Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Julia sat in the armchair in her bedroom at Vivian’s house, looking out the window. It was a beautiful day outside, sunny and warm. She had her window open, and she kept taking deep breaths, inhaling the fragrant aroma of the flowering crabapple tree in Vivian’s backyard.
She had spent a quiet morning so far. She and Vivian had made breakfast together, and then her mother had gone into her home office to call one of her good friends who lived in another state. Julia had found herself puttering around the house with nothing to do, and she’d ended up sitting there, gazing out the window and thinking deeply about everything that had been going on in her life.
She thought about Alexis and Grayson, and she smiled as she reflected that things seemed to be going very well between them. She thought about Hazel, and how her hopes of going out with Jacob had been dashed, and she felt another pang of sympathy for her sister. She thought about how Vivian seemed to be healing from her father’s death and the terrible news of his gambling habits, and she thought about how brave poor Dean was being, facing his diagnosis with courage and a good attitude. She was glad that he had finally told the rest of the family his secret, and she thought to herself how much she hoped that he did find love with someone soon. He was a kind, smart, wonderful guy, and she thought he deserved the world.
Then her thoughts turned to her own relationship with Cooper, and she sighed. She knew that she needed to find a time to tell him how she felt about him. The words “I love you” were starting to burn on her tongue, and she wanted to be able to say them to him. She drummed her fingers on the armrest of her chair, thinking about how things always came up to prevent her from telling him in the way that she’d planned.
But maybe that’s my problem , she thought, brightening. Maybe I just need to stop trying to tell him in such an elaborate way. Maybe I should just spit it out and tell Cooper how I feel, even if life keeps trying to interrupt us.
She hugged her knees, deciding that today was the day and now was the moment. She wouldn’t bother with trying to make the event special and romantic. After all, the words themselves were special and romantic. They didn’t need a romantic setting in order to be meaningful.
She pulled her phone out of her pocket and sent a text to Cooper.
JULIA: Hey! Would you like to get some coffee at Seaside Sweets Bakery with me this morning?
She set her phone down on her lap and turned to look out the window again, feeling excited. In the next moment, her phone buzzed with a reply from Cooper.
COOPER: I’d love to! In half an hour?
JULIA: Sounds perfect.
She stood up, smiling to herself and also feeling a little nervous. She told herself firmly to not let herself get too jittery, and to just take the moment as it came. All she had to do was speak three little words out loud, and considering how much she meant them, it shouldn’t be too hard.
She applied her makeup carefully, a task she always enjoyed. She put on a pair of low, comfortable heels to go with her dark jeans and casual blouse. Before leaving her room, she paused to take a look at herself in the mirror. She saw that her eyes were shining with excitement, and she smiled.
It was a short walk to Seaside Sweets Bakery, and she arrived a few minutes early. She sat on a bench and waited for Cooper, who arrived right on time, parking his car on the street outside the bakery.
He grinned warmly at her as he got out of his car. “Hey.” He gave her a long, tight hug. “You look beautiful, as always.”
She felt her cheeks heat, her stomach doing a little flip. “Thank you. You look quite handsome yourself.”
“Wow, thank you.” He looked down at his work shirt and laughed. “You like dirty shirts with tears in them, huh? I was out working in the garden right before this and I didn’t have time to change.”
“Hey, at least there’s no paint on this one.” She brushed her hands over his sleeves, referring to the first time they’d met, when he’d saved her from falling into a puddle but gotten a little paint on her raincoat in the process.
He grinned at her. “So true. I can hug you with impunity.”
He wrapped an arm around her and they walked into the bakery together. Her heart was thumping in her chest, and she felt excited about telling him that she loved him. She considered blurting the words right then and there and was about to do it when Cooper took her by the shoulders and gently set her down in a chair by the door.
“You sit here and relax,” he said. “I’ll order your coffee for you. What would you like? A lavender latte?”
“Uh, sure, but I can come order it with you.”
“No, I got it. Really. I’ll pick it up too. You just stay here.”
“Okay.” She shrugged, smiling at him, and watched as he approached the counter to order their coffees.
She found it a little odd that he’d insisted on ordering for the both of them, but she decided to just enjoy watching his charming self in action. He ordered their drinks from the nervous-looking teenager behind the counter and then stepped to the side to wait.
The teenager, instead of starting their drinks, took a few pastries out of the display case and then waited on the next customer, who was an elderly woman who kept pointing to the bakery in the display case. The teenager started to take a muffin out of the case, but the old woman waved her hand in the air emphatically and pointed again. Julia couldn’t hear what they were saying, and she found herself slightly amused by the pantomime happening in front of her. Finally, the girl figured out what pastry the old woman was pointing to, and she wrapped it up for her.
It was another few minutes before Cooper was returning to Julia, holding two coffees and a paper bag filled with baked goods. He handed Julia her latte along with a blueberry scone.
“These are for you,” he declared.
“Thank you,” she said, taking the scone eagerly. “But I didn’t ask for anything to eat.”
He shrugged. “I just thought it was something you might like.”
She smiled at him, finding his gesture both thoughtful and again a little odd. “Well, thank you. It was sweet of you.”
“Hmm, good thing we’re in the Seaside Sweets Bakery. You know, where people are sweet.”
She threw back her head laughing and groaned over his terrible joke. They stepped out of the bakery and began to wander along the sidewalk together, nibbling their pastries and sipping their coffees. It was a pleasant day, and sunlight gleamed on the windows of the shops and restaurants they passed. For about a block, they walked without speaking to each other, both of them seeming to be lost in their own thoughts.
“How’s Dean doing?” Cooper asked finally.
“He’s doing well,” she said, turning to him with a smile. “Thanks for asking. We’re all ready to support him, and I think it helps him to know that.”
“I can imagine. You guys are a really great family. It’s wonderful to see.”
They shared a warm smile, and then continued to walk quietly together. Julia reflected that they both clearly had something on their minds. She was wondering if she should come right out and tell him that she loved him or wait another few minutes until he seemed less distracted.
“You want to go sit in the gazebo?” he asked as they passed the town square. “Sit down to eat our pastries for a while?”
“Sure. That sounds great to me.”
He took her hand as they strolled along the path toward the gazebo. Brightly colored flowers bordered the walkway, and the air was filled with a sweet floral aroma and the sound of buzzing bees.
They sat down in the gazebo together, and Julia took a deep breath. She knew that this was the moment. She was going to tell Cooper how she felt about him.
She cleared her throat. “Cooper, there’s something that, for a long time, I?—”
At that moment, a bee flew in front of her nose and she squeaked and leaned back.
“Do you want me to squish it?” Cooper asked, following the path of the bee carefully with his eyes.
“No, don’t do that! We need the bees.” She laughed. “It just startled me. I just…” She took another deep breath. “I want to tell you that…” She hesitated, feeling her heart pound in her chest. She wished she hadn’t gotten delayed the first time. She was starting to lose her nerve as her jitters intensified. “I’ve been meaning to say it for a while, but I kept getting interrupted and then I lost my nerve. But I think that now is a good moment for me to?—”
A police car whizzed past the town square, its sirens blaring.
“Ooh, someone was speeding,” he joked, laughing.
“Yes, probably.”
She laughed breathlessly, wondering if she was ever going to get a chance to tell him she loved him. Her heart was really pounding by that point, and she told herself she needed a moment to work up her nerve again. As a distraction, she reached for Cooper’s bag of pastries and started to rummage in it for something to eat. She pulled out a sugar cookie that had been frosted with yellow icing in the shape of the sun and the words “Peek-a-boo.”
“This is cute!” She laughed. “Is this one for Macey?”
“What?” Cooper stared at the cookie in dismay. “That’s not—oh, no. That’s not the right cookie.”
She cocked her head to one side, feeling confused by his reaction. “It’s a great cookie. I think it’s adorable. Macey will love it.”
He shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s not—it’s the wrong one.”
She laughed again, not understanding why he seemed so flustered. “Why does it matter what it says on it?”
“Because—” He stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. He locked eyes with her, and her heart began to beat faster. “Because I picked out a different cookie. For you. I pointed to it in the display case, but then I wasn’t looking at her when she bagged it. I was looking at you to make sure you didn’t see what cookie I’d pointed to.”
Julia shook her head, feeling confused. “I don’t understand. What cookie was it?”
“It was the one that said, ‘I Love You’ on it.”
She blinked. For five full heartbeats, they stared at each other. Julia felt dazed, as if she might be dreaming, and then a smile spread across her face.
“Do you really love me?”
“I do.” He reached out and took her hand. “I love you, Julia.”
“I love you too!” The words burst out of her, followed by a breathless laugh. “I’ve been trying to tell you the same thing! That’s what I was doing when I tried to make that fancy dinner for us when you were sick. I kept trying to say it to you, and something always came up to interrupt me.”
He chuckled, reaching for her and pulling her into his arms. “I’ve been scared to say it to you for weeks. Remember when I took you out to lunch? I just kept blabbing on about all the things that make me grateful for you, but I couldn’t work up the nerve to come right out and say the words to you.”
“Oh! I’d been so confused. I was worried you had something bad to tell me.”
“You’d looked worried! Honestly, that was part of why I lost my nerve that day. I thought maybe you had something on your mind and I should wait and tell you another time.”
“Look at us.” She laughed. “We sure struggled to get here, but we finally made it.”
“Now we both know.” He looked down into her eyes, grinning at her.
“I love you, Cooper.”
“I love you too.”
She felt a surge of happiness as she lifted her face up to his for a long, well-deserved kiss.