Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
Delilah carefully set a brown paper bag filled with to-go boxes of food into the back seat of Cooper’s car. “Should we bring more?” she asked him.
He shook his head. “The Turners live close by, and so far, we don’t know of anyone else whose cars got damaged. If we find out there are other people who can’t get to us, then we’ll drive out to them too.”
Delilah nodded. “Makes sense.” She wasn’t all that experienced with food herself and had only recently started cooking a little when she’d begun dating Tom, but her chef boyfriend had explained food safety rules to her one day when he was showing her around the kitchen at The Lighthouse Grill.
So far, all of the free meals they’d made and brought over to the other restaurants had either been taken home within a two-hour safety window, or they had been tucked inside a refrigerator.
She and Cooper couldn’t drive around for hours with a stack of to-go boxes, hoping to run into people who hadn’t gotten a chance to make it to The Lighthouse Grill, the McCormick Brewery, or Ocean Breeze Café.
Delilah and Cooper got into the car and started toward the home of Cedric Turner and his wife. Delilah had met the friendly hardware store owner, who owned Turners’ Hardware, on numerous occasions, but she’d never seen his property before, which was rumored to be particularly beautiful.
“They say he has a lot of land and a gorgeous old farmhouse,” Delilah said. “Hazel showed me pictures once of how beautiful it is on the inside. I really hope it hasn’t been too damaged. Have you ever been to the Turners’ house before?”
“I have,” Cooper said. “I’ve come out here with Greener Pastures to do the landscaping quite a few times.
It’s a wonderful property.” Cooper worked for Greener Pastures, a local landscaping business, and he’d had a hand in improving the lawns of many places around town.
“I also really hope it’s not too damaged.
I know that a tree fell on their cars, but I have a feeling the Turners don’t mind that too much as long as their house is okay. ”
They arrived at the Turners’ old mansion a few minutes later. Cedric was waiting for them on the front lawn, looking a little fatigued and pale but with a big smile on his face.
“What’s this?” he said jovially. “Free food delivery? My goodness, I can hardly believe it.”
“How are you doing?” Cooper asked him, shaking his hand warmly before handing him the brown paper bag. “We heard about your cars and your power being out and wanted to make sure you got something hot to eat.”
“I’m grateful,” Cedric said. “Not that it would have been the end of the world, but I was starting to consider eating beans out of a can.” He winked at Delilah conspiratorially, and she grinned.
Does he even know I’m a movie star? she wondered. He treats me the way he treats everyone else. I think that’s my favorite thing about this town. Some people are a little star-struck around me, but they soon get over it and start treating me like a normal person.
She’d soon learned that fame came with many costs, one of which had been always feeling like an outsider unless she was spending time with other rich and famous people, many of whom were absolutely lovely but many of whom were quite the opposite.
Living in Rosewood Beach and getting to feel like just an ordinary woman again had been a sweet blessing that she hadn’t expected to get out of her later years in life.
“How bad is the damage?” Delilah asked, glancing up at the beautiful house, which looked intact to her layman’s eyes. “Is your house all right?”
“Some of our shingles blew off the roof and we had a little flooding in our basement, but it wasn’t too bad.
The real tragedy was that tree falling on our cars.
” Cedric shook his head. “I’ve still got one more—my prized Ford truck.
It’s from the eighties, and I love it even more than my house, although my wife feels differently.
” He chuckled. “That truck is unscathed, thank God, but it’s tucked inside the garage, and we can’t get it out because there are two smashed cars and a tree in front of the garage door.
” He gestured to the driveway with the flamboyance of a comedian.
Delilah laughed, marveling at how easily Cedric made light of his situation. She’d known many people who would have made a mountain of grief over losing less than this—and they were all people who owned even more.
“We also lost some of that beautiful landscaping you did, Cooper,” Cedric said. “Those apple trees you just planted for us got uprooted. They look like they’re trying to grow horizontally now.”
“Why don’t you show me?” Cooper said. “I bet my team and I can swing by tomorrow and put them to rights.”
“Would you?” Cedric asked. “The wife was pretty sad about that. She loves her trees, and truth be told, I think she’s sadder about losing the willow that fell on our cars than she is about losing the cars.”
Cedric took them on a tour of the property, showing them all of the things that had been damaged in the storm.
“Once we get our power back, that’ll make everything seem all right again,” Cedric said.
“And we’ll get a tree removal service out here first, and then a tow truck to get rid of these cars. ”
As they wandered, Delilah admired the beautiful property and simultaneously looked for ways in which she could help with the damage.
Most of what she saw was damage to the landscaping—the freshly-planted young apple trees that had turned nearly onto their sides, and uprooted flowers, along with a destroyed raised vegetable garden bed.
“What’s that?” she asked curiously as they turned around the side of the house. In the back of the Turners’ property was a gorgeous red barn, surrounded by flowers and maple trees.
“That’s the barn,” Cedric said. “I used to do repairs in it, but I don’t use it any more now that the hardware store has grown and takes up all my time. It’s a beauty, isn’t it? That’s another spot that hasn’t been damaged by the storm, thankfully. Come on, I’ll show you around in there.”
Cedric led them inside the barn, pulling open the big door, which creaked pleasantly.
Delilah took a deep breath as soon as she stepped inside the space, which smelled of wood and was clean and airy.
She noticed that it had a wooden floor, and that there was a balcony that ran along the sides of the main room and then turned into a whole loft area at the far end of the barn.
She noticed a couple of bathrooms in the corner of the room, and a row of gorgeous wooden tables lined against the far wall.
“Cedric, this is absolutely breathtaking,” she said, gazing around in awe. “And those windows! They let in so much light.”
“Kind of makes me feel like I’ve traveled back in time,” Cooper said. “It’s a really nice space, Cedric.”
“Thank you.” Cedric smiled at both of them.
“I used to rent it out for events a few years ago, but you have to put out marketing for that sort of thing, and it kind of fell to the wayside. Eventually we want to have some big party for the whole town in here. Maybe a Christmas party, something like that.”
“I bet it works beautifully for events,” Delilah said. “You’ve got that gravel driveway leading straight to it, and I’m guessing that people can park on the lawn to the left of the barn?”
“That’s right.” Cedric smiled. “It’s really magnificent when it’s all decked out.
We got a few electric fireplaces, and when those are placed around the room and turned on, it’s warm and cozy in here and it looks ‘absolutely charming’ as my wife would say.
” He chuckled. “And we’d fill this whole area with tables and chairs—but I think the crowning glory was having strings of lights hung on this staircase and all along the banister.
They twinkled like little galaxies. Some of the events also hung up fabric or greenery or both, and that was especially pretty. ”
“Sounds gorgeous,” Delilah said, envisioning what he was talking about. “It would be so rustic and charming.”
“Absolutely. And speaking of rustic and charming, up there in the hayloft we still have some bales of hay, and that was perfect for weddings—bridal parties would take pictures up there, and with the light coming through the windows, those pictures turned out really nice.”
Delilah turned to Cooper, pursing her lips slightly in thought. An idea had been buzzing in the back of her mind ever since she’d stepped into the barn, and now it was fully formed. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Cooper blinked at her. “Am I?” He appeared confused.
Delilah chuckled. Men never seemed to have weddings on the brain as much as women did. “I have a brilliant idea. We should use this space for Dean and Noelle’s wedding! That is, if you’re okay with renting it out again, Cedric.”
Cedric’s eyebrows lifted in an expression of delight. “Why yes, absolutely. I think that would be wonderful. Did something happen to Dean and Noelle’s current wedding venue?”
Briefly Delilah told him about the flooding that had ruined the young couple’s reception space.
She had gotten coffee with the Owens women right after it happened, in the middle of all their preparation for feeding the community, and she’d learned about it then.
She’d been absolutely heartbroken for Noelle, especially when she’d learned that she had also lost her beautiful wedding dress.
“That couple deserves to be happy,” Delilah said, shaking her head. “They’ve had to wait so long for this wedding. I just hate the idea of something getting in their way again. They shouldn’t have to wait any more to have the wedding of their dreams.”
“I’ve heard about them waiting because of Dean’s surgery.” Cedric shook his head. “I would love to help the two of them out. They’re more than welcome to use this space if that’s what they want.”
“Amazing.” Delilah turned to Cooper with a grin. “Do you think they’ll like the idea?”
Cooper nodded. “I do. I think they’ll be absolutely thrilled.
They’ve already had so many setbacks when it comes to their wedding.
This will come as an unexpected blessing.
And I know they loved their other venue, but they’ve never seen this one before.
I have a feeling they’re going to like this one just as much. ”
Delilah smiled as they stepped back out into the sunshine. Her heart was dancing, and she couldn’t wait to bring the good news of Cedric’s wedding venue to Dean and Noelle.