Page 21 of Serenity at Seagrove
"Where's Harrison?" Julie asked.
"Oh, he's not feeling so well tonight. I promised I'd bring him home some leftovers," Dixie said.
"And where's Nick, by the way?" Dixie asked SuAnn.
"He went to visit some family in Alabama. He'll be back next week. Now, let's get on with Sunday dinner. Luna, honey, you have to tell me whether or not I did your grandmother's recipe justice," SuAnn said as she started passing around the dishes. After realizing SuAnn was serious about cooking, Luna had sent her one of her grandmother’s recipes.
"Everything looks wonderful. My abuela would be honored that you wanted to learn any of her recipes. Cooking was her greatest passion."
"The mofongo smells amazing," Julie said, helping herself to a generous portion.
There was a mixture of foods, from Puerto Rican dishes to Lowcountry favorites like cheese grits and peach cobbler. Everybody's plate looked like a mishmash of cultures. Beside Luna, Archer was oddly quiet, studying the unfamiliar dishes with careful consideration. He was still favoring his shoulder, even with the simple act of passing dishes.
"Try this," Luna said softly, spooning some mofongo onto his plate. "It's plantains mashed with garlic and olive oil—the comfort food of my childhood."
"Your childhood in Puerto Rico?"
"Summers with my grandmother," she explained. "She had this tiny little kitchen that always smelled like sofrito and coffee. She could make anything taste like home."
On her other side, Dixie was regaling the table with stories about Seagrove’s history, her bangles jingling as she gestured enthusiastically. But Luna couldn’t help but remain aware of Archer beside her, watching as he took his first bite of mofongo.
"This is—" he paused for a moment, searching for words, "really good. Like, really good."
Luna felt a warmth of satisfaction. "Food has a way of bringing people together. My abuela always said a shared meal could heal almost anything."
“She sounds like a smart woman," Dawson said from across the table. "And thanks to SuAnn for hosting all of us here and being willing to try something new," Dawson said, raising his glass of sweet tea. Everyone around the table did the same.
"So, Janine, where's your husband?" Dawson asked, referring to William.
"He had a late marsh tour today, and he didn’t want to bail on the people, but I promised him I'd bring home leftovers too. So everybody leave a little bit in the bowls," Janine said, laughing.
"Julie, how are the girls?" Dixie asked, referring to her adult daughters, Colleen and Meg.
"Oh, just busy with their lives. I feel like I don’t get to see them nearly as often as I’d like to. Of course, Meg is still helping out at the bookstore when she gets a chance, but Vivi is always involved in something. She takes ballet now, and she’s starting gymnastics classes next week."
"Oh wow, she’s getting so big," Dixie said.
"And Colleen?"
"Just being a new mom. You know how exhausting that can be. I invited her and Tucker to come tonight for Sunday dinner, but they just wanted a quiet night in. They did say thank you for the invitation, though," she said to SuAnn.
"Well, I'll see them next week. I'm making a special pound cake to bring over. Being a new mother is very hard."
Luna had always wanted to be a mother, and hearing other people talk about it sometimes tugged at her heartstrings in a way that was hard to explain. It just hadn’t been in the cards for her, and now she feared that she was too old to have a child biologically. Of course, to her, it didn’t matter. She would do it in any way that she could, but first, she had to find the right man to build a family.
“So, Luna," Dixie said, "you must tell everybody about what happened in your movement class recently. That fisherman, Tom, isn’t it? He came into the bookstore and was practically floating."
"Well, sometimes people just need permission to slow down and listen to their bodies. That’s all."
"That’s not all," Julie said, laughing. "You’re creating something very special at Serenity. Everybody can feel it. The whole town’s excited."
Much to Luna’s relief, the conversation shifted to stories about Seagrove’s past. Dixie seemed to have endless tales about the history, each one a little more colorful than the last, but Luna could feel Archer beside her and the way he relaxed—incrementally—as the attention moved away from the classes.
As the evening progressed, the sky turned purple with sunset. Luna found herself feeling more at home here with these relative strangers than she had in years. They were warm and genuine people, and she felt like the town had not been the only thing that had pulled her back to Seagrove after all these years. Maybe God knew that she needed these people, too.
The evening air grew cooler, and SuAnn brought out some coffee and a flan that Luna had helped her prepare earlier. Candles on the table flickered in the breeze.
"This reminds me of the evenings on my abuela’s porch," Luna said as she helped serve the dessert. "Though she had these tiny coquí frogs that would sing all night long. Sometimes it was hard to even talk over them."
