see the look on your face when you see her. I know you’re going to decide to take the car. She’s really a beauty.”

The two friends chatted for a while longer, catching up about the details of their lives and planning a time for Dean to go see the Mustang. As they hung up and Dean climbed back into bed, he felt a sense of eagerness that he hadn’t felt in a while. He felt proud of himself for choosing to be optimistic about being able to go back to his hobbies. It was more than possible that with the help from Noelle’s PT guidance, his energy levels would become good enough to allow him to work on the car in his spare time.

As he turned out the light and laid his head down on the pillow, he felt his heart stir with anticipation. He felt grateful that Shawn had reached out and grateful that he had an opportunity to work on one of his favorite hobbies again. Maybe what Shawn had said was true—maybe the joy that it brought him would be good for him in more ways than one.