Page 10 of Return to Rosewood Beach

He stood up, and Macey took the hand of the smiling daycare worker who was waiting to lead her inside the building.

“She’s been doing really well,” the young woman said, looking down at Macey with kind eyes. “She’s got lots of friends to play with here.”

“Glad to hear it.” Cooper smiled as he watched Macey and the daycare worker walk into the building together. Macey was babbling incoherently about something, although he thought he heard the words “chocolate milk.”

He sighed as he turned around and headed back toward his truck. He hated dropping her off at daycare, but he was on a jobthat day that required him to leave the office for a while, and keeping her with him would have been impossible. Although he knew that dropping her off at daycare was necessary, he still struggled with feeling uncomfortable about it. He knew that sometimes she felt scared at the daycare and she missed him, and he wished that he could somehow be handling his single father situation better than he was. Sometimes he told himself he should get an entirely different job, one that would allow him to stay with Macey during the day, or perhaps he should get a job that paid better so he could afford a nanny?—

He shook himself. He’d gone over these arguments with himself too many times already. Macey was doing well in daycare, and it was a great place where she could spend time with other kids her own age. He needed to stop doubting himself and focus on the workday ahead of him. Work was how he supported himself and Macey, and work was what he needed to do at the moment.

He was on his way to meet with a man named Judd McCormick, to discuss a landscaping job for a patch of land in Rosewood Beach. He typed the address that Judd had sent him into his GPS and made his way there.

This looks familiar,he thought as he approached the spot, and then he frowned in confusion.

He parked alongside the curb and then double-checked the address. He felt sure he must have come to the wrong spot, somehow. He was right where he had caught the beautiful woman wearing the high heels. In front of him was a cheerful-looking restaurant with a sign next to the front door that read, “The Lighthouse Grill.”

He got out of his car, guessing that there must have been some mistake. This wasn’t a spot for landscaping—the only greenery he could see belonged to the patches of grass placed along the sidewalk, and those belonged to the town.

“You must be Cooper Harris.”

Cooper turned around and saw a stocky man striding toward him along the sidewalk. The man reached his hand out the moment he reached Cooper’s side and offered him a handshake that was so firm it was almost uncomfortable.

“Judd McCormick,” the man said. “Nice to meet you.”

“You as well.” Cooper smiled in a friendly manner, although he had to admit to himself that there was something about Judd that was off-putting. He was middle-aged and handsome, wearing a sleek business suit with a pair of sunglasses tucked into the front pocket. He gave off an energy like a bulldozer, strong and forceful, and Cooper got the impression that he was the kind of businessman who never let anything stand in his way. He guessed that Judd McCormick was both ambitious and ruthless, and the smile on his face looked as insincere as a smile painted on a cartoon advertisement.

“So, what do you think of the place?” Judd asked, turning to The Lighthouse Grill with a satisfied expression. “Nice spot, isn’t it? Central to the town, as you can see. Obviously, there’s not much room for landscaping now, but we plan to add all kinds of fancy additions when we have the land.”

Cooper cleared his throat. “Have they already sold it to you? I don’t see a ‘for sale’ sign anywhere.”

“They haven’t sold it to me yet, but they will.” Judd’s painted-on smile widened. “I want this spot. My family has been cultivating McCormick’s Brewery for many years. Two of my sons, Seth and Brady, work closely with me in the family business, and we’ve made quite a name for ourselves, producing beer to be bought in bulk. We’re at the point where it’s time for us to have a walk-in location, and that’s where this new project comes in.”

“Okay.” Cooper didn’t know what else to say. The wheels of his mind were turning, but he still didn’t know what to make of Judd or the whole situation.

“I wanted to meet with you here today so you could get a look at the spot.” Judd smiled. “Obviously, this whole porch for outdoor seating would be gone, which frees up a lot of space. There’s also a green area in the back of the restaurant which you can’t see from the street. It overlooks the water. It’s a great spot. What would you recommend in the way of landscaping? You know, in order to turn the place into an attractive and functional location?”

“Assuming the purchase of land happens?”

“Oh, it will. What kind of an estimate can you give me on that?”

Cooper nodded hesitantly, still unsure as to why Judd took it for granted that the sale of land was going to happen. “Well, I can give you an idea of the estimate for the landscaping, but as far as the purchase of the land goes, that’s out of my scope.”

“I’m sure everything will be squared away easily as far as that goes.” Judd’s smile was complacent. “Just give me an estimate on the landscaping. We want some gardens, some bushes, good turf, that kind of thing.” For a few minutes, he described in detail what he wanted in regard to the landscaping.

Cooper nodded as Judd went on and on. He took notes as he listened to Judd’s plans, marking down all of the things Judd wanted, along with the quantities or approximate square footage. Once Judd had finished describing his goals for the place, Cooper used his list to quickly jot down an itemized estimate.

“That looks fine.” Judd looked over the estimate, smiling. “Sounds like we have a deal here, Mr. Harris.” He clapped Cooper’s hand into another solid handshake, and Cooper nodded.

“Pleasure doing business with you, sir,” he said, although he wasn’t sure he meant it.

He and Judd talked for a few moments longer—Judd doing most of the talking—and then the men parted ways. Cooper got back inside his car, unable to shake the feeling that something was off about the whole thing.

Just before he turned his key in the ignition, he looked up at the sidewalk and lifted his eyebrows. It was her. The woman who he’d caught the other day in the rain, who’d wobbled as she was getting out of the taxi. The woman who had cost him his coffee, and then had stayed in his thoughts for the rest of the day.

She was walking toward the pub, just like she had been after getting her suitcase out of the taxi the other day. He wondered if she worked there—although he’d never seen a waitress wearing heels like that before.

She must have something to do with that place, if she showed up there with the taxi the other day and she’s there again now, he thought, watching her step casually through the doorway with the familiar energy of a person who had done so a thousand times before.Maybe she changes into different shoes once she’s inside.

He grunted with interest, and then realized he should get going. He turned his key in the ignition, deciding that he needed to make a point of going to The Lighthouse Grill for lunch sometime.

---