Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Cooper smiled to himself as he tossed a pile of dirty clothes into the washing machine. Ever since he’d run into Julia earlier that day, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her.
His house was filled with the smell of a frozen pizza cooking in the oven for dinner. He always felt a little guilty about making “bachelor food” for meals, but he was also boiling a bunch of broccoli for him and Macey to eat along with their pizza. As he poured laundry detergent into the washing machine, he reminded himself that he needed to check on the broccoli in another few minutes. The last time he’d cooked broccoli he’d burnt it badly.
He started the load of wash, and the laundry room was filled with the sound of water rushing and the machine whirring. He thought to himself that it was like a mirror image of his mind, because there were so many colorful thoughts of Julia whirring and tumbling around inside of him.
He chuckled to himself, remembering how cute she’d looked, all guilty and skittish, and with her hood up. He wondered what she and Hazel had been up to, and he had a feeling that it had something to do with Judd McCormick.
Whatever it was, he felt sure that he was on their side. He knew they wouldn’t do anything illegal, and trying to outsmart someone as slippery as Judd seemed like the sensible thing to do.
I admire her , he thought as he headed back toward the kitchen. She’s out of her element here, but she’s still trying to support her family in a town where she feels a little bit like a fish out of water.
He checked the broccoli and the pizza, and they were both done. Macey was playing with her toys on the carpet in the living room, and he paused to smile at her as he set the kitchen table for dinner. She looked happy, and he crossed his fingers, hoping that they would both get a decent amount of sleep that night.
He added a little cheddar cheese to the steamed broccoli, and then called to his daughter.
“Macey! It’s time for dinner. I made your favorite vegetable.”
“Yay!” Macey stood up and toddled into the kitchen, an excited smile on her face. “Cheese?”
He laughed. Macey despised broccoli on its own, but when he added cheese to it, she loved it. He decided to wait to correct her on the fact that the cheese wasn’t actually the vegetable.
“Yes, with cheese.” He picked her up, kissed her cheek, and placed her in her highchair.
All through the meal, he kept thinking about Julia. He was itching to talk with her, and he was wrestling with the idea of calling her on the phone. He didn’t want to come on too strong too soon, but he told himself that they’d already been on a date and that calling her to talk for a while was a logical next step.
As soon as he’d gotten Macey ready for bed and tucked in, he hurried back to the kitchen, where his phone was resting on the counter. He hesitated for one more instant, his stomach churning with nervousness, and then he dialed Julia’s number.
His heart thumped in his chest as he listened to it ring, and then he heard Julia’s voice say, “Hello?” She sounded happy.
“Hey, Julia, this is Cooper.”
“I know.” She laughed breathlessly a little. “I have your number saved.”
“Oh.” He laughed too. “Of course. That’s how cell phones work, isn’t it?”
“Last time I checked.”
He leaned against the counter, discovering that he had a huge grin on his face. “How’s your night going?”
“Oh, fine. I’m feeling pretty tired. Just sitting here with some decaf coffee trying to read a little.”
“Sounds nice. Are you tired after your sneaky visit to the McCormick place this afternoon?”
“You—how did you know that’s what we were doing?”
He laughed. “I just figured. I know they have a lot of tours over there at the brewery. And honestly, it’s what I’d do if I were in your shoes.”
She chuckled. “Well, guilty as charged. We didn’t get the full tour, though, since it seemed like Judd was starting to recognize us. He was leading the tour.”
“He was? Huh. Guess he likes to brag about his company.” He grinned.
“Oh, it definitely sounded that way.”
“So you didn’t learn anything valuable, huh?” He started to play with a magnet that was on the refrigerator, moving it back and forth, back and forth…
“No. I guess you probably thought it was pretty silly of us. Putting our hoods up like that as if it would really keep us from being recognized.” She sounded nervous, as if she was worried that he thought she’d been foolish.
“Oh, not at all,” he assured her hastily. “I thought it was cute.”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he froze, no longer moving the magnet. He winced a little bit, wondering if it was too early for him to say something like that.
“Oh, you did, huh?” She sounded as though she was grinning. “Or is cute just the word you use for silly people?”
“No, cute is the word I use for cute people.” He was grinning too. “I think what you’re trying to do is very important, and anything that can help you achieve it is a good idea.”
“Even putting up my hood?”
“Oh, definitely that.”
She laughed, and he grinned, thinking to himself how nice her laugh was.
“I would not be cute like you if I put my hood up like that.” He chuckled. “I would look like some teenager trying to be cool.”
“Oh, I don’t know, I think you might look cute. Or maybe you would look cool—like you were on a secret mission.”
“That’s me, the James Bond of Rosewood Beach.”
She laughed again, and he realized that he was moving the magnet back and forth again, even faster this time.
“I wish I could ask you to swoop in and save the day, James Bond of Rosewood Beach.” She sighed.
His heart twisted as he thought to himself that he wished he could swoop in and help her with her troubles. “I’m sure you don’t need me. You’re brilliant. You’ll come up with a way to help your family.”
“That’s sweet of you to say. I’m trying. I keep thinking about it, and I’m sure I’ll come up with something. Eventually.”
“Well, you’re not alone. You’ve got a whole town here to support you—” and me , he thought privately—“and I know your siblings will be a huge help to you as well. Your family seems really tight-knit. I’m sure you’re all going to do everything you can to help, using all your different strengths.”
There was a short pause, and then she said, “Thank you, Cooper.” She sounded touched. Then she gasped. “Oh! Yes! Thank you, seriously, thank you, you just gave me a great idea. My siblings and I need to pull together and use our different abilities to help! You’re brilliant.”
“I am?” He couldn’t help grinning, hearing her sound so excited, but he wasn’t sure how he had helped. He wanted her to explain her idea, but?—
“I’ll talk to you again soon. I should go. I’m really excited about this.”
“Okay—”
“Thank you again!”
“Wait a second—do you want to go bowling Wednesday night?” He blurted out the words in a hurry, wanting to make sure he caught her before she hung up.
“I’d love to.” She sounded as though she was smiling. “See you Wednesday.”
“See you Wednesday. Bye.”
She hung up, and he stared at his blank phone screen for a few moments, feeling his heart buzz with a kind of excitement that he hadn’t felt in years.
“Pass me the potatoes, Dean. No, not the green beans, the potatoes!”
Julia chuckled quietly as she watched Hazel sigh with exasperation over the way her twin wasn’t paying attention to what she was saying. Dean had clearly been lost in thought, although he didn’t seem particularly down.
All of her siblings had gathered for dinner at Vivian’s house, and—despite the painful absence of their father—it almost felt like old times. Vivian had soft jazz music playing on the radio in the background, and the familiar dining room was filled with the mouthwatering aromas of mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, cornbread muffins, and Chicken Marsala. The lights were warm and cozy, and through the windows of the dining room, they could see the sky beginning to turn pink from the sunset.
“Oops.” Dean grinned at Hazel and passed her the potatoes. “Sorry.”
“Penny for your thoughts,” Julia teased him, helping herself to a cornbread muffin. “You seem like you’re pretty deep in thought there.”
“Oh, just thinking about the whole Judd McCormick debacle. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just prank him, like Hazel and I used to do when we were kids, and then he’d go away?”
“You mean like Mr. Sanders?” Vivian asked, the familiar maternal sternness in her voice.
Dean threw back his head laughing. “You remembered!”
“How could I forget my children covering the car of one of our neighbors with plastic spiders?” Vivian said, still frowning, although she seemed to be trying to repress a smile.
“He was so mean.” Hazel laughed, shaking her head. “He was always yelling at us.”
“And then he moved away, right after the spider incident.” Dean grinned triumphantly.
“He moved away to be with his sister in Florida,” Vivian said, shaking her head and laughing.
“And because of the plastic spiders, I’m convinced.” Hazel tapped her chin. “Do we still have those somewhere?”
Julia shook her head, amused by her siblings. She made eye contact across the table with Alexis, who was laughing quietly into her glass of sparkling water.
“I don’t think pranks are going to fix the Judd McCormick problem,” Julia said. “But something needs to be done, for everyone’s sakes. It’s clear that any kind of brewery wouldn’t be as popular as the pub is, even if they make it a kind of restaurant.” Julia shook her head. “It’s like he thinks our location is all he needs, but he wouldn’t have our recipes or our cooks or anything that makes The Lighthouse Grill feel homey to all our regulars.”
“The brewery is all stark and modern,” Hazel said. “Not at all attractive. I bet Judd would try to make his new building look like that too.”
“That wouldn’t suit the people here,” Vivian agreed, looking thoughtful. “People in Rosewood Beach like comfort. It’s such a beautiful town—some ugly modern building is hardly going to attract people’s respect.”
“So we need to fight to stay,” Julia said, looking around at all of her siblings. “We don’t want Rosewood Beach to lose its favorite restaurant to something that isn’t going to be as popular. Judd thinks he’s got it all figured out, but the sale would end up being a bad thing for him too, I’m sure.”
“How do you know all this?” Dean asked, looking confused.
“Uh, we might have spied a little.” Hazel grinned.
“What?” Vivian asked, sounding alarmed, and Julia and Hazel were quick to reassure her.
“We didn’t do anything we shouldn’t have.” Julia chuckled, remembering their hoods. Her stomach glowed with happiness when she thought of Cooper calling her “cute” during their phone call earlier that night.
“We just went to the McCormick brewery and went on part of a tour. We meant to go on the whole thing, but then Judd started looking at us like he recognized us.” Hazel wrinkled her nose. “We put our hoods up so we?—”
“You put your hoods up?” Dean threw his head back, crowing with laughter. “Hey, look at us, we’re not conspicuous at all!”
Hazel balled up her napkin and threw it at him. He dodged it calmly, still laughing. Vivian and Julia were laughing, too, and even Alexis was starting to giggle.
“We did look pretty silly.” Julia grinned. “But I think it worked—for the most part.”
“You’re full-fledged spies now.” Alexis wiped a tear away, shaking with laughter. “Will you be offering your services for hire?”
“Oh, for sure.” Hazel grinned. “Next time I’ll even wear a color other than bright blue.”
Everyone around the table continued to laugh. Although the situation was funny, their laughter had an almost wild quality to it, as if their emotions were ready to indulge in a release from sorrow. Julia smiled to herself, glad that her and Hazel’s escapade had served to lighten the atmosphere.
“So we need to save the pub,” Hazel said, bringing the conversation back to where it needed to be.
“We need to do everything we can,” Julia agreed. “And I thought of something that should be able to help us, earlier.” She paused, wondering how exactly she should phrase her idea.
“What?” Dean prompted, leaning forward. He looked excited, and she smiled at him, feeling a rush of affection for his energetic spirit.
“We need a loan in order to make up for the money that Dad lost in gambling.” Julia spoke slowly, choosing her words carefully. “Alexis, would Grayson consider giving us a loan?”
Everyone turned to Alexis, whose face had gone white. Julia’s lips parted, wondering why her sister suddenly looked ashen when she had been laughing only a few moments before.
The table went silent, and everyone stared at Alexis in concern.
“I—I don’t think so,” Alexis stammered, her voice breaking a little.
“Why not?” Hazel asked, sounding shocked. “I mean, he’s your husband, and he’s loaded, so?—”
Vivian shook her head at Hazel, warning her to hush. It was clear that something was wrong, since a large tear was rolling down Alexis’s cheek.
“Alexis,” Julia asked softly. “Is something else the matter?”
“Yes,” Alexis blurted, starting to cry. “My relationship with Grayson is on the rocks. I don’t know how it started or how to fix it, but he barely speaks to me anymore, and he—I—I can’t ask him for anything.” She let out a sob and stood up hurriedly. “Excuse me,” she said and ran out of the room.
Hazel pressed her hand against her mouth, and Dean stared at Alexis’s exit with his jaw dropped.
“Oh, my poor girl,” murmured Vivian. “That’s awful. No wonder she’s been so quiet this whole time. I got the impression that something else was grieving her, but I kept telling myself it was just your father’s passing.”
“That’s too much for anyone to be dealing with at once.” Julia shook her head, feeling a surge of sympathy for her sister. “I had no idea she was going through that.”
“I should have guessed.” Hazel sighed. “She was crying the other morning, and I think she was about to tell me about Grayson, but then she didn’t.”
“She probably feels ashamed,” Julia said softly, thinking of how reluctant she’d been to share the news that she’d been fired.
“I feel terrible for her,” Dean said, shaking his head. “Grayson never seemed like a total fool to me, but I guess he is if he’s letting his relationship with Alexis go like that.”
“I’m going to go get her a cookie or something,” Hazel said, standing up. “Mom, do you have any?—”
“Yes, in the cookie jar.” Vivian smiled fondly at her daughter, although her eyes still looked troubled.
“I’ll come too.” Dean stood up.
“No, we can’t all go.” Hazel shook her head. “You guys finish your dinner. I just want to check on her.”
“Okay.” Dean sighed and sat down again. “But bring her a glass of milk too. You know she likes to dunk her cookies.”
Hazel grinned at him and disappeared. For a moment, everyone remaining at the table was silent.
“When she comes back, we’ll remind her that she’ll always have us,” Vivian said softly. “We’ll help her get through this.”
Julia nodded, feeling sorry for her sister and wondering what they would do without Grayson’s support. She took a deep breath, knowing that no matter what happened, they were going to figure something out and not give up.