Page 37 of Return to Rosewood Beach

She wondered if she could ever leave her life in the city to be with a man like Cooper. Or would he ever consider moving to the city to be with her?

Her head spun with thoughts and happy imaginings as she drove along the streets of Rosewood Beach. She told herself that she didn’t need to have all the answers yet—for right now, she could just let herself feel excited about getting to know him.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Cooper smiled to himself as he tossed a pile of dirty clothes into the washing machine. Ever since he’d run into Julia earlier that day, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her.

His house was filled with the smell of a frozen pizza cooking in the oven for dinner. He always felt a little guilty about making “bachelor food” for meals, but he was also boiling a bunch of broccoli for him and Macey to eat along with their pizza. As he poured laundry detergent into the washing machine, he reminded himself that he needed to check on the broccoli in another few minutes. The last time he’d cooked broccoli he’d burnt it badly.

He started the load of wash, and the laundry room was filled with the sound of water rushing and the machine whirring. He thought to himself that it was like a mirror image of his mind, because there were so many colorful thoughts of Julia whirring and tumbling around inside of him.

He chuckled to himself, remembering how cute she’d looked, all guilty and skittish, and with her hood up. He wondered what she and Hazel had been up to, and he had a feeling that it had something to do with Judd McCormick.

Whatever it was, he felt sure that he was on their side. He knew they wouldn’t do anything illegal, and trying to outsmart someone as slippery as Judd seemed like the sensible thing to do.

I admire her, he thought as he headed back toward the kitchen.She’s out of her element here, but she’s still trying to support her family in a town where she feels a little bit like a fish out of water.

He checked the broccoli and the pizza, and they were both done. Macey was playing with her toys on the carpet in the living room, and he paused to smile at her as he set the kitchen table for dinner. She looked happy, and he crossed his fingers, hoping that they would both get a decent amount of sleep that night.

He added a little cheddar cheese to the steamed broccoli, and then called to his daughter.

“Macey! It’s time for dinner. I made your favorite vegetable.”

“Yay!” Macey stood up and toddled into the kitchen, an excited smile on her face. “Cheese?”

He laughed. Macey despised broccoli on its own, but when he added cheese to it, she loved it. He decided to wait to correct her on the fact that the cheese wasn’t actually the vegetable.

“Yes, with cheese.” He picked her up, kissed her cheek, and placed her in her highchair.

All through the meal, he kept thinking about Julia. He was itching to talk with her, and he was wrestling with the idea of calling her on the phone. He didn’t want to come on too strong too soon, but he told himself that they’d already been on a date and that calling her to talk for a while was a logical next step.

As soon as he’d gotten Macey ready for bed and tucked in, he hurried back to the kitchen, where his phone was resting on the counter. He hesitated for one more instant, his stomach churning with nervousness, and then he dialed Julia’s number.

His heart thumped in his chest as he listened to it ring, and then he heard Julia’s voice say, “Hello?” She sounded happy.

“Hey, Julia, this is Cooper.”

“I know.” She laughed breathlessly a little. “I have your number saved.”

“Oh.” He laughed too. “Of course. That’s how cell phones work, isn’t it?”

“Last time I checked.”

He leaned against the counter, discovering that he had a huge grin on his face. “How’s your night going?”

“Oh, fine. I’m feeling pretty tired. Just sitting here with some decaf coffee trying to read a little.”

“Sounds nice. Are you tired after your sneaky visit to the McCormick place this afternoon?”

“You—how did you know that’s what we were doing?”

He laughed. “I just figured. I know they have a lot of tours over there at the brewery. And honestly, it’s what I’d do if I were in your shoes.”

She chuckled. “Well, guilty as charged. We didn’t get the full tour, though, since it seemed like Judd was starting to recognize us. He was leading the tour.”

“He was? Huh. Guess he likes to brag about his company.” He grinned.

“Oh, it definitely sounded that way.”

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