Page 31 of Moonlit Harbor Nights

“I bet he chooses somewhere more private,” Alexis said. “I’m sure it’ll be something romantic. Maybe he’ll take you somewhere that’s meaningful to your relationship, or he’ll cook you a fancy dinner. Maybe he’ll take you out walking on the beach?—”

“It’s winter,” Hazel pointed out with a laugh.

“Hey, the beach is still beautiful this time of year. Cold, but beautiful.” Alexis grinned. “What do you think, Julia? Where do you think he’s going to propose?”

Julia smiled. “I have no idea.” Her mind was filled with beautiful pictures of Cooper getting down on one knee, but the backgrounds of all her imaginings were blurry and unformed. She realized that she didn’t care all that much about how or where Cooper proposed, as long as it happened. She just wanted to be asked the question so that she could say yes and spend the rest of her life with him.

“Mm, I’d give it a second thought if I were you,” teased Alexis’s nail technician. Since all three sisters were seated next to each other, all three of their nail technicians were listening in on the conversation. “Men are generally not worth the trouble.”

“Oh, I don’t think that’s quite fair,” said Julia’s nail technician in a sweet tone. Her smile became impish. “Sometimes they’re worth the trouble.”

All of the women laughed.

“Oof,” Hazel said, grinning.

“And sometimes they’re not,” her nail technician teased with a grave shake of her head. “You don’t have any idea how gross men can be until you marry them. I mean, truly, remarkably disgusting. Have you ever lived with a man with toe fungus?” She shuddered. “Just awful.”

Everyone laughed again.

“And think about how many marriages end in divorce,” said Alexis’s nail technician, shaking her head. “Obviously, lots of things can go wrong. But I think most of the time it happens because women wake up and they think, ‘Why am I wasting my time cleaning up after this pig?’”

Alexis, who had been blessed with a tidy husband, chortled. “Well, luckily for Julia, Cooper’s a single parent and he runs a tight ship. He’s already really good at cleaning up after himself.”

“Mm, until he has a wife to clean up after him!”

The women continued to tease and joke about men and the less romantic sides of marriage. Julia listened with a smile on her face, but she had to admit to herself that the conversation made her feel wary.

Maybe she had been right to be nervous about marrying Cooper. Marriage really was a huge commitment, and maybe she didn’t know Cooper as well as she thought she did. Maybe he didn’t know her as well as he thought he did. Maybe after they’d been married for a while, her careful, precise ways would start toget on his nerves. Or maybe they would fight about how to raise Macey—they’d already had some very different ideas about how to take care of her.

She did her best to keep a smile on her face, since she didn’t want any of the other women to realize that the lighthearted conversation had made her nervous.

I do love him,she thought.But what if we’re not ready? What if this isn’t really right for us, and I just want it to be?

She thought about all of the things she would have to give up if she married him. She wouldn’t be able to stay up late reading in bed if she wanted to. She would always be responsible for taking care of Macey, instead of caring for the little girl only when she’d volunteered to. She had all kinds of little daily rituals and habits she maintained religiously, and she knew that many of those would have to go out the window if she was sharing a home with a new husband and a toddler. She liked to keep her things organized and tidy, but if she married Cooper, she would have to start sharing her spaces with him—and in many cases, with Macey too.

She held back a sigh. The things she was thinking about didn’t really matter. They were all little things, things she didn’t care all that much about, certainly not compared with the gain of having a whole new home shared with two people she adored. It was as if her fear was fixating unreasonably on the little things and turning them into excuses for being less excited about marrying Cooper.

She reminded herself that he hadn’t even asked her yet, and she didn’t know what was going to happen. She steadied herself, resolving to not worry about it. She knew she loved Cooper, and even if she was nervous, that didn’t mean they were wrong for each other.

I’ll just have to wait and see what happens,she thought.After all, it’s his decision too. It’s something we would be doingtogether. And I trust his judgement just as much as I trust my own.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Terrence got out of his car, eagerly tucking the tote bag filled with coffee under his arm. It was a brisk, cold morning with a breathtakingly blue sky overhead and a few wisps of clouds wafting by. A flock of crows landed in the bare branches of a birch tree planted on the street corner, adding the sound of their harsh cries to the stillness of the morning.

Rosewood Beach was still fairly quiet at that time of day. Terrence liked to be out and about in the morning, when there was less hustle and bustle and it was easier to observe the little details. He noticed that a fresh sprinkling of salt had been laid across The Lighthouse Grill’s sidewalk to counteract the snow that had fallen the night before. He nodded in approval as he stepped up to the front door.

Just before pushing it open, he hesitated. He wondered if the fact that he’d arrived so early in the morning made it look as though he was trying too hard. After all, the pub technically wasn’t even open yet. He could have dropped off the coffee casually some other time, even in the late afternoon. It wasn’t as though Vivian needed to make the pub’s coffee for the entire day with what he was bringing her. She would need larger amountsin order to do that, and he’d only brought her household-sized bags.

After a second of hesitation, he cleared his throat and pushed open the door anyway. He might feel awkward about arriving so early, but he would feel even more awkward about walking right up to the door and then turning around and going back home.

Although the pub technically didn’t open until eight-thirty, the door was unlocked. He thought to himself that The Lighthouse Grill was that kind of establishment, where people were friendly and laid-back. He guessed that sometimes customers arrived before eight-thirty and they were welcomed with a cup of coffee and an early breakfast.

Vivian was the only person in the dining room, and he couldn’t help smiling when he saw her. She turned around in surprise when he walked inside.

“Good morning, Vivian.” He took the bag from underneath his arm.

“Terrence.” She smiled back at him, still looking a little surprised. “You’re here so early.”

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