Page 24 of Where Sea Meets Sky

“I’m sure it will.” She nodded. “Although I don’t think I’ll be able to find another man who lends me half of his cart and feeds me a lemon croissant and coffee for free.” Her tone was jovial, but he detected a kind of wistful look in her eyes.

He glanced down at his watch, dreading having to leave.

“You need to go?” she asked him, standing up as if she was worried about making him late.

“I—yeah, I should probably go.” He stood up, even though he still had about ten minutes of wiggle room. He wanted to keep talking with her, but he felt awkward about staying now that she’d made a move to leave. He also wanted to get parting ways with her over with, since the thought was still making his heart heavy.

“Well, thanks for sitting with me,” she said, extending her hand for a handshake.

He almost felt like giving her a hug, but he told himself that would be too forward. He shook her hand, smiling warmly at her. “It was nice to meet you, Faith. Very nice. I hope that wherever your path takes you, it leads you to what you need.”

What will make you happy,he thought.Really happy.

She smiled back, but there was a sad glint in her eyes. He wondered if she was reluctant to part ways with him too, and the thought made his heart skip a beat. “Thank you, Ryan. Same to you. I hope you get a little rest out there in Colorado.”

“Thanks.” He smiled at her, but her words made him feel suddenly tired. Whenever he was working, he usually got up early and stayed late, barely making enough time for himself to eat and get a decent amount of sleep. He found himself dreadinggoing back to that kind of life, but he forced those thoughts aside. “I hope you get a lot of rest here in Rosewood Beach.”

“I think I will.”

They smiled at each other, both lingering for a moment. Then Ryan made a show of looking at his watch and sighed sincerely.

“You should go,” she told him. “You never know what the lines at the airport are going to be like.”

He nodded. “You’re probably right. Well. Have a good rest of your day, Faith.”

Rest of your life?he found himself thinking with a pang of regret.

“You too. Have a good flight.”

They stepped out of the gazebo together and parted ways with another smile. He glanced over his shoulder as he walked away from her, wondering what the chances were that she would still be in town when he got back.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Julia pressed her lips together as she carefully minced garlic. Her mother was nearby, plucking fresh basil leaves off the plant that sat near the kitchen window. Already the kitchen smelled fragrantly of spices, and they had only just started to cook. A pot of spaghetti was boiling on the stove, and a large bowl of freshly-washed lettuce leaves was waiting to be dolled up into a Caesar salad.

“I hope Faith likes spaghetti and meatballs,” Vivian said, sounding eager. “You kids always loved it. I remember your father used to say that this Owens’ meatball recipe is the best in the world. And you can’t go wrong with a Caesar salad. Even people who don’t like salads tend to like them, I think.”

“Mmm,” Julia said, smiling at her mother but only half-listening. She was looking forward to spending time with her new cousin, and certainly the rest of her family, but she was terribly distracted. Ever since learning that Cooper’s family was coming into town, she’d been feeling nervous about their visit.

She’d tried to talk about it with Cooper, hoping that their conversation would soothe her nerves. She hadn’t told him that she was feeling anxious, but she’d asked him questions about his family, wanting to know what they were like. She’d been hopingthat she would share a fair amount of similarities with them and that he would tell her things that would help her feel more confident that they would like her. Instead, however, he’d shared that they were extremely outdoorsy and liked to camp, hunt, and fish.

Julia felt that she was the complete opposite. She didn’t mind camping, or at least she hadn’t when she was a kid, but she was not inclined to lie down on the cold hard ground when she could sleep in a soft bed instead. She loathed the idea of hunting, and whenever her family had gone fishing when she was a kid, she’d participated with a striking lack of enthusiasm.

“I just had a thought,” Vivian said, pausing in her work of mixing ground beef together with chopped onions and garlic, breadcrumbs, and various spices. “What if she’s a vegetarian?” She laughed nervously. “Oh gosh, I should have thought to check. Or what if she’s vegan?” Vivian sounded alarmed at the thought.

Julia laughed. “She would have told Alexis that after she got invited to dinner if she was. People with dietary restrictions tend to always say something if they’re going somewhere for dinner—they know most people are going to assume that they can eat anything.”

“Oh, you’re probably right.” Vivian smiled, looking mollified. “But I’ll serve the meatballs on the side and have plenty of cheese available, in case she’s a vegetarian.”

Julia chuckled and then went back to her brooding. She tried to picture herself getting along with her new relatives, but she couldn’t help imagining the opposite. She pictured big, burly men and women who laughed loudly and made fun of her for not liking the things they did. Then she imagined them looking at her with distain or even dislike because of her lack of interest in their favorite pastimes, and that was even worse.

She bit her lip, wondering if she would be able to find any common ground with them. She’d been a city girl for so long, and her favorite pastimes were going to museums or attending live performances or reading. She didn’t like to traipse through the great outdoors unless she knew that civilization—and easy access to coffee and real bathrooms—was less than an hour away. She preferred to have brainy discussions with people about interesting topics. She wondered how intellectual Cooper’s family was, and if they would think she was a snob if she tried to strike up a conversation about a challenging subject.

She reminded herself that she and Cooper were very different, but they still got along beautifully. They complemented each other well, and they’d learned to appreciate doing things outside of their comfort zone for each other.

ButI can’t help worrying that his parents might have pictured someone very different for their son,she thought, feeling a fluttery sensation in her chest.What if they meet me and they’re disappointed?

“Julia!” Vivian exclaimed in alarm. “The pasta!”

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