A Place for Daydreams (Rosewood Beach #3)

Chapter 26

Dean stepped up to The Lighthouse Grill, taking a deep breath of the familiar savory smells of clam chowder and French fries. He opened the front door and was immediately greeted by the sound of a few customers talking and laughing, and of cutlery clinking. For the most part, however, the pub was fairly quiet. It was before the lunch rush, and as he glanced around the room, he didn’t see anyone who could help him with the to-go lunch that he’d ordered for himself and Noelle.

“Huh,” he muttered.

He glanced around the dining room, noting that he didn’t even see any wait staff walking around. He concluded that everyone must be on their break because the pub was so quiet at the moment.

He wandered into the kitchen and found that empty as well. He felt a little surprised, since there was usually at least someone in the kitchen, but it was clear that the chefs had been cooking only a few minutes ago, since the kitchen was filled with fresh aromas of food.

He made his way along the back hallway toward the office, the door of which was ajar. He peered through it and grinned when he saw Alexis sitting at the computer.

“Excuse me, Ma’am, is this place open for business?” he teased, stepping inside the office. “You’d think a person would be able to get a meal at a restaurant. Why is the staff slacking?”

Alexis looked up with a grin. She waved her hand through the air, dismissing his teasing. “Everyone’s on a break right now. We’re always really slow at this time, although it’ll pick up again in about twenty minutes.”

“Wow, you’ve got it down to a science, don’t you?”

She laughed. “Barring the occasional busload of tourists or teams of kids passing through because of a sports game, our customer base is a pretty consistent group of people. Rosewood Beach’s folks know what they want and when they want it.”

Dean chuckled. “Yeah, that sounds about right. But I’m here for some—” He paused, noticing his sister looking at the computer again with a radiant expression. Clearly, something on the screen was making her very happy.

“What’s up with you?” he asked, stepping toward her. “You’re glowing.”

“Come and look at this,” she said eagerly, scooting her swivel chair to the side to make room for him to stand next to her.

He peered down at the computer screen and saw a retail website listing.

“Hmm, what am I looking at?”

Alexis clicked a couple of times, revealing a beautiful website featuring pictures of jewelry. “You are looking at the website of Rosewood Beach’s first resident jewelry maker.”

“Wow, that’s really cool. Who’s Rosewood Beach’s first—hey, aren’t those the earrings you made? Alexis! Is this your website?”

“Ta da!” She laughed, her eyes bright with excitement. “Grayson helped me with the website. Well, actually, he made it. Doesn’t it look amazing?”

“It does.” Dean leaned forward, feeling impressed. “But it’s not as great as your jewelry pieces. Look at those! You’re going to get sales for sure.”

“I have sales already!” she practically squealed. “Grayson kept telling me this was going to work, and now I actually believe him.”

“I’m not surprised at all. Congratulations, Alexis!” He reached down and gave her a big hug. “This is amazing.”

“Thank you! Now, what were you saying about needing service?”

He grinned. “Yeah, I put in a to-go order. Is it ready yet?”

“Oh, it should be. The cooks wouldn’t go on a break if there was still a to-go order that needed to be done.”

She stood up and went out into the kitchen. He followed her and watched as she hurried over to a metal shelving unit.

“Here it is.” She held up a white plastic bag that was bulky with the to-go containers inside. A receipt was stapled to the outside of the bag, and she glanced over it. “A Reuben with mashed potatoes on the side? Isn’t that Noelle’s favorite?”

Dean shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe I ordered both the tuna melt and the Reuben because I’m extremely hungry.”

She swatted his arm playfully. “Oh, stop. I know it’s for Noelle. You two have a date this afternoon?”

“Yeah, we do.” He couldn’t help grinning. “I’m on my way over to the physical therapy office to meet her.”

“Sounds lovely. How are things going with you two?” Her eyes widened mischievously, and Dean laughed, knowing how thrilled she must be about his new relationship considering how long she’d tried to get him to date one of the women of Rosewood Beach.

“Super well.” His heart stirred just thinking about Noelle. She always brightened his day, and he found himself thinking about her and the conversations they had a great deal of the time.

“I’m really happy to hear that. So you’re planning on staying together, huh?”

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.” Dean smiled, and he knew his happiness was clearly painted on his face, allowing Alexis to see that his chances with Noelle were definitely favorable.

“Well, I don’t want to keep you.” She gave him a hug. “You have a great date, and I’ll talk to you later!”

“Talk to you later! I look forward to being interrogated.”

“Oh, shush!”

He left the kitchen with an impish grin on his face, wanting to make sure he left before Alexis had a chance to throw something at him.

He stepped outside into the sunlight and took a deep breath of the crisp autumn air. It was chillier than it had been when he’d first started dating Noelle a few weeks earlier, but with a jacket and a warm knit hat on, he felt comfortable.

He walked toward the physical therapy office, the bag of to-go food swinging in his right hand. He could smell the delicious food as he walked, and he was looking forward to eating it. Even more than that, however, he was looking forward to seeing Noelle.

He reached the cheerful little physical therapy office and stepped inside. The familiar sight of the lobby greeted him, and he smiled as he noticed the cute and quirky Halloween decorations that had been set up around the room. He had a feeling that Noelle had picked them out, and he made a mental note to ask her about them later. His favorite was a sparkling pumpkin sporting a happy expression and a purple top hat.

Noelle stepped out of her office, and his heart skipped a beat as soon as he saw her. He was amazed that butterflies still kicked up in his stomach every time he set eyes on her.

“Hey.” She perked up at the sight of him, hurrying across the lobby toward him.

She gave him a big hug, and he squeezed her tightly. She was wearing a large fleece sweatshirt and a pink hat with a pom-pom on the top. He thought she looked absolutely adorable.

“Hey, you,” he murmured. “How’s work going today so far?”

“Oh, great,” she answered as they separated. “I still miss working with my favorite client, but everyone else is lovely too.” She chuckled.

“Well, here’s the question. Would you rather work with your favorite client or go eat an amazing picnic lunch with your favorite client?”

“Oh, well, when you put it like that, definitely the lunch.”

They both laughed and stepped out of the physical therapy office together. A brisk wind rushed against their faces, and Noelle’s cheeks were soon rosy.

“Where to?” he asked her as they strolled along the sidewalk together hand-in-hand. “Somewhere outside, right?”

She nodded. “Thanks for being the kind of guy who will go on a picnic with me in the middle of autumn.”

“Hey, it’s a beautiful day. And I love autumn.”

“After we’re done eating, we should pick up some pumpkin spice cookies from Seaside Sweets Bakery.”

Dean nodded immediately, loving the idea, and she giggled at him. “Yes please.”

“My treat, since you bought lunch.”

“No, I can?—”

“Shh.” She held up a finger. “My treat.”

He chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Oh look, the town square!” she said eagerly. “Let’s eat in the gazebo. It looks so cozy surrounded by all these beautiful colored trees.”

They sat down inside the gazebo and began to eat their meals. The food wasn’t quite hot anymore, but it was still satisfyingly warm and delicious. They ate quietly for a while, savoring their first few bites, and then they began to joke and talk.

As he watched her laughing over a silly comment he’d made about a passing car, he felt his heart stir with an ache of hopefulness. He was feeling more and more that he wanted to officially be her boyfriend, but he didn’t want to move too quickly. He wasn’t sure how to bring up the subject with her, but he knew it was something that he wanted to discuss with her sooner rather than later. He felt ready to take the next step and make their relationship official and exclusive, but he didn’t know if she felt the same way or not.

“Thanks for bringing my favorite lunch.” She smiled at him, almost shyly. “I love that I didn’t have to tell you what to order for me. You remember what my likes and dislikes are. That makes me feel really special.”

“I’m glad.” The words, “That’s because you’re very special to me” were on the tip of his tongue, but he wasn’t sure if he should say them out loud or not. He didn’t know if that would be too forward.

“And you’ve done so many sweet things for me. Like how you went out of your way to restore that Porsche. You did that for me, and it was so special. The things you do… well, they’re the kinds of things a boyfriend would do.” She looked right into his eyes as she said the words, her expression eager and hopeful.

Dean realized that his heart was suddenly racing. “What are you saying?” he asked softly, looking into her eyes.

She grinned. “Well, I was wondering if you’d like to make us official. Be exclusive. Be my boyfriend.”

Dean’s eyes widened, and he felt a smile spread across his face. “Yeah? You want to?”

She nodded. “I really do. I think we really have something here. Even before we were dating, we had something, I think. As much as I tried to tell myself that we were just friends, I couldn’t do it. There was always a spark. And that makes me feel really good about us. I can see this working out. So… do you want to?”

“Yes please!” He was grinning from ear to ear. “I’ve been wanting to ask you—I keep thinking about it—but I wasn’t sure if it was too early or not. I didn’t want to rush you.”

“I hear what you’re saying. But I think all relationships have a different pace and this is ours. It helps that we started out as friends, I think. We got a clear picture of who we are as people before we actually started dating.”

He nodded. “Yes. Definitely. You already know how cheesy all my jokes are.”

“And I love them!”

He laughed and wrapped his arms around her. “So we’re official?”

“Officially official. Hi, boyfriend.”

“Hi, girlfriend.”

His heart stirred with a deep happiness as he leaned his head forward and kissed her.

The series continues in A Bright Winter Season !