Page 40 of Sea Glass Serenade

“Sure.” He popped the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth, already seeming to have more energy. She got the impression that he was thrilled about getting to spend time with her.

Together they tidied up the kitchen table and placed the dishes in the sink. When they were finished, Alexis glanced at the clock on the wall. She’d wanted to retreat to her room for a few moments to collect herself, but it was time to leave to pick up Vivian. She didn’t want to be late, which meant they needed to leave right away.

“It’s time to go pick up my mom,” she said. “That’s the next thing on my agenda for the day.”

“Great.” He smiled at her, and she cleared her throat lightly as she went to pick up her purse. He seemed suddenly buoyant and cheerful, and she had no idea what to do with the fact that he was about to spend the whole day with her.

Grayson drummed his fingers on the arm rests of the waiting room chair he was sitting in. He smiled quietly to himself, looking around the comfortable doctor’s office waiting room.

Rosewood Beach had a pleasant doctor’s office, he thought. It was cheerfully decorated and smelled fresh and clean. Sparkling windows offered a beautiful view of the ocean, and one of them was cracked open, letting in a cool coastal breeze.

He glanced over at Alexis, feeling his heart warm. He could tell that she seemed a little taken aback by the way he’d invited himself along to her errands that day. He smiled at her, thinking to himself how beautiful she was, and how lucky he felt that hegot to spend the day with her, even if they were just sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, waiting for Vivian to get out of her appointment.

“This is a nice place,” he observed.

She looked up from the magazine she’d been thumbing through and nodded. He thought he saw her cheeks flush slightly, and he told himself that they definitely needed to learn how to make conversation with each other again. It was as if they were a couple of strangers with nothing in common instead of two people who had been married to each other for years.

“Yes, it is. A lot of the places in Rosewood Beach are great like this. People really care here, you know? The town belongs to all of us, and we take pride in caring for it and making it the best place it can be.”

He nodded as he listened, noticing that she spoke of herself as a resident of the town even though she’d only recently returned. “I’ve been getting that sense. That’s nice.” For a few seconds, they were quiet again, and then he asked, “What are you reading?”

“Oh, just an article about the latest fashions. Silly stuff, honestly. I mean, I love hair and makeup and clothes, I always will, but the idea that some people get social points out of wearing certain kinds of things every season is like some silly game I don’t want to play anymore. People should just wear whatever makes them happy and comfortable.”

He smiled quietly at her, and then he felt a little sad. “We used to care about all of that. You were so intent on being fashionable, and I was so intent on being successful. We were so busy trying to be glamorous. Our careers ended up not doing any kind of service to what matters most, our relationship.”

She swallowed, looking up into his eyes as he spoke. “I know what you mean. L.A. is filled with flashing lights and glitz and glamour, but at the end of the day it’s also filled with

a lot of unhappy people rushing around trying to get the wrong things to make them feel less unhappy. I—I’m glad we both got out of that, Grayson.”

His heart lifted up, and he smiled at her. He wanted to lean over and kiss her, but he held himself back. He didn’t think she was ready for that kind of physical affection from him yet, and he was determined to take things slowly so that she was comfortable.

“I am too. I want?—”

He wanted to say more, but at that moment, Vivian returned to the waiting room, coming from her doctor’s appointment.

“I’ll all set.” She smiled cheerfully at the two of them, and he got the impression that she was happy he was there with Alexis. “There’s nothing wrong with me, well, besides getting old.” She laughed. “Come on, let’s get out of here. Thank you both for waiting for me.”

The three of them left the doctor’s office together, and Grayson noticed Vivian glancing surreptitiously at him and Alexis a few times. He knew his mother-in-law was wondering how things were going between him and his wife, and he wished that he had an answer for her. He was also wondering how things were going between him and his wife, although he had to admit that he felt more hopeful than he had in a long time. It seemed as though the distance between them was finally becoming smaller. Maybe soon he would be able to reach her. Maybe soon there would be no distance between them at all.

They dropped Vivian back off at her house and then continued on to the grocery store, where Alexis needed to pick up various items for The Lighthouse Grill. Grayson stepped inside the charming little grocery store feeling interested, since it was a place in Rosewood Beach that he had never been to before.

Alexis grabbed a cart, and he gently took it from her.

“I insist.” He winked at her. “I do the heavy lifting in this relationship.”

She tried to hide a smile. “Don’t you mean pushing?”

He chuckled. “Sure. Lifting and pushing. Besides, you’re going to be too busy studying that very detailed list in your hand and checking items off it. You don’t need to be burdened with a cart on top of it.”

She shook her head, laughing a little. “All right. I won’t protest. It will be nice to just move freely. You have to keep up with me, though,” she teased, noticing how he’d paused with interest in front of a display of different kinds of fruit juices.

“This place is amazing,” he said, catching up to her. “How do they manage to offer such a wide variety? Do people really buy all these different things? Like that—that brand of crackers. I’ve never seen those anywhere before, and that logo looks like it hasn’t been changed since the 1950s. Do people actually still buy that stuff?”

“Sure.” She laughed, and he felt his heart lift up. She had such a wonderful laugh, she always had. “Most small businesses sell a lot of niche things. That’s why they’re so much more fun to shop in than the big-name grocery or department stores.”

“I haven’t been to any kind of a grocery store in years.” He looked around the little store, fascinated. “Do they all smell this good? It’s like I can smell bread even though I don’t see bread anywhere. Bread and… spices? Whatever it is, it smells incredible.”

She was really laughing now, holding onto her list but clearly not thinking about it at all. She was watching Grayson with amusement. “No, not all grocery stores smell this good. Now come on, I said keep up, remember?”

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