Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Julia stepped back from the display of streamers that she’d hung up in her boyfriend Cooper’s dining room and nodded to herself in satisfaction.
I absolutely love planning parties, she thought with a happy sigh. And this party, even though it’s going to be a small one, is one of my favorites I’ve ever planned.
She’d filled Cooper’s cozy dining room with balloons and streamers and a sign that read, “Happy Birthday Cooper.” She’d decorated using his favorite colors, blue and green, and she was immensely proud of her work.
She glanced at her watch, thinking to herself that he would be arriving any minute now. She’d asked his co-workers at the landscaping company he worked for to stall him a little bit so that she had time to get everything ready, but she knew they could only stall him for so long. She’d needed an hour to put up all the decorations, frost and decorate the cake she’d baked at her mother’s house, and cook the spinach alfredo lasagna that she’d prepared earlier in the day.
“We did it, Macey!” she said to Cooper’s adorable two-year-old daughter, who was sitting on the floor of the dining room, making her stuffed animal puppy dance through the air. Macey was nearly three, and as cute as a button, even when she was being a little unruly. Julia had fallen completely in love with her, and the two of them were inseparable.
Macey looked up with a chubby smile. “Yeah. So pretty!”
Julia scooped the little girl up into her arms. “Yes, you are so pretty.” She kissed her head. “You look like a princess.”
Julia had dressed Macey up in a pretty pink party dress, and she herself was wearing an elegant royal blue dress and glossy heels. She thought it would be a fun touch to add to Cooper’s party if she and Macey were both wearing beautiful outfits.
“You want to go into the kitchen with me and check on the lasagna?” Julia asked. “It smells so yummy, doesn’t it?”
Macey nodded. The rich aromas of garlic and cream sauce were wafting through the house, and Julia couldn’t wait for it to be time to eat. Since moving back to Rosewood Beach, she’d started to enjoy cooking in a way she never had before. It was almost a form of artistic expression, getting to blend spices and ingredients together to create the perfect flavor for a dish. No matter how much she enjoyed cooking, however, the best part of preparing a meal was always eating it.
She carried Macey into the kitchen and set her down a good distance away from the oven. She didn’t want the little girl reaching out and touching anything that might burn her.
“Quick, the whole room is tilting!” Julia said, beginning to lean dramatically to the side. “Put your hands on the cabinets, Macey!”
Giggling, because it was a game they had played before, Macey braced her hands on the doors of the kitchen cabinets and Julia took a quick peek at the lasagna. It looked perfect, and she sighed with satisfaction. She grabbed a couple of oven mitts off the counter and took the dish out of the oven.
“Wow, look, I must have magic shoes,” Julia said, setting the lasagna down on the stovetop. “I’m not leaning even though the whole room is going around in circles.”
“Whoa,” Macey said, laughing.
Julia grinned at her as she turned off the oven. She could hardly believe how much fun she was having with the little girl. When she’d first started going out with Cooper, she’d been worried that she wouldn’t know how to act around a small child, since she’d had basically no experience caring for children. For many years, her career had been everything to her, and she hadn’t had any interest in having children—they’d been foreign to her, something she didn’t understand or appreciate. She’d been nervous that she would be clueless when it came to interacting with Macey, but as soon as she’d met the little girl, something inside of her had just clicked. She’d immediately wanted to care for Macey and be friends with her. As her and Cooper’s relationship had progressed, so had her relationship with Macey. The love and connection they had all developed for each other was beyond her wildest dreams.
She took off the oven mitts and set them down on the counter, smiling quietly to herself when she thought about when she’d first returned to Rosewood Beach from New York. She’d come back because of her father’s funeral, and she’d never expected to stay for longer than a few weeks. But one of the first things that had happened upon her return to her hometown was meeting Cooper, when he’d rescued her from falling into a mud puddle in the rain. He’d been sweet and caring, and he’d quickly caught her interest.
Cooper hadn’t been the only reason she’d wanted to stay in Rosewood Beach. She loved her family with all her heart, and being reunited with them meant the world to her. She also loved The Lighthouse Grill, and fighting to make sure it stayed afloat had become her primary objective as soon as she’d learned about her father’s gambling debts. The more she’d worked with her family and the other members of the local community, the more Rosewood Beach had regained her heart. Now, she knew she would never want to leave. She loved being surrounded by kind, hard-working people who lived their lives with common sense and prioritized community over monetary success.
She was startled from her reverie when she heard the sound of Cooper’s car in the driveway outside. She gasped with excitement.
“Your daddy’s here!” she whispered to Macey. “It’s time to hide.”
“Yay!” Macey cried, so loudly that Cooper might have heard her from outside. Julia held a finger to her lips, laughing, and held out her hand for Macey to take. They scampered over to behind the living room couch, where they had a good view of the front door. They ducked down together, both giggling.
“Okay, we wait here and be quiet, and then as soon as your daddy comes through the front door, we’re going wait a couple of seconds, and then we’re going to jump up and say, ‘Surprise!’ Okay?” Julia whispered to the toddler as they crouched behind the couch.
Macey nodded, a huge grin on her little face. “Okay,” she whispered.
A moment later, they heard the front door open. Macey giggled loudly. Julia held her finger to her lips to signal to the little girl that they should still be quiet.
“Hello?” Cooper called. “Anybody?—”
“Surprise!” Julia and Macey jumped up from behind the couch, and Cooper’s face lit up in an expression of surprise and joy.
“Happy birthday, Daddy!” Macey squealed, hurrying forward to hug her father.
“Thank you, sweetheart.” Cooper scooped Macey up into his arms and gave her a big hug. “I’m so excited about the surprise that you and—that you and Julia gave me.”
“It’s so good,” Macey said. “And there’s cake.”
“There’s cake, huh?” Cooper laughed as he set Macey back down on the floor and pulled Julia into a kiss. “Thank you, dear. This is such a wonderful birthday surprise.”
“You’re so welcome.” Julia gazed up at him, feeling tears spring into her eyes. She knew in that moment that she cared about him in a way that she’d never cared about a man before. “We both wanted you to have a very happy birthday.”
“Well, this is doing the trick, for sure.” He hugged her sideways as he took Macey’s hand in his. “I love this surprise. I was just hoping for dinner—this is beyond all my hopes and dreams.”
“Well, lucky for you, dinner is involved in the surprise,” Julia said, chuckling. “And so is cake.”
She led him into the dining room, and his jaw dropped when he saw all the decorations she’d put up.
“Sweetheart,” he said, his voice sounding slightly raspy as if he was tearing up. “This is so kind of you. I haven’t had someone celebrate me like this since I was a kid.”
Julia felt a surge of joy. She was thrilled that she’d made him so happy. “You should get used to being celebrated like this,” she said, grinning. “You’re dating a woman who loves to plan parties.”
Cooper’s eyes filled visibly with tears. He pulled Julia into another kiss and hugged her tightly. “You’ve become such an integral part of my and Macey’s life, Julia. I can’t imagine living a day without you, and I wouldn’t want to.”
Her heart fluttered. His words sounded very serious, and she had a feeling he was thinking about taking their relationship to the next level. She smiled up at him, feeling as though the world was spinning faster than usual.
“You look absolutely gorgeous, by the way,” he said. “And so do you, Macey. Just like a princess.”
“Dinner please,” Macey said, tugging on Julia’s skirt.
Cooper and Julia laughed.
“Sounds perfect,” Julia said. “You two go ahead and sit down and I’ll dish out the lasagna.”
“Lasagna? Is that what that glorious smell is?”
“Spinach alfredo lasagna. With ground beef.”
“Wow.” Cooper grinned and kissed her again. “I can’t wait. But let me help you dish it out. I insist.”
Julia gave in, even though she wanted him to be able to just sit and relax because it was his birthday. They went into the kitchen together, and Cooper exclaimed in delight over the cake. They dished generous portions of the alfredo lasagna onto their plates and spooned a toddler-sized portion into Macey’s favorite plastic dish, which was shaped like a snowman. Once they had their food, they sat down at the dining room table together, and Cooper poured himself and Julia glasses of Pinot Grigio.
“This meal is delicious, thank you, Julia,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief as he swallowed a bite. “I swear you’re reaching chef level.”
She laughed. “Why thank you. Maybe in addition to doing the pub’s finances, I’ll start cooking in the kitchen as well.”
“You should.” He grinned.
“Aww, you’re sweet. For real, I’m not nearly as good of a cook as Allison is, and even she doesn’t do her best work at the pub. There’s a difference between getting meals out quick enough to satisfy hungry customers and being able to take the time to prepare something really special. She is amazing, though. And so is Mom. Mom used to be one of the chefs back when the pub first started. And Alexis hops on board to cook sometimes when one of the cooks has the day off.”
He nodded. “It sounds like being a good cook runs in your family. All those secret family recipes that the pub uses. Your mom showed me your grandmother’s cookbook once. It looked amazing.”
Julia made a face suddenly, frowning and wrinkling her nose.
“What?” Cooper asked, surprised. “Don’t you like your grandmother’s secret recipes?”
“Yes.” She laughed, shaking her head. “Sorry. It’s just that you reminded me that Alexis wants to use one of those recipes and start offering Brussels sprouts as a side at the pub.” She shuddered. “I absolutely abhor Brussels sprouts.”
Cooper belted out a laugh. “Yeah? That much, huh? You would have thought that I’d mentioned a stinky patch of mold or something.”
“Brussels sprouts are my nemesis. Tell me you think that’s a terrible idea, even with the secret family recipe.”
Cooper coughed gently.
“Oh, come on!” she groaned. “Not you too. Mom also sided with Alexis.”
He shrugged. “I think Brussels sprouts are really good sometimes. Have you tried your grandma’s recipe for them?”
“No,” Julia grumbled, and sighed as she stuck her fork into her lasagna. “Ugh. No thank you. At least this is delicious.”
“Something we can agree on.” He winked and lifted his glass to her, and she raised hers to his in response.
“A toast to your birthday,” she said warmly. “Many very happy returns.”
“Thank you, sweetheart.”
They continued to eat in companionable silence for a while—well, silence except for the fact that Macey was happily humming tunelessly while she ate. Julia kept glancing up at Cooper and wondering how she’d gotten so lucky.
“I stopped by Main Street Auto yesterday,” Cooper said, looking up and smiling at her.
“To see Dean?” she asked.
Her brother Dean ran the local auto repair shop, Main Street Auto. It was the only auto repair shop in town and Dean was never short of work. Her brother led an efficient, knowledgeable team of mechanics, and the auto shop was well respected in Rosewood Beach and the neighboring towns.
“Well, not specifically. I asked him when he would have the time to check out the air conditioning issue in your car. I want to make sure it gets done before summer.”
Her heart warmed when she heard his words, but she couldn’t help laughing. “It’s February, Cooper. I won’t need the AC to work in my car for quite some time. Right now, the outdoors is taking care of the cold for me.”
He shrugged, smiling at her. “I just figure it’s better to have it fixed now before you desperately need it. Those last couple weeks of summer were pretty brutal.”
“Aw, I thought it was a nice summer.”
He shook his head. “I’m talking about inside your car. Without the air conditioning.”
“Oh.” She laughed. “Fair enough.”
She took a sip of her glass of wine, feeling grateful for his care and support.
I love how we’re both always looking out for each other and working to make things run more smoothly, she thought. We’re such a good team, always thinking ahead together—although usually about different things. That would be quite a necessary dynamic in a permanent relationship…
Her heart started beating faster at the thought, and she hastily took another sip of wine.
“Dean seemed pretty busy,” he said.
“Mm.” She cleared her throat, still feeling fluttery, as if a flock of butterflies had suddenly taken up residence in her rib cage. “That’s great. I’m so glad he has the energy to work more often again.”
She loved her brother Dean very much, and when she’d learned that he’d been diagnosed with early-onset osteoarthritis, she’d been devasted, as had the rest of her family. At first, Dean’s attitude had been one of resignation, but the Owens family soon rallied together to encourage him to try to improve his symptoms.
They’d learned that physical therapy would greatly decrease both his fatigue and his weakness, and he’d finally agreed to sign up with a physical therapist. It was there that he’d met his girlfriend, Noelle Calhoun, who was a wonderful physical therapist. She’d stopped being his PT before they’d started dating, but Julia liked knowing that Dean was with someone who would be able to look out for his physical needs with a professional eye.
“It’s great that he’s back on track,” Cooper said, nodding. “When I talked to him, he seemed very energetic.”
“I’m so glad to hear that. I’m so happy he’s back on track. It’s important that he doesn’t overwork himself, but I’m sure that Noelle is keeping tabs on that.”
“I bet she is. Which is good. Sometimes men don’t know when to quit, no matter how smart we are. We need women in our lives to remind us to take care of ourselves sometimes.”
“Aww, you need me?”
He laughed. “I absolutely do.”
He leaned toward her and they shared a loving kiss.
“Cake?” Macey asked hopefully.
“Soon, honey.” Cooper grinned. “And then I think we should all cuddle on the couch and watch a movie.”
“Sounds perfect,” Julia said. “Happy birthday.”
He took her hand in his and kissed it, and the three of them continued to enjoy the birthday celebration.
Dean pushed open the back door of his house, stifling a yawn. It had been a good but long day at Main Street Auto, and he was exhausted.
He flipped on the light switch, illuminating his cozy kitchen. It had always been a fairly tidy, pleasant space, but now that he was dating Noelle it felt homier than ever. She’d bought him a cookie jar which she or Hazel often supplied with cookies, and there were photographs and colorful magnets dotting his refrigerator now.
He sat down in one of the kitchen chairs, wanting to take a rest before going any farther. It was rare that he became that tired since he’d started physical therapy, but he had to admit to himself that he’d pushed himself too hard that day.
Stop getting so cocky, Owens , he thought, chuckling a little as he massaged his temples. You keep thinking you can go forever like you used to whenever you start the day with a lot of energy.
He sighed, reflecting on how great he’d felt that morning. He’d started the day with an unusual amount of energy, but he’d soon gotten wrapped up in too many projects and the day had gotten away from him. He hadn’t quite realized just how exhausted he’d become until the shop closed for the day and he’d started to drive home.
He’d made great strides in maintaining his strength because of physical therapy, but he was supposed to take it fairly easy when working and take numerous breaks throughout the day. There were times when he pushed himself too hard, however, and then he had to pay for it.
His stomach growled, and he glanced at his cupboards, wondering what he was going to make for dinner. He had most of the ingredients for spaghetti—one of the few things he knew how to cook—but no meat to add to it, only cheese.
Maybe I could make myself a grilled cheese sandwich , he thought. It feels like that kind of night. I’ve got a can of tomato soup in the cupboards somewhere, I think. Or maybe once I feel a little more rested I could go out somewhere for dinner.
He sat straight up, remembering in a flash that he was supposed to pick Noelle up for dinner. He grinned, always excited about the prospect of seeing her, even though he was so tired.
He shook his head at himself, glad that he’d remembered their date on time. It wouldn’t have been the first time he’d forgotten about plans they’d made. Sometimes when he came home too exhausted from work, he forgot about everything except sitting down—sometimes he even went straight to bed and slept without eating dinner first.
I’m lucky she’s so understanding , he thought. Not only is she such a sweetheart, but she knows what I’m dealing with and what I need so well.
He smiled, thinking of how his girlfriend kept tabs on his physical therapy progress and often helped him out with new exercises. He’d first met her through physical therapy, when she was his PT, and they’d started their relationship as friends. He’d soon realized he cared for her in a deeper way, however, and he’d transferred to a different physical therapist so that they could date.
He knew she’d known what she was getting into when she’d agreed to be his girlfriend, but he still felt bad about the way his illness interfered with their relationship. It often took all the energy he could muster to simply get through the day. Because he rarely had the energy to do anything after work, they hadn’t had a chance to truly spend time together in a while.
Their date had been planned for that evening because they both knew they needed to make some intentional time to connect. He wanted to take her out to a fancy dinner and have a long, heart-to-heart conversation with her. Even though they texted and called often or dropped by each other’s workplaces or homes to say hello, he missed her. It had been too long since he’d gotten to spend a lot of time with her.
He yawned again, feeling his muscles ache with exhaustion. He glanced at the clock, noting that he didn’t need to leave to pick Noelle up for another twenty minutes or so.
He stood up, deciding to take a short nap in the living room. He had a recliner armchair that he liked to sit in, and he went over to it and settled down with a sigh of satisfaction. He pulled out his phone and looked at the time. If he slept for fifteen minutes, he would have five minutes to throw on nicer clothes and comb his hair. Maybe if he got even a little bit of sleep, he would have more energy for his date with Noelle.
He shut his eyes, telling himself that he should set an alarm on his phone, just in case. He took a deep breath in, letting himself become even more relaxed, and then?—
“Dean?”
His eyelids fluttered open. He’d been dreaming—he and his siblings had been on a walk with Noelle in the countryside, and there had been snow falling, and random baked goods hanging from the trees like fruit—but he was awake now, and he blinked in confusion at Noelle.
“Wh… what?” He rubbed his face, trying to become less groggy. “I thought I was coming to pick you up.”
“Dean, it’s after eight o’clock,” she said gently, smiling at him and tucking back a strand of hair that had tumbled onto his forehead.
“What?” He sat up straight. “Oh no—I—I was going to set an alarm?—”
She shook her head. “You’re clearly exhausted, sweetheart. It’s okay.”
“But I was supposed to come get you at seven-thirty. You must have been waiting—oh, Noelle, I’m so sorry.”
She sat down on the couch near him and squeezed his hand. “I got worried when you didn’t show up. I called you a few times, but I guess your phone is on silent. I decided to come over here to check on you and I found you sleeping on the couch. I let you sleep for a little bit longer before I woke you up.”
“I’m so sorry. Let me get up and I’ll get ready.”
She shook her head. “That’s okay. I’ve got some leftovers I can eat for dinner. We’ll go out to dinner another time, when you’re feeling up for it. You should get some sleep. It’s clear that you need it.” She laughed and winked at him.
He grimaced good-naturedly. “I wish I didn’t. I really wanted to go out to dinner with you, Noelle.” He felt bad about letting her down, but he was too tired to argue.
“I wanted to go out with you too. But it’s okay! Another time.” She smiled briskly and stood up. “You should eat a little something before you go to sleep. You want me to make you some scrambled eggs and toast?”
“That would be amazing. Thank you, sweetheart. I’ll get into my pajamas.”
He stood up and kissed her, feeling a rush of gratitude for her. She patted his back and pushed him in the direction of the staircase.
He got into his pajamas, still feeling sleepy and heavy, as if he were filled with water. He was just starting to make his way back downstairs when Noelle appeared at the bottom of the staircase, carrying a plate of scrambled eggs and toast.
“You go and sit in your bed,” she told him. “No point in you coming back downstairs again. I’ll lock up on my way out.”
He shook his head in disbelief as he went back into his bedroom and crawled into bed. “I don’t deserve you. I stand you up for dinner and now you’re bringing me breakfast in bed.”
She laughed and handed him the plate and a fork. “You do too deserve me. You’re the sweetest boyfriend in the world. And it’s okay. I’ll miss you, but there’s a chick flick I have from the library that I’ve been meaning to watch. I’ll make myself a cup of cocoa and have a cozy night in.”
She smiled sweetly at him, but he could tell she was disappointed. He felt badly about letting her down, but he was already starting to fall asleep again. He started to eat the food she’d made him and she kissed his forehead.
“You get some good sleep, sweetheart. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
He nodded and swallowed. “Yes, please. Thank you so much.”
She blew him another kiss in the doorway and went downstairs. As he finished eating, he heard her leave through the back door.
I’ll make it up to her, he vowed, and was immediately overcome with another yawn.
He set the empty plate down on his nightstand and turned off the light. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was sound asleep.