Page 34 of Where Sea Meets Sky

“Hi,” Julia said cheerfully, determined to play off her new outfit as totally normal. “How are you?”

“Um, well, I’m here because I’ve been craving our bacon avocado breakfast sandwich so I decided to come here for breakfast. But—um—what on earth are you wearing?”

“What?” Julia felt herself blushing, but she tried to play dumb. She looked down at her outfit. “What on earth are you talking about?”

Alexis cleared her throat and pointed to Julia’s feet. “What’s the big idea with the boots?”

“Why? Don’t you like them?”

“Oh, I like them fine. But they’re making me worried that aliens abducted my sister and replaced her with a robot, because I have never seen you wear anything like that before in your life.”

Julia sighed, realizing there was no point in denying it anymore.

“Fine,” she said, sitting down in the chair across from her sister. “I’m wearing them because I want to make a good impression on Cooper’s parents. I guess they love to hunt and fish and hike and camp and all that stuff, and I didn’t want them to think I was too prissy, you know? I kind of give off a… well… maybe overly-polished vibe.”

Alexis shook her head, chuckling. “I mean, you can’t exactly hide that, Julia. The immaculate makeup job you’ve done to your face is going to be a dead giveaway no matter what you’re wearing.”

Julia wrinkled her nose. “Enjoying all of the artistry that’s involved in makeup doesn’t mean that someone doesn’t like to explore the outdoors.”

“Sure—and I know you do like the outdoors. But not that much. Girl, come on. The last time we all went hiking, you suggested that we drive to the nearest mall and walk around in there instead.”

“It still would have been exercise,” Julia mumbled.

“Besides, don’t you think you should just be yourself when you’re meeting your in-laws? If you’re giving them the impression that you love doing all that stuff, then they’re going to expect you to come out and do those things with them.You really think you’re up for a four-hour trek through the wilderness?”

Julia bit her lip, wanting to kick herself for not thinking of that. “Shoot,” she muttered.

Alexis laughed so hard that Julia had to laugh a little too. The sisters shared a smile, and Alexis wiped away a tear of mirth.

“I mean, you do look really cute in that hat. It’s just not… well, you. And I think you should introduce the real Julia to Cooper’s parents.”

“Can’t real Julia wear hiking boots?”

“I mean, real Julia is currently wearing hiking boots, but considering she’s wearing them as part of a deception, I don’t think it really counts.”

“Ugh, fine.” Julia sighed.

At that moment, Vivian walked up to their table, waving her cell phone. “Look at this,” she said, sounding exasperated. “Those McCormicks have done it again.”

“What?” both girls asked in dismay.

Vivian shook her head and handed her phone to Julia. “Read that social media post. Dean just sent it to me. Now they’re copycatting our famous chicken waffle sandwich. It’s got the same sauces and citrus coleslaw and everything.”

“Those rats!” Alexis looked indignant. “Show me?”

Julia handed her the phone, and Alexis scanned the post.

“Yeah, that’s our sandwich all right.” Alexis shook her head. “But remember what happened last time? They lost business because everyone in town realized they were copycatting us and didn’t want to support them anymore.”

“True, but the tourists won’t know.” Vivian pressed her lips together. “We’re heading into the summer season, and we’re all going to get extra business from out of town. The McCormicks will get more than the rest of us, probably, being so close to the freeway.”

“Don’t worry about it, Mom,” Julia assured her, placing a gentle hand on her mother’s arm. “We’ll just let things take their course. The McCormicks can’t hurt us, I think that’s been proved more than once.”

“That’s the spirit!” Alexis grinned. “Don’t even think about them, Mom. Judd and his sons are always trying to get under your skin and keep that stupid rivalry going. The best thing to do is act as though it doesn’t even bother us.”

“You’re right.” Vivian beamed at her daughters. “Thank you both for lifting my spirits. I’ll just go ahead and push this out of my mind. It’s not worth fretting over.”

“That’s right.” Julia squeezed her mother’s hand. “We—hey! Look, there’s Faith.”

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