Page 55 of Sea Glass Serenade

“I should get going too,” she said, standing up. “I’ve got work in a little bit. Good to see you!”

“Good to see you! Thanks for the cookies and for stopping by.”

She gave him another hug, and as they parted from it he looked her right in the eye.

“When you get sad about Jacob,” he told her, “just picture yourself being happy. Not with any person in particular. Just you, being happy. Because that’s what’s going to happen, okay?”

She nodded, smiling at him gratefully. “That’s great advice, thank you, Dean. I will. You keep me posted on how that date goes!”

He groaned. “I said maybe!”

“Mm, we’ll see about that.”

Grinning, they waved goodbye to each other and she stepped back out into the sunlight. She got back into her car and made her way home again, feeling lighthearted and full of hope for the future.

Grayson heard the sound of a car passing and he looked up in alarm. When he saw that the car didn’t belong to Alexis, he breathed a sigh of relief and then chuckled at himself.

Stop being so jittery,he thought.She told her mother she’d be here at seven-fifteen, which gives me roughly half an hour.

He went back to the setup he was creating on Vivian’s front porch. So far, he had a table covered in a white tablecloth, two chairs, and a bouquet of vibrant red roses resting on the table. He worked hurriedly, wanting to make sure everything was ready by the time Alexis arrived. He set up a cheese fondue fountain on a corner of the table, and then placed an artfully-arranged charcuterie board next to it. He placed a speaker underneath the table and synced it to his phone. He’d created a playlist of serene, romantic music and he smiled as he hit play and heard the first chords of a song coming from the speaker.

He glanced nervously at the road again, worrying that Alexis would arrive early. After all, she thought she was coming to her mother’s house to eat a casual dinner with Vivian and Julia. She had no idea that she was about to be surprised with a romantic dinner with her husband.

He hurried to put the rest of the things he’d brought onto the table. He set down a bottle of expensive Merlot and arranged white pillar candles in the center of the table. He lit them carefully, and then, for a finishing touch, sprinkled red rose petals across the rest of the tablecloth and onto the floor of the porch itself.

He took a step back, admiring his work, and a grin spread across his face. It looked perfect, he thought, and he couldn’t wait to see the look on Alexis’s face when she saw it.

He hurried inside the house to the kitchen, where Julia was creating the dinner he’d asked her to.

“Hey!” She gave him a sideways hug, grinning at him. “You look nervous. Don’t be nervous. She’s going to be totally sweptoff her feet, and this dinner is going to be amazing if I do say so myself. I’ve got the garlic mashed potatoes and the lemon green beans all ready, and I just need another couple of minutes to get the parmesan cream sauce on the salmon.”

“Thank you so much. It smells amazing. I couldn’t have done this without your help. I’m serious, I want to pay you.”

She shook her head firmly, smiling. “You paid for the ingredients! I love cooking, and this was a perfect excuse to try out something fancy. Besides, family helps family. I’m always going to jump on board with any plan that helps out you and Alexis.”

“Well, thank you?—”

At that moment, Vivian hurried into the kitchen, looking flustered. She was on the phone with someone, and she waved at Grayson urgently.

“Yes, sweetheart, that’s fine,” she said into the phone. “We’d love for you to get here a few minutes early. We’ll see you in a couple of minutes.”

Grayson, realizing what was going on, mouthed “thank you” at his mother-in-law and hurried out of the kitchen. Before he went through the front door, he heard Julia say, “Well, thank goodness she called to ask you!”

Grayson stepped onto the front porch and stood next to the table, feeling a little out of breath even though he hadn’t even been running. His heart thumped in his chest, and he found himself grinning with excitement despite how nervous he felt. He turned to look at the table one more time, adjusted the placement of one of the candles, and then stepped back.

“Here!” Julia burst out of the house, laughing as if they were playing some kind of game. She was holding a covered dish, and Vivian followed her out of the house with two more.

“There you go.” Vivian set down the dishes she was carrying, then straightened, brushing off her hands. “Have a great time.We’re going to the pub for dinner, to give you two some privacy. We’ll sneak out the back.”

“Thank you both so much.” Grayson smiled at them gratefully, and they grinned and hurried back inside the house.

A moment later, Alexis’s car pulled up onto the street in front of him. He couldn’t see her until she got out of the car, but it was clear from the nonchalant way that she was moving that she hadn’t seen his surprise yet. She started to walk toward the house, looking almost dreamily at the ground as if she was lost in thought.

She was halfway up the driveway before she saw him. Her jaw dropped, and she froze as she took in the sight before her.

“Good evening.” He smiled at her, thinking that she looked absolutely gorgeous in her jeans and comfily oversized blouse. “Would you have dinner with me, Mrs. Bennett?”

“I would love to.” She smiled at him, sounding a little breathless. She looked admiringly at his suit. “You look wonderful. I wish I’d known to wear something a little more elegant.”

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