Page 2 of Moonlit Harbor Nights

“Yes!” Alexis twirled and bowed, and Julia groaned.

“When the pub lies in a crumble of dust, I will say that I told you so,” she said, shaking her head. “I shudder at the very thought of Brussels sprouts.”

“It’s not like we’d be forcing anyone to eat them.” Alexis laughed. “If no one ever orders them or likes them, we’ll just take them off the menu.”

“I agree,” Vivian said. “We’ve changed our menu a whole bunch of times. Once your father tried to promote a shrimpsandwich which did not go over well. The shrimp kept falling out of the bread, and nobody really liked it.”

Julia wrinkled her nose. “At least shrimp still sounds better than Brussels sprouts.”

At that moment, the front door of the pub jingled behind them. Vivian turned, ready to greet the new customers, and she found herself grinning widely a moment later.

“Hazel!” she said, hurrying forward to hug her daughter. “And Jacob and Samantha! It’s lovely to see all three of you.”

“Hey, Mom.” Hazel’s cheeks were flushed, and she was smiling widely, revealing her adorable dimples. “We figured we’d wait to get lunch until a little later in the afternoon and avoid the rush.”

“Smart.” Vivian winked at her.

“See?” Jacob Dorsey, Hazel’s boyfriend and the local handyman, turned to Hazel with a grin. “You’re brilliant.”

Samantha, Hazel’s precocious twelve-year-old daughter, watched the couple with a gleam of delight in her eyes. Samantha had been hoping that her mother would get together with Jacob long before the two of them had decided to start dating at The Lighthouse Grill’s Christmas event.

“I agree!” Samantha grinned. “Look, we’ve practically got the place to ourselves. Can I get a tuna melt, Grandma?”

Vivian laughed. “Of course you can, sweetheart.”

“But the waitress will take our orders, honey, not Grandma,” Hazel said as she hung her coat up on one of the hooks placed by the front door. “Grandma isn’t one of the waitresses.”

“Maybe not, but I like to bring the drinks out every now and again.” Vivian smiled. “What do you all want to drink? We made some excellent iced tea earlier today.”

“Iced tea sounds fantastic,” Jacob said.

“I’ll take iced tea too,” Hazel said.

“Me too!” Samantha chimed in.

Smiling, Vivian disappeared into the kitchen, where she prepared four glasses of iced tea—one for Hazel, Jacob, and Samantha, and one for herself. She brought them out to the booth where the three of them had seated themselves.

“There you are,” Vivian said, setting down the tall, cold glasses. “And I’ll sit down and join you for lunch. I haven’t had anything to eat yet.”

“Perfect.” Hazel kissed her mother on the cheek. “How was the lunch rush?”

“Busy.” Vivian laughed. “But everything turned out fine. We’ve got a great team here, that’s for sure.”

“Yes, we do,” Samantha said proudly, and Vivian and Hazel shared a smile.

Alexis stepped up to their table a moment later to take their order, grinning cheerfully.

“Let me guess,” she said. “Jacob wants mashed potatoes and meatloaf with a side salad, Hazel wants a chicken sandwich with the secret sauce and a side of sweet potato fries, Samantha wants a tuna melt with regular fries and honey mustard on the side, and Mom wants a cup of tomato bisque soup with a BLT.”

The four of them seated at the table all started laughing.

“Right by me,” Jacob said.

“Me too,” said Hazel.

“Did you overhear me?” Samantha asked, wrinkling her nose.

“I didn’t know what I was going to order, but that sounds delicious,” Vivian said. “I guess I do order that a lot, don’t I?”

---