Chapter 5
It was the beginning of May and mere weeks from the full-on tourism season.
To prepare, the Bluebell Cove City Council arranged for a meeting for all tourism-adjacent business owners to discuss the summer season, as well as this year’s Christmas Festival, which was going to be bigger and better than ever.
It boggled Theo’s mind to think of Christmas.
He wasn’t sure his restaurant would make it through summer, let alone all the way to December.
He guessed that many residents of Bluebell Cove felt the same about his restaurant, The Dockside.
He’d heard more than one person say they were surprised he’d kept it running this long.
A few others had said, “Oh, I thought that closed down years ago! I should really make it back in.” But they never did.
The meeting at city hall was set for seven o’clock on a Sunday evening.
Because his manager and part-time chef Ben had plans that evening, Theo decided to close early—disappointing nobody, he knew.
The walk from The Dockside to city hall took no longer than fifteen minutes, and as he went, he spotted several other tourism-adjacent business owners headed in his same direction.
A few of them waved at Theo, but nobody came over to walk along with him. Theo guessed that his bad luck and lack of business prowess felt like a disease to them. They didn’t want it to rub off on them. He felt his shoulders slouch forward but told himself to stay strong.
When he reached city hall, he glanced rightward to find Celia Harper, of all people, standing with her boyfriend, the biologist Landon.
Celia brightened when she spotted him. Although she was a good deal older than he was, he remembered going over to the Harper house as a kid, scrambling around the living room and the backyard of the Bluebell Cove Inn, making a mess of things with Juliet.
Celia and Ivy had always kept tabs on them, looking worried and older than their years should have allowed.
Losing their mother so young had affected them greatly.
“Theo!” Celia said, shaking her head and coming over to shake his hand. “I can’t believe I haven’t run into you yet.”
Theo smiled. The truth was, he’d spotted Celia several times over the past year since James Harper had died and pulled the Harper sisters back together again.
But he hadn’t dared get too close, for fear of seeing Juliet.
He wasn’t the kind of guy to put his heart at risk, not with such a volatile woman, not after everything that had happened.
“Good to see you. I love the work you’ve done on the Eco-Lodge,” Theo said.
Celia blushed. “I can’t believe I’m back in town. It’s been a whirlwind. Even Ivy and I get along these days. Can you believe that?”
Theo laughed, remembering Ivy and Celia’s screaming matches on the back porch of the Bluebell Cove Inn. Their father had always reprimanded them, telling them that they had to behave themselves in front of the guests.
“That’s wonderful,” Theo said.
“Juliet’s been in and out,” Celia said timidly. “But we haven’t heard from her in a little while.”
“That’s her way, I guess,” Theo said.
Celia shrugged. “She’s a wild card. Always has been.”
Theo wanted to say that that was a nice way of putting it, but he decided against it.
“Listen,” Celia said. “We were thinking of having a family dinner somewhere soon. Do you have space at your restaurant?”
Theo wanted to curl up and die. He hated thinking of himself as a charity case. But he also wasn’t in a position to reject restaurant reservations.
“I think we can arrange something,” he said. “When were you thinking?”
Celia thought for a second, then said, “Around the end of May, I guess? I can give you a call when I know more details.”
“Perfect.”
It was time for the meeting. Theo followed Landon and Celia inside, where they grabbed seats and listened to a very long introduction from the mayor of Bluebell Cove.
Theo felt his eyelids fluttering. But soon, one of the higher-ups on the tourism board—Calvin Parish—got in front of the podium and actually said Theo’s name aloud.
“It’s come to our attention that many restaurants and hotels in Bluebell Cove may not be representing our beautiful town as well as they could be,” Calvin said.
“For example, the Lisbon Hotel off Massachusetts Avenue has needed a fresh coat of paint for about three years now. Mark, get on that before the tourists roll in, won’t you?
” Mark bowed his head, looking like a tortured child in a classroom.
But Calvin soon moved on to Theo. “And Theo Maddox.” Here, he paused and traced his teeth with his tongue. “Theo, we’ve got a whole list for The Dockside. Shall we send you an email? Or is a physical letter better?”
Theo flared his nostrils. He felt nearly one hundred pairs of eyes on him, judging him.
“Why don’t you tell me now?” Theo suggested.
Calvin gripped the podium, annoyed. “I don’t want to waste this council’s time by nitpicking you.
We’ve got another big list of things to do.
But suffice it to say, if you don’t get that restaurant in gear, I don’t know what we’ll do.
The Christmas Festival is taking a different direction this year, and as mentioned, we’re expecting about four times as many tourists as in previous years.
I know you’re young, and you probably think preparing for the Christmas Festival as early as May is illogical.
But you have to trust us bigwigs. We know what we’re doing.
” He winked, which turned Theo’s stomach.
* * *
Long before the meeting was over, Theo got to his feet and left.
Leaning against the brick facade of the old building, he gasped for breath and told himself to calm down.
It wasn’t that everyone in Bluebell Cove had it out for him.
They liked his food. At least, they’d liked it before they’d decided to turn their backs on it.
Theo still couldn’t fathom why that had happened.
Was he really so unlikable? Did they think it was weird that he wasn’t married anymore? Did he not “fit” into small-town life?
This was ironic, Theo knew, as he’d always wanted to belong in Bluebell Cove. He hadn’t followed his restaurant dreams all the way to their zenith, if only because he’d wanted to stay close to home.
But had he gotten lazy in the interim? Had his failed marriage and his failed life stitched their way into his restaurant? Was there an air of failure to everything he did?
He still remembered his first days of cooking.
He’d been seven or eight, maybe, when he’d first begun experimenting in the kitchen (under the watchful eye of his mother, of course).
He remembered making Juliet a grilled cheese sandwich with three different cheeses and roasted onions.
Juliet had had a more advanced palate than most other eight-year-olds (at least, that was what he told himself at the time), and she’d gobbled up everything he’d invented—even the zaniest stuff.
“I’m going to cook for you forever,” he’d told her once. They were twelve years old, sitting on the front porch of his old house, their bellies full from a very difficult pasta dish he’d made.
Juliet had smiled sleepily at him. “Forever is a long time,” she’d said. “What about when I’m a famous model? Will you still cook for me then?”
“You’ll need me,” he’d said. “You think anyone in that crazy world of fame is going to look out for you? It has to be me.”
Juliet had rolled her eyes. And then, abruptly, she put her hands on either side of his face, leaned over, and kissed him.
The kiss had rocketed through Theo’s body.
It had made his soul shake. When it was over, he’d gaped at her, but she’d already gotten up from the porch swing, stretched her arms over her head, and said she needed to get back. “Ivy will freak if I’m not home soon.”
That kiss had had a real effect on Theo, one that he sometimes regretted.
In the weeks, months, and years that followed that kiss, Theo had pined after Juliet, aching for her to kiss him again.
He’d never gotten it into his mind that he could kiss her first because he’d felt a boundary drawn between them.
And he’d kept himself awake late at night, wondering if he’d kissed her poorly, or if his breath had stunk too much of garlic.
Juliet still came over all the time for food, and they went to the movies and hung out at school and ate their lunches together.
But they never kissed again.
Many years later, when Juliet and Theo were twenty-four years old and Theo was married to someone else, Theo got a late-night call from a number he didn’t recognize. With his wife in the next room, Theo answered it and was surprised to hear a groggy Juliet on the other line.
He hadn’t heard her voice since they were eighteen years old. Panic, shock, and happiness shot through him. Hearing her voice again was almost the same as kissing her that first time when they were twelve. He’d collapsed on the sofa and said, “Juliet, how are you?”
Juliet had giggled. “I’m getting married tomorrow!”
Theo’s heart had thudded. “Congratulations,” he said. “Who’s the lucky guy?”
“Alvin,” Juliet said. “His name is Alvin, and he’s a lawyer.”
“A lawyer?” Something about this felt off to Theo, who’d always imagined Juliet marrying a successful filmmaker or artist or something like that. Someone worthy of her spirit.
“He’s very in love with me,” Juliet said, then giggled again. “I drank too much champagne.”
Theo smiled into the phone. He told himself not to read into why Juliet was calling him on the night before her wedding to Alvin the lawyer. But he couldn’t help himself.
He guessed she wasn’t happy. That, or she was feeling nostalgic about not having either of her childhood best friends at her wedding. At this thought, Theo’s heart sank.
“You know, tonight for the rehearsal dinner, we had course after course after course,” she said.
“It was French food, and it was divine, it really was. But for some reason, I couldn’t stop thinking about all that food you used to make me.
I still think that was some of the best food I’ve ever had in my life. Isn’t that crazy?” She laughed.
“I went to culinary school,” Theo said. “I hope I’m a little bit better than I used to be.”
Juliet groaned. “Oh, Theo. I would love to taste your food!”
Theo’s heart felt like it was cracking into a thousand pieces. “I’m about to open my own restaurant. I’m calling it The Dockside.”
Juliet laughed. “Is it right by the docks?”
“How did you know?”
“I bet it’s beautiful,” Juliet said. “I used to love how the light hit the water right there by the docks. Remember how we used to watch fireworks there on the Fourth?”
“How could I forget?” Theo murmured.
Silence fell between them. If Theo wasn’t mistaken, he guessed that Juliet was thinking about Callie, about the other person who’d so often been around when Theo and Juliet had hung out.
Theo and Juliet had never talked about what had happened. They hadn’t had time. Juliet had skipped town almost immediately, and Theo had buried his sorrow and anger deep down.
“I’d better go,” Juliet said suddenly, breaking the spell.
Theo searched his mind for something to keep her on the line a little while longer.
But he knew that talking like this was dangerous.
He didn’t want to fall back into his silly teenage fantasies.
He was married to a wonderful woman. He had a life that was all his own—here in Bluebell Cove, just as he’d always imagined.
“Juliet,” Theo began. But she’d already hung up.