Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
“Isn’t this fun?” Julia slipped her hand through Cooper’s as they walked down a picturesque sidewalk lined with flower beds. “I love Rosewood Beach, but I haven’t been to Cedar Grove in ages.”
“It’s cute.” He grinned at her. “I like it. It’s bigger and more modern than Rosewood Beach, but it’s still got that laid-back, small town feel to it.”
She nodded. “We used to come here on day trips when I was a kid sometimes because they’ve got a great children’s museum and a jungle gym in one of the parks that’ll just knock your socks off. Not to mention a couple of fabulous ice cream shops.”
Cooper looked eager as he listened to his wife describe all of the things there were for kids to do. “We should bring Macey here,” he said. “We’ll have to wait a few years for that jungle gym, but before you know it, both our kids will be old enough for the monkey bars.”
Julia felt her heart stir with a kind of happy ache. She couldn’t wait to bring her and Cooper’s children there, and the thought of sharing her own childhood memories with them made her tear up a little.
“Are you okay, sweetie?” he asked her with concern, slowing down in his stride.
She nodded, laughing and wiping away a stray tear. “I’m great—I’m so happy that I get to share this place with my kids. With our kids. It kind of helps me feel closer to my dad, you know? Like, I get to keep a piece of him somehow.”
Cooper nodded and wrapped his arms around her. “Yeah, I understand that.”
They walked quietly together side by side for a few moments, and Julia enjoyed the fresh scent of the wind that promised rain. Although the sky overhead was gloomy with dusk, she felt a peaceful kind of joy as she strolled along beside her husband.
“What about this restaurant we’re going to?” he asked her after a few moments. “Did you ever come here with your family?”
“Oh, yes, but not until we were a little older. It’s such a nice place, I think my parents didn’t want to bring a gaggle of raggle-taggle toddlers there.”
Cooper laughed. “Raggle-taggle, huh?”
“Well, not really.” She laughed too. “We were quite a handful, though, when we were all little. Dean and Hazel especially were a couple of well-meaning troublemakers. One time they took a whole bunch of beads from the bead store and my mom didn’t realize until we were back home.
She made them go back with handwritten apology notes—which were pretty short considering they were only six. ”
She and Cooper shared a smile, and she knew that they were both looking forward to being parents together—even when it involved mishaps and unplanned adventures.
“Well, I’m excited to eat here,” he said. “You’ve told me how great the food is.”
She nodded. “It’s gourmet. I mean, I would never want to imply that The Lighthouse Grill doesn’t serve the best food on the east coast, but if we’re talking places that make the time to really prepare something flavorful, this place comes in second.” She winked.
He laughed. “Good. I’m imagining a steak with onions and my taste buds are ready to do a happy dance.”
“It’s called chewing,” she teased, and they both laughed over her silly joke.
They arrived at the restaurant a moment later. It was made of a combination of white stone and siding painted a deep navy blue, and it looked elegant and inviting, especially because of the string lights that had been strung over the outdoor seating area.
They stepped inside and were shown by the hostess to the table that they’d reserved. Hazel and Jacob, who they were meeting there for dinner, were already waiting with big smiles on their faces.
“Hi!” Hazel said, jumping up to give Julia a big hug. “We went ahead and ordered a couple of appetizers. Spinach and artichoke dip and breaded calamari.”
“Oh, stop,” Cooper groaned happily as he sat down. “It smells incredible.”
“Taste it,” Jacob urged him. “I’ve never had calamari before, and this stuff is wild.”
Julia and Cooper dug into the appetizers, both of them amazed by how fresh and vivid the flavors were. After taking a few minutes to peruse the menu, Cooper decided on steak with onions along with sides of broccoli and mashed potatoes, and Julia decided on a chicken Alfredo flatbread pizza.
“What are you going to get?” Julia asked Hazel, who was also peering at the menu with interest.
“I’m not sure—it’s either going to be the pasta with mushrooms and Swedish meatballs, or the beef stir-fry. It all looks so good.”
“I’m going to get the beef stir-fry,” Jacob told her. “Why don’t you get the pasta and then we can share each other’s food?”
“Ah! Yes.” Hazel grinned. “The perks of being married.”
She and Jacob shared an adoring look, and Julia chuckled.
She was overjoyed for her sister, who had recently eloped with Jacob just before they finished renovating their new home together.
Although Julia had initially been disappointed that she and her family hadn’t been at the informal courthouse wedding, they’d all celebrated the marriage at Ocean Breeze Café in a casual but well-attended after-the-fact reception.
It had been a beautiful evening, and many people in Rosewood Beach had been there to celebrate the couple, both of whom were very popular because of their kindness and helpful attitudes.
Julia hadn’t had much time to talk to her sister since Hazel and Jacob had gone on a two-week honeymoon the month before.
She was looking forward to catching up and hearing about their trip, as well as how things were going in their new home.
Since their house was an older one, every once in a while an unexpected issue came up, and Julia was hoping that Hazel and Jacob hadn’t had to deal with any more leaky ceilings or surprise ant nests.
Their waitress came by to take their order, and they ordered their food along with glasses of sparkling water for Hazel and Julia, a whiskey and soda for Cooper, and a craft beer for Jacob.
As soon as their waitress stepped away, Julia turned to Hazel with a smile. “Okay. Tell us all about the honeymoon.”
“It was amazing,” Hazel said, looking dreamy-eyed. “You wouldn’t think that a cabin in the woods would be so romantic, but it was.”
“It was a very nice cabin,” Jacob pointed out. “There’s this big deck overlooking the woods and we would go out there in the morning and watch the sun come up while we drank our coffee.”
“And there was a fireplace and a hot tub and a big, beautiful kitchen—I loved cooking in it whenever we weren’t getting dinner in town.”
“We explored a couple of caves in the area and did a lot of hiking,” Jacob said, “but we mostly just spent time together and relaxed. It was really good to get a break after all the work we’ve been doing.” He laughed.
“Sounds lovely,” Julia said, feeling reminded of her own honeymoon with Cooper and how wonderful it had been. She shared an affectionate glance with her husband.
“We want to go back for our next anniversary,” Hazel said. “And we want to stay there as a family with Samantha sometimes too—you guys could even come with us. There were four beds and a pullout couch, so we could make a little family vacation out of it.”
“That sounds like fun! Speaking of Samantha, how is she liking the new house?” Julia asked. She’d always been fond of her niece, but Samantha had lived with Vivian some days and Julia and Cooper other days during the honeymoon, and she felt closer to the vivacious young preteen than ever.
“She’s just ecstatic about it, as are we,” Jacob said. “She loves the reading nook we made her, and we’ve all really been enjoying watching movies together in the living room since Hazel made it extra cozy in there. Sam keeps wandering around saying, ‘Can you believe we live here?’”
Everyone chuckled, since it was easy for them to imagine Samantha’s enthusiasm.
“Have you had any more issues with the house?” Cooper asked.
“None, thankfully,” Hazel said, “but I do keep thinking of projects I want us to do.” She laughed. “We’ve added bookshelves in the front hallway, and we’re planning on putting in a new bathtub upstairs.”
“We’ve learned that we bond over DIY projects,” Jacob said, grinning at his wife. “We both like doing them, and we make a great team.”
Their food arrived a few minutes later, and after exclaiming over how delicious everything was, they were quiet for a little while as they enjoyed their food. Finally, Julia thought of a new topic that she wanted to discuss with the group.
“You know, Faith’s birthday is coming up,” she said, sounding a touch sly. She felt excited about her schemes for throwing Faith a big party and she hoped that the others would be on board with her plans.
“Oh, that’s right!” Hazel lit up. “I almost forgot. Thanks for the reminder, Julia—you’ve always been so good at remembering everyone’s birthdays.”
“Aw, thanks. I talked to her about it the other day at The Lighthouse Grill, and it sounds like she really hasn’t celebrated it in years, not since her parents passed away.”
“Oh, that’s so sad,” Hazel said. “It must be really hard for her.”
“I can’t even imagine,” Jacob said, shaking his head sympathetically.
“She said she got drinks with friends in the city sometimes, but some years she didn’t even tell them it was her birthday,” Julia continued.
“And I know that this year will be different no matter what since she has us and Ryan now, and I’m really glad about that, but—well, I was thinking. ” Her eyes sparkled, and Hazel laughed.
“Uh oh.” Hazel shook her head, teasing. “Julia wants to plan something. Watch out, world.”
Julia was famous for the way she loved to plan things, which she did very well as a highly organized, imaginative person.
“No need to panic,” Julia quipped. “I was just thinking that since Faith is a part of our family now, we should make sure to throw her a special, memorable party. I want to try to give her some good, new memories surrounding her birthday.”
“That makes a lot of sense,” Cooper said.
“I agree,” Hazel said. “Should we decorate the house for family dinner night and give her presents? And I can bake a cake!”
“That sounds nice, but I was thinking something even more special than that,” Julia said.
“I don’t know, I just want to do something elaborate and fun that really shows her how much we care about—oh!
” She snapped her fingers as she was struck with a thought.
“I just had the best idea. What about a surprise party?”
“Oh, hey!” Jacob said, clearly liking the idea.
Hazel bit her lip, hesitating. “I don’t know, Julia. Surprise parties aren’t for everyone. We threw one for my friend Marcey back in grade school, and it made her cry. Not everyone likes to have that much thrown at them unexpectedly.”
“Well, sure, but she was a kid,” Julia pointed out.
“And Faith is pretty laid-back, and I know she loves to feel appreciated. I think a surprise party is just the thing. It’ll show her how many people want to celebrate her birthday with her and it’ll make her feel really special.
Plus, surprise parties are so much fun for everyone involved. ”
“They are fun,” Cooper said. “And every surprise party I’ve been to made the person we were celebrating really happy.”
“What do you all think?” Julia said, her eyes twinkling.
“I think it’ll make Faith feel really loved and appreciated, since she hasn’t had family for so long.
It’s been years since anyone went out of their way to make her feel special, and I think we should do that for her.
Will you help plan this surprise party with me? ”
“Okay,” Hazel said, her look of doubt shifting into a grin. “It does sound like fun, and you’re right that it’ll make Faith feel special.”
“I’m in,” Jacob said.
“Me too,” Cooper agreed.
“Great!” Julia clasped her hands together, feeling enthused.
“I can’t wait to start planning. We don’t have a lot of time, but it’ll be enough time.
I’ll tell Ryan about our plans straightaway and he can help us.
He’ll probably have to be our decoy, which I’m sure he’s happy to do.
And I know Dean and Noelle are busy planning their wedding, and Dean’s auto shop is usually extra-busy with cars in the spring, but I have a feeling they’ll want to be in on this as well. ”
“I’m sure they will,” Hazel said. “Dean absolutely loves surprise parties—he has ever since we threw him one when he was in high school.”
“So true!” Julia pulled a small notebook from her purse and started jotting down ideas. “I won’t do this all the time during dinner, I promise. I just want to write down a couple of things before I forget and then I’ll put it back in my purse.”
Her family members laughed, and Julia wrinkled her nose.
“What?” she protested.
“You’re not going to be doing it all night, but every time there’s a lull in the conversation you’re going to have another idea and that notebook is going to come out of your purse again,” Cooper said, his smile affectionate. “You might as well leave it on the table.”
“No, I’m not—oh, you’re probably right.” Julia laughed and clicked her pen shut. “I’ll just leave this notebook over here on the side.”
She set it down with a pretend flourish, which made Hazel snort with amusement.
They went back to eating their delicious meal and talking about other things, but sure enough, throughout the rest of the evening, Julia’s quick and eager mind kept thinking about new great ideas for Faith’s surprise party.