Page 21 of Wishes at Water's Edge
“I’ve told her she’s welcome to be a part of our community,” Vivian said. “I hope she takes me up on the offer. I’d love having her around more often.”
“I would too,” Alexis agreed. “I’ve always thought she was such a nice person—she always makes me feel better whenever I talk to her. She’s so kind and considerate. It’s like she alwayssees you, you know? She’s never so focused on herself that she doesn’t have her eyes open for other people.”
“That’s a great way of putting it,” Julia said. “Look at you, waxing philosophical about Sally over tea.”
The three of them laughed, and then the sound of a baby making cooing sounds came through the baby monitor.
“He’s awake!” Alexis sprang up, excited to go get her son. “Time for some grandma and auntie cuddle time.”
“How about we watch him for an hour or so while you take a nap?” Vivian suggested.
Alexis’s eyes widened. “Would you? That’s even better than the casserole.”
“Oh, we’d love to,” Julia assured her. “And you definitely need more sleep.”
“If you want, I could babysit him for a whole day sometime,” Vivian offered. “That would give you and Grayson a break, and I would get some time with my adorable grandson. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
“That would be amazing.” Alexis smiled. “The thought of all that time to nap makes me want to melt.”
Vivian and Julia laughed. The three of them went upstairs to Cash’s nursery, where he was blinking and wiggling in his crib.
“Rise and shine, handsome,” Alexis said in a soft voice as she lifted him up into her arms. “Your auntie and grandma are here! Say hi.” She handed Cash to Vivian and watched happily as he snuggled contentedly in his grandmother’s arms.
It’s so good to have a family like mine,she thought.Having support like this is such a relief.
She thought about Sally, and what Vivian had said about her being a little lonely. She hoped that soon, Sally would become a regular part of their community.
CHAPTER TEN
Hazel zipped up her jacket as she strolled along the sidewalks of Rosewood Beach. It was a beautiful autumn morning, sunny with a light wind, but the temperature had dropped significantly, and she knew that her days of being able to walk comfortably to work in the morning were limited.
But I’ll enjoy it while it lasts,she thought cheerfully.And when it gets too cold for me to walk to work, that’ll mean snow and perfect cookie-baking weather.
Hazel loved all seasons of the year, but she loved the colder months best of all. She loved the scents and sights of autumn, and she loved curling up under a cozy blanket in front of the fire during the wintertime. Her head was soon filled with plans for the upcoming seasons. She and Samantha would have to schedule their annual visit to a pumpkin patch, and then she would make them homemade pumpkin milkshakes and pumpkin pie. She and her family would go apple picking and bake pies, cakes, and tarts at Vivian’s house, and Jacob would have everyone over to his place for a fall bonfire.
Except maybe this year, it’ll be at our house,she thought eagerly.Maybe by then he and I will be living together. I can’twait—I want to spend every day with him, and merge all of our traditions together.
She had done her best to stop worrying about Jacob’s unusual behavior after her conversation with Dean, but every once in a while she still found herself staring into space as she thought with concern of the way he’d hurriedly shut his laptop or suggested she didn’t make any new changes to her home. She bit her lip, wishing that he would tell her what was on his mind. She did her best to convince herself it wasn’t anything for her to worry about, but she did feel sure that there was something he’d been thinking about. Something new that hadn’t been on his mind before.
To distract herself, she thought about what kind of day she was going to have at work that afternoon. She worked as a receptionist at the doctor’s office, and her job was sometimes hectic, but generally relaxed and pleasant. She often had the time to sit and read at her desk, and she thought eagerly of the cozy mystery that was waiting in one of the drawers for her. She remembered that there was still leftover birthday cake in the refrigerator and grinned. The day before had been the birthday of one of the nurses, and Hazel had brought in a big chocolate sheet cake decorated in blue frosting that was blackberry-flavored.
She turned a corner onto a quiet, residential street. There were a few old houses on it, and she liked to look at them and imagine what they’d been like in decades past. Most of the houses were still well-kept and inhabited, but a few were empty and had fallen into disrepair.
The wind made the tree branches over her head rustle whimsically as she made her way along the quiet street. All of the children who lived on that block were in school, so the only sound came from someone playing jazz music on a piano in oneof the houses, and the faint swishing sound of an elderly man pruning his hedges with a pair of shears.
She was just passing one of the houses on the block that had been empty for a couple of months when she saw the front door open. She stopped in surprise, since the last she’d heard, the house had been foreclosed on and nobody had bought it yet. She was even more surprised when she saw that the person coming out of the house was Jacob.
He froze when he noticed her. “Hazel!”
“Hey, sweetheart.” She waved at him sweetly, but internally she felt concerned by his reaction. He was acting the same way he’d acted in his office—almost as if he didn’t really want her to be there. “What are you doing here?”
He hurried down the front path toward her and gave her a hug. “I should be asking you that. What are you doing over here?”
She couldn’t help noticing that he seemed to be evading her question. “I’m walking to work. I take this route sometimes because I love how cute this street is.”
She noticed that his eyes lit up when she remarked on how cute the street was. “Of course,” he said, smiling. “I should have realized how close this was to the doctor’s office.”
She cocked her head to one side. “So why are you out here? Isn’t this house foreclosed?”
