Page 1 of A Place for Daydreams

CHAPTER ONE

Dean Owens shut the door to his office and took a deep breath. Through the window, he could see the charming Main Street of Rosewood Beach, his hometown on the shores of Connecticut. A few of the trees that bordered the sidewalk were already starting to flush with the first warm colors of autumn. He watched a dried leaf scuttle across the sidewalk in a gust of wind, and he glanced up at the cloudy sky, wondering if it might rain.

He sighed and sat down in the comfortable swivel chair behind his desk. He could hear the sound of his employees still working hard on cars out in the garage of his auto repair shop, and he winced a little, wishing he was still working with them. He always felt bad about taking breaks, especially so late in the workday like this, but his hands were throbbing and his chest felt heavy with fatigue.

He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, remembering what it had been like to work a full day of work before his diagnosis with osteoarthritis. He’d gotten tired, but not like this. There was the almost pleasant fatigue that came with long hours of physical exertion, and there was the cold, achy fatigue that he was feeling at the moment.

He smiled wryly, reminding himself that things could be a great deal worse. He had a lot to be thankful for. He owned the auto repair shop, business was booming, and he had smart, capable employees who did their jobs well. In addition to that, he had a wonderful family who made him happy every day.

Despite how busy they all were from balancing their personal lives with running the family restaurant, The Lighthouse Grill, they always found time to be with one another and offer support and encouragement. His twin sister Hazel was especially caring, and often made him and the other mechanics a batch of cookies.

He smiled, thinking about how when his sisters Alexis and Julia had come back into town for their father’s funeral, he’d expected them to return to their homes in New York and Los Angeles soon afterward.

Instead, Julia had stayed to date a young single father named Cooper Harris, and Alexis had found herself wanting to stay in her hometown rather than return to an empty L.A. mansion and a distant husband. Now that Alexis’s husband Grayson had moved to Rosewood Beach to show her how committed he was to revitalizing their marriage, it seemed that everyone in the Owens family was in Rosewood Beach to stay.

He felt grateful that his family had been there when he’d first learned of his condition. Although he hadn’t wanted to tell them about it right away, he knew that it was their love and support that had enabled him to stay positive in spite of the new and unexpected difficulties he was experiencing.

He’d expected them to take it hard and start treating him differently, and he hadn’t wanted to face that right away. However, although they’d been sad, they were also determined to keep his spirits lifted, and that helped greatly. They also encouraged him to slow down and take breaks, and although it wasn’t something he wanted to do, since he didn’t want tohave to alter his life while he was still so young, he was already reaping the benefits of getting more rest.

At first, he’d felt that his diagnosis meant that he was going to have a different life from the one he’d always dreamed of having. He’d felt that a romantic relationship was no longer in the stars for him. After confessing that to his family, however, they’d urged him to keep his heart open to love anyway. They kept telling him that he was still a sweet, funny, hardworking guy and that any woman would be lucky to have him.

He had to admit to himself that, despite his diagnosis, he did feel as though he had something to give. There was a large part of him that still wanted to settle down and have a family of his own someday.

There was a soft knock on his office door, and a moment later his employee Keith stuck his head inside the room. “Hey, boss, that car is here for the brake replacement. Do you want to do that one, or—” Keith’s voice got quieter, and he seemed to be taking in how exhausted Dean looked. “Or I can take care of it if you want.”

Dean grimaced a little bit. Brake replacement was a difficult job, and it was ordinarily one that he liked to do himself, since the brakes were the most important safety feature on any car. Keith was a highly capable employee, however, and he trusted him to do the job well. “I hate to give you such a big task, but I’m just not up for it. Sorry, Keith. I know I’d said I wanted to do that car myself, but my body just isn’t playing fair right now.”

“Don’t you worry about it.” Keith shook his head. “I could use the extra money anyhow.” He winked cheerfully and disappeared, and Dean smiled to himself, thinking about how lucky he was to have such a supportive, cooperative staff.

A moment later, however, his spirits dropped again. He suddenly felt overwhelmed by how quickly his life was changing. He never would have hesitated to take on a physicallychallenging task in the past, but now he felt as though if he tried to pick up a tool, his weak hands might drop it. He dropped his head into his hands, wondering what on earth he was going to do.

“Dean!”

He looked up, startled, to see his sister Alexis Bennett walking into the room. Her long reddish-brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she was wearing jeans and a plain white blouse, which implied that she was on her way to work at the pub that night.

“Hey, Alexis, what’s?—”

She shook her head, coming to sit down on the edge of the desk near him. “You look exhausted. You’re pale, and there are huge circles under your eyes. You’ve clearly been doing too much work all week. Go home and rest, please. There’s no reason for you to be sitting in here. Go somewhere more comfortable.”

Dean shook his head. “I’m fine, really. Yes, I’m a little tired, but I’m taking a break. I don’t want to go home now, my shop closes in an hour. I can stick it out that long.”

Alexis crossed her arms, and she got a look in her eyes that he knew meant business.

“Do your guys need you here in order to do their jobs correctly?”

“Well, no, but?—”

“And are you the only person who can lock up for the night?”

“No, I’m not, but?—”

“Dean.” Alexis’s tone was gentle. “You need to be realistic and accept the facts. This isn’t the way to take care of yourself. There are ways to ensure that you still have a great quality of life—but being in denial and pushing yourself too hard too often are not two of those ways.”

Dean took a deep breath and sighed. For a moment, he was at a loss for words. “Alexis, I don’t know what else to do. Thisis what I do. I work. I’m a mechanic. I enjoy it, and I take pride in it. I want to live a normal life, and I have no intention of succumbing to aging way too soon because of this.”

“I know.” She reached over and squeezed his hand. “I understand how you feel, and I know how hard it is. I wish you didn’t have to go through any of this, but I believe there’s a way for you to still feel young and fulfilled, and also take care of yourself so that you don’t feel like this.”

“I hope you’re right.” He sighed, finding it difficult to keep his spirits up.

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