Page 18 of Sea Glass Serenade

“Oof. Now that you put it like that, maybe I’d better write a letter.” Hazel laughed. “That sounds terrifying.”

Alexis shook her head. “I don’t think you should take Dean’s advice. No offense to our brother, but for all his excellent looks, he doesn’t have a girlfriend and is also on my list of people who need relationship help.”

“You have a list, huh?”

Alexis laughed. “It’s short, don’t worry. I’m not planning on becoming involved in the love lives of strangers. Just my siblings.”

Hazel grabbed a handful of popcorn, unable to keep from laughing. “Well, I hope for my and Dean’s sakes that you turn out to be a really gifted matchmaker.”

Alexis crossed her arms. “Don’t you worry about a thing. We’re going to come up with something really great here.”

Hazel smiled at her sister, feeling a glow of gratitude. “I hope you’re right. And thank you both, honestly. I know I’m being all skittish and complaining about this, but the truth is I don’t think I could do it without you. It really helps to have you nudging me forward. I feel like you’ve got my back.”

“We absolutely do.” Alexis leaned over and gave her sister a hug.

“Yeah, Mom, we do.” Samantha smiled at her mother.

“Thank you, guys.” Hazel smiled and let out a sigh. “Okay, let’s do this. What other ways could I tell Jacob I like him?”

Dean placed his hands on the steering wheel as if he was trying to brace himself. He felt stunned, almost as if he’d been punched in the stomach.

He was sitting outside the doctor’s office, having just finished an appointment. Sunlight was gleaming on the cars surrounding him in the parking lot, and overhead, the sky was a brilliant blue. Despite the beauty of the day, Dean felt slightly chilled.

I can hardly believe it’s true,he thought, thinking of the bad news he’d received.I’d just kept writing off my joint pain and exhaustion as a result of working too hard.

He swallowed. Now he knew that wasn’t true. He felt a little bit as though he was dreaming—as though he might suddenly wake up and find out that his bad news wasn’t really his reality.

He thought of the pitying look in the doctor’s eyes, and her gentle tone of voice when she’d told him. He ran his fingers through his hair, wondering what he should do next. He felt overwhelmed, and not ready to share his news with anyone yet.

At that moment, his cell phone began to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket in a daze and saw that it was Hazel calling. For the first time in his life, he didn’t feel like talking to his twin, but he answered the call anyway.

“Hey, Hazel.”

“Hey, Dean!” She sounded energetic—thrilled even. “Do you have a second?”

“Sure.” He forced a smile onto his face, because he didn’t want her to hear in his voice that he was upset. “What’s up?”

“Well, Jacob’s been here fixing a pipe for me.”

“A pipe? Soon he’ll have fixed everything in your house. I think he likes you.”

“Thank you for saying that. Because that’s why I’m calling. Alexis and Samantha convinced me to work up the courage to ask him out. And I’m going to do it.”

“That’s great. That’s awesome, Hazel.”

“Thank you! I feel like I’m dreaming or something. Of course he might not say yes. But if he does—I’m going to feel like I’mover the moon. It’s scary, but I know it’s worth it to take this step. I’ll always regret it if I don’t.”

“I’m proud of you.” He meant the words, but he was so tired that he was having trouble sounding enthusiastic. He didn’t want Hazel to realize how he was feeling, because he wasn’t ready to share with her what he had just learned from the doctor. “That’s awesome. Let me know what he says, okay? Although I’m sure he’ll say yes.”

“I hope you’re right.” She laughed breathlessly, and he couldn’t help smiling a little bit. He was glad she was so happy. She seemed jittery and nervous as well as excited, and he guessed that if her own emotions weren’t putting her into such a daze, she would have picked up on his deflated mood. Thankfully, she seemed completely unaware that he was struggling to speak.

“Well, I can let you go.” She sounded like she was grinning from ear to ear. “I just wanted to give you that update. I also figure that the more people I tell, the more I’ll be held responsible for actually asking him out. Hopefully this way I don’t chicken out at the last minute.” She laughed.

“I’m sure you won’t. You’ve got this. You absolutely can do this. I can’t wait to hear about how it goes. You just tell yourself you can do it, and then have the courage to go through the motions.”

He thought to himself with a pang that he wished his own situation was that easy. He felt as though he didn’t know what to do moving forward, although it was without question that he was going to need a lot of courage.

“Thank you, twin. That’s good advice. I’ll keep telling myself I can do it. I’ll let you go! Talk to you later. Love you!”

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