Page 55 of A Place for Daydreams

He opened his laptop again and began to show her the website in more detail. “See here, the home page immediately gives a potential buyer a sense of the different kinds of pieces you offer. There’s pictures of earrings, bracelets, and necklaces, and this side bar here makes it easy to click on the sale galleries. And then once you have reviews, those will go right here, immediately showing people how well-respected your work is.”

“If I get any good reviews.” She wrinkled her nose.

“Oh, you will. And see how I’ve tried to organize everything with buyer intent in mind? This set-up should promote maximum sales. I know you’re going to succeed at this, sweetheart.”

She felt tears spring into her eyes. “I’m so touched, Grayson. Why does this mean so much to you?”

He looked into her eyes. “You spent so many years supporting my ventures, especially when I was just getting started, and I want to do the same for you.”

She squeezed his hand, feeling overwhelmed. “Thank you, sweetheart. You’re so good at all this stuff, and I couldn’t do it without you.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” He smiled at her. “But I’m happy to support you the way you’ve supported me. I think that’s such a big part of what marriage is about—supporting and encouraging each other’s dreams. I want you to be able to have a job that brings you joy.”

“It sounds incredible. I would love to do what I love for a living.”

He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I’m excited to see all of this start to gain traction. It’s going to be a rollercoaster, but in a good way.”

“I can’t wait. And speaking of supporting each other’s dreams, I believe you mentioned something about blueberry pancakes?”

“I did. You want to make some blueberry pancakes with me?”

“Yes, I do. With scrambled eggs and bacon on the side.”

“Did you hear my stomach grumble as soon as you said the word ‘bacon’?” He laughed. “Come on, let’s get to it.” Grayson stood and helped Alexis to her feet.

They went into the kitchen together and began to prepare breakfast. As they worked, Alexis kept thinking about the beautiful website her husband had made for her and feeling eager for the future.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Dean stepped up to The Lighthouse Grill, taking a deep breath of the familiar savory smells of clam chowder and French fries. He opened the front door and was immediately greeted by the sound of a few customers talking and laughing, and of cutlery clinking. For the most part, however, the pub was fairly quiet. It was before the lunch rush, and as he glanced around the room, he didn’t see anyone who could help him with the to-go lunch that he’d ordered for himself and Noelle.

“Huh,” he muttered.

He glanced around the dining room, noting that he didn’t even see any wait staff walking around. He concluded that everyone must be on their break because the pub was so quiet at the moment.

He wandered into the kitchen and found that empty as well. He felt a little surprised, since there was usually at least someone in the kitchen, but it was clear that the chefs had been cooking only a few minutes ago, since the kitchen was filled with fresh aromas of food.

He made his way along the back hallway toward the office, the door of which was ajar. He peered through it and grinned when he saw Alexis sitting at the computer.

“Excuse me, Ma’am, is this place open for business?” he teased, stepping inside the office. “You’d think a person would be able to get a meal at a restaurant. Why is the staff slacking?”

Alexis looked up with a grin. She waved her hand through the air, dismissing his teasing. “Everyone’s on a break right now. We’re always really slow at this time, although it’ll pick up again in about twenty minutes.”

“Wow, you’ve got it down to a science, don’t you?”

She laughed. “Barring the occasional busload of tourists or teams of kids passing through because of a sports game, our customer base is a pretty consistent group of people. Rosewood Beach’s folks know what they want and when they want it.”

Dean chuckled. “Yeah, that sounds about right. But I’m here for some—” He paused, noticing his sister looking at the computer again with a radiant expression. Clearly, something on the screen was making her very happy.

“What’s up with you?” he asked, stepping toward her. “You’re glowing.”

“Come and look at this,” she said eagerly, scooting her swivel chair to the side to make room for him to stand next to her.

He peered down at the computer screen and saw a retail website listing.

“Hmm, what am I looking at?”

Alexis clicked a couple of times, revealing a beautiful website featuring pictures of jewelry. “You are looking at the website of Rosewood Beach’s first resident jewelry maker.”

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