Page 6 of Sea Glass Serenade

He turned around, almost surprised to hear her speak to him. “That it is. I swear our springs get more beautiful every year.”

“You’re Dean, aren’t you? Dean Owens? You run the auto repair shop?”

“I do.” He smiled at the young woman, but at that moment Alexis’s transaction ended, and he hurried to make his purchases. “Excuse me.”

The girl looked a little disappointed as Dean paid for the car parts and started to exit the store with Alexis without glancing back at her. Alexis couldn’t help chuckling over the situation, although she felt a little bad for the young woman.

“What?” Dean asked. “What’s funny?”

They stepped outside into the sunlight, and she grinned at him. “You clueless heartthrob you. That poor girl was totally into you, and you just left her hanging there.”

“What? She was?” He turned around, looking back through the glass doors.

Alexis threw her head back, laughing. “You’ve always been a catch, ever since high school. I remember there were all those girls fawning over you back then too. How come you’ve never settled down?”

He made a face. “Well, apparently I can’t tell when a woman is interested in me.”

There was an amused note in his voice, but she could tell he was deflecting with humor, making a joke to avoid answering more seriously.

“Oh, come on,” she pressed. “I’m your sister. You can tell me. What’s the real reason?”

They started to walk across the parking lot together, and a warm breeze kissed their faces.

He shrugged. “I just never found the right one, I guess.”

“Well, I hope the right one shows up sooner rather than later. And I must say, your obliviousness about what an eligible bachelor you are is reason enough for me to stick around in Rosewood Beach longer. Clearly, you need my help.”

Dean threw his head back, laughing. “Oh, I do, huh?”

She nodded, smiling gleefully at him. “I’m only too happy to oblige.”

Shaking his head and chuckling, he started walking toward his car. “I’ll catch you later, Madame Matchmaker.”

“See you later, Eligible Bachelor!”

Dean continued to laugh and shake his head as he got into his truck. Alexis smiled to herself as she started out along the sidewalk back toward Hazel’s house. It was only a short distance from there to the hardware store, and she’d walked. Dean drove past her, honking his horn, and she waved and laughed.

The moment he was out of sight, however, her smile faded and she let out a long sigh. Her mind raced back to the earlier part of her conversation with Dean, when he’d asked her about repairing things with Grayson.

The truth is, I am reluctant to try to work things out,she thought.It isn’t just that I want to stay here longer.

She rolled her shoulders back, feeling tense. She was glad her family was invested in her life and that they cared about her, but she didn’t want them to know that she felt that way. The way that Dean had asked his question made her a bit worried that they were starting to catch on.

Grayson ran his fingers through his hair as he listened to the phone ring on the other end of the line. He could feel his heart beating in his chest, and he took a deep breath to steady himself. He wondered to himself how things had come to be this way, how he had come to be nervous to call his own wife on the phone.

He leaned against the counter in the kitchen of the mansion that he’d bought for himself and Alexis. Without her there, it felt as vast and empty as an abandoned castle. The countertops smelled faintly of lemons, since the cleaning lady had been there that day, and he reflected sadly on how long it had been since the kitchen had smelled like food. It seemed like some kind of laboratory now—some sterile place with a sink and gleaming countertops. It didn’t feel like any kind of a home, that was for sure.

He had been feeling a sense of dread every time he called Alexis, and it gnawed at his chest again. He always hated the idea of her not answering. He felt worried that she was slipping farther and farther away from him, and he didn’t know what to do to bring her back to him.

“Hello?”

“Hey.” He cleared his throat. “Hey, honey, it’s Grayson.”

“Hey, Grayson.”

He swallowed. There was a detached quality to her voice, and it caused a cold pit to form in his stomach. He seemed to be losing her more with each phone call.

“How are you? How’s Rosewood Beach?”

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