Page 36 of A Bright Winter Season

Susan waltzed off to put in their order, and Julia turned to Alexis.

“Don’t even say it.” Alexis sighed. “I know what that look means.”

“Girl. Everyone in town is going to know you’re pregnant before Grayson does if you don’t tell him soon. Your strange newfound obsession with peanut butter is not helping with secrecy.”

“I’ll tell him, I will. I have every intention of doing so.” Alexis took a sip of her coffee and then set the cup down with energy, determined to change the subject. “We need to talk about how we’re going to tell Hazel that Jacob is single.”

Julia shook her head, laughing. “Nice subject change, missy.”

“I mean it! How are we going to tell her? Should we come right out and say it, or just hint at it?”

“I’ve given it some thought, and I think we shouldn’t tell her.”

“What? Not tell her?”

“Yeah. Because she’s become so much more confident. Confidence is always attractive, and I have to admit, Jacob does seem to be more drawn to her than ever before. I think she’s getting out of her own way right now—before, she was too worried about how she acted around him to show him how much she cared about him. Now, she’s just going to treat him like a good friend, and I think that’s going to show him what a great person she is much more than flirting ever could. And besides, she just found this new confidence and self-assurance. I worry that it could disappear if she suddenly finds out that Jacob is single again. I think her tongue-tied high school crush might come back with a vengeance.”

“So you want to give her time to be ready to have an articulate adult crush?”

Julia laughed. “That’s about the size of it. Come on, tell me I’m wrong.”

Alexis sighed, disappointed. “You are making some good points. I just really wanted to tell her.”

“I know.” Julia chuckled. “But look at it this way—she’s going to find out at some point. Just like we did.”

“Well, probably not just like we did.” Alexis laughed. “I doubt she’s going to be waking up poor Cedric Turner in the middle of the night.”

“True.” Julia shook her head, laughing, and took another sip of her coffee. “I hope I never have to call him for any reason. I don’t want him thinking I was the one who woke him up and then told him that I just needed something to gossip about.”

Both Julia and Alexis were overcome with a fit of laughter. Finally, Alexis took a deep breath and a long sip of her coffee.

“I still think we should consider telling Hazel,” she said. “After all, if she thinks Jacob is unavailable, she might avoid him to an extent. Don’t you think she should know that he’s not in a relationship anymore so she feels more free to spend time with him?”

“No, I—oh hey! It’s Dean.” Julia grinned as their brother Dean approached their table.

“Well, what on earth are you doing here?” Alexis asked, standing up to give her brother a hug.

“You’ll never guess.” Dean patted his stomach. “Getting breakfast. I saw you two sitting over here giggling, and I decided I had to come ask what you’re talking about.”

“Well.” Julia glanced at Alexis and smiled. “We were talking about something that pertains to Hazel.”

“Oh, yeah?” Dean sat down next to Julia. “What about Hazel?”

“Well, the other night, Alexis came over and insisted that we try to figure out if Jacob Dorsey is single or not. I was skeptical at first, but after some detective work, sleuthing around on the internet, we discovered that Jacob is in fact available.” Julia grinned.

Dean shrugged. “Yeah, I know. I already knew that.”

Julia gaped at him. “What? You already knew that? Why on earth didn’t you tell us?”

Dean shrugged, laughing. “You never asked.”

“Oh, come on.” Alexis punched him playfully. “You didn’t think to just tell us that very important information? You know how Hazel feels about Jacob.”

Dean leaned back in his seat. “Does she anymore, though? She seems fine with being friends with him. Besides, I don’t know that it’s any of our business.”

“I kind of agree with Dean,” Julia said. “I want things between Jacob and Hazel to work out as much as you do, Alexis, but I don’t know that we should get involved. After all, Hazel does seem to be content with how things are in her life right now. Maybe this is the best way for her and Jacob to start a spark together—as friends.”

“Sounds good to me.” Dean nodded. “Noelle and I started as friends, and that laid a great foundation for our relationship.”

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