A Place for Daydreams (Rosewood Beach #3)

Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

“And then, the airplane went zoom! Right into Macey’s mouth!”

Julia chuckled as she watched Cooper spoon-feeding his little daughter at the dinner table. Macey was more than capable of using her own spoon and toddler fork, but she didn’t like to eat her vegetables, so Cooper was resorting to the airplane method. It was working beautifully, and Cooper’s antics and Macey’s adorable giggles were providing excellent dinner entertainment for Julia.

The three of them were sharing a delicious meal of breaded cod, mashed potatoes, and steamed broccoli. Julia had come over to Cooper’s house earlier in the evening and helped him prepare the meal, which had been a nice, quiet time the two of them shared while Macey was playing with her toys.

“Someday, you’re going to love broccoli, Macey,” Julia told the toddler, leaning forward conspiratorially. “I used to hate broccoli, and now—” She took a dramatic bite of her broccoli and sighed happily—“I love it.”

Cooper laughed more at Julia’s performance than Macey did, but Julia was delighted by the way Macey nodded tentatively a moment later.

“Okay,” the little girl said, clearly doubting that she could ever love something so horrible as broccoli.

“My mom used to cover our broccoli in cheese,” Julia said to Cooper. “I mean, not cover. But she put a fair amount of cheese on it, and that’s really delicious. Even for kids. It might be a good way of getting Macey to want to eat her broccoli.”

Cooper frowned for a few seconds, and Julia’s heart sank.

He’s going to tell me he doesn’t like that idea, she thought with a stomach-flop of disappointment . It seems that whatever I suggest when it comes to raising Macey, he likes his way of doing things better.

To her surprise, however, Cooper nodded. “That’s a great idea, thanks. Macey does really love cheese.”

“Yeah? Great!” Julia found herself grinning. She made a tiny fist bump for herself out of sight, underneath the table. For the first time, Cooper had accepted her parenting advice. It made her feel relieved and hopeful that he was going to allow her to care for Macey more in the future.

“But then again,” Cooper said, frowning again, “cheese isn’t as healthy as vegetables, and I hate for her to learn at an early age that it’s okay to eat less healthy things just because they taste better. I’ll have to think about it.”

Julia repressed a groan and did her best to smile at Cooper.

I can’t win, she thought, wanting to sigh but restraining herself. Gosh, that’s disappointing.

Still, she told herself, she wasn’t going to let it ruin her evening. She was still having a wonderful time with Cooper and Macey, and the food was delicious. Cooper started telling her a story about the insane amount of gnomes that one of his landscaping clients had, and before long she was almost doubled over with laughter. Macey was giggling too, seeming to be delighted by how much the adults were amused.

“What do you think, Macey?” Julia asked, wiping away a tear. “Do you like gnomes?”

“No.” Macey shook her head. “No beards.”

“She doesn’t like beards,” Cooper said, chuckling. “So gnomes are out. At least for now. Her dislike of beards has only lasted for a week, we’ll see how long it goes.”

“Better not take her over to that house,” Julia teased. “That’s too many beards.”

Cooper belted out a laugh, but in the next moment, he pulled his phone out of his pocket with a frown.

“Work is calling,” he said. “That’s weird that they’re calling so late. I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He leaned over and gave Julia a quick kiss before answering the phone. “Hello?”

Julia watched as Cooper’s eyebrows lifted and his lips parted in surprise.

“Oh, no,” he said. “Yes, yes, I can. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

“What happened?” Julia asked, feeling worried, as soon as he’d hung up.

“There’s an electrical issue at the Greener Pastures offices,” he said. “I guess I’m the only one who has experience as an electrician, and they want me to come in and make sure nothing’s a fire hazard before the electric company can get there.”

“Oh, gosh.” Julia shuddered. “Be careful.”

“I will.” He smiled at her. “I’m sure it’s all fine, but I agree with them that we should be cautious. I need to go in and look things over, but I’ll be back soon. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s not a problem at all,” she assured him, squeezing his hand. “Life happens.”

“I know, but—well, would you be able to tuck Macey in tonight? I don’t think I’ll get back before her bedtime.”

Julia’s heart leapt up. He was trusting her to take care of Macey by herself! She nodded, smiling reassuringly at him. “No worries. I’d be happy to.”

Cooper was already standing up and walking to the back door, where his shoes were. “If you have any questions, you can—no, I guess you’d better not call me for a while.”

“It’ll be fine.” Julia smiled at him. “Please be safe, and we’ll see you soon.”

“Okay.” Cooper finished hurriedly tying his shoes. “See you later, my girls.” He gave Julia and Macey quick forehead kisses and then slipped out the back door.

Macey watched him go dubiously, her bottom lip quivering.

“Don’t worry, Macey,” Julia assured the little girl warmly. “He’s coming right back. Should we finish our dinner?”

Now that she was alone with the toddler, she did feel suddenly nervous. What if Macey had a meltdown and she didn’t know how to get her to stop crying?

But after a few seconds, Macey smiled and nodded. Thankfully, she’d already eaten all of her broccoli, and she liked the rest of her food and didn’t hesitate to eat it.

When their meal was over, Julia left the dirty dishes on the table, deciding to clean up the kitchen after she’d gotten Macey to go to sleep.

“Time for bed, Macey,” she said, scooping the toddler up into her arms. “You’re so sleepy, aren’t you? Wow.”

Macey shook her head, but in the next moment she let out a big yawn and Julia laughed. She carried Macey upstairs to her bedroom, starting to wonder what it was she needed to do first.

What is her normal bedtime routine? she thought, biting her lip. I don’t want to get it wrong. I should have asked Cooper before he left!

She pondered it, and as she was thinking, Macey pressed her cheek against Julia’s. The toddler’s face was so sticky that Julia knew her next move in an instant. Macey would need to take a bath before going to bed.

“Okay, Macey, time for a bath,” Julia said. “So you can get all nice and clean.”

“Yay!”

Julia laughed, glad that the toddler wasn’t going to fight her about it. She made a nice bubble bath for Macey, making sure the water wasn’t too hot or too cold. She let Macey play with her bath toys for a little while before drying her off and helping her get into her pajamas.

By that point, Macey was starting to look genuinely sleepy, but Julia knew she needed to stay awake a little bit longer so that she could brush her teeth.

“Are you ready for the toothbrush song?” she asked Macey as she picked up her toothbrush and added a dollop of toothpaste to the bristles.

Macey looked confused, and Julia laughed. “You need to let me brush your teeth while I sing the toothbrush song, okay? Ready?”

Macey nodded and Julia began to sing silly lyrics about being a toothbrush and missing Macey’s teeth. Macey began to laugh as Julia brushed her teeth, but the song seemed to do the trick. By the time they were walking back to Macey’s bedroom together, hand-in-hand, both of them were still laughing a little.

“You want to hear a story before bed, Macey?” Julia asked.

“Yeah!” Macey scampered over to her little bookshelf and pulled out a couple of her favorite picture books.

Julia sat down in the rocker placed by Macey’s window and the toddler climbed into her lap. They cuddled together while Julia read a picture book about bugs starting a bakery. By the time she was finished with it, Macey was sound asleep.

Julia sat there quietly for a few moments, treasuring her time with the little girl.

I’ve been wanting this for weeks, she thought. Time for me to bond with Macey, and a chance to see if I really could be a good parent to her. I think the answer is definitely yes.

At that moment, she heard the sound of the back door opening and closing downstairs. She listened to the sound of Cooper’s footsteps as he made his way up the staircase. A moment later he appeared in the doorway of Macey’s room, and his face lit up into a big smile when he saw the two of them together.

“Hey there,” he whispered. He tiptoed forward and gave Julia a kiss. “Look at you two. Did everything go well tonight?”

“Very well,” she whispered back. “She took a bubble bath and I brushed her teeth. We read one book and then she fell sound asleep.”

Cooper gazed down at the two of them with a sweet smile on his face, clearly touched. “That’s great. That makes me really happy.”

“Me too,” she whispered. She wrapped Macey in her arms and stood up carefully. She carried the little girl over to her crib and set her down in it. She tucked the covers up around her chin and bent over to kiss her forehead.

When she turned around, she saw that Cooper was watching her with tears sparkling in his eyes. He took her into his arms and gave her a bear hug.

“Should we go downstairs?” he whispered.

She nodded, and they went back downstairs together, hand-in-hand. Once they were downstairs in the living room, he kissed her.

“Thank you for taking such good care of my daughter,” he said. “It means a lot to me.”

Julia felt tears rush into her eyes. His approval was such a relief to her, since she’d wanted him to see her as capable of taking care of Macey for so long.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, seeing her tears and holding her tightly. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes,” she said, laughing through her tears. “It’s just that—well, I was worried that you would never trust me as a caregiver to Macey if we ever get married. I kept trying to do things for her, and it seemed like everything I did or suggested wasn’t okay with you. I was starting to feel like I never did anything right when it came to taking care of her. I really wanted you to trust me, but you kept wanting to do everything differently from how I was trying to do it.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” Cooper gave her a tight hug. “I’m so sorry I made you feel that way. I absolutely didn’t mean to. I understand what you’re saying—I did keep on doing things my own way even when you tried to help. But I didn’t mean that as any kind of a criticism to you. I’m just so used to doing things my own way.”

“I understand that.” She wiped away her last remaining tears, smiling warmly at him.

“I wish you’d told me you felt that way,” he said. “There’s room for me to change the way I parent Macey. You’re a kind, intelligent person and I think you have wonderful ideas. I would have been more willing to consider them if I’d known you were feeling this way.”

Julia nodded. “Mom said that I should talk to you about it, but I don’t know. I guess I didn’t feel ready. It feels kind of strange to be bringing up the possibility of us being married when we aren’t engaged.”

“Oh, it’s not so strange.” His eyes warmed as he brushed his thumbs over her cheeks. “I think it’s smart to look ahead like that. And I want you to know that I do trust you. I hope one day we’ll be parenting together. As a team.”

Julia gazed at him, her heart leaping up in joy. “That thought makes me really happy,” she whispered.

“Me too,” he said, and the two of them shared a kiss.