Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Julia Owens hummed a little along to the radio as she pulled a large bowl out of the cupboard at her mother Vivian’s house. She’d just made a large salad and a tuna casserole to bring to her boyfriend Cooper Harris’s house, so that the two of them and Cooper’s darling two-year-old daughter Macey could eat dinner together.
The salad had strawberries and walnuts in it, and she’d made a raspberry vinaigrette to go with it. She carefully transferred the salad into the Tupperware, leaving some in the bowl she’d mixed it in so that her mother could eat it with her dinner.
This kitchen smells amazing, she thought cheerfully.
Cooking hadn’t been one of her specialties when she’d lived in New York, since she’d been too busy trying to advance in her marketing job. But since she’d come back to Rosewood Beach, she’d had more time to practice the culinary arts. She’d been pleasantly surprised by how fun it could be to cook, especially if she was making an effort for people she loved.
She reflected with a chuckle that her life seemed to revolve around food now. When she wasn’t managing the financial side of The Lighthouse Grill, she was bussing tables or acting as a hostess. She found the work fun and varied, and it never stressed her out the way her job in the city had. She found it pleasant and comforting to be back home, working with her family again.
She closed the lid on the Tupperware with a sense of satisfaction, and then placed the cover on the casserole dish. She took a deep breath of the delicious smells that were still filling the kitchen and looked down with pride at the meal she’d created. It was simple, but she’d tasted it as she’d cooked and she knew that both the salad and the casserole were scrumptiously packed with flavor.
This is much better than takeout, she thought, chuckling as she thought about all the nights she’d come home from work in the city and simply ordered food, feeling too tired to prepare anything herself.
She’d never felt like putting in an effort to cook just for herself—but now that she was dating Cooper, she was enjoying creating homemade dishes and sharing them with him and Macey. Being back in Rosewood Beach had brought her back to the simpler things in life and had shown her a lot about herself that she hadn’t known before. She found herself having more fun, and acting more carefree, than she had in a long time. She’d never expected herself to be happy dating a single father, since she’d never considered herself to be good with kids, but she’d been loving getting to spend time with Macey and was getting better and better at helping care for her all the time.
She paused in her work, thinking about when she’d first met Cooper. She laughed quietly to herself as she remembered how he’d caught her in his arms as she tripped in her heels in the rain.
He’d gotten a little wet paint on her favorite raincoat, and she’d been a little rude to him at the time. He’d been interested in her anyway, though, and after she’d helped clean up some chocolate milk that Macey had spilled in a restaurant, they’d continued running into each other and he’d asked her out. He’d helped comfort her about her father’s passing and he’d reminded her that good things were always on the horizon, even after grief and pain.
At first, it had been hard for her to get used to the fact that Cooper always had Macey to think about and care for. She’d surprised him with tickets to a concert of his favorite band, and he’d initially turned the gift down because the concert was out of town. For a moment, she’d been worried that things weren’t going to work out between them because she’d been so unthinking about his situation, but then they’d figured out that Macey’s babysitter could come along on the trip and stay with Julia in her hotel room.
Ever since then, Cooper and Julia’s relationship had been going very well, and they were both learning where they needed to make compromises in order to make things work. In spite of how quickly she was growing to like him, they’d been taking their relationship slowly and carefully. It had been a wonderful experience so far, and she still felt like she was on cloud nine every time she got to see him.
She tucked the casserole dish and the Tupperware into a large tote bag and left her mother’s house. She’d moved in with her mother after her father’s death as a means of keeping her mother from feeling too lonely, but it had been a healing experience for her as well. She loved getting to spend time in her childhood home again.
She got into her car and drove to Cooper’s house. The western edge of the sky was beginning to turn vibrant shades of pink and orange as the sun set, and she rolled down the windows of her car as she drove. The air smelled sweetly of the flowers that were blooming in people’s front gardens and she took deep breaths of the fragrant air.
She arrived at Cooper’s house and parked her car at the end of his driveway. She got out and saw Macey waving excitedly to her from the picture window. She smiled to herself and hurried up the sidewalk to Cooper’s front door. He opened it a moment later and gave her a big hug.
He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and his chestnut brown eyes gleamed with warmth. “Thank you so much for cooking again. I feel like I can smell it even through the Tupperware, and it smells amazing.”
She grinned at him and they shared a quick kiss. Macey scampered over to them and gave Julia a hug around the knees.
“Julia!” she cried, her adorable toddler voice difficult to understand. “I missed you!”
Julia felt her heart swell with happiness as she saw how excited Macey was to see her. She crouched down and ruffled the little girl’s hair.
“I missed you too, Macey. Are you hungry for some yummy dinner?”
“Oh, yeah.”
Julia stood up again and she and Cooper shared a grin.
They went inside to the kitchen together, where Cooper had already set the table and filled their glasses with lemonade. Julia unpacked the meal she’d made, feeling proud of what she’d created. She popped the casserole dish into the oven to warm up again before they ate it.
“Thank you again.” Cooper kissed her cheek as they dished the salad out onto the plates. He dropped his voice and whispered, “And after Macey goes to sleep, I have a surprise for you. I bought your favorite tiramisu from Seaside Sweets Bakery. I thought we could sit on the front porch and eat it while we listen to the crickets together.”
She let out a contented sigh and whispered back, “That sounds perfect.”
It was all so simple compared to the glittering New York life she’d been living only months before, but it felt like everything she could ever want. She felt at peace with him in a way she hadn’t experienced in a long time. The way they spent their time together allowed her to slow down and appreciate the little things in her life. The slower pace that the people of Rosewood Beach lived in made her feel as though her life wasn’t whipping by at the same nonstop pace that it had before.
As they continued to get dinner ready, and she watched him laughing and joking with Macey, she felt her heart stir with strong emotions. She realized that she truly felt as though she could spend the rest of her life with Cooper.
In the next moment, a prick of fear entered her heart. She knew it was a big deal to have such strong emotions for someone, and she wondered if she was ready for those kinds of feelings. She wondered if Cooper was ready for those kinds of feelings, or if it would be a long time before he felt the same way—if he ever felt that way at all.
Her heart fluttered with nervousness, but she didn’t have time to fully unpack her emotions, because Macey was begging her to watch the dance that she’d made up.
“It’s my ‘time for dinner’ dance,” Macey announced proudly, and Cooper and Julia had to fight to keep from laughing as the toddler wiggled around, waving her arms.
“Wow, amazing!” Julia said, applauding.
“You’re such a good dancer, Macey!” Cooper was laughing, and then he glanced at the clock. “We should get this casserole out of the oven. It smells so good I don’t think I can wait another moment before I eat some of it. After all, it’s time for dinner.”
He winked at Macey, his ‘dad joke’ making the little girl giggle.
She and Cooper dished out the steaming casserole, and she had to admit to herself that it did indeed smell incredible. She heard her stomach grumble and she laughed. “My stomach agrees with you. Let’s eat.”
They ate the salad first while the casserole cooled on their plates. As they ate, Macey told them stories about what her toys had been up to, and Julia and Cooper listened with affectionate amusement. The food was delicious, and Julia felt happy that she had brightened the evening of two people that she cared about so much.
After they’d gotten Macey ready for bed and read her a couple of her favorite storybooks, they took a couple of slices of the tiramisu out onto the porch. Cooper’s place had a porch swing, and they sat down in it together, feeling the cool night breeze brush against their faces.
“How was your day?” she asked him, turning to him with a smile. She tried not to call him by terms of endearment too often, since it didn’t feel as though they’d reached that place in their relationship yet. But she was finding herself wanting to call him “dear” and “sweetheart” all the time.
He turned to her with an affectionate smile, and she felt her heart do a somersault. The way she was falling for him more and more scared her. She’d never felt this way about anyone before.
“Work was good. I got to drive out to a couple of sites and get my hands dirty. And I worked with some customers on choosing a landscaping plan.” Cooper worked for Greener Pastures, a landscaping company in Rosewood Beach.
“Sounds like a great day.” She took a bite of her tiramisu, and the creamy cake seemed to melt in her mouth.
“How about you? Other than cook that delicious meal, what did you do?”
“I worked on the pub’s finances for a while, and I went out to bus some tables when they were busy. I’m like the strange hermit of the restaurant—I’m usually holed up in the back office, but sometimes I emerge to help with the dishes.”
“Are hermits known for helping with dishes?”
“Oh, yeah. Didn’t you know?”
“I didn’t. I think we need a hermit close by my house. Maybe one in the backyard.”
She laughed, and he laughed with her, his deep tone mingling with her lighter one. She loved spending time with him, she reflected warmly. She found herself gazing at him as he looked out across the yard, and her heart thumped with fear again.
Falling in love was scary, she thought, but she was determined to not let herself overthink things and get spooked. After all, she had no idea what was coming next. It might all be wonderful.