Page 33 of Sea Glass Serenade

For a few heartbeats, neither of them said a word.

“And, Julia?”

“Yeah?” She looked up, thinking to herself how much she loved her funny, kind-hearted, brave brother.

“I know you all love me, and that I need to tell the rest of the family soon. But… for now, I want to keep living as normally as possible for a while. I don’t want to tell everyone else yet. I won’t be able to… well, everyone will start to treat me differently after they know.”

She nodded, understanding what he was saying. She had to admit that she herself might feel similarly under his circumstances. “I understand.” Tears filled her eyes. “I’ll keep things quiet until you’re ready to tell the others.”

“Thank you.” He smiled at her sadly. “I don’t want to put any kind of a burden on you, but?—”

She shook her head. “Don’t you worry about that. Not at all. I’m here for you, to support you however you need. And whenever you do feel ready to tell the rest of the family, you know they’re going to swoop in and take care of you so hard.”

He nodded, and she thought she saw some tears glistening in his eyes. He blinked rapidly, and then laughed breathlessly. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m dying to eat the rest of this cherry cobbler. You’re really good at baking, you know that?”

“Aw, shucks.” She took a bite of her slice of cobbler and felt comforted by the tangy, homey taste of it. She felt grateful that Dean was going to be okay, although she felt sad that he had to deal with pain and weakness in a way that the rest of them didn’t.

For the rest of the conversation, they talked about general things, such as the way Alexis was remodeling Hazel’s kitchen, and the way Vivian couldn’t seem to stay away from the pub even though she had been instructed to rest. Julia felt her heart lift as she continued to spend time with her brother, thinking to herself that his resilient, joyful spirit could handle that kind of diagnosis better than anyone else she knew.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Hazel held the sides of the basket in her hands tightly, a smile of excitement on her face. She was on her lunch break and had stepped away from the doctor’s office to go to the grocery store, with the intention of shopping for the items she wanted to put into Jacob’s gift basket.

She had been thinking about what to get him ever since she and Samantha had decided that she would give Jacob a basket of things he liked before inviting him out to dinner. She’d found herself eagerly staring into space at work, thinking about all of the different items that she could purchase for him. She would randomly remember things he’d told her that he liked or needed all throughout her day, when she was brushing her teeth, or cooking dinner, or climbing into bed at night.

She heaved a sigh of satisfaction as she made her way down the grocery store aisle. She’d already gathered a few items, but she wanted to get more. She traced over her many conversations with him in her mind, trying to remember what he’d said he liked. She thought about all of the times he’d stood in her house, chatting with her while he made repairs on things. She smiled to herself, hoping that everything he’d done to help her was a sign that he was going out of his way because he cared for her.

She looked inside the basket and took stock of everything she’d already gathered. She’d gotten Columbian Coffee, which she knew was his favorite, a small-name brand of cinnamon gum that she’d seen him take out of his pocket a few different times, a pair of small scissors—since once he’d joked with her that he owned every tool under the sun but could never find a pair of scissors when he needed them on the go—and all of the ingredients he would need to make the macadamia nut cookies she’d given to him once when he was fixing the fan in her kitchen. He’d said they were the best cookies he’d ever had, and she’d promised at the time to give him the recipe. She intended to write it out nicely on a card and include that in the gift basket as well.

She turned down another aisle and started walking back toward the front of the grocery store. She saw a man step through the front doors of the store, and her heart caught in her throat. It was Jacob.

She squeaked and looked down at her basket. Then she looked up and saw that Jacob had disappeared down one of the other aisles.

Oh, no,she thought.I don’t think he saw me, but I can’t risk him seeing this basket if he does run into me before I can get to the register.

She looked around frantically for a hiding place, and then saw an empty spot on one of the bottom shelves. She shoved the basket into the space and pulled a couple of bags of flour in front of it to hide it. Then she stepped back, her heart fluttering, and pretended to peruse the items in front of her.

She was just in time. At that moment, Jacob started to walk down the aisle she was in.

“Hazel!” he exclaimed, a huge grin on his face. “Fancy running into you.”

“Hi.” She grinned back at him, feeling breathless and thrilled about how happy he was to see her. He gave her a quick hug, and her heart skipped a beat. “I’m on my lunch break. Just picking up a few items before I need to go back to work.”

“I’m on a kind of lunch break myself. Actually, I’m here to pick up some superglue and some lunch from the deli.” He paused for a moment and then said, “Have you eaten? You want to come pick something out at the deli with me?”

Her heart warmed over his thoughtful invitation, and she wondered with a rush of happiness if it was almost like asking her out. “Oh, I’d love to, but Alexis packed me a lunch today. I hope you find something great at the deli, though.”

“I’m sure I will.” He smiled. “I’m thinking potato salad and fried chicken.”

“That sounds delicious.” She grinned at him.

“I know, right? The food here is always amazing. It’s so convenient for a guy like me, always on the run.”

“You’re still keeping busy, huh?”

“Oh, yeah.” He sighed, but he was smiling. “I’ve got a bunch of odd jobs today and Tuesday, and then on Wednesday I’m making a day trip to Whale Harbor to visit some friends. Then on Thursday I’m back to my usual schedule.”

She nodded, feeling a surge of hope over the fact that he was telling her all that. She felt as though he was letting her know when she would be able to find him so that they could have more interactions. “Sounds like a good week. I can relate to feeling busy. I’m working every day this week, and some evenings I’m planning on stopping by the pub to help out with the dinner rush.”

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