Page 6 of Moonlit Harbor Nights

He nodded. “It sounds like being a good cook runs in your family. All those secret family recipes that the pub uses. Your mom showed me your grandmother’s cookbook once. It looked amazing.”

Julia made a face suddenly, frowning and wrinkling her nose.

“What?” Cooper asked, surprised. “Don’t you like your grandmother’s secret recipes?”

“Yes.” She laughed, shaking her head. “Sorry. It’s just that you reminded me that Alexis wants to use one of those recipes and start offering Brussels sprouts as a side at the pub.” She shuddered. “I absolutely abhor Brussels sprouts.”

Cooper belted out a laugh. “Yeah? That much, huh? You would have thought that I’d mentioned a stinky patch of mold or something.”

“Brussels sprouts are my nemesis. Tell me you think that’s a terrible idea, even with the secret family recipe.”

Cooper coughed gently.

“Oh, come on!” she groaned. “Not you too. Mom also sided with Alexis.”

He shrugged. “I think Brussels sprouts are really good sometimes. Have you tried your grandma’s recipe for them?”

“No,” Julia grumbled, and sighed as she stuck her fork into her lasagna. “Ugh. No thank you. At least this is delicious.”

“Something we can agree on.” He winked and lifted his glass to her, and she raised hers to his in response.

“A toast to your birthday,” she said warmly. “Many very happy returns.”

“Thank you, sweetheart.”

They continued to eat in companionable silence for a while—well, silence except for the fact that Macey was happily hummingtunelessly while she ate. Julia kept glancing up at Cooper and wondering how she’d gotten so lucky.

“I stopped by Main Street Auto yesterday,” Cooper said, looking up and smiling at her.

“To see Dean?” she asked.

Her brother Dean ran the local auto repair shop, Main Street Auto. It was the only auto repair shop in town and Dean was never short of work. Her brother led an efficient, knowledgeable team of mechanics, and the auto shop was well respected in Rosewood Beach and the neighboring towns.

“Well, not specifically. I asked him when he would have the time to check out the air conditioning issue in your car. I want to make sure it gets done before summer.”

Her heart warmed when she heard his words, but she couldn’t help laughing. “It’s February, Cooper. I won’t need the AC to work in my car for quite some time. Right now, the outdoors is taking care of the cold for me.”

He shrugged, smiling at her. “I just figure it’s better to have it fixed now before you desperately need it. Those last couple weeks of summer were pretty brutal.”

“Aw, I thought it was a nice summer.”

He shook his head. “I’m talking about inside your car. Without the air conditioning.”

“Oh.” She laughed. “Fair enough.”

She took a sip of her glass of wine, feeling grateful for his care and support.

I love how we’re both always looking out for each other and working to make things run more smoothly,she thought.We’re such a good team, always thinking ahead together—although usually about different things. That would be quite a necessary dynamic in a permanent relationship…

Her heart started beating faster at the thought, and she hastily took another sip of wine.

“Dean seemed pretty busy,” he said.

“Mm.” She cleared her throat, still feeling fluttery, as if a flock of butterflies had suddenly taken up residence in her rib cage. “That’s great. I’m so glad he has the energy to work more often again.”

She loved her brother Dean very much, and when she’d learned that he’d been diagnosed with early-onset osteoarthritis, she’d been devasted, as had the rest of her family. At first, Dean’s attitude had been one of resignation, but the Owens family soon rallied together to encourage him to try to improve his symptoms.

They’d learned that physical therapy would greatly decrease both his fatigue and his weakness, and he’d finally agreed to sign up with a physical therapist. It was there that he’d met his girlfriend, Noelle Calhoun, who was a wonderful physical therapist. She’d stopped being his PT before they’d started dating, but Julia liked knowing that Dean was with someone who would be able to look out for his physical needs with a professional eye.

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