Page 14 of Moonlit Harbor Nights

“Oh. Hi.” She smiled up at him, but she seemed a little tired—or maybe distracted. “That’s sweet of you.”

He grinned at her. “I have a long break at the shop right now. I decided I wanted to stop by and say hi to you, to make it up to you for missing our date the other night.”

Noelle’s expression fell when he mentioned their missed date, and he could tell that she was still disappointed about it. And he knew it wasn’t just that one instance—it was the fact that his health issues made it difficult for them to have a normal relationship. They both missed each other but hadn’t been able to spend the time together that they wanted to.

“I’m so sorry about that, Noelle. I really am. I should have known better than to lie down for a nap without setting an alarm before I closed my eyes.”

She smiled reassuringly at him. “Don’t worry about it. I understand. I hope you’re feeling better.”

“I am now, for sure. I feel really energetic today.”

“That’s great, Dean.”

For a moment, they both smiled at each other in a slightly awkward way, as if neither of them knew what to say.

“I’m really sorry, Noelle,” he said softly.

She shook her head. “It’s okay, Dean. I wouldn’t have wanted you to go out on our date when you were feeling that tired, anyway.”

“I would have been okay,” he protested. “I really wanted to spend time with you.”

“I want to spend time with you too, but—” She glanced at the clock. “There will be other times. And right now, I hate to say it, but I have to get back to work.”

“Of course.” He forced a smile, even though his stomach flopped with disappointment. He’d been hoping to be able to spend at least a half hour with her. “But before I go—I brought you a chai latte and a Boston cream doughnut.”

“Dean!” She took his offerings eagerly. “That’s so sweet of you. Thank you.”

He shrugged. “I want to make it up to you somehow.”

“You don’t need to do that.” She took a sip of the latte and shivered a little appreciatively. “Mm, that’s fantastic.” She patted the pastry bag. “I’ll eat this later, when I have more time.”

He told himself that he could take the hint she needed him to leave. He knew the muffin he’d bought for himself was in the pastry bag along with her doughnut, but he decided to not say anything about it. She could have both, with the muffin as a surprise.

“I’ll see you later, sweetheart.” He gave her one more quick kiss, and she waved at him as he left her office, closing the door behind him.

Once he was back out in the lobby, he sighed. He felt disappointed, but it was more than that. It had seemed to him that their interaction had lacked its usual warmth. He knew that he’d just interrupted her workday, and it was clear that she was busy, but he’d dropped by during her work hours before and she’d been ecstatic to see him. It wasn’t that she’d treated him coldly, but she hadn’t treated him with the level of warmth that she usually did.

I wonder what’s making her feel less warm toward me,he thought.I know she’s not angry—she’s not that type. But I bet she’s hurt by the fact that we haven’t been able to spend much time together lately.

Frowning, he went back out into the cold. He found himself feeling much more tired than he had been only a few minutes before, and he glanced at his watch, deciding that he would stop by his house to take a short nap before going back to the auto repair shop.

As he walked, he thought about Noelle. He felt badly that he’d disappointed her. He’d hoped the doughnut and the latte would have made her feel loved and appreciated, and maybethey did, but not as much as he’d hoped. She’d still seemed distracted and a little down.

He told himself to not read too much into it, since he didn’t know what kind of day she might be having at work, but he knew one thing for sure. He needed to make it up to her in a way that showed her how much he cared about her.

CHAPTER SIX

Terrence climbed into his car, letting out a long sigh. He muttered things under his breath as he started the engine of his car. The hotel he’d just finished inspecting needed a lot of work done. The rooms weren’t properly heated, and there was mold growing in the basement. It wasn’t so bad that he felt it needed to be shut down, but the owners definitely needed to get their act together. He felt flustered because the man had argued with him over everything for almost half an hour, complaining that mold in the basement wasn’t the same as mold in the rooms and it shouldn’t matter all that much. Terrence had turned a bit red in the face and lectured the man sternly on the nature of mold and health regulations.

It was later than he’d expected to be done with the job, and his stomach growled aggressively. As he began to drive back in the direction of Rosewood Beach, he thought to himself that he’d like to stop somewhere for dinner.

All at once a smile spread across his face. He knew just where he wanted to eat—The Lighthouse Grill wasn’t far from where he was at all. He hadn’t been there since the community Christmas event, but he was eager to order something off their deliciousmenu. He didn’t admit it to himself, but he was also eager to have a chance to see Vivian Owens again.

As he drove, he found himself thinking about the Christmas party, and what an entirely wonderful evening it had been. Well, almost entirely wonderful. There had been an awkward moment when Judd McCormick, the owner of the McCormick Brewery, had tried to make trouble. It seemed he’d set himself up as a rival of the Owens family, and he’d come to the pub trying to get people to leave the Christmas event and go to his brewery for free beer instead.

Terrence shook his head as he remembered it. It had been a petty, almost childish thing to do in his opinion, and he’d politely but firmly given Judd a piece of his mind. He didn’t like that the other man felt he could come into The Lighthouse Grill and essentially bully Vivian and her children.

He recalled that Vivian had told him that the Owens had created the Christmas event in response to a quote from Judd that had been published in a local magazine. Judd had hinted that the Owens family was unprofessional and not business-like, and they’d decided to show him that they weren’t running a business for the same reason he was—profit. Instead, they were focused more on the community and bringing the people of Rosewood Beach together.

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