Page 49 of Sea Glass Serenade

“Oof, sounds like quite the day,” Hazel said, wasting no time and starting to pick up dishes from the table.

“The Rosewood Ladies Society?” Dean pretended to shudder. “I remember serving them in high school. They’re so nice and they tip great, but I’ve never seen so many teacups at once in my life. I had nightmares for weeks.”

Alexis swatted him in the arm, and a few moments later, they were all on their way into the kitchen, bearing dirty dishes. Grayson jumped back into the dishwashing, and Dean stayed to help him by rinsing the dishes after Grayson had washed them. Together, they moved twice as fast, and Dean kept up a steadystream of banter and jokes that Grayson found amusing and impressive.

Hazel jumped on as a waitress, and before long, everyone coming in and out of the kitchen seemed less stressed. A couple of hours of busy work passed, and then finally the dinner rush began to slow down.

“The dining room is half empty,” Hazel said with a sigh of satisfaction as she came back into the kitchen. “Everyone has their food and has been checked on. I think we can finally take a breather here.”

“I am so proud of you all,” Vivian said, just as Alexis stepped into the kitchen. “What amazing teamwork you pulled off together tonight.”

Grayson looked at his wife with a huge smile. She met his gaze with sparkling eyes and hurried toward him.

“We did it!” she said, and the next thing he knew, she was kissing him.

Dean hooted gleefully, but he was soon shushed by Vivian. Grayson heard Hazel whisper, “We should give them some privacy,” and he heard the other members of the Owens family hurry away.

Slowly, Alexis and Grayson parted from their embrace. He felt his heart thumping in his chest, and she looked almost dazed. They locked eyes, and he could feel that they’d reached a pivotal moment.

“Alexis, ever since I came here to Rosewood, I have seen more and more how unhealthy my lifestyle was back in L.A. I neglected you and I didn’t focus on the things that truly matter. I should have spent more time developing our relationship by doing things with you. Having adventures with you like this means so much to me. Would you be up for giving our marriage a shot here in Rosewood?”

She nodded, blinking back tears. “Yes, I would.” She kissed him again, and he held her tightly, feeling a rush of joy.

In the next moment, Hazel burst into the kitchen, looking scared.

“What happened?” Grayson asked her, immediately feeling worried.

“It’s Dean,” Hazel said. “He’s in a lot of pain. I’m not really sure what happened, but he says it’s his back. All of a sudden he just doubled over and then he had to sit down.”

“Oh, no,” Alexis whispered.

“We need to take him to the doctor,” Hazel said. “Mom wants us to talk about who should go with him and who should stay.”

Grayson and Alexis hurried after Hazel into the office, where Dean was sitting in the desk chair, looking as white as a sheet.

“Oh, no, Dean,” Alexis said, hurrying to her brother’s side.

“I want to go with him,” Vivian said.

“Me too,” Hazel chimed in immediately.

Grayson swallowed, not liking the way that Dean was clearly in a lot of pain. He could tell that the other man was trying to hide it from his family members.

“We can keep things going here,” Alexis said.

“Yes, we can,” Grayson agreed. “Keep us posted on how everything’s going at the hospital.”

Julia was standing off to the side, biting her lip in concern with her arms crossed nervously. Grayson noticed her make eye contact with Dean for a brief moment, and then Dean shook his head slightly.

“Come on, let’s go to the hospital,” Dean said, standing up with a marked effort. He grinned through his pain. “I bet all they do is give me a couple of over-the-counter pain pills and send me on my way.”

Hazel shook her head at his bravado, and she and Vivian ushered him out of the back door of the pub.

“We should get back to work,” Julia said with a sigh.

Grayson took his wife’s hand as they walked back into the kitchen. “He’ll be okay,” he told her, noticing the way she was pressing her lips together in worry.

“Thanks.” She smiled at him. “Thanks for noticing that I needed to hear that.”

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