Page 31 of Wishes at Water's Edge
“Goodnight! Talk to you tomorrow.”
“Bye.”
Dean hung up the phone and sat staring into space for a few moments. He felt like a failure for chickening out over the proposal, but he knew that his sister was right and that he would be able to try again another day.
A yawn overtook him. Even though it wasn’t that late, he decided to go to bed himself. Maybe in the morning, he would have new ideas for how to try to propose to Noelle. Again.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Alexis hopped out of the car, her high heels landing on the cement of The Lighthouse Grill’s parking lot with a clunking sound. It felt odd to be wearing heels again. She hadn’t worn any in months, not since she’d started really feeling the weight of her pregnant belly. After Cash was born, she hadn’t been anywhere that warranted dressing up in heels. And even before she got pregnant, she had to admit, she didn’t wear heels much anymore. She’d worn them all the time in L.A., almost everywhere she went. She’d even worn stilettos on a regular basis.
Why did I decide to wear these today?she wondered as she looked down at the black laced up heels she was wearing.I mean, they’re adorable, especially with this outfit, but I’m so tired. It takes extra energy to wear them.
She wondered, as she started to help Grayson lift Cash out of the baby seat in the back of the car, if she was wearing heels because they were there to see Lewis. She hadn’t thought she cared about making a good impression on him, certainly not after all that time, but maybe unconsciously she did want to make herself look more put-together. Maybe deep down, she didn’t want to appear as though she’d changed so completely.Maybe she wanted Lewis to know that she could still be elegant sometimes, at least a little bit. It was as if he represented all of their old friends from L.A. After all, he’d probably go back to the city and talk about his visit to Rosewood Beach and describe Alexis and Grayson’s new life to everyone.
“You’re a fussy boy this morning, aren’t you?” Grayson asked, scooping Cash up into his arms. “You made us ten minutes late for our lunch, little man.”
Cash gurgled, as if he’d just been informed that he’d done something truly spectacular. He was wearing a little plaid shirt and comfy pants that were made to look like jeans, and Alexis still wasn’t over how adorable he looked. He had a pair of imitation Converse on his tiny feet, and they made her want to squeal every time she saw them. There was nothing like tiny baby shoes. They had an ability to delight her like no other objects on earth.
She thought about how excited she’d gotten over new pairs of shoes while she was living in L.A. She remembered a pair of glittering stilettos she’d bought for a friend’s birthday party, and the way they’d thrilled her as if she’d been handed them by a fairy godmother. Even those shoes and the way they made her feel couldn’t hold a candle to the way she felt about Cash’s darling little baby shoes.
She and Grayson hurried inside the pub, and she took a deep breath of the familiar smells of sizzling meats and garlicy potatoes. Every waitress on staff waved at her eagerly or hurried over to say hello. She felt delighted to see them, and she knew she was going to love going back to work as soon as Cash was a little older.
“Did a man named Lewis come in here?” Grayson asked the hostess. “He’s tall, with black hair, probably cut short. Maybe wearing a suit?”
The teenage hostess shook her head. “I haven’t seen any strangers,” she told him. “Only people from town have been in today so far. I guess he isn’t here yet.”
“Okay, thanks, Lily. Could we have a table, and you can let him know we’re here when he arrives?”
Lily smiled. “Sure thing. How about that booth by the window?”
“Sounds perfect.”
Lily led them over to a booth which had been freshly wiped clean. Alexis knew they were arriving right in the thick of the lunch rush, and she was glad they were able to get a table right away. She’d meant to call ahead and reserve one, but Cash had been so unusually fussy that it had slipped her mind while they’d been scrambling to get ready and leave the house.
The moment they sat down at their booth, Vivian appeared with a pot of coffee.
“Well, hello,” she sang out, her eyes on Cash. She looked completely smitten with the chubby baby. “It’s so good to see you three. You parents want some coffee?”
“Yes,” Grayson and Alexis both answered emphatically, and then laughed.
Vivian chuckled as she poured them both a cup of the steaming liquid. “It’s nice to see you in for lunch. You should come out more often.”
“We should,” Alexis agreed. “It’s just so hard to get this little guy out of the house sometimes. He’s not used to wearing pants.” She laughed.
“We’re here to meet with an old L.A. friend of ours,” Grayson explained. “Lewis Mackenzie. He’s in town unexpectedly, and he wanted to catch up.”
“That sounds lovely,” Vivian said. “He’s on his way?”
“Supposedly,” Alexis said with a grin. “Maybe he arrived on time, saw we weren’t here, and left.”
Grayson shook his head. “That doesn’t sound like Lewis. He’s not always perfectly punctual himself.”
Alexis watched her husband fondly for a moment. She knew he was excited to see his friend, and she hoped that everything worked out, and that Lewis hadn’t been held up or called out of town suddenly.
“I’m sure he’ll be here soon,” Vivian said reassuringly. “You know tourists often get lost in our town. Our winding streets take some getting used to. I was living here two years before I finally got the hang of where all the streets led to. People who are used to the city find that confusing, I’m sure.”
Grayson smiled, appearing to be encouraged by her words. “That’s very true, Vivian. I feel like I’m still confused by our streets sometimes, and I have a great sense of direction.”
