Page 42 of Moonlit Harbor Nights

“Hey.” Cooper appeared in the kitchen doorway, smiling sweetly at her. “I didn’t hear you come in—oh!” His expression changed when he saw how frustrated she looked. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes.” She forced a brisk smile onto her face. “Why do you ask?”

“Well,” he said, crossing the kitchen toward her, “you seem a little bit on edge.”

“I’m fine.” She didn’t really mean it, but she didn’t want to start their day off on the wrong foot. After all, it was his sink that had been dirty, not hers, and it wasn’t at all reasonable for her to be frustrated that there were coffee grounds in it. She had volunteered to clean it up, but she could have just left it. She also could have left his socks in his boots, but?—

She shuddered.

“Okay, that’s good.” He smiled at her, looking slightly unconvinced but still happy. “You’re all ready for our hike?”

“I am.” She was wearing hiking boots and leggings, along with a thick fleece and hat which were sure to keep her warm enough in the less frigid weather. “Are you ready?”

“I will be in a minute here.” Cooper was wearing pajama pants and a sweater. “I need to get changed.” He gave her a quick kiss and left the kitchen.

She sighed, wondering why he had put on a sweater when he knew he was about to get changed into something else to go hiking. Had he forgotten about their plans or something?

She shook her head, going back to cleaning out the kitchen sink. She scrubbed the sides of it clean, her mind whirring.

She hadn’t wanted to upset Cooper by telling him the truth, but she was rapidly realizing that there was something off in the way she was feeling. Little things about Cooper were starting to irk her, and she was unusually quick to be irritable.

I’m scared,she realized, pausing in her scrubbing.I’m starting to get cold feet.

She bit her lip, considering whether or not she’d truly thought through the ins and outs of being married. What if it was vastly different from how she’d thought it would be, and itturned out to be something she didn’t want? Or what if it turned out that she just didn’t want to be married to Cooper? There were so many little changes they would both have to make. What if they woke up one day, wishing that they hadn’t decided to get married?

She paused in her work, staring into space. She didn’t want to worry, but she also felt that she needed to look her concerns straight in the face. After all, it was the kind of thing that required a great deal of thought. She couldn’t walk blindly into marriage, even if she did love Cooper.

She imagined getting frustrated with him every day over little things like left-behind socks or coffee grounds in the sink. She imagined him getting irritated with her for getting irritated with him.

She shut her eyes, taking a deep breath. As if she couldn’t help it, she then imagined herself apologizing to Cooper, who then apologized to her, and the two of them sitting down on the couch together to cuddle and talk about how their needs and habits affected each other.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she couldn’t help smiling. She finished cleaning out the sink and started to wash her hands. Her smile turned into a scowl, however, when she saw all of the coffee grounds that had gotten stuck under her freshly manicured fingernails.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Terrence parked his car outside Harvest Market and got out quickly. He was in a bit of a hurry, since he wanted to grab a quick green juice before his first inspection of the day, and he wasn’t as ahead of schedule as he liked to be whenever he made a stop at the supermarket. He was nowhere near being late for his inspection, but he always preferred to be a little early. He believed in being punctual, and he also believed in catching businesses slightly off their guard.

He straightened the gray and navy plaid scarf that was wrapped around his neck as he hurried across the parking lot. He thought to himself that if the weather continued to be that warm, he would start to not even bother wearing a coat.

He sniffed the air. Although it was clearly still winter, there was a faint scent in the air that made him think of spring. He’d always loved spring. It was a fresh, revitalizing time of year, and he understood why it was often associated with falling in love.

Maybe it’s because falling in love feels like melting to me,he thought with a chuckle.My hard shell starts to melt away like ice, and I feel as though my emotions are growing and growing.

He almost stopped walking, and he might have, except he could see that the car beside him was starting to back out, and he wanted to get out of their way.

He wasn’t in love with Vivian, though, surely—so why was he thinking about falling in love?

He cleared his throat loudly as he walked, even though no one knew what his thoughts had been. He hadn’t meant to refer to his feelings toward Vivian as falling in love, but he had to admit that he got a soft, tender feeling in his chest whenever he thought about her.

He did his best to brush those thoughts from his mind. After all, he had no idea how she felt about him, and he was there at the supermarket to complete a task before starting his workday. He didn’t have time for silly daydreaming—or to slow down and think about how much fun he and Vivian had had together when they’d sampled all of the coffees.

He walked through the front doors of the supermarket, but by that point, his imagination was lost in memories of the lovely evening he’d spent with Vivian. He slowed down in his walking until he stopped in front of a display of cookies, which he stared at without really seeing them.

“You like gingersnaps, huh?”

He turned in surprise to see Vivian smiling at him. He was startled to see her, and for a second he blinked at her, hardly able to believe his eyes. He’d just been thinking about her, and he felt as though he’d somehow conjured her, it was so magical to see her appear unexpectedly.

“I—oh.” He glanced back at the display of cookies, realizing that he’d been staring at it. “Um, not particularly.”

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