Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Alexis walked slowly along the aisles of Turner’s Hardware Store. She loved the smell of the place, and she had ever since she was a kid. It smelled of sawdust and endless potential. She loved hardware stores, and every time she was in one, she got excited, thinking about all of the projects that people could complete with the supplies there. Her creative instincts, usually half-buried, woke up inside a hardware store, and she yearned to make things and use her hands.
She was smiling to herself, thinking about how long it had been since she’d been inside a hardware store, when she turned around a corner and nearly collided with a man.
“Dean!” She laughed, happy to see her brother.
“Hey, sister.” He gave her a bear hug with one arm, since his other arm was filled with car parts. Dean ran the local auto repair shop and was well-respected as a fair and capable mechanic. “What brings you here to my side of the tracks? Shouldn’t you be in a makeup boutique or something?”
She wrinkled her nose at his teasing. “Just because I love makeup and fashion doesn’t mean I don’t also love getting my hands dirty. You know I used to love hardware stores.”
“Sure, but that was back before you became a city slicker.”
She shook her head, chuckling. “Oh, shush. You can take the girl out of the small town, but you can’t take the small town out of the girl.”
He dipped his chin in acknowledgement. “Fair enough. So what brings you in here?”
“I’m picking up some paint and backsplash tiles for Hazel’s kitchen. She was saying she’s been wanting to do a little renovation for a long time now, and I told her I’d help her out.”
“That sounds nice.” He grinned. “You seem to be getting pretty invested in your new living space.”
She chuckled. “I can’t live with Hazel and Samantha forever. It’s been a really wonderful time—they’re the best sister and niece roomies a girl could ask for—but it’s not like I’m planning on moving in with them permanently.”
A sympathetic gleam appeared in Dean’s eyes. “Does that mean you’re planning on going back to L.A. to work things out with Grayson?”
She let out a long sigh. “I know that I need to. But not just yet. I feel like I’m needed here, helping keep The Lighthouse Grill on its feet and making sure Mom gets enough rest.”
She didn’t say it out loud, but it was also true that she simply wanted more time in Rosewood Beach. She felt as though she was healing there, and finding a purpose that she hadn’t had in L.A. She loved being able to work and stay active every day. That wasn’t something that she had back in her mansion in California.
“I understand.” He smiled at her. “I know you’re going to make the right decision. You’re a smart cookie.”
“Thanks, Dean.” She smiled back at him.
He helped her pick out the paint and backsplash tiles, and then they walked up to the register together.
“Ladies first,” he said, grinning and bowing gallantly.
Alexis laughed. “Okay, thanks.”
She started to make her purchases and noticed an attractive young woman step into line behind Dean. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the woman looking at Dean with more than a friendly interest. It was clear she found him attractive.
“Beautiful day, isn’t it?” the young woman said to Dean.
He turned around, almost surprised to hear her speak to him. “That it is. I swear our springs get more beautiful every year.”
“You’re Dean, aren’t you? Dean Owens? You run the auto repair shop?”
“I do.” He smiled at the young woman, but at that moment Alexis’s transaction ended, and he hurried to make his purchases. “Excuse me.”
The girl looked a little disappointed as Dean paid for the car parts and started to exit the store with Alexis without glancing back at her. Alexis couldn’t help chuckling over the situation, although she felt a little bad for the young woman.
“What?” Dean asked. “What’s funny?”
They stepped outside into the sunlight, and she grinned at him. “You clueless heartthrob you. That poor girl was totally into you, and you just left her hanging there.”
“What? She was?” He turned around, looking back through the glass doors.
Alexis threw her head back, laughing. “You’ve always been a catch, ever since high school. I remember there were all those girls fawning over you back then too. How come you’ve never settled down?”
He made a face. “Well, apparently I can’t tell when a woman is interested in me.”
There was an amused note in his voice, but she could tell he was deflecting with humor, making a joke to avoid answering more seriously.
“Oh, come on,” she pressed. “I’m your sister. You can tell me. What’s the real reason?”
They started to walk across the parking lot together, and a warm breeze kissed their faces.
He shrugged. “I just never found the right one, I guess.”
“Well, I hope the right one shows up sooner rather than later. And I must say, your obliviousness about what an eligible bachelor you are is reason enough for me to stick around in Rosewood Beach longer. Clearly, you need my help.”
Dean threw his head back, laughing. “Oh, I do, huh?”
She nodded, smiling gleefully at him. “I’m only too happy to oblige.”
Shaking his head and chuckling, he started walking toward his car. “I’ll catch you later, Madame Matchmaker.”
“See you later, Eligible Bachelor!”
Dean continued to laugh and shake his head as he got into his truck. Alexis smiled to herself as she started out along the sidewalk back toward Hazel’s house. It was only a short distance from there to the hardware store, and she’d walked. Dean drove past her, honking his horn, and she waved and laughed.
The moment he was out of sight, however, her smile faded and she let out a long sigh. Her mind raced back to the earlier part of her conversation with Dean, when he’d asked her about repairing things with Grayson.
The truth is, I am reluctant to try to work things out, she thought. It isn’t just that I want to stay here longer.
She rolled her shoulders back, feeling tense. She was glad her family was invested in her life and that they cared about her, but she didn’t want them to know that she felt that way. The way that Dean had asked his question made her a bit worried that they were starting to catch on.
Grayson ran his fingers through his hair as he listened to the phone ring on the other end of the line. He could feel his heart beating in his chest, and he took a deep breath to steady himself. He wondered to himself how things had come to be this way, how he had come to be nervous to call his own wife on the phone.
He leaned against the counter in the kitchen of the mansion that he’d bought for himself and Alexis. Without her there, it felt as vast and empty as an abandoned castle. The countertops smelled faintly of lemons, since the cleaning lady had been there that day, and he reflected sadly on how long it had been since the kitchen had smelled like food. It seemed like some kind of laboratory now—some sterile place with a sink and gleaming countertops. It didn’t feel like any kind of a home, that was for sure.
He had been feeling a sense of dread every time he called Alexis, and it gnawed at his chest again. He always hated the idea of her not answering. He felt worried that she was slipping farther and farther away from him, and he didn’t know what to do to bring her back to him.
“Hello?”
“Hey.” He cleared his throat. “Hey, honey, it’s Grayson.”
“Hey, Grayson.”
He swallowed. There was a detached quality to her voice, and it caused a cold pit to form in his stomach. He seemed to be losing her more with each phone call.
“How are you? How’s Rosewood Beach?”
“Oh, I’m doing fine. Rosewood Beach is the same as ever.”
“Yeah?” He tried to sound cheerful, playful even. But it was something he was out of practice doing, and he just ended up sounding fake. “That’s good.”
“Yeah. So… uh, how are things at the office?”
“Good. I just closed another deal.”
“Good for you, Grayson.”
She hardly sounded enthusiastic. There had been a time when she’d kissed and hugged him and gushed that she was proud of him every time he closed a deal. It had become a common occurrence, certainly, no longer an exciting novelty, but he couldn’t brush past the fact that her reaction had been so apathetic.
“How’s your family doing?” He wanted to kick himself, thinking to himself that he should have asked that question right away. That would have been the right thing to do to show her that he cared about her and her life.
“Oh, they’re all fine. Keeping busy.”
It wasn’t like Alexis to answer questions so briefly. In the past, she’d liked to include details about what was going on in the lives of her family members whenever she answered questions like that. She’d liked to tell stories and would often laugh while repeating things that someone else had said. He felt his heart sink even more as he realized just how checked-out she was.
“Well, that’s great. Got any plans with them in the coming days?”
“Nothing new, really. Just continuing work.”
“You got any idea when you’re going to come back home?” He drummed his fingers against the countertop, willing himself to stay calm and failing miserably.
There was a pause, and he swallowed.
“I don’t know,” she said finally. “Right now—well, right now I feel that I’m needed here more than I’m needed there.”
“I understand.” He wanted to tell her that he did need her, and he missed her, but he didn’t want to sound selfish. After all, her family was going through a lot and they had The Lighthouse Grill to think of. If Alexis felt that she was needed in Rosewood Beach, it wouldn’t be right for him to ask her to come back sooner.
There was another pause, and then she said, “I’m glad.” Her voice sounded almost muffled. “Well, I should get going. I’ve got some work to do with Hazel tonight.”
“Okay. No worries. I do too.” He thought with a pang of all the nights he’d come home and kept working in his home office instead of spending time with her, and he wished he had a time machine so he could go back and make different choices. He had a sudden, overwhelming desire to just sit on the couch with her in their pajamas and watch a movie while they ate popcorn. They hadn’t done that in years.
“Talk to you later.”
“Talk to you later.”
He hung up, feeling dejected. Kay’s words rang in his ears. However he was supposed to be fighting for Alexis, he strongly suspected that he wasn’t doing it right.