Chapter 8 #2
Faith strolled across the dining room toward Julia, her round, expressive face lit up with a radiant smile. Her curvy figure was highlighted by her well-fitting jeans and her light blue cardigan, and her long wavy hair tumbled down her back.
“Hey, you.” Julia stood up to give her cousin a hug. “You look great today. Are you hoping to impress Ryan?”
“So do you,” Faith said warmly, blushing a little at the mention of her boyfriend, Ryan McCormick.
When she’d first come to Rosewood Beach, she hadn’t been sure if she was going to stay or not, but once she’d met the handsome construction site manager, she’d known that she wanted to spend her future in the charming, close-knit little town.
“And no, I’m just dressing like this for myself. I’m always happy to see Ryan, though.”
Julia grinned. When the Owens family had first learned that Faith was dating a McCormick, they’d been perturbed and unsure of how to take the news.
Judd McCormick, Ryan’s father, ran a local brewery in town and had set himself up as a rival of The Lighthouse Grill even though Vivian had never wanted to compete with the brewery.
He’d gone so far as to bully the Owens family through his competitive tactics, and his sons Seth and Brady, who ran the brewery with him, had participated in the one-sided feud.
It had soon become clear, however, that Ryan was cut from a different cloth than the rest of his family.
He was kind and thoughtful, and once the Owens saw how tenderly he treated Faith, they had no more reservations about him.
Since Faith and Ryan began dating, Ryan had been able to help bridge the divide between the two families, and it had been months since Judd had tried any competitive schemes against The Lighthouse Grill.
“Go ahead and sit down,” Julia told her cousin cheerfully. “You want some of my fries?”
“Oh, yes please. Are you sure you don’t mind?” Faith plopped down into the booth on the opposite side from Julia.
“Not at all. You know how generous Tom and Allison both are with the waffle fries. I always need some help clearing my plate.”
Faith popped one of the waffle fries into her mouth with a grateful smile. “Mm. Whoever figured out that you could make something this tasty out of potatoes is my hero. And I already love potatoes.”
Julia chuckled. “I can agree with you there.”
“Wedding planning?” Faith asked, gesturing toward Julia’s planner.
Julia nodded. “Yup. I’m slowly chipping away at this to-do list.” She laughed. “It’s all good, fun work but it does seem like it’s never-ending.”
“You can do it.” Faith smiled. “And remember, we’re all happy to help out like we did with the invitations. That was a lot of fun.”
“You’re right, thank you. I need to keep that in mind—I don’t have to do everything myself all the time. I mean, obviously, Cooper is helping with a lot, but I tend to put all the work on my plate. I like to know that things are getting done the way I want them done.” She shook her head.
“I hear that.” Faith laughed. “But you’ve got a good team of people around you. It’s not like one of us is going to order you carnations for your wedding bouquets when you asked for a blend of wildflowers and roses.”
Julia grinned. “You’re right. And actually, I just got off the phone with the florist. I did pick a blend of wildflowers and roses—are you a mind reader or something?”
Faith bowed. “Maybe—but I probably just heard you mention it sometime.”
“We do talk about the wedding a lot. Sorry.”
“No, I love it! It helps me imagine what my wedding might look like someday.” Faith’s eyes sparkled.
Recently she’d been worried that Ryan didn’t share her hopes of one day making a life-long commitment, but when she’d finally mustered the courage to speak with him about it, he’d assured her that he loved her so much he’d changed his mind about being interested in marriage.
Although they were still taking their relationship slowly, everyone could see they were headed in that direction.
Faith and Ryan were absolutely devoted to each other.
“What else do you have left to do? Any really big items on the checklist?”
“No, thankfully it’s all little stuff at this point. Now that we’ve booked our reception venue, we’ve got all of the major planning items off the list.”
“Hey, speaking of reception venues, have you heard of that new place, Turtle Dove Hall? Lindsay is one of my good friends from book club, and I just got off the phone with her. It’s a total disaster over there.” Faith shook her head.
Julia froze. “What do you mean? Did something happen?”
“Yeah.” Faith winced sympathetically. “I guess she’s been frantically trying to get a hold of Jacob, and she even went down to his office but he wasn’t there, which is weird for him. Usually he’s so good about getting back to people.”
“Yeah.” Julia frowned, agreeing that was strange behavior for her sister’s partner. “But why was she trying to get a hold of him? What happened?”
Julia was envisioning small issues, like a fridge that needed a tune-up or a light switch that had stopped working. When Faith answered her question, however, she gasped in alarm.
“I guess a pipe burst.” Faith shook her head. “They weren’t expecting that cold snap we just had last night, and the heat wasn’t on enough to protect the pipes. It sounds like it’s really a disaster and they’re going to have to shut the place down for a long time. I feel so bad for Lindsay.”
“Oh no!” Julia shot to her feet, grabbing her purse and getting ready to race out the door. “That can’t be true! That’s the venue Cooper and I just booked for our wedding!”
“Oh no!” Faith echoed.
“Finish my fries,” Julia said as she stuffed her planner into her purse. “I’m going down there.”
She saw Faith give her a sympathetic look before she turned and ran out of The Lighthouse Grill. Her car was in the parking lot, and she scrambled inside it and drove straight to Turtle Dove Hall.
When she arrived at the building, which used to be a factory in the eighteen hundreds and had a beautiful red brick exterior, she noticed both Cooper and Jacob’s cars in the parking lot.
She guessed that Lindsay had finally gotten a hold of Jacob and that Jacob had called Cooper, knowing that Turtle Dove Hall was his and Julia’s wedding venue.
She could understand why neither of them had reached out to her—they didn’t want her to be upset.
And I am upset, she thought, biting her lip as she hurried up the steps toward the front door. It’s going to take everything in me to not burst into tears when I get in there. I can’t believe our perfect reception venue has been ruined.
She opened the front doors and hurried into the main room.
The first thing she noticed was Cooper, Jacob, and Lindsay standing together by the entryway, looking worried.
Then she saw the floor of the venue, which was covered in water and chunks of plaster.
She looked up at the ceiling, which had once been a beautiful antique tile design, and was now splitting and cracked and dripping water.
Jacob noticed her over his shoulder first. “Julia!” he said in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
Cooper and Lindsay turned around. Julia went straight for Cooper’s arms, wanting a hug and also wanting to hide the tears that had sprung into her eyes despite her best efforts.
“Faith told me about the pipe bursting,” Julia said after a moment, during which she’d managed to pull herself together. “I wanted to stop by and see how bad the damage is. I’m so sorry, Lindsay.”
“Well, we’re insured,” Lindsay said with a sigh, “but we can’t host any events until everything’s repaired. We’ll be losing money that way, that’s for sure.”
“You’ll make it up soon, don’t worry,” Cooper assured her. “This place is incredible. I know you’re going to get all kinds of bookings.”
“How long do you think it’ll take to repair everything?” Julia asked Jacob, wondering if the others could see the way her bottom lip was trembling.
Jacob shrugged. “I can’t know for sure until I get a look above the ceiling. This could be a really big job. If it’s something I can’t handle myself, who knows how long it’ll take the contractors to do it.”
“But everything is going to be fine,” Cooper said soothingly, turning to Julia as if he could read her mind. “There’s no need to panic. We’re going to figure this out.”
She forced a smile. “You’re right. No need to panic.”
She felt devastated, however. She felt as though her dreams of having the perfect wedding inside the beautiful venue had been dashed.
She stayed to talk with Lindsay, Cooper, and Jacob for a few more minutes.
They all expressed their sympathy to Lindsay and offered to do whatever they could to help her.
She thanked them, saying that the delay would allow her to focus on promoting her business and securing reservations for the next couple of years.
Julia was glad to see that Lindsay was taking it all in stride and able to look on the bright side.
She wished that she herself wasn’t consistently in danger of starting to cry again.
She finally glanced down at her watch and realized that her lunch break was long over.
“I’ve got to get back to the pub,” she apologized. “Keep me posted, would you?”
“We will,” Jacob assured her, and Cooper gave her another big hug before she slipped out the front doors.
On her drive back to the pub, she let herself cry a little. She felt a little silly, since she knew there were so many far more important things in life, but she couldn’t help feeling deeply disappointed by the unexpected setback. She’d fallen so in love with the beautiful venue.
By the time she returned to The Lighthouse Grill, it was packed with customers.
“You’re back!” Vivian said with relief, greeting her at the front doors. “We weren’t sure where you were. Could you jump onto waitressing during the rush?”
“Sure.” Julia did her best to look cheerful, since she didn’t want to tell her mother about the burst pipe and her deep disappointment yet. She would be in danger of starting to cry all over again, and she didn’t want that.
“Thank you, honey. Where were you?” Vivian asked as they walked back to the kitchen together.
“Oh—I ran out to say hello to Cooper quick. He was nearby.”
Vivian smiled and didn’t ask any more questions. Julia sighed as she donned an apron. She knew that waiting tables might be a good way to distract herself from her disappointment, but she felt as though she barely had enough mental or emotional energy for the job.
Come on, Owens, she thought, time to pull yourself together. Focus on the task at hand.
She forced herself to smile, which helped elevate her mood a little. Once she was out in the dining room assisting customers, her spirits were bolstered even more. It helped her to focus on something else, and to interact with friendly, familiar faces.
In the back of her mind, however, her disappointment lingered. She simply couldn’t believe that her dream venue had been wrecked so unexpectedly, and she wondered what on earth she and Cooper were going to do.