Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Julia sat on the couch in her mother’s living room, hugging her knees and watching the late afternoon sunlight flicker in beautiful patterns on the hardwood floor.
She’d just returned home from the pub, where she’d been working on marketing and had also jumped on deck to waitress a few tables when things got particularly busy. She had the rest of the afternoon and the evening off, and she knew how she wanted to spend it.
I’m going to see Cooper tonight , she thought. And this is it. Today’s the day. I’m going to tell him how I feel about him.
She took a deep breath, feeling a sense of excitement and joy even though the prospect made her nervous. She closed her eyes, thinking about what she wanted to do. As she planned out every detail, a smile spread across her face.
A few minutes later, she opened her eyes and glanced at the clock on the wall. She knew that Cooper would be leaving work soon, and that after that he would be going to pick Macey up from daycare. She hopped off the couch, determined to get a move on so that she had enough time to enact her plan before Cooper and Macey returned home.
She grabbed some supplies out of the refrigerator, tucking them carefully inside a bag. She slipped outside and got into her car, feeling her stomach flutter with anticipation.
As she drove, she carefully went over every detail of her plan in her mind one more time. She enjoyed thinking about it, and she wanted to make sure that she enacted all the steps of her plan in the most efficient way possible. She was determined to make the setting romantic and memorable for the big moment in which she told him how much she cared for him.
When she arrived at Cooper’s house, she used the key he’d given her to go inside through the back door. She immediately went to work setting a beautiful table for her and Cooper to have dinner at. She spread a pretty tablecloth that she found in a kitchen drawer on the table and set out some of Cooper’s best dishes. Then she went into the kitchen and whipped up a colorful salad with cold slices of seasoned chicken, using ingredients that she’d brought and some ingredients from Cooper’s fridge as well. She set the salad down on the side of the table, feeling pleased by how nice it looked.
Next, she brought out a candlestick and set it in the center of the table, and she dimmed the lights. Sighing with anticipation, she lit each candle in the candlestick, enjoying the way the warm glow of the flames made the whole room look more romantic.
She was just stepping back from the table, thinking to herself that it all looked perfect, when she heard the front door open.
“Julia?” Cooper called.
She grinned and hurried out of the kitchen toward the front door. “Hi, honey!”
“Hey.” He grinned when he saw her, although she noticed he looked particularly tired. Macey was standing next to him, holding onto his pants leg and rubbing her nose with the back of her hand. “I saw your car in the driveway. This is such a wonderful surprise.”
“I’m so glad. I—” She didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence, because in the next moment, Macey sat down on the floor and began to bawl.
“Oh, no.” Cooper crouched down to be on the same level as his daughter. “Macey, it’s okay. We’re home. What do you want? Some dinner?”
She shook her head, just bawling even harder. Cooper frowned worriedly and stood up. He hurried over to the light switch and turned the lights up all the way, causing the romantic, dimly lit atmosphere that Julia had created to vanish.
“Macey, what’s wrong? Do you want some milk? No, that would be a bad idea,” he added as if to himself, muttering. “How about orange juice? Yeah? Okay, I’ll get you some orange juice.”
Smiling apologetically at Julia, Cooper hurried into the kitchen to get orange juice for Macey. As he stepped inside the room, he started to have a fit of sneezing. He sneezed all the way through getting a sippy cup out of the cupboard and filling it with orange juice. He didn’t notice the romantic table that Julia had set up, and returned a moment later to the front entryway, where he handed Macey the sippy cup.
“You drink that, sweetheart, okay? It will make you feel better. There’s all kinds of vitamin C in there. It’s like a magic potion that will help you get well.”
“Is she okay?” Julia asked, feeling strangely out of place and unsure of what to do. So far, the evening was not going at all as she had anticipated. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
He looked up and smiled weakly at Julia. “We both have terrible colds. In case you couldn’t guess,” he added apologetically. “Sorry we’re such a mess around here.”
“No, not at all,” she said. “I’m sorry you both have colds. Can I do anything?”
“No, that’s okay, thank you, Julia. When we left this morning, she seemed fine and I was convincing myself it was just fatigue and allergies. But as the day wore on, I could feel myself getting sicker and sicker, and then when I went to get her, they said she’d been crabby and sneezing all day. They had her play by herself so she wouldn’t get the other kids sick, and I guess she hated it and didn’t really understand why she couldn’t be with her friends.”
“Ouch.” Julia sat down next to Macey, who was chugging on her sippy cup, seeming to feel better already. “That sounds like a rough day. I’m really sorry, Macey.”
Macey finished her orange juice and promptly crawled into Julia’s lap. Julia felt her heart melt, and as she stroked back Macey’s hair, she noticed in surprise that the little girl was asleep.
“I think she’s asleep,” she whispered to Cooper. “I guess that crying really wore her out.”
He smiled fondly at both of them. “I think her whole day really wore her out. I should get her to bed, but—hang on, one minute.” His smile widened as he pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket. “Say cheese,” he whispered as he took a picture of Julia sitting there with Macey sleeping in her lap.
Julia grinned, finding it darling that Cooper had wanted to take the picture of the two of them. “Do you want me to help you put her to bed?”
“No, I got it. No point in you getting sick too. You stay here, I’ll be back in a little bit.” Cooper gazed affectionately at Julia as he lifted his sleeping daughter out of her arms and started to carry her down the hallway to her bedroom.
Julia watched them go, feeling a surge of affection for both of them. She felt sorry they were sick and that they’d both had such a rough day, and she couldn’t help feeling that her plans for a romantic dinner with Cooper had been so unexpectedly dashed.
She made her way back into the kitchen and straightened some of the dishes absent-mindedly. She wondered if she should still ask Cooper to have dinner with her, or if she should go home so that he could get some rest. Feeling torn, she went back over to the light switches and dimmed the lights in the kitchen.
I’ll just let him see what I set up, she thought, sighing with disappointment. Then at least he’ll see the work I put in for him even if he’s feeling too tired to enjoy it.
She heard footsteps in the hallway and turned with a smile to see Cooper stepping inside the kitchen. He looked exhausted, and her heart stirred with sympathy for him. The moment he saw the table spread out with a romantic dinner, his eyes widened in surprise.
“Julia,” he said, looking almost dazed. “This—when did you do this?”
“Before you got here,” she said, coming up to him and giving him a hug. “I wanted to have a romantic dinner with you. But I can tell from your reaction that you’re feeling too tired for salad and wine.”
He winced. “I’m sorry. I’d love to. That salad looks amazing. But my stomach is upset, and I’m not sure I’m up for it. I’m at the point where I want to eat some toast in bed and then pass out.”
“It’s okay,” she assured him. She couldn’t help but feel a twinge of disappointment, but taking care of him was her priority. “Don’t worry about it. We can have a romantic dinner some other time. You clearly need to get some sleep, and I want to do what’s best for you. Why don’t you go sit down on the couch and I’ll bring you some soup? I saw that you had a couple of cans of chicken noodle soup in your cupboard.”
“Would you? That would be amazing.” Cooper looked almost limp with relief, and she had to giggle a little over how cute she found his reaction.
“Of course.” She beamed at him. “And some crackers? And would you like orange juice too?”
“Maybe a little. I’m not sure how my stomach is going to take to it.”
“What, you’re not going to chug it like Macey?”
He laughed, and she gave his arm a fond squeeze.
“You go lie down on the couch. I’ll bring you food in a little bit.”
Cooper smiled at her adoringly and left the kitchen. She could hear him grunting and groaning a little as he settled down on the couch in the other room.
She opened a can of chicken noodle soup and poured it into a saucepan to heat up. She poured a little bit of orange juice into a glass, and also poured Cooper a large glass of water. She set some crackers on a little plate, and when the soup was ready, she poured a generous helping of it into a large bowl.
She put everything onto a tray and carried it out into the living room. As soon as she saw Cooper, a smile spread across her face.
He was completely passed out, one leg up on the couch and the other dangling off the side. His head was tilted back and his mouth was open, and his chest rose and fell slowly as he slept. Because of his stuffy nose, he was snoring a little, and she couldn’t help but laugh quietly.
“Goodnight, Cooper,” she whispered.
She set down the tray of food next to him on the coffee table, in case he woke up and wanted to eat the soup. She thought about lifting his dangling leg up onto the couch, but then decided that she didn’t want to disturb him. She took a soft blanket off the armchair and covered him with it lovingly.
She paused to take one more look at him, and she let out a long sigh. She had wanted to tell him how she felt about him that night, but so many things had gotten in the way of that.
She turned out the lights and slipped out the back door, locking it behind her. As she climbed into her car, she shook her head, not knowing whether to laugh or feel disappointed. She wondered how it could possibly be so hard to tell someone how she felt about him. Not only was she nervous to say the words, but things seemed to keep happening to prevent her from telling him her feelings.
She sighed as she maneuvered her car along the road. She was glad that she had been there to take care of Cooper and Macey when they were sick. She made a mental note to make some homemade chicken soup and drop it off at their house the next day. She smiled to herself, grateful that Cooper and his sweet daughter were in her life, and sure that at some point, she would have the opportunity to tell him how she felt about him.