Page 7 of Return to Rosewood Beach

“Oh, we’re great.” Tom leaned against the wall, grinning. “Still kicking and screaming. And this place is as popular as ever.”

“Mm, more so.” Allison nodded, looking proud. “We’re all getting even better at our jobs, and the reputation of the place is so engrained in the town by now that almost everyone who passes through stops here for dinner.”

“Or lunch. Or breakfast.” Tom lifted his brows.

Julia laughed, realizing how much she’d missed the two of them and their cheerful senses of humor. The sadness of her father’s passing hovered over their conversation, and all of them seemed alert to each other’s feelings, but no one said anything about it out loud for a few moments. Finally, after a long pause, Allison reached out again and hugged Julia around the shoulders with one arm.

“Glad you’re back, kiddo. I’m sorry for the reason why.”

Julia felt a lump rise up in her throat, and she had to blink back a few tears. “Me too.” She nodded, and there was silence between the three of them for a few moments. Tom swallowed, looking at the floor.

“You want to see your mom?” Allison smiled, bringing sunshine back into their conversation.

“Yeah, I do.” Julia took a deep breath, returning Allison’s smile. “Is she in her office?”

“That she is.” Allison gestured to another door at the back of the kitchen, which Julia knew led down a short hallway to her mother’s office at the back of the building. “I’m sure she can’t wait to see you. We should let you keep moving.”

Julia nodded, smiling at them. “I’ll see you both soon. I—I’ll be here for a while.” Her stomach twisted.

At that moment, one of the pans of cooking food made a loud sizzling sound. “And we’ve got to get back to work!” Tom laughed. “We’re going to burn this place down if we’re not careful.”

Julia smiled at them both one more time, and then made her way through the doorway that led toward her mother’s office. The achy feeling in her chest returned as she walked along the wooden floorboards to the white-painted door that had a flower-themed calendar hanging on it.

She knocked softly on it, swallowing. A second later, her mother’s voice called out, “Come on in.”

Julia pushed open the door and saw the familiar desk, covered in papers, and her mother, seated in front of an open laptop.

Vivian Owens looked up and gasped when she saw her daughter. Julia felt tears spring into her eyes as she saw her mother leap up and hurry toward her for a hug. They embraced, holding each other tightly, and as Julia took a deep breath, she realized that her mother had always smelled faintly of honey andlavender. She breathed in the smell, feeling the sense of comfort that only her mother could give to her.

“My girl.” Vivian rocked her back and forth a few times. “I’m so happy to see you.”

Over her mother’s shoulder, Julia could see the internet page that Vivian had been looking at, and it was clearly the website of a funeral parlor. Her heart sank, realizing that her mother was right in the middle of funeral arrangements.

“Can I do anything for you?” Julia asked a little breathlessly as they pulled out of the hug. She was trying not to cry, and she offered her mother a brave smile. “Anything at all?”

“For now, just stand there and let me look at you.” Vivian held her daughter’s shoulders, beaming at her. “You look so elegant. So grown up.”

“I’m thirty-four, Mom. Of course I look grown up.” Julia had to blink back tears again, since the way her mother was treating her like her little girl was bringing back all kinds of sweet memories of her childhood.

Vivian touched her daughter’s cheek and whispered, “Your father was so proud of you.”

Julia couldn’t stop the tears from coming then, and she wiped them off her cheeks. “I’m sorry for not being around much recently, Mom. I wish I had been. I’m sorry.”

Vivian shook her head. “You couldn’t possibly have known what would happen. None of us did. It’s so sad.” She took a trembling breath, and Julia squeezed her hand.

“It is. We all thought we had so many more years with him.”

For a moment, the two of them stood there holding tightly to each other’s hands without speaking.

“But I am sorry, Mom.” Julia’s voice was soft. “I wish I’d been here.”

“Don’t you worry.” Vivian shook her head, giving her daughter a brave smile. “I know you put a lot of effort into yourjob, and that’s why you’re so successful, working at that big company in New York. I bet it’s no time at all until you get a promotion.”

Her mother’s praise felt like a stab to Julia’s heart. She swallowed, wondering if she should come right out and tell her mother what had happened. She hesitated for a brief moment, torn between wanting to be honest and not wanting to feel even worse in that moment than she already did, and then she decided that she would tell her mother soon, but not quite yet.

“How’s everyone else doing?” Julia asked, wanting to change the subject. She took a seat in the chair placed opposite her mother’s desk.

Vivian sighed, sitting down again in her own chair. “Oh, how can anyone really be doing at a time like this? But everyone’s been hanging in there. Dean and Hazel have been helping me with the funeral arrangements ever since—well, ever since it happened—and Alexis arrived from Los Angeles yesterday.”

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