Page 21 of Moonlit Harbor Nights

“No.” He laughed. “Definitely not a tool. It’s a cabaret.”

“A cabaret?” she echoed with interest. “Like as in, dinner and a show?”

“Yup. There’s one not far from here, and I was thinking we could go to it together. Maybe this upcoming Friday night?”

“I would love that!” Her voice sounded eager. “That sounds romantic.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” He grinned. “I want to plan a romantic evening for you, Noelle. We can go on a special date together to make up for last time.”

“You don’t need to make up for it,” she assured him again. “But that does sound really wonderful.”

“Great. I’m excited to spend time with you.”

They talked for a while, bantering affectionately and talking about what the cabaret might be like. Dean noticed that her tone seemed to have brightened, and he felt glad that he’d found a solution to the way he’d disappointed her about their last date.

“Well, I’ll let you get back to your dinner,” she said finally. “Thanks for calling and inviting me, Dean. I’m really excited.”

“Me too. Talk to you tomorrow?”

“Yes, sir! Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Noelle.”

He smiled happily as he hung up the phone. A cowboy movie started to play on the TV, and he settled back contently to watch it and finish his meal.

CHAPTER NINE

Vivian pushed her cart slowly through Harvest Market, eyeing the shelves of groceries with interest. She usually did her shopping at the general store in Rosewood Beach, since she preferred to shop in quick, short trips, but whenever she needed to purchase a great many items at once, she went to Harvest Market, the local supermarket.

She had a long piece of paper in one hand which contained a list of items written in her graceful cursive. She needed quite a few things for the pub, and she was doing some morning shopping before going to The Lighthouse Grill later in the day for a management shift.

She liked Harvest Market. It was large, and although she went there fairly often, it still felt a little bit like a giant maze filled with food. It was also fairly crowded with customers, which gave it a bustling, energetic quality.

She looked down at her list and saw that she needed several boxes of cheap macaroni and cheese. She made her way to the correct aisle and saw to her dismay that the boxes she needed were on the highest shelf. Vivian was not a particularly tall woman, and now that she was older it wasn’t as easy for her to stretch her arms up high like she used to.

Sighing, she stepped up to the shelf and did her best to reach up toward the macaroni and cheese. Her hand was still a good six inches away from the closest box of macaroni and she exclaimed in frustration.

“Do you need a hand there, ma’am?”

She turned in surprise, recognizing the voice of the speaker immediately.

“Alan!” she said eagerly, surprised but delighted. “I didn’t expect to run into you here.”

“I didn’t expect to run into you either.” His smile was warm and friendly. “Are you in need of some assistance?”

“Oh, that would be wonderful. I need seven or eight boxes of that macaroni and cheese, and—well, as you can see, I’m too short.” She laughed.

“They shouldn’t make these shelves so high.” He shook his head, an exaggerated look of indignation on his face. “It’s criminal.”

She laughed as he reached up effortlessly for the boxes of macaroni and cheese and brought down eight of them, placing them carefully into her cart. “You seem to be getting me out of mishaps lately.”

“It’s been my pleasure.” He smiled gallantly at her, and she thought she noticed the same gleam of admiration in his eyes that had been there when he was at the pub. “But I have to ask—why are you getting this cheap boxed macaroni and cheese when you are surely an incredible cook after so many years in the restaurant business?”

She chuckled, pleased by his compliment. “It’s for my daughter, Alexis. She told me this morning that she was craving it, so I promised to get her a whole bunch of boxes. She’s pregnant, you see. I hope this works out—we can never be sure what’s going to satisfy her cravings because she never seems to know what she wants.” She shook her head in amusement.“Once on her lunch break, she ordered a cheeseburger with a fried egg, and then as soon as she took a bite of it, she took off the fried egg and kept asking the rest of us if we wanted to eat it.”

He smirked. “That sounds like quite an ordeal.”

“For whom, Alexis or the fried egg?”

---