Page 41 of Moonlit Harbor Nights

Terrence’s tone became more serious. “I wouldn’t mind if there was some kind of issue we had to wait for. That was a very pleasant evening, and so is this one. But I’m glad we get to do this without the vents having issues. I like spending time with you, Vivian.”

Vivian cleared her throat gently. Her heart was beating faster over his subtle inference that he was interested in her romantically. It was completely unexpected, and she had to reconsider his words several times before finally coming to the conclusion that there had been a romantic edge to his tone. She suddenly felt a bit fluttery, and she found herself glancing at Terrence as he continued to sip on one of his mugs of coffee.

She had never considered Terrence romantically before. She liked him a great deal, and she considered him to be a good friend, but his uptight ways had prevented her from being attracted to him, at least so far.

I don’t think I can really get around the fact that he’s so particular,she thought.I’m always worried he’s going to find something wrong with the pub. Wouldn’t that stress me out if I dated him?

At the thought of dating him, she felt her cheeks flush pink and she hurriedly looked away from the health inspector. She had to admit to herself that he wasn’t uptight all the time. He’d proved himself to be faithful and complimentary to the pub time and again, and even more than that, he had turned out to be unexpectedly charming. He had shown her a side, his tenderer side, which was so disarming…

“I should get going, I suppose.” Terrence smiled sweetly at Vivian as he began to load their empty mugs onto a tray. “Thanks for tasting the coffee with me.”

“You don’t have to do that,” she insisted, waving her hand at him to get him to stop cleaning up the mugs.

“No, no, I insist.” He shook his head. “My game, my cleanup. I’ll just take these into the kitchen.”

He carried the tray through the double doors that led into the kitchen, whistling as he went. She stood there for a few moments, staring at the doors and feeling unexpectedly skittish. She almost felt as though she didn’t know how to act around him anymore.

“Thank you so much for bringing the coffee,” she said when he returned from the kitchen. “And for making it such a fun experience. Now I can go ahead and order the pub’s coffee for the month, and we don’t have to keep using that inferior stuff.”

“You’re very welcome.” He smiled down at her in a way that she was starting to see as more gallant than friendly. How had she not noticed the way he’d been trying to be especially kind to her?

“Let me walk you to the door.” She glanced at him again as they crossed the dining room together. He was a handsome man, certainly. But could she really be interested in someone who spent his days being fussy, and was paid for it? Surely he’d gotten too much into the habit of looking for what was wrong with places—and maybe even people too.

“Have a good night, Vivian,” he told her at the door. His tone was so gentle and charming that her heart skipped a beat.

Maybe she shouldn’t be too quick to assume that he would be fussy in every area of life. That probably wasn’t fair in the slightest.

“You as well. Thanks again, Terrence.”

He hesitated for a moment, and then reached out and shook her hand. His grip was strong and firm, and she shook his hand back warmly.

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Terrence left the pub, and she locked the door behind him. Once he was out of sight, she stood in the middle of her empty restaurant and stared into space, her head completely in a whirl.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Julia hurried up the steps of Cooper’s front porch and knocked briskly on the front door. It was a fresh, cool Saturday morning. The temperature had lifted somewhat, causing a faint mist to hover over the melting snow.

She and Cooper had arranged to go for a hike that day, while Samantha watched Macey. Julia had just gotten off the phone with Hazel, so she knew that Samantha had gotten dropped off at Cooper’s house a few minutes ago.

When no one came to answer the door, she pushed it open and stepped inside. She could hear the sound of voices coming from Macey’s bedroom—Cooper’s deep voice, Samantha’s treble laughter, and Macey’s high-pitched giggles—so she guessed that both Cooper and Samantha were engaged in trying to get Macey ready for her day.

Julia started toward Macey’s bedroom, and then her feet stumbled across something. She let out a cry of alarm, catching herself just before she fell. There on the floor by the front door was a pair of work boots. Julia wrinkled her nose when she smelled the funky odor wafting out of them, and she noticed with distaste that there was a pair of dirty socks still stuffed inside them.

She grimaced, thinking about what the manicurist had said about men and toe fungus. Did Cooper have toe fungus?

He’ll probably get some soon if he keeps leaving his socks in his boots,she thought, shaking her head.That’s disgusting—that way neither the boots nor the socks can breathe. Have his boots always smelled that bad, I wonder?

Gingerly, she plucked the dirty socks out of Cooper’s boots and scurried over to the laundry chute. She tossed the socks down it with a squeak of disgust, and then hurried to wash her hands in the kitchen sink.

I’ll make myself a cup of tea while I wait,she thought as she went into the kitchen.A nice, relaxing cup of tea.

She reached the sink and squeaked in dismay again. It was full of dishes, some of which she knew were from dinner two nights earlier. She didn’t mind the dishes, especially knowing how busy Cooper’s life was between work and caring for Macey, but what did bother her was that he’d left the soggy, used coffee filter and coffees grounds in the sink. Smears of coffee grounds covered many of the dishes, and the smell that reached her nostrils was stale and a little putrid.

She grunted in distaste and began to clean out the sink, moving with the kind of precise quickness that accompanied frustration. She deftly set the dishes into the dishwasher and washed the saucepan that was still there. She had to be careful not to damage her new manicure, but she still worked at an impressive speed. In less than five minutes, she’d cleared the sink of dishes and she had started washing the coffee grounds down the drain.

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