Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Hazel parked her car on the street outside Cooper Harris’s house and climbed out. Cooper was her sister Julia’s boyfriend, and she was there to pick Julia up for family dinner. Although Cooper lived within walking distance from Vivian’s house, where Julia lived, it was now bitterly cold and since his house was on her way to Vivian’s, Hazel had offered to pick up her sister.
She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her coat as she walked up to the front door. A bitingly cold wind blew against her face, making her cheeks feel like ice. She was glad that she would be back inside her warm car soon, and after that, inside Vivian’s cozy house.
She knocked on the front door of Cooper’s home and Julia answered the door a moment later.
“Hey!” Julia reached out and gave Hazel a hug. “I thought you were the babysitter.”
“Sorry to disappoint you.” Hazel grinned. “Isn’t Cooper here?”
Julia shook her head. “No, he’s at work tonight. That’s why he’s not coming to family dinner. There’s a landscaping project that needs to be done by tomorrow, and he’s staying late at the office with a couple of other employees from Greener Pastures to work on it.”
“Ah, makes sense. So you’ve been taking care of Macey all by yourself, huh?”
“Yes.” Julia smiled proudly. “Just me and the little princess. She’s in her room playing with toys at the moment. You want to go say hi before the babysitter gets here?”
“I’d love to. She’s such a cutie.”
Hazel and Julia made their way through Cooper’s house to Macey’s bedroom, where the toddler was sitting on the floor stacking blocks carefully. She looked up with a chubby smile as soon as the sisters came through the door.
“Hey, Macey.” Hazel crouched down to be at the little girl’s level. “How’s your block stacking going?”
“Good.” Macey turned back to the little tower she’d made, and then with a gleeful thrust, knocked the whole thing over. Julia and Hazel burst out laughing.
“Oh, man, she reminds me of Samantha at that age,” Hazel said. “So impish.”
“She is pretty mischievous,” Julia said, chuckling. “But also a sweetie.” She scooped the little girl up into her arms. “Aren’t you, Macey?”
At that moment, the doorbell rang and they went to answer it. It was Macey’s babysitter, who was wearing a pink hoodie and a huge smile. Macey was excited to see her, and soon Julia and Hazel were leaving the house and going back out into the cold.
“Thanks for coming to get me,” Julia said as she climbed into the passenger seat beside Hazel. “It was nice out when I walked over here, but, oh man, am I glad I don’t have to walk back in this temperature.”
“Of course, I’ve got you.” Hazel smiled as she turned the engine on and then turned the heat up. She was in high spirits, feeling content with her life and looking forward to all of the joys of the Christmas season. She felt grateful for how at peace she was with her circumstances. “I’m so excited to eat dinner. Do you know what Mom’s making?”
“I don’t.” Julia shook her head. “I’m sure whatever it is, it’ll be delicious.”
For a few moments, the sisters drove together in silence, and Hazel glanced at Julia a couple of times. Her sister seemed unusually quiet, and Hazel wondered if she was just tired or if there was something else on her mind.
“Penny for your thoughts?” she asked as she turned onto Vivian’s street. She was starting to think that Julia seemed a little sad.
“You’re perceptive.” Julia smiled wryly. “You can always tell when I have something on my mind.”
“Okay, so tell me,” Hazel said, laughing.
“I guess I’ve just been struggling with missing some of the aspects of my old career. It’s hard for me to put into words—I love living here in Rosewood Beach, and I think keeping the pub going is some of the most rewarding work I’ve ever done. But—it doesn’t really change. It’s always the same kind of work, day after day. I miss having big important events to work around, you know? There was always such a sense of excitement that came along with that.”
“Hmm, I understand what you’re saying.” Hazel parked the car outside their mother’s house, but she kept the engine running. She wanted to keep talking to Julia about what was on her mind.
“There’s not much I miss about my old career, but I do miss that. Everything else I liked I’m experiencing by running the pub’s finances. But I miss feeling like I had something important to work toward. Not that the pub itself isn’t important, but it was nice to have that extra motivator, that feeling that I was putting my efforts toward a really valuable happening.”
Hazel nodded. “You loved working on stuff like that. I think it’s because you’re so good at organizing things. Maybe you’re just getting bored with keeping the pub running, because it’s not taking all that much effort from you. Not much changes with that, so all of your superhuman organizational skills are in need of exercise.”
“Oh, gosh, thanks for being so flattering. I guess I do miss really having to make an effort for something. It was exciting to try extra hard to do something well. I love our family and the life I have here in Rosewood Beach, but sometimes I feel as though life is passing me by without enough of a challenge for me to put my mind to. I want an overtly important task, with a deadline, you know?”
Hazel chuckled and reached over to squeeze her sister’s hand. “Maybe something will come along to challenge you. You never know.”
“Maybe.” Julia sighed. “I’m not banking on it, though. Rosewood Beach is quiet and peaceful and people here have their regular routines. I think I’m just going to have to learn how to be content with my workload being as slow and steady as it is.”
“Even if that turns out to be the case, remember how much you helped the pub get back on its feet after we learned about Dad’s gambling debts. It might feel slower paced, but it’s still a hugely important task. The Lighthouse Grill wouldn’t be what it is now without you. You’ve turned the place around, and there’s even more work to do.”
Julia appeared somewhat comforted. “Thanks, Hazel. You’re right. I—” Julia stopped talking as she saw Alexis and Grayson’s car drive up and park behind them. “Come on, let’s go inside! Thank you for chatting with me.”
“Anytime.” Hazel smiled at her sister, hoping that her words had been helpful.
As they stepped out of the car and greeted Alexis and Grayson, Hazel realized how happy she was to be in a place in her life where she was so able to focus on her family’s needs. She wasn’t as wrapped up in her own issues as she had been when she’d been obsessed with Jacob. Back then, she’d thought about him a great deal and fretted about whether or not to tell him how she felt. Now, she felt at peace with herself and her own circumstances, allowing her to put more energy forth to take care of her family.
I really have grown so much as a person , she thought as she followed her siblings up the front path of their childhood home. I’m so proud of myself for reaching this place.
Alexis knocked a couple of times on the front door and her sisters started to laugh.
“Alexis, Mom lives here,” Hazel said.
“Oops, you’re right.” Alexis laughed. “Just trying to be polite.”
“Come on, let’s go in,” Grayson urged. “It’s cold out here.”
The siblings stepped inside the cozy warmth of the house, and Hazel felt full of happiness and contentment.
Vivian let out a sigh of satisfaction as she placed the chicken pot pies into the oven. She’d been working hard at cooking a meal for her whole family for the past couple of hours, and she was looking forward to when her children arrived to eat it.
She leaned against the counter, going through a mental checklist. She had apple cider that she would heat up just before her children arrived, and there would be sparkling water and wine to drink at the table. In addition to the pot pies, she’d made sides of seasoned butternut squash cubes and a blue cheese chopped salad. She thought about portions and how much everyone in her family usually ate. Samantha, who ate a great deal for a twelve-year-old, was at her friend’s house that night, and Cooper wasn’t going to be there either.
“Oh, we should have more than enough,” she thought, smiling to herself. Even though her children were now all grown up, she still liked to feed them as though they were growing kids.
She glanced at the clock, reflecting that she had some time to read while the pot pies cooked. She went into the living room, where she had a balsam fir scented candle burning, filling the room with a rich, cozy aroma.
She sat down in her favorite armchair, laying a soft knit blanket across her lap. She was looking forward to reading Rosewood Beach’s most popular magazine, The Seagull . It was filled with recipes and home maintenance ideas as well as news articles, and she always found wonderful recipes and decorating ideas in it around Christmastime.
She was turning the pages at her leisure, enjoying looking at all of the beautiful pictures, when an article caught her eye. She frowned as she recognized the name of Judd McCormick, a man who had tried to buy The Lighthouse Grill from her family. Although the Owens family had never born the McCormicks any ill will, Judd had acted as though there was a rivalry between their two families. He owned a local brewery that was prosperous and respected, but he’d wanted the location of the pub for himself, thinking that he would be able to run a food and beverage place as successfully as they had there. He’d learned of Frank’s gambling debts and had been confident that Vivian wouldn’t be able to say no to him. Thanks to a fundraiser, however, the Owens had been able to keep the family business, something that Judd still seemed sore about.
Her eyes scanned over the article quickly, and she began to tut in dismay as she read. She began to read aloud a quote from Judd, muttering to herself indignantly. “Our brewery always does especially well at Christmastime. We’re the only family business in Rosewood Beach that’s really worth any salt. The other ones are sloppy, unprofessional little places. Not business-savvy. My sons and I are proud of the work we do here together at the McCormick Brewery.”
She set down the magazine with a huff of indignation.
The nerve of that man, she thought. He as good as said that it was us he’s talking about. We’re the only other family-run business in Rosewood Beach. He said what we do can’t contend with them.
She stared into space for a few moments, feeling outraged. Vivian was usually a patient woman, but she and her family had been putting their heart and soul into the pub for years, and it irked her to read about Judd besmirching the name of their business. Besides, he was wildly incorrect and she had a feeling that he knew it. The Lighthouse Grill was the most popular restaurant in town, and even though it served comfortable, home-style food instead of gourmet dishes, its quality of food and service were well respected. Even tourists passing through often said they’d rarely had food so delicious and they intended to come back the first chance they got.
She stood up and went to check on the pot pies. They were cooking beautifully, and she went to work setting the table. She put a little more effort into it than usual, wanting to take her mind off her frustration over the article. Despite the beautiful way she folded the napkins, or the way she arranged red berries around the candlesticks, however, she didn’t stop fretting over Judd’s words.
I don’t like bullies , she thought. And he’s a bully. Right from the start he just decided he had the right to try to take what was ours away from us. And now that he’s been unable to do it, he’s sore about it and saying mean things as a way of getting back at us. Not very nice, especially considering we never did anything bad to him!
She was just sitting back down in the armchair, trying to convince herself not to read the article again, when she heard the voices of her children as they approached the front door. She felt a rush of relief, knowing that they would make her feel better, but also a twinge of uncertainty. She didn’t want to show them how upset she was.
“Hey, Mom!” Julia and Hazel stepped inside the house first, followed shortly by Alexis and Grayson. “How are you?”
“Oh, I’m fine.” Vivian did her best to smile as if nothing was wrong, and she hurried to hug her daughters so that she could hide her face for a moment. “How are you all doing? It’s cold out there.”
“We’re good.” Hazel smiled warmly at her mother, and Vivian noticed that she seemed even happier than usual. “We’re excited to be here.”
“Where’s Dean?” Julia asked, peering out the front window. “He’s coming, right?”
“He’d better be,” said Alexis. “I need to ask him all about how his relationship is going.”
Everyone laughed. Dean had recently started dating Noelle Calhoun, one of Rosewood Beach’s physical therapists. The two seemed to be an excellent match, both of them optimistic and sweet-tempered. Before Dean had started going out with Noelle, Alexis had been trying hard to get him to start dating, and she frequently asked him for updates about how the romance in his life was going.
“I’m pretty sure it’s going great.” Grayson grinned. “I saw the two of them ice skating yesterday. They were holding hands and looked totally smitten with each other.”
“Aww! I love that he’s dating the woman who used to be his physical therapist,” Alexis said. “Even though Chip is his PT now, Noelle knows what kind of things will be good for Dean and help with his osteoarthritis symptoms. That’s amazing that he has the energy to go ice skating.”
The family shared a smile. When they’d first learned about Dean’s tragic diagnosis of early onset osteoarthritis, they’d been heartbroken. Soon, however, they’d learned that physical therapy might be able to work wonders for Dean’s symptoms of pain and fatigue, and that had turned out to be the case—and physical therapy had also led him to his wonderful new girlfriend.
“Pretty soon he’s going to start bringing Noelle to these dinners,” Hazel said cheerfully. “I adore her. She’s such a sweetheart.”
“I like her too.” Vivian smiled, glad to have something else to think about. She still felt ruffled after reading the article. “I think she would fit in very well with our family.”
“Here he is.” Alexis peered out the window as another car drove up and parked on the street. “Let’s all tease him about being late.”
“He’s two minutes late,” Grayson pointed out, laughing.
Dean stepped through the front door a moment later, and Alexis shook her head at him in pretend disapproval.
“Dean, Dean,” she said. “We almost had to eat dinner without you. You’re so late.”
Dean ignored his sister’s comment and just gave her a big bear hug. “Wow, it smells incredible in here.” He hugged his mother next, and Vivian smiled, always happy to get one of Dean’s famously good hugs. “What’s for dinner?”
“Chicken pot pie, butternut squash, and chopped blue cheese salad.”
“Oh, man, I can’t wait.” Dean grinned, looking happy and full of energy. It warmed Vivian’s heart to see him looking so healthy again. “What are we waiting for?”
“You,” Hazel said, punching her twin in the arm.
Laughing and bantering, the family made their way into the dining room, where they soon started to admire the table setting, which was much fancier than usual.
“Wow, Mom, what’s the occasion?” Dean asked, gesturing to the carefully-folded napkins. “These look so ornate.”
Vivian smiled. “Oh, I just felt like being festive for the Christmas season.” She didn’t want to confess the other reason why she’d done it—that she had wanted to distract herself from feeling flustered about Judd McCormick’s words in the magazine article.
“Let us help you bring the food into the dining room,” Julia said. “How many dishes are there?”
“Four,” Vivian said. “Two pies, a salad bowl, and a dish for the squash.”
Grayson, Dean, Hazel, and Julia stepped inside the kitchen, and Alexis helped Vivian pour water into all of the glasses on the table.
“I don’t know why I didn’t already bring the salad out,” Vivian said, shaking her head. “It was silly of me.”
Alexis looked at her mother in confusion. It wasn’t like Vivian to be self-critical, and Alexis seemed to realize that something was bothering her mother. Before she could ask Vivian about it, however, the rest of the siblings returned to the dining room, bearing the steaming dishes of food.
They sat down together and began to eat the delicious meal. Vivian listened to her children bantering playfully, trying to take in the scene in front of her and forget about her tense emotions. She felt incredibly blessed to have all of her children there together with her, and it was such a joy to see Dean doing so well. Earlier in the year, he’d looked pale and fatigued, but now there was a sparkle in his eyes and he looked every bit as energetic as his siblings.
Vivian did her best to stay involved in the conversation, and she congratulated herself on holding in her feelings so well. None of her children seemed to be picking up on the fact that underneath her smiles, her emotions were still a tangle of hurt and frustration.
“I had an idea the other day,” Alexis said, her smile wide. “I was thinking that we should redecorate the dining room at the pub.”
“Redecorate?” Julia answered dubiously. “But The Lighthouse Grill has always looked the same way. I don’t think people would like it if we changed it.”
“Well, it hasn’t really always looked the same,” Alexis said. “I’ve seen the pictures of when Mom and Dad first opened the place, and that wallpaper was definitely a different shade of red back then. More of a burgundy, and now it’s faded to a kind of mauve.”
“I think it’s a beautiful color,” Hazel said.
“Well, sure, but wouldn’t it look even better if we painted the walls to be the original shade Mom and Dad chose?” Alexis’s eyes were sparkling with excitement as she talked about her ideas. “And we could add some potted plants and rearrange the way the pictures are hung, adding some more modern frames into the mix. That will make everything look chic instead of—well, outdated.”
She said the word with a wince, and her siblings pretended to “boo” her for it. Vivian, however, heard it and felt her heart sink. Had Judd been right? Was the pub sloppy and unprofessional? Should she have tried to redecorate it a long time ago?
“Or we could go a totally different route and redecorate the whole place into something completely new,” Alexis continued. “Like, make the color theme blue or green.”
Julia shook her head. “It should be a warm color for a restaurant. Warm colors help people feel hungrier.”
“Okay, then we could do a burnt orange theme, maybe with sage accents? Honestly, there are so many cool ideas we could try.”
Julia laughed. “Grayson, you opened up Pandora’s box when you encouraged Alexis to reconnect with her creative side by starting her jewelry business. Now she wants to splash her artistry on everything.”
“Hey, I think her ideas sound great.” Grayson grinned. “It’s good business practice to rebrand every now and again. Stay on top of the times.”
Dean shook his head, chuckling. “Your ideas sound expensive, Alexis. I think we’re going to have to create some kind of grand event in order to pay for a remodeling. Or we’re going to need to up the price of our Christmas pies. Actually, maybe raising the price of the Christmas pies would be a good business move anyhow. People tend to associate lower prices with poorer quality. Our pies are some of the best in the state.”
Listening to her children talk about all of the ways in which the pub was outdated made Vivian feel overwhelmed. She took a deep breath, holding back tears. She’d hoped that she would be able to continue to hide her emotions from her children, but they all seemed to notice at once that she was close to tears.
“Mom, what’s the matter?” Hazel asked, looking alarmed.
Vivian pressed her lips together, wishing that they hadn’t noticed how upset she was. So far, everyone had been having a wonderful meal together, and she didn’t want to bring down the energy of their gathering. Even more than that, she didn’t want to talk about what was upsetting her. She felt that saying Judd’s ugly words out loud might make her feel even worse about them.
“Did we say something to upset you?” Alexis asked, looking concerned. “I didn’t mean to say anything bad about the pub, Mom. Everyone loves it and so do I. I was just thinking it might be nice to change things a little.”
Vivian nodded, feeing a sudden lump in her throat. She found herself thinking about the early years of The Lighthouse Grill, when she and Frank had first started their restaurant together. They’d felt so full of hope and excitement, and she found herself missing her husband terribly. He would have known how to handle Judd’s words. He would have made some joke and given her a hug and made everything seem all right again. She found herself wishing that she didn’t have to continue on through her life without a partner at her side.
“Is it Dad?” Julia asked gently. “Do you miss Dad?”
Vivian smiled, impressed with how perceptive her daughter was. She blinked back her tears and took a steadying breath. “I do. I miss your father very much. But that isn’t why I’m feeling emotional. And you haven’t said anything wrong. I think it’s wonderful that you want to redecorate the pub.”
“Then what is it, Mom?” Dean asked, reaching across the table to squeeze his mother’s hand.
“It’s—oh, I’ll just go get it. You can read it for yourselves.” Vivian stood up and hurried out of the dining room. She could hear her children murmuring in confusion as she left, and she soon returned holding the magazine open to the article about Judd McCormick’s brewery.
“Here.” She set it down on a corner of the dining room table. “Read this.”
Her children stood and crowded around the article. Vivian watched as they began to frown and utter murmurs of protest.
“Who does he think he is?” Dean exclaimed, looking up and making eye contact with his mother. “No wonder this upset you, Mom. What an unfair thing to say.”
“And he’s clearly pointing fingers at us because he’s sore about not being able to buy The Lighthouse Grill.” Hazel’s eyes were bright with indignation.
“He’s accused us of not being business-savvy in our management of the pub,” Vivian said. “And I worry that maybe he’s right. That’s why Alexis’s ideas about redecorating upset me. Is it true? Are we sloppy and outdated?”
“Not at all.” Julia hurried over to her mother and gave her a hug. “We’re classic, popular, and we give the people of Rosewood Beach what they want. Judd McCormick knows that. It’s like what Hazel said. He’s just bitter that he wasn’t able to buy the pub from us, so he’s saying mean things. It’s as simple as that.”
Vivian smiled, feeling mollified by her daughter’s words. “I suppose you’re right.”
“He’s definitely sore.” Dean nodded. “And so are his sons. Well, the two sons that work at the brewery with him, Brady and Seth. I saw them at the bowling alley a couple of weeks ago, and I overheard them talking about how Judd expected their profits to be so much better than they are now, because he’d been banking on having our property as a second location. Then I noticed them giving me a couple of dirty looks, like I did something bad to them.”
“Just ridiculous.” Hazel gestured emphatically. “I’d like to give all of those clowns a piece of my mind.”
Dean chuckled. “Down, tiger.”
Julia shook her head. “The reality is, there’s nothing we can do about it now. Judd said this, and his words got published in this article, but if anyone makes the connection and realizes he was talking about The Lighthouse Grill, very few people are going to give his words any credit. We are a very professionally-run establishment, thank you very much, and the people of Rosewood Beach know that.”
“Absolutely.” Dean nodded. “Our food is amazing, and we have some of the best wait staff in the state.” He gestured dramatically to Alexis, who bowed.
“The service really is excellent.” Grayson nodded. “Everyone’s friendly and focused. In the city, you go into big name restaurants and some of the people who work there could clearly care less about whether or not you have a good experience there. They’re checked out, just shuffling along until they get their next paycheck. Everyone who works at The Lighthouse Grill isn’t like that. They all seem to genuinely care about the customers, and want them to have a good experience. I don’t think it gets more professional than that.”
“Hear, hear!” Hazel smiled. “And our food is amazing. Like Dean said, we have some of the best pies in the state.”
“But should we raise the prices on them?” Vivian asked, feeling troubled. “Do people really associate low prices with low quality?”
“Well, sometimes, but I didn’t mean that people actually think our pies are low quality.” Dean gave his mother a reassuring sideways hug. “Everyone in town knows how great they are, and passing tourists find out how great they are whenever they buy them. I was just thinking that raising the prices might be a good way to bring in more income for the pub.”
“More income would be good,” Julia admitted. “We’ve been doing well, catching up on Dad’s gambling debts, but having more money coming in certainly wouldn’t hurt.”
Vivian sighed. “I guess I worry that the pub is outdated because I don’t really want anything to change. I miss the past in a lot of ways, and I don’t like the idea of changing things about The Lighthouse Grill. But you’re right, sometimes change is what’s necessary to keep businesses the best that they can be.”
“We can definitely understand you not wanting things to change.” Alexis smiled sympathetically at Vivian. “And I think if we do redecorate the pub, we can do it in a way that honors its history. Like repainting the walls to match the original shade of the wallpaper that you and Dad picked out.”
Vivian nodded. “You’re all so sweet. Thank you for being so considerate. Not only of me, but also of the pub, thinking about what would be best for its future. I’m so proud of the way our family works together.”
“That’s right.” Hazel grinned. “No sloppy unprofessionalism here. We’re like a well-oiled machine.”
Everyone laughed, and Vivian felt comforted by her children’s support. As they sat back down and continued to eat their meal, however, she still felt twinges of discomfort about the article. Still, she did her best to push it from her mind and enjoy spending time with her family. After all, she reflected, in the long run, Judd’s words didn’t matter to her, but her children absolutely did.