Page 4 of A Place for Daydreams

Next to the snacks, in the tote bag there was also a little baby doll. She’d seen it at the Rosewood Beach toy store a few days earlier, when she’d been window shopping with Hazel and Dean. She’d immediately thought of Macey and had decided to surprise the little girl with the doll right away, rather than wait for her birthday or Christmas to roll around.

When she’d first met Cooper—after he’d saved her from falling into a puddle by catching her in the rain—she had been unsure about how she would handle helping care for the little girl. She’d never expected to be dating a man with a child. She’d never spent much time with little children, and she didn’t know if it would be beyond her scope or not. But the more time she’d spent with Macey, the more she’d come to adore the little girl. Now, she always looked forward to seeing her almost as much as she looked forward to seeing Cooper. Her relationship with the two of them was, besides her relationships with her family members, one of the best things in her life. Cooper was always supportive of her, encouraging her new favorite hobby of cooking, and cheering her on when she had to work long hours handling the financial side of her family’s restaurant, The Lighthouse Grill.

Before she got a chance to ring the doorbell, the door was tugged open by Cooper, who immediately greeted her with a grin and a big hug.

“Hey, sweetheart.” He kissed the side of her head affectionately. “Good morning.”

“Good morning.” She grinned at him, and then felt Macey’s chubby little arms wrap themselves around her legs. “Good morning, sunshine!” She reached down and lifted the little girlup into her arms to give her a proper hug. “I have some presents for you.”

“Presents!” Macey squealed. “Thank you!”

“Good job, Macey.” Cooper gave his daughter a high-five, praising the way she’d said “thank you” without being prompted.

Julia reached into her tote bag and pulled out a bag of cinnamon apple chips and two Tupperwares filled with yogurt bites and the pears spread with ricotta cheese.

“I made you these yummy snacks. And they’re healthy.” She winked at Cooper. “There are some yogurt bites, some apple chips, and some pears spread with ricotta cheese. And I put snacks for you to take to daycare today into this little tin with the fairies on it. There’s a couple of yogurt bites and some pear slices in there.”

“Thank you, Julia.” Cooper gave her a sideways hug, smiling at the way his daughter seemed thrilled by the snacks. “Those sound great.”

“Here’s this tin for her to take today, and I can go put the rest of the snacks in the refrigerator.” She started toward the kitchen but stopped when Cooper handed her back the tin.

“Go ahead and put that in the fridge too. I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I think those snacks sound a little too messy for daycare. But I’ll give them to her later. Besides, I already packed her bag for daycare last night.”

“Oh, sure.” Julia felt a slight flutter of disappointment, but she took it in stride. She reminded herself that her affection for Macey didn’t make her a child expert, and there were still a lot of things she was learning.

“Well.” She grinned at the little girl. “I have something else for you too.” She reached inside her bag and then presented the baby doll. “Ta da!”

Macey gasped and reached for the doll. She held it tightly for a few moments, and then Cooper gently picked it up.

“Look, Macey.” He crouched down to be on her level. “She’s got a pretty little bonnet with this flower on it, and these beautiful silver buttons on her dress. Wow. What do we say to Julia?”

“Thank you!” Macey gave Julia another hug.

“You’re so welcome.” Julia drew in a breath, feeling her heart warm to see the toddler look so happy.

Cooper stood up and tucked the doll onto the top shelf of the closet. Julia watched him in surprise.

“I was thinking she could take that to daycare,” Julia said, feeling disappointed again.

Cooper shook his head. “Sorry.” He grimaced sympathetically. “That doll is an antique, and it’s more for decoration than a toy. Or maybe for an older child, but I’m worried those antique buttons could cut her. They’re so thin. And the doll is made of porcelain, so if she drops it and it breaks, then she really could get cut.”

“Oh.” Julia felt deflated. “I’m sorry, I?—”

“Don’t be sorry.” He pulled her toward him and gave her a quick kiss. “You’re being so sweet, and Macey and I both appreciate it so much. We’ll give her that doll when she’s a bit older. That should be perfect.”

She bit her lip, wanting to tell him that she’d done her research and found out that the doll was supposed to be two-year-old friendly. It was a new toy and was probably made to look like an antique doll without actually being one. After a moment, however, she decided that it was best not to argue about what he thought was best.

“Come on, Macey, are you ready to go see your friends?” Cooper asked, smiling at the little girl.

“Yeah!” Thankfully, Macey seemed to have forgotten all about the doll. Cooper picked up her daycare bag and took her hand.

“You go get her settled into the car, and I’ll drop these snacks off in the fridge,” Julia said, smiling.

“Sounds good. See you in a couple of minutes.” He blew a kiss at her and stepped out through the front door.

Julia hurried into the kitchen, where she carefully tucked the snacks inside the refrigerator. She sighed as she placed the little tin on the top of the Tupperware stack. She didn’t think that pears and ricotta cheese would be too messy for daycare, but she reminded herself that Macey would enjoy the snacks at home.

And at least I’ve become more of an expert in child snacks,she thought with a chuckle as she made her way back to the front door.I’ve got some recipes under my belt, and I know what kinds of snacks Cooper doesn’t want Macey to bring to daycare.

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