Page 49 of Moonlit Harbor Nights

She glanced up at Cooper as she started to eat the pasta, smiling at him with all her might. In addition to being lukewarm, the pasta had clearly been made by throwing together noodles, slightly rubbery chicken, and a jar of pasta sauce. It wasn’t a great meal—but her love for Cooper and her excitement over their engagement made it taste incredible.

She thought about all of the little things she’d been getting frustrated about lately. She knew those weren’t going to go away, but she felt okay about facing them with her partner.

All the gritty realities of life,she thought.We’ll have big trials to face, and little trials too. Things like fingernails, socks, toes, and coffee grounds won’t always be in order, but I know I want to embrace all of those things with Cooper.

“I love you, sweetheart,” Cooper said, reaching across the table to hold her hand.

“I love you too.” She squeezed his hand, feeling her heart flood with happiness and anticipation.

At that moment, Julia’s phone began to ring in her pocket. At first, she wanted to ignore it, but Cooper gestured to her coat pocket.

“It’s okay, you can answer it.”

“Okay. Thanks, sweetheart.” She always liked to answer her phone because of how close she was to all her family members, and she appreciated the way Cooper was being respectful of that. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at the screen. It was Hazel calling, and Julia had a flash of intuition that told her that the call was about something important.

“Hey, Hazel!” She immediately wanted to blurt out that she’d just gotten engaged, and that Cooper had set up the absolutely most romantic setting for his proposal, but as soon as she heard her sister speak, she knew that something was definitely wrong.

“Hey, Julia. I need you to come over to Mom’s right away.”

Julia froze. “Is everyone okay?”

“No one’s hurt, nothing like that,” Hazel assured her hastily. “It’s just—well, it’s about the pub. The rest of us are over here at Mom’s.”

“The pub?” Julia echoed. The Lighthouse Grill meant a great deal to her and her family. If it was in trouble in any way, she wanted to rush to its rescue the same way she would rush to rescue one of her family members.

“Yeah. I can explain more when you get here. I hate to break up your date—Mom said you were going over there for takeout and a movie.”

Julia couldn’t help smiling. She’d gotten a lot more than takeout and a movie, she thought, looking down at the gorgeous diamond glittering on her finger.

“I can come over. I’ll be there soon.”

“Thanks, Julia. I feel like we really need your input here. Talk to you soon. Bye!”

“Bye, Hazel.”

“Is everything okay?” Cooper asked as soon as Julia set her phone down, sounding concerned.

“No one’s hurt,” Julia assured him. “But it sounds like something’s up with the pub and there’s some kind of emergency family meeting being held. I’m so sorry, sweetheart, but I guess I need to go back to my mom’s place to talk with them about it.”

Cooper nodded. “I understand.” He smiled at her. “It would have ended up getting too cold out here probably anyway.”

She shook her head, grinning at him. “This is the most amazing set-up. A girl couldn’t ask for a more romantic proposal.”

They both stood up and he wrapped his arms around her. “I can’t wait until the next time I see you. I can’t wait to tell everyone that we’re engaged, and that I am the luckiest man in the world.”

“I’m the luckiest woman in the world,” she said, holding onto him tightly.

He shook his head. “I’m worried I’m going to end up disappointing you.”

“You won’t,” she assured him, squeezing his hand tightly. “I’m sure you’ll end up frustrating me.” She laughed. “But I know you aren’t perfect. Thank goodness—if you were, you would never put up with all my quirks and faults.”

“What quirks and faults?” He grinned at her, bringing his face close to hers for a kiss.

“Mm, you’re in for a rude awakening,” she teased.

They shared another warm kiss, and then Julia pulled away.

“I’ll see you soon,” she told him, feeling as dreamy and starry-eyed as a teenager.

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