Page 46 of Wishes at Water's Edge
The four women set to work on crafting Julia’s wedding centerpieces. There would be little metal trees on most of the tables, and from the branches of those, Julia wanted to hang strands of colored glass beads. The wedding colors were royal blue and a reddish orange reminiscent of sunsets. As the women began to string the beads together, they exclaimed in delight over how beautiful the beads were, especially when held up to the light.
Alexis smiled as she listened to the happy chatter that bounced amongst her mother and sisters. Hazel told them all about the house that she and Jacob had picked out together, and she giddily told them about all of their plans to repaint and redecorate it. Jacob planned on remodeling the staircase and building a massive bookshelf across an entire wall in the living room. Samantha was already getting excited about planting a new vegetable garden in the backyard once spring arrived, and Hazel intended to create both a tile backsplash in the kitchen and a new tile floor for the upstairs master bathroom.
After they’d been working for a good half an hour, Hazel stood up. “Time for refreshments,” she said. “Alexis, you want to come help me grab the lemonade and the snacks?”
“Snacks?” Alexis stood to her feet eagerly. “I’m always happy to help out with snacks.”
Hazel chuckled as the two of them made their way into the cozy kitchen. Alexis was reminded of when she had lived with Hazel and Samantha when she’d first returned to Rosewood Beach. During those days, she had thought that her marriage with Grayson was coming to an end, and she had felt grieved both over her father’s death and what she’d thought had been the unavoidable decline of her marriage.
It’s nice to be so happy in this house now,she thought cheerfully.Grayson and my relationship is better now than it ever was, and better than I ever could have dreamed.
She thought of the chubby bundle of joy that was currently sitting on her mother’s lap in the living room. Life was full of grief, that was without a doubt, but it was also full of happiness. Just as she couldn’t have imagined the pain of her father’s passing, so too she couldn’t have imagined just how flooded with love and joy her little baby boy made her feel.
“I’ll grab the lemonade out of the refrigerator, and if you want to grab that snack tray there,” Hazel said, pointing to a tray laden with delicious snacks that was resting on the kitchen table. “I meant to bring it all out earlier, but Mom and Julia asked for coffee when they got here and then I got side-tracked.”
“I think getting snacks after we’ve already been working for a while is nice,” Alexis said, looking down in delight at the assortment of pumpkin cookies and candied almonds and peanuts. “It feels like a reward for our labor.”
“Oh, true.” Hazel chuckled. “But I don’t feel like we’ve been working at all. This is one of the most fun crafts I’ve ever done.”
“That’s saying something, coming from you,” Alexis said with a chuckle. “I think it’s really fun too. I can understand why Julia was overwhelmed, though. This is going to take a long time, and if she’d had to do it by herself, I can’t even imagine how long it would take.”
Hazel shook her head as she set the lemonade pitcher and a stack of glasses onto a tray. “Good thing she’s got us. Come on, let’s go back in there. I’m dying to try this lemonade. It’s a new recipe, and there’s a little lavender in there.”
Alexis and Hazel went back into the living room, and Alexis’s heart danced when she saw the way Cash grinned at her adoringly. They set the trays down on the coffee table—in the only two remotely clear areas—and took their places on the couch again.
“Who wants lemonade?” Hazel asked, holding up the pitcher. Everyone answered in the affirmative, and even Cash held out his little hands as if he wanted a glass. “No, young man.” Hazel laughed. “No lemonade for babies.”
“Thanks for all this, Hazel,” Julia said, sighing gratefully as she picked up one of the fluffy-looking cookies. “You’re a great host.”
“Oh, thank you,” Hazel sang out as she started to pass out the glasses of lemonade. “I love having you all here.”
“Speaking of hosting,” Vivian said as she accepted a glass of lemonade, “you two hosted your friend Lewis the other night, didn’t you, Alexis? How did that go? Have you been enjoying his visit?”
“Ah.” Alexis cleared her throat before swallowing one of the candied almonds. “I thought it would be fun—and I guess it was a little. Grayson was really excited to see Lewis, and I’ve always been pretty fond of him too, so it was nice to see him. But talking with him wasn’t so great—he seemed determined to brag all the time about his life in L.A.”
“Hmm, that doesn’t seem very polite,” Julia said, looking up from the strand of beads she was working on.
“Yeah, and it was worse than that, I’m afraid.” Alexis swirled the lemonade inside her glass. “He kept reminding us of what we left behind on purpose, and he seemed to be putting downthe simplicity of our lives here. At first it seemed kind of subtle, but then it was more and more obvious that he thinks we chose badly in coming here. He said that we cut our careers short.”
“Oh, that’s nonsense.” Julia shook her head. “What’s the point of a successful career if you’re not happy? Besides, you both were successful—very successful. You realized that you didn’t want that kind of life anymore. You may not have as much money and prestige as you used to, but now you have more time to relax and enjoy the things that life is really about.”
“I agree,” Hazel said. “Just because Lewis hasn’t realized yet how wonderful it can be to live life at a slower pace doesn’t mean that what you’ve found to be true isn’t valid. And maybe living in the city and being competitive really is what makes Lewis the happiest. But you and Grayson know what makes you the happiest, and it’s living here in Rosewood Beach.”
“With us,” Vivian chimed in with a laugh. “I agree. Lewis probably just doesn’t understand where you’re coming from. And maybe he will someday, but you shouldn’t let him bother you.”
“You know how much value there is in your life here,” Julia said. “You’ve lived both versions—the successful, hustling life in L.A., and the quiet life here in Rosewood Beach. You know what you really want—especially because you’ve already experienced both worlds. Lewis hasn’t experienced both worlds, so don’t let him shake your faith in your choices.”
“You’re right.” Alexis beamed at her family. “I love you all so much. Thank you for talking me out of feeling that way.”
“Of course.” Julia reached across the table and squeezed Alexis’s hand. “I also left ‘success’ in the city, so I know just how you feel. People equate success with worth, I think. They act like if you want to be a really important person, you need to be successful. It can be hard to snap out of that mindset, but that mindset is totally wrong. We all know that. No one person ismore valuable than another no matter what, so we should all just relax and live healthy, happy lives with the people we love.”
Hazel applauded, and Julia laughed and pretended to bow.
“See? This is exactly why my life here in Rosewood Beach is better than my life in L.A.,” Alexis said with a smile. “People here are honest and kind at the same time. And wise.”
“I think being honest and kind at the same time is always a kind of wisdom,” Vivian said thoughtfully.
Alexis leaned over to kiss her mother’s cheek and then took a refreshing sip of the lemonade. The lavender that Hazel had added to it gave it a wonderfully revitalizing flavor. She looked around the circle at her family and thought to herself that she was blessed beyond measure.
