Page 37 of Starfish Cottage
“But what about Lorelei?” Leena asked. “Will she stay here too?”
“I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure Dex is starting to see that she might not be the one for him. Why are you asking? Are you worried about your bet?”
Leena laughed. “Maybe. But I know you don’t love the idea of Lorelei for a granddaughter-in-law, and you want Dex to stay in town near you, so I’ll be happy for you if he stays. Besides, the bet was for Mex—Maddie and Dex—so I could still win because even if he stays in town, there is no indication the two of them will get together.”
“I don’t know. Have you seen the way those two look at each other?” Pearl asked.
“One can only hope!” Rose had grown fond of Maddie and loved the idea of her getting together with Dex.
“Don’t worry, Leena, we still have the Chuck and Deena bet to win. What did you guys call it? Chukeena?” Aggie glanced over at Saltwater Sweets. “Those two have their work cut out for them, and you know how people are when it comes to kids. No matter how old your kids are, you don’t want to disappoint them. They might just break up if they can’t get the kids to approve.”
“True. I hate to see Deena unhappy, though,” Leena said. “But I do like to win bets.”
“There’s another new couple in town we could bet on.” Rose jerked her head toward Aggie. “Haggie.”
Everyone laughed, including Aggie.
“So what do you say? You want in on that bet?” Pearl asked Aggie.
Aggie shrugged and sipped her coffee. “I think I’d have to disqualify myself because I have insider information, but if I were you, I wouldn’t bet against us.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“We can go to Portland any weekend. This is the only weekend that Shell Cove has a big event.” Dex was a bit perplexed and disappointed at Lorelei’s vehement protest to staying in town.
“But you promised.” She pouted.
“Right. But I didn’t think it through, so I didn’t realize that you wanted to go on the weekend of the big event. Don’t you want to go to the Gatsby party? It will be fun. All our friends from town will be there.”
“I don’t care about a silly party.”
Now she was acting like a spoiled brat. Where was the sweet, easygoing Lorelei that he’d fallen for?
“You used to like costume parties,” Dex pointed out.
“I still do. But I don’t really have any friends here in town anymore. Everyone in town is so… stuck in their ways. None of our friends that have stayed here are leveling up in their careers like I am.”
“Leveling up?” Dex was happy doing carpentry. He loved creating things, and the job was different every day. Plus it had the added benefit of helping people. Suddenly he was wary of what Lorelei’s version of leveling up would be for him. Would she try to pressure him into some other sort of job?
“Yeah, you know, career growth and all. There are no opportunities here. You need to be in the city if you want to make something of yourself.”
“Really? I alreadyamsomething.”
She gave him a sad, pitying look. “Of course, you are. But if you got a job at one of the big companies as a maintenance guy, you’d have a 401k and benefits. Or if you signed on to one of the commercial crews, you’d get salary and paid vacations.”
“I don’t want to work for someone else. I like working for myself.” Working on a commercial building crew or as a maintenance guy was the last thing Dex wanted to do. But judging by the look on Lorelei’s face, that was exactly the plan she had for him. Suddenly Dex realized that maybe the vision he’d had in his head all these years and the vision Lorelei had had were two different things. He didn’t necessarily like her version.
“We can talk about that when you move there.” She suddenly turned cheerful. “This weekend we can check out some of the bigger apartments. Mine is too small.”
Dex was seeing a different side of Lorelei. All this time, he’d held onto the girl he’d known since high school, but this woman was not that girl. And suddenly he realized that she was not his future.
“I’m not going to Portland this weekend.” The words came out slow as if he was measuring each one. Which he was.
Her eyes turned cloudy, and Dex braced for one of her tantrums. “Fine! If you want to go to the party that bad, we can stay here, but I have nothing to wear and all the good costumes are probably taken.”
“It’s not just this weekend. I’m notmovingthere.” Dex hadn’t actually known he was going to say that, but as soon as the words had left his mouth, he knew they were the right ones.
“What? Are you joking?”
