Page 45 of Sea Glass Serenade

Alexis shook her head. “She didn’t get a chance to tell him how she felt, but I guess that’s for the best. It turned out that he’s been dating someone else for a couple of weeks. She appeared right when Hazel was about to ask Jacob out.”

Julia pressed her hands to her cheeks sympathetically. “How awful. At least she wasn’t right in the middle of telling him when the girlfriend showed up.”

“I know. It could have been embarrassing for her, but still—I almost wish that she had gotten a chance to tell him, even with this girlfriend in the picture. Then, if things don’t work outbetween them, he’ll know that Hazel is interested in him and then maybe he’ll date her later.”

Julia shook her head. “I don’t think it’s right to think like that. Jacob’s off the market now, and I guess Hazel will have to find someone else to go out with.”

Alexis sighed. “If she ever wants to. It’s been so long since she’s dated anyone. I’m sure it’ll be hard for her to get back up on the horse, so to speak.”

“I’m sure she’ll get back up there eventually. I am really sorry to hear that about Jacob, though. I think those two would have been great together. I was really hoping for the best.” Julia looked out the window, her expression pensive. She bit her lip, and her shoulders drooped.

“Are you okay?” Alexis asked gently. “You seem sad.”

Julia turned to her and chuckled sheepishly. “It’s nothing. Well, nothing serious. I’m a little glum, but thankfully it’s not over something that’s a big deal.”

“Well, what’s making you glum? You can tell me.”

Julia sighed. “It’s just that it’s been difficult to carve out time to tell Cooper how I feel about him. Every time I think I’m about to express my feelings to him, something comes up to prevent me. The delay has made me start to worry about how I’ll feel if he doesn’t feel the same way yet.”

“Oh, he does! I’m sure of that.”

“Yeah, but you were sure Jacob liked Hazel too.”

“Hey, he probably did. Just because he’s dating this other woman now doesn’t mean that he wasn’t interested in Hazel. He probably just assumed she wasn’t interested in him.”

Julia smiled. “Okay, fair enough. But I’m nervous. I think he does feel the same way about me, but I can’t be sure. Feelings are complicated things.”

“They sure are.” Alexis thought about her own relationship, twirling her fingers around the end of her long braid. Whenevershe thought about Grayson, she got jittery. “I don’t have all my feelings figured out either.”

Julia smiled sympathetically at her sister. “I know you’re dealing with a lot right now. Sounds like things are getting better, though! I heard he helped you with your errands the other day.”

“He did. It was completely unexpected but also sweet. At first, I didn’t really want him to come and help me, but then I started to realize how nice it was to have him along with me. He helped me carry supplies into storage here, and between us we rolled enough silverware to last a week.”

Julia laughed. “I’ll bet he—” She didn’t finish her sentence, because at that moment, her phone began to ring. “Hmm, it’s Bill. I thought he was here already.” She answered the phone, frowning. “Hello?”

Bill was one of The Lighthouse Grill’s dishwashers. Alexis watched with concern as Julia’s eyebrows lifted in alarm.

“Oh, no, Bill, I’m so sorry to hear that.” Julia pressed her lips together. “No, I completely understand. Thanks for letting us know. You rest up and we’ll get things covered over here. Okay. Feel better. Bye.” She hung up and gave her sister a look of dismay. “Bill is sick. He thinks it’s food poisoning, and he hopes he can be back soon, but either way, he’s out tonight. So we’re without a dishwasher tonight I guess.”

Alexis groaned. “Not tonight! Of all nights.”

“Why?” Julia looked confused. “What’s tonight?”

“The Rosewood Ladies Society is here tonight.”

Julia gasped, clapping her hand to her mouth. “Oh, no. So many dishes!”

Alexis groaned again. “I know. What on earth are we going to do?”

Julia shrugged. “We’ll just have to dive in and make do, I guess. It’ll be all hands on deck, that’s for sure, but we’ll make it work somehow. We’ve got an experienced team here.”

Alexis smiled. “We do, but we’re definitely in for a long night.”

Hazel sat in the gazebo in the town square, staring out across the green lawn of the park and sadly munching on cookies out of a Ziploc bag. She’d made the cookies for Jacob, and they were delicious. Unfortunately, the fact that they were delicious wasn’t helping her feel any better, because she kept wishing that he was the one eating them instead of her. Or that they were eating them together after their date.

She felt another rush of tears fill her eyes and she blinked them back. A light wind ruffled her hair and she took a deep breath. She told herself that she needed to be strong and stop feeling so emotional about the whole thing. After all, it was just a crush. She’d been living without any kind of romantic relationship for years, it would be easy for her to continue doing so. She squared her shoulders, feeling determined, and then in the next instant she imagined what it would have been like to be out on a date with Jacob at that moment, and the tears came back.

“Hazel!”

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