Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Thank you, Stacey,” Julia said, grinning at the owner of Seaside Sweets Bakery. “We appreciate you doing this for us.”
“Oh, no problem.” Stacey looked up from the notebook where she’d just finished jotting down a final note.
“I love the idea of a surprise party for Faith. She’s one of my favorite customers, always so sweet.
I’m delighted to provide the desserts for the party.
Do you want to add any more to the list? ”
Julia considered for a moment, and her eyes traced over the display case, where various delectable pastries were arranged neatly.
“No, I think that should be it. Cream puffs, chocolate croissants, and raspberry cupcakes are her favorites. I guess—could you dye the cupcake frosting pink and purple? Like, pastel shades of both? Those are the color schemes for the party.”
“Oh, sure, sounds fun.” Stacey smiled and made another note.
After Julia and Stacey had decided on a price, Julia said goodbye and stepped back out into the spring sunshine. She’d purchased a latte at the bakery, and she sipped it as she strolled along the sidewalk.
She still had some time before she needed to be anywhere, and she decided to stop by Main Street Auto to tell Dean about everything she and Cooper had planned for the surprise party.
There were still a lot of elements of the celebration that they weren’t sure about yet, and she wanted to get Dean’s opinion on those.
The walk to the auto repair shop was short and pleasant. Julia took a route along the water, and the wind blowing in from the ocean smelled salty and invigorating. When she arrived at Main Street Auto, the front lobby was empty, but she saw that the door to Dean’s office was ajar.
She hurried over to it and knocked. “Hey! Guess who?”
There was a pause, and then Dean called out, “Come in.”
Julia slipped inside his office, which was fairly plain but tidy. There were pictures hanging on the wall of Dean and their family, and of Dean and Noelle. Julia had always liked her brother’s office, and she felt proud of how well he had done for himself as a businessman.
“Hi, Dean.” She sat down in the chair across from his, feeling caffeinated and energized about the party.
“I wanted to stop by and talk with you about the plans for Faith’s surprise party.
I just stopped by Seaside Sweets Bakery and ordered all of Faith’s favorite desserts.
We’re going to have raspberry cupcakes with light pink and purple frosting, chocolate croissants, and cream puffs. ”
“Sounds delicious,” Dean said, smiling.
“It does! And we need your help deciding on a theme. We wanted to do something quirky that Faith would love. We’ve got floral décor and pastel pink and purple for the color scheme for the plates and things like that, but for games and some of the other decorations we were thinking about picking some kind of fun party theme.
Like what about a 1920’s Great Gatsby theme?
We could all dress up like flappers and people from the twenties, and then after Faith arrives we could have a costume for her that she could change into.
Or—Cooper suggested this, and I think it really might be more fun—a Star Trek theme?
We could have Star Trek episodes playing on the TV in the background, and maybe we could still try costumes for that, and we could have people play space chess or other Star Trek themed games.
I’m not sure which would be better—Faith has always had a thing for the flapper era, but lately she’s gotten so obsessed with Star Trek. What do you think?”
She looked at Dean expectantly, expecting him to be grinning and to immediately have a strong opinion, probably in favor of Star Trek, which he also loved.
Instead, however, Dean seemed as though there was something weighing him down.
His smile looked forced, and his skin was pale and there were circles under his eyes.
“Sounds like fun,” he said. “I don’t really know what Faith would like best, though.”
“Dean.” Julia stood up and hurried over to her brother’s side of the desk. She sat down on the edge of the desk next to his chair and touched his arm. “Are you okay? You seem down.”
Dean swallowed, and Julia could tell that he was trying to figure out how to phrase what he had to tell her. Her heart sank, and she felt afraid that it was bad news.
“I just went to the doctor,” Dean said. “It was supposed to be a routine check-up, but it turns out that the extra fatigue I’ve been feeling lately hasn’t just been a fluke thing.
He said my arthritis is really getting worse, and that physical therapy and rest aren’t enough to deal with it anymore. ”
“Oh, Dean,” Julia whispered sympathetically, her heart going out to her brother.
He gave a half-hearted shrug. “He said that the best option is for me to undergo surgery in a few places—in my hands, and in my knees. Those are the places where the arthritis is the worst.”
“Surgery?” she echoed, not at all liking the thought of Dean having to get surgery in his hands. “Aren’t there any other options?”
Dean shrugged again. Julia could tell that he was trying to put a brave face on everything but that he felt extremely discouraged by the news.
“The doctor told me that I can try continuing physical therapy and that I might be able to adjust my medications to regulate the pain. But he said that even if that works, it’s probably only going to work for so long. ”
Julia nodded, biting her lip. “But it might work. And he doesn’t know for sure that it’ll stop working after a while. Why don’t you give that a try before making any drastic decisions?”
Dean gave her a sad smile. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea. I just don’t want to think about this right now. My and Noelle’s wedding is about to happen, and I don’t want all of this overshadowing the joy of that.”
Julia nodded, feeling that the whole thing was heartbreaking. Dean didn’t deserve to have to deal with the trials he was facing, especially during the time that he was about to marry the woman of his dreams.
“This doesn’t have to overshadow the joy of your wedding,” she told him, squeezing his shoulder.
“You just try a different medication and stick with your physical therapy—and try getting even more rest than usual. I bet it all works out, and you don’t even have to think about your osteoarthritis on your wedding day. ”
Dean smiled at her, and his smile finally looked genuinely happy.
“Thanks, Julia. You’re right. Getting discouraged isn’t going to do me any good.
So…” He took a deep breath and smiled again.
“Let’s get back to discussing these themes.
Tell me more about what games you’re thinking could go with a Star Trek theme. ”