Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Julia glanced at her watch as she strode down the sidewalk. She was on her way to The Lighthouse Grill to work in the office for a while, arranging the upcoming month’s work schedule. She was still running a little early, so she had time to stop at Seaside Sweets Bakery for a coffee and perhaps a doughnut.
Right? she wondered, picking up her pace a little. I don’t usually walk to work like this. I hope it doesn’t end up taking longer than I think it will.
She glanced down at her feet, which were feeling a little stiff and uncomfortable. She’d purchased a pair of hiking boots online, and they’d arrived the night before. She wanted to wear them to work as a means of breaking them in, since they were still very stiff and difficult to walk in.
She’d been up late worrying about meeting Cooper’s parents when she’d decided to buy them. She hadn’t owned a pair of hiking boots since she was in the fifth grade, since she always went hiking in her colorful and gym-friendly tennis shoes, but she wanted to own a pair now that she was about to have such outdoorsy family members. She’d bought them with the hopes of toughening up her wardrobe so that she wouldn’t look too prissy to Cooper’s parents when they arrived.
She glanced down at the hiking boots, hoping they looked at least a little more scuffed than they had when she’d left the house. They didn’t, they still looked brand spanking new, and Julia let out a long sigh. She tried to scuff up the sides a little on the sidewalk as she made her way to Seaside Sweets Bakery.
She didn’t want Cooper’s parents to realize that she’d just bought the shoes. She wanted them to look at least a little worn, and she definitely wanted them to feel more comfortable. She was sure that Cooper’s parents would want to go hiking on the beautiful trails surrounding Rosewood Beach when they got into town, and she wanted her new hiking boots to be ready for the experience.
I need mud, she thought, looking around for a good patch of dirt or a puddle. These boots should look dirty. Like I’ve taken them hiking a million times before.
She located a good puddle at the edge of a fake pond outside the dentist’s office. She walked up to it as nonchalantly as she could, and briefly splashed through it. Clearing her throat and feeling like a little kid, she hurried away, waiting until she got farther away to check her feet.
“Arg,” she groaned, when she saw that her puddle jumping had made almost no difference. There were tiny little splashes of dirty water on the toes of her boots, but they were barely noticeable. She would need real mud, but she wouldn’t be able to find any on her route from Seaside Sweets Bakery to the pub. Real mud would have to wait.
She ducked inside Seaside Sweets Bakery, feeling strangely out of place in her new shoes. She stepped up to the counter and ordered a rose latte for herself, along with a raspberry and almond scone.
She glanced at her watch as she left the bakery, noting that she still had about twenty minutes before she needed to get to work. She inspected her reflection as she walked past the large front window of a gift store and sighed in frustration.
She still didn’t look outdoorsy enough. Her boots looked good and nature-loving—or at least, they would once she could make them appear a little more used—but the rest of her looked the same as ever. Her long dark hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail, and there were diamond earrings glittering on her ears. She was wearing a simple black sweater paired with dark jeans, nothing too chic or extravagant, but her outfit still screamed “this girl likes the comforts of civilization.”
My outfit needs something else, she thought, frowning as she continued to walk toward the pub. Something that will make me look more like someone who would get along really well with Cooper’s family.
She sighed again and munched her scone as she walked. It had a light, buttery taste that paired beautifully with the tangy sweetness of the raspberries. She found herself wondering if Cooper’s family were the type to eat raspberries or other berries off the bush in the wilderness, and how she would feel about eating something that wasn’t washed or even officially identified as not poisonous.
She was almost to the pub when her eyes lighted on a little tourist shop to her left, across the street. She’d been there a few times, since the owner’s husband worked with Cooper and they liked to stop in and say hello whenever they were walking past. She suddenly remembered an impressive display of baseball caps that she’d seen in the gift store.
Smiling to herself, she crossed the road and stepped inside the shop. A bell jangled cheerfully over her head, and Linda, the woman who owned the store, looked up with a smile.
“Good morning, Julia!” she said. “What brings you in today?”
Julia felt herself flushing. She felt almost embarrassed about buying the baseball cap, as
if it were some kind of scandal that she wanted to purchase something out of character for herself. She cleared her throat.
“Good morning, Linda. I’m actually here to buy a baseball cap.”
“Sure thing! I’ve got loads. Go ahead and take a look at the display over there. Maybe that pink one? It would look so cute on you.”
Julia smiled and thanked Linda. She felt relieved that the shop owner hadn’t given her an odd stare or any other kind of surprised reaction. It made her feel as though she could pass for the outdoorsy type after all.
She stepped up to the display. Many of the hats had hunting or fishing jokes printed on the front, and she wrinkled her nose in distaste. She saw the hat that Linda had pointed out to her, and she did find it cute, but she wanted to buy something less girly for herself. If she was going to commit to the bit, she really needed to look more like a tomboy.
She glanced at her watch again, noting that she needed to leave in the next couple of minutes or she would be late for the pub. She finally decided on a light gray baseball cap. It wasn’t very pretty, but at least it would go with all the colors in her wardrobe.
She paid for it, thanked Linda again, and stepped back out into the sunlight. She walked along the sidewalk for a few paces before deciding that she wanted to try on the hat right away. She set down her coffee cup on the windowsill of a law firm that bordered the sidewalk and tried on the hat.
She cocked her head to one side as she inspected her reflection in the law firm’s window. Something about the hat didn’t look quite right. Was it just badly made, so it scrunched up like that?
She shook her head and took the hat off. She put it on again, this time running her ponytail through the hole in the back.
“There,” she muttered. “That looks halfway decent.”
It was at that moment that she realized that the secretary of the law firm was sitting at a desk near the window, blinking at her.
Julia held back a squeak of embarrassment. She froze for a second and then smiled and waved.
She picked up her coffee cup and hurried away, looking down at her watch as she did. She would be right on time for her shift at the pub. Even though there would be no penalty for her being late, since it was her family’s business and she was one of the managers, she hated to be late. She even hated to be right on time—she preferred to be at least fifteen minutes early.
She stepped inside the pub, feeling nervous. She’d been encouraged by Linda’s nonchalant reaction to her wanting to buy a baseball cap, but her family was going to be the real test. She would feel as though she presented a successful picture of a nature girl if her family didn’t bat an eyelash over the new additions to her wardrobe.
As soon as she was inside the bustling dining room, she noticed Alexis just being seated at one of the smaller tables placed by the back windows. Alexis, right in the middle of sitting down, froze when she saw her sister.
Oh no, Julia thought with an internal groan.
Alexis was gaping at her, so hard that it took her a moment to remember to sit down. Finally, she did and then beckoned for Julia to come over to her.
“Good morning,” Alexis said, as soon as Julia reached her side.
“Hi,” Julia said cheerfully, determined to play off her new outfit as totally normal. “How are you?”
“Um, well, I’m here because I’ve been craving our bacon avocado breakfast sandwich so I decided to come here for breakfast. But—um—what on earth are you wearing?”
“What?” Julia felt herself blushing, but she tried to play dumb. She looked down at her outfit. “What on earth are you talking about?”
Alexis cleared her throat and pointed to Julia’s feet. “What’s the big idea with the boots?”
“Why? Don’t you like them?”
“Oh, I like them fine. But they’re making me worried that aliens abducted my sister and replaced her with a robot, because I have never seen you wear anything like that before in your life.”
Julia sighed, realizing there was no point in denying it anymore.
“Fine,” she said, sitting down in the chair across from her sister. “I’m wearing them because I want to make a good impression on Cooper’s parents. I guess they love to hunt and fish and hike and camp and all that stuff, and I didn’t want them to think I was too prissy, you know? I kind of give off a… well… maybe overly-polished vibe.”
Alexis shook her head, chuckling. “I mean, you can’t exactly hide that, Julia. The immaculate makeup job you’ve done to your face is going to be a dead giveaway no matter what you’re wearing.”
Julia wrinkled her nose. “Enjoying all of the artistry that’s involved in makeup doesn’t mean that someone doesn’t like to explore the outdoors.”
“Sure—and I know you do like the outdoors. But not that much. Girl, come on. The last time we all went hiking, you suggested that we drive to the nearest mall and walk around in there instead.”
“It still would have been exercise,” Julia mumbled.
“Besides, don’t you think you should just be yourself when you’re meeting your in-laws? If you’re giving them the impression that you love doing all that stuff, then they’re going to expect you to come out and do those things with them. You really think you’re up for a four-hour trek through the wilderness?”
Julia bit her lip, wanting to kick herself for not thinking of that. “Shoot,” she muttered.
Alexis laughed so hard that Julia had to laugh a little too. The sisters shared a smile, and Alexis wiped away a tear of mirth.
“I mean, you do look really cute in that hat. It’s just not… well, you. And I think you should introduce the real Julia to Cooper’s parents.”
“Can’t real Julia wear hiking boots?”
“I mean, real Julia is currently wearing hiking boots, but considering she’s wearing them as part of a deception, I don’t think it really counts.”
“Ugh, fine.” Julia sighed.
At that moment, Vivian walked up to their table, waving her cell phone. “Look at this,” she said, sounding exasperated. “Those McCormicks have done it again.”
“What?” both girls asked in dismay.
Vivian shook her head and handed her phone to Julia. “Read that social media post. Dean just sent it to me. Now they’re copycatting our famous chicken waffle sandwich. It’s got the same sauces and citrus coleslaw and everything.”
“Those rats!” Alexis looked indignant. “Show me?”
Julia handed her the phone, and Alexis scanned the post.
“Yeah, that’s our sandwich all right.” Alexis shook her head. “But remember what happened last time? They lost business because everyone in town realized they were copycatting us and didn’t want to support them anymore.”
“True, but the tourists won’t know.” Vivian pressed her lips together. “We’re heading into the summer season, and we’re all going to get extra business from out of town. The McCormicks will get more than the rest of us, probably, being so close to the freeway.”
“Don’t worry about it, Mom,” Julia assured her, placing a gentle hand on her mother’s arm. “We’ll just let things take their course. The McCormicks can’t hurt us, I think that’s been proved more than once.”
“That’s the spirit!” Alexis grinned. “Don’t even think about them, Mom. Judd and his sons are always trying to get under your skin and keep that stupid rivalry going. The best thing to do is act as though it doesn’t even bother us.”
“You’re right.” Vivian beamed at her daughters. “Thank you both for lifting my spirits. I’ll just go ahead and push this out of my mind. It’s not worth fretting over.”
“That’s right.” Julia squeezed her mother’s hand. “We—hey! Look, there’s Faith.”
Vivian and Alexis turned around eagerly. Faith had just stepped through the front doors of the pub. She was wearing a sundress and a sweater and looked energetic and content. She caught sight of them a moment later and hurried over with a smile.
“Good morning, ladies! How are—” She paused when she noticed Julia’s boots and baseball cap. “What is with those?” she blurted.
Vivian turned to look at Julia as if noticing her hat and boots for the first time. She appeared equally confused.
Alexis was unable to hide her laughter and sat in her chair chortling. “See? I told you.”
Julia tried to keep a straight face, but a moment later she started laughing as well. “Oh, fine. I bought these to impress my outdoorsy in-laws. I thought they might make a good impression.”
“Um, well, they do look nice,” Vivian said reassuringly. “It’s just that you—well, I remember when you were a kid and you absolutely refused to wear baseball caps.” The corner of her mouth curved upward in amusement.
Julia sighed. “Oh, you’re right. I can’t even fool my cousin, who I just met.” She smiled at Faith, who grinned back sympathetically.
Does this mean I won’t be able to convince Cooper’s parents? she thought. Or would it still be worth a try?