Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Julia hummed to herself as she unlocked the back door of The Lighthouse Grill. She was arriving there early in the morning before anyone else, and the place seemed hushed and sleepy.
She made her way through the clean, quiet kitchen toward the office, where she planned on getting a head start on some marketing work. The Lighthouse Grill had been doing well, but there were still her father’s remaining gambling debts to think about, and she needed to ensure that business continued to be good—or, ideally, got even better.
She set her purse down on the desk and cracked open the window that looked out onto the ocean. The breeze that rushed inside promised a beautiful, warm day, and she felt her spirits lift with anticipation.
I think I’ll make myself some tea , she thought, looking at the little basket of tea bags that her mother kept on one end of the desk.
She stepped back out into the kitchen to heat up some water inside a mug. As she was pouring water into the mug, her phone began to ring. She pulled it out of her pocket and smiled eagerly when she saw that the caller was her boyfriend Cooper.
“Hey.” She tucked the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she continued to prepare her mug of tea. “How are you?”
“I’m great, how are you doing?”
She thought to herself what a nice, warm voice he had. She always loved listening to him talk.
“I’m good. I feel really happy today. Last night was so much fun. That homemade pizza you made was amazing, and I loved just hanging out on the couch with you and watching that movie. It was so relaxing and energizing at the same time.”
“I’m so glad you liked it.” She could tell that he was smiling, she could hear it in his voice. “And I can’t believe that pizza turned out as well as it did. The pizza fairies must have been with me.”
She laughed, feeling a surge of affection for him. “I mean it, Cooper. It’s always so wonderful to spend time with you. You really mean a lot to me. I’m so thankful we’re in each other’s lives.”
She was feeling particularly mushy toward him, and she wanted to tell him how much he meant to her. Her heart fluttered as she realized that this could be the moment in which she told him that she loved him, but then she told herself that she wanted to say those words in person, not over the phone. She wanted to be able to see his face when she told him how much she cared for him.
“I absolutely feel the same way.” His tone lifted as he spoke the words earnestly. “It’s always so wonderful to spend time together, and I’m so glad that we’re dating.” There was a short pause, and then he said, “Speaking of spending time together, do you have time to get lunch with me this afternoon?”
“I’d love to! I’m at the pub right now, and I’m planning on sticking around for a while to get marketing work done. Would you like to come here for lunch?”
“What, to the best restaurant in town? That sounds great. I’ll come to you and we can eat there.”
She grinned when she heard him refer to her family’s pub at the best restaurant in town. The Lighthouse Grill was a favorite spot in Rosewood Beach, that was certain, but she thought it was sweet of him to say it like that.
“I thought it would be good to talk,” he continued, and his voice suddenly took on a serious quality that made her feel almost nervous. “How long of a break can you take today?”
“Oh, whatever we need.” She tried to sound breezy, but the shift in his tone had made her start to wonder what it was he wanted to talk to her about. She took a deep breath and was about to ask him what he wanted to discuss with her, when he let out a sigh.
“A customer is calling me. I should let you go. I’ll come over there at noon?”
“Sounds perfect. See you then.”
“Bye, Julia.”
“Bye, Cooper.”
She hung up the phone and leaned against the counter for a few moments, staring at the worn tile floor and feeling nervous.
He sounded so serious , she thought. What does he want to talk to me about?
She tried to convince herself that it was nothing bad, and that he was probably just tired. She knew that although Macey had been sleeping more regularly than she used to, she often kept Cooper up at night and he didn’t get nearly enough sleep when that happened.
She finished making her tea and went back to the office with it. Although she got a decent amount of work done, all throughout the morning she kept pausing to worry. She often found herself staring out the window at the ocean, a frown of concern on her face.
Finally, she glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was five minutes to noon. She closed her laptop and stood up, telling herself that she would go outside and meet Cooper at the door when he arrived.
She made her way through the kitchen, where she was greeted warmly by the smiling cooks, and out through the dining room to the front door. As she walked, her heart fluttered with nervousness, but she told herself to stay calm and that there was nothing to worry about. The moment she stepped outside into the sunshine, she came face-to-face with Cooper.
“Hey!” His face lit up into a grin when he saw her, and he gave her a bear hug and a kiss. For a moment, she felt completely reassured that everything was fine, but then she noticed a troubled look in his eyes. “How are you?”
“I’m good.” She smiled back at him, trying not to feel nervous. “What about you?”
“Well, great now that I’m here with you.”
They went inside and got a booth in a back corner. Julia wondered nervously if Cooper wanted to go to that table because it was more secluded, and he wanted to be able to talk to her without anyone else overhearing them.
“Ah, my favorite menu,” Cooper teased as he looked over his menu at their table. “I’m pretty sure I want a cheeseburger with fried onions, but I should look over my options again.”
Julia smiled, although she was realizing she didn’t feel particularly hungry. She looked over the menu herself and decided to order a cup of tomato soup and a BLT with slices of avocado added to it.
“How’s marketing going?” Cooper asked once they’d given their orders to the waitress.
“Good. It’s nice to do marketing for a place I care so much about and think so highly of.”
“I can imagine.”
“How about you? How is work going today?”
“Good. It’s been kind of slow today, but that’s nice. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, so it gives me more time to drink coffee.” He gestured to their surroundings.
She smiled back at him, and for a few moments, neither of them said anything. She took a deep breath, wondering if he was about to bring up what it was that he wanted to talk with her about. When he didn’t say anything, she decided to come right out and ask him. She’d spent all morning worrying that he wanted to talk with her about something bad, and she wanted to not be in suspense any longer.
“Was there a particular reason you wanted to meet today?” she asked, realizing her voice was a little higher-pitched than usual. She cleared her throat. “You’d said you wanted to talk while we were here.”
He nodded. “Yes, I—” For a moment, he hesitated, and she watched him inhale. “I wanted to thank you for taking Macey shopping for shoes the other day. It really meant a lot to me. She loved spending time with you like that, and I’m always at a loss when it comes to things like shoes. I’m never sure what’s going to be the right mix between what she likes and what’s going to be comfortable for her feet. Those shoes you picked out are perfect, and she never wants to take them off.”
“Hey, I’m not even the one who invented pink sparkly tennis shoes.” Julia smiled, although internally she was feeling confused and surprised that that had been all he wanted to say to her. “I’m happy to. I think I had just as much fun shopping for shoes for Macey as she did.”
“Well, I wanted to let you know how much it meant to me. You can think of this lunch as a thank-you from me.”
“You don’t need to do that.” She smiled at him, but her confusion only grew. Why had Cooper seemed troubled earlier? Had he just been tired? And why did he feel the need to take her out to lunch to thank her for going shoe shopping with Macey?
Their food arrived, and for the rest of the meal, they continued to make small talk about all the little details of their lives. Cooper never once brought up anything serious, and Julia concluded that he didn’t have anything else he wanted to talk with her about.
I don’t understand it, she thought, as she finished the last bite of her crispy BLT. I feel silly for spending all morning worrying, but he really did sound so serious about wanting to talk.
They finished their meal, and Cooper glanced at his watch and said he needed to go. She walked him to the door and kissed him goodbye on the sidewalk. As she watched him walk back toward his workplace, she felt another surge of affection for him, and she reminded herself that soon, she needed to tell him how she felt about him. Their lunch that day hadn’t felt like the right time because he’d said he wanted to speak with her about something and it had made her so nervous.
She shook her head as she went back inside The Lighthouse Grill, still feeling confused, but glad that it had been nothing to worry about after all.