Page 4 of Moonlit Harbor Nights

He thought about his favorite baked good, snowballs, and decided to stop at the store in Rosewood Beach to pick some up before he got home. He tried not to eat too many sweets, but he had a soft spot for snowballs, and he tended to crave them more than usual when it was snowing outside.

He left a generous tip at the diner because his waitress had seemed tired and a little grumpy, and he’d noticed colored marker stains on her hands, which implied she had small children. He went back out into the cold, and was glad to find his car was still a little warmer than the outdoors.

Within another half an hour, he’d made it back to Rosewood Beach. He drove along the familiar cozy streets until he reached the general store. It was fairly quiet at that time of night, but there were still a few cars parked in the parking lot. He went inside, along with a gust of wind and snow, and took a deep breath. He loved the smell of the general store. Grocery stores always smelled nice—of bread and cardboard and produce—but hardware stores smelled even better. He loved the smell of fresh cut wood and potted herbs. The general store was a blend of all those scents, and it was brightly lit and clean. As someone who appreciated a well-run establishment, Terrence was particularly fond of the general store.

He made his way to the bakery section and picked up the last of that day’s batch of snowballs. As he was bringing them up to the register, he thought about the time he’d eaten snowballs with Vivian Owens in The Lighthouse Grill.

That had been an evening! He’d been walking past the pub, on his way back home from getting snowballs late at night, when he’d seen the lights on in the restaurant. He’d knocked on the door and discovered Jacob Dorsey and Hazel Owens working on an unexpected issue with the air vents. They’d called Vivian, and she’d arrived soon after, her cheeks flushed from the cold. While the young people had worked, he’d offered her one of the snowballs he’d just purchased, and they’d sat and eaten them together.

He found himself slowing down in his walking, thinking of how comfortable he’d felt with Vivian, and how much he admired her. She was a determined and fierce woman who had still managed to maintain an attitude of gentleness in a tough world. He’d felt a connection with her, sitting there and chatting over their snowballs. She’d shared her heart with him in a way that meant a great deal to him.

Don’t be silly, Terrence,he thought, brushing the memory aside.It was nothing. Don’t go looking for romance in places you don’t belong.

He had to admit to himself, however, that the memory was one that he held dear. He’d been happy to stand up for Vivian against Judd McCormick at the pub’s Christmas event, and he’d had a few conversations with her on other occasions, but his favorite memory with her was still that night at the pub when they’d eaten the snowballs together.

He paid for the snowballs, thinking to himself that he wished he had an excuse to see Vivian again. She was the kind of person he felt that he wanted to look out for. He glanced at his watch, wondering if the pub was still open. He had a thought of walking over there and seeing if she was still around and offering her a snowball. Then he shook his head, telling himself not to be silly. Although they’d bonded a little during the Christmas season, hewas still practically a stranger to her. He was sure she had better things to do than spend time with his grumpy old self.

CHAPTER THREE

Julia stepped back from the display of streamers that she’d hung up in her boyfriend Cooper’s dining room and nodded to herself in satisfaction.

I absolutely love planning parties,she thought with a happy sigh.And this party, even though it’s going to be a small one, is one of my favorites I’ve ever planned.

She’d filled Cooper’s cozy dining room with balloons and streamers and a sign that read, “Happy Birthday Cooper.” She’d decorated using his favorite colors, blue and green, and she was immensely proud of her work.

She glanced at her watch, thinking to herself that he would be arriving any minute now. She’d asked his co-workers at the landscaping company he worked for to stall him a little bit so that she had time to get everything ready, but she knew they could only stall him for so long. She’d needed an hour to put up all the decorations, frost and decorate the cake she’d baked at her mother’s house, and cook the spinach alfredo lasagna that she’d prepared earlier in the day.

“We did it, Macey!” she said to Cooper’s adorable two-year-old daughter, who was sitting on the floor of the dining room, making her stuffed animal puppy dance through the air. Maceywas nearly three, and as cute as a button, even when she was being a little unruly. Julia had fallen completely in love with her, and the two of them were inseparable.

Macey looked up with a chubby smile. “Yeah. So pretty!”

Julia scooped the little girl up into her arms. “Yes, you are so pretty.” She kissed her head. “You look like a princess.”

Julia had dressed Macey up in a pretty pink party dress, and she herself was wearing an elegant royal blue dress and glossy heels. She thought it would be a fun touch to add to Cooper’s party if she and Macey were both wearing beautiful outfits.

“You want to go into the kitchen with me and check on the lasagna?” Julia asked. “It smells so yummy, doesn’t it?”

Macey nodded. The rich aromas of garlic and cream sauce were wafting through the house, and Julia couldn’t wait for it to be time to eat. Since moving back to Rosewood Beach, she’d started to enjoy cooking in a way she never had before. It was almost a form of artistic expression, getting to blend spices and ingredients together to create the perfect flavor for a dish. No matter how much she enjoyed cooking, however, the best part of preparing a meal was always eating it.

She carried Macey into the kitchen and set her down a good distance away from the oven. She didn’t want the little girl reaching out and touching anything that might burn her.

“Quick, the whole room is tilting!” Julia said, beginning to lean dramatically to the side. “Put your hands on the cabinets, Macey!”

Giggling, because it was a game they had played before, Macey braced her hands on the doors of the kitchen cabinets and Julia took a quick peek at the lasagna. It looked perfect, and she sighed with satisfaction. She grabbed a couple of oven mitts off the counter and took the dish out of the oven.

“Wow, look, I must have magic shoes,” Julia said, setting the lasagna down on the stovetop. “I’m not leaning even though the whole room is going around in circles.”

“Whoa,” Macey said, laughing.

Julia grinned at her as she turned off the oven. She could hardly believe how much fun she was having with the little girl. When she’d first started going out with Cooper, she’d been worried that she wouldn’t know how to act around a small child, since she’d had basically no experience caring for children. For many years, her career had been everything to her, and she hadn’t had any interest in having children—they’d been foreign to her, something she didn’t understand or appreciate. She’d been nervous that she would be clueless when it came to interacting with Macey, but as soon as she’d met the little girl, something inside of her had just clicked. She’d immediately wanted to care for Macey and be friends with her. As her and Cooper’s relationship had progressed, so had her relationship with Macey. The love and connection they had all developed for each other was beyond her wildest dreams.

She took off the oven mitts and set them down on the counter, smiling quietly to herself when she thought about when she’d first returned to Rosewood Beach from New York. She’d come back because of her father’s funeral, and she’d never expected to stay for longer than a few weeks. But one of the first things that had happened upon her return to her hometown was meeting Cooper, when he’d rescued her from falling into a mud puddle in the rain. He’d been sweet and caring, and he’d quickly caught her interest.

Cooper hadn’t been the only reason she’d wanted to stay in Rosewood Beach. She loved her family with all her heart, and being reunited with them meant the world to her. She also loved The Lighthouse Grill, and fighting to make sure it stayed afloat had become her primary objective as soon as she’d learned abouther father’s gambling debts. The more she’d worked with her family and the other members of the local community, the more Rosewood Beach had regained her heart. Now, she knew she would never want to leave. She loved being surrounded by kind, hard-working people who lived their lives with common sense and prioritized community over monetary success.

She was startled from her reverie when she heard the sound of Cooper’s car in the driveway outside. She gasped with excitement.

“Your daddy’s here!” she whispered to Macey. “It’s time to hide.”

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