Page 39 of Return to Rosewood Beach

“Penny for your thoughts,” Julia teased him, helping herself to a cornbread muffin. “You seem like you’re pretty deep in thought there.”

“Oh, just thinking about the whole Judd McCormick debacle. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just prank him, like Hazel and I used to do when we were kids, and then he’d go away?”

“You mean like Mr. Sanders?” Vivian asked, the familiar maternal sternness in her voice.

Dean threw back his head laughing. “You remembered!”

“How could I forget my children covering the car of one of our neighbors with plastic spiders?” Vivian said, still frowning, although she seemed to be trying to repress a smile.

“He was so mean.” Hazel laughed, shaking her head. “He was always yelling at us.”

“And then he moved away, right after the spider incident.” Dean grinned triumphantly.

“He moved away to be with his sister in Florida,” Vivian said, shaking her head and laughing.

“And because of the plastic spiders, I’m convinced.” Hazel tapped her chin. “Do we still have those somewhere?”

Julia shook her head, amused by her siblings. She made eye contact across the table with Alexis, who was laughing quietly into her glass of sparkling water.

“I don’t think pranks are going to fix the Judd McCormick problem,” Julia said. “But something needs to be done, for everyone’s sakes. It’s clear that any kind of brewery wouldn’t be as popular as the pub is, even if they make it a kind of restaurant.” Julia shook her head. “It’s like he thinks our location is all he needs, but he wouldn’t have our recipes or ourcooks or anything that makes The Lighthouse Grill feel homey to all our regulars.”

“The brewery is all stark and modern,” Hazel said. “Not at all attractive. I bet Judd would try to make his new building look like that too.”

“That wouldn’t suit the people here,” Vivian agreed, looking thoughtful. “People in Rosewood Beach like comfort. It’s such a beautiful town—some ugly modern building is hardly going to attract people’s respect.”

“So we need to fight to stay,” Julia said, looking around at all of her siblings. “We don’t want Rosewood Beach to lose its favorite restaurant to something that isn’t going to be as popular. Judd thinks he’s got it all figured out, but the sale would end up being a bad thing for him too, I’m sure.”

“How do you know all this?” Dean asked, looking confused.

“Uh, we might have spied a little.” Hazel grinned.

“What?” Vivian asked, sounding alarmed, and Julia and Hazel were quick to reassure her.

“We didn’t do anything we shouldn’t have.” Julia chuckled, remembering their hoods. Her stomach glowed with happiness when she thought of Cooper calling her “cute” during their phone call earlier that night.

“We just went to the McCormick brewery and went on part of a tour. We meant to go on the whole thing, but then Judd started looking at us like he recognized us.” Hazel wrinkled her nose. “We put our hoods up so we?—”

“You put your hoods up?” Dean threw his head back, crowing with laughter. “Hey, look at us, we’re not conspicuous at all!”

Hazel balled up her napkin and threw it at him. He dodged it calmly, still laughing. Vivian and Julia were laughing, too, and even Alexis was starting to giggle.

“We did look pretty silly.” Julia grinned. “But I think it worked—for the most part.”

“You’re full-fledged spies now.” Alexis wiped a tear away, shaking with laughter. “Will you be offering your services for hire?”

“Oh, for sure.” Hazel grinned. “Next time I’ll even wear a color other than bright blue.”

Everyone around the table continued to laugh. Although the situation was funny, their laughter had an almost wild quality to it, as if their emotions were ready to indulge in a release from sorrow. Julia smiled to herself, glad that her and Hazel’s escapade had served to lighten the atmosphere.

“So we need to save the pub,” Hazel said, bringing the conversation back to where it needed to be.

“We need to do everything we can,” Julia agreed. “And I thought of something that should be able to help us, earlier.” She paused, wondering how exactly she should phrase her idea.

“What?” Dean prompted, leaning forward. He looked excited, and she smiled at him, feeling a rush of affection for his energetic spirit.

“We need a loan in order to make up for the money that Dad lost in gambling.” Julia spoke slowly, choosing her words carefully. “Alexis, would Grayson consider giving us a loan?”

Everyone turned to Alexis, whose face had gone white. Julia’s lips parted, wondering why her sister suddenly looked ashen when she had been laughing only a few moments before.

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