Page 23 of A Breeze Over Rosewood Beach
“There will be a lot of times in life when you’ll want to just get something over with quickly, and you’ll think, ‘I don’t really need to do my best on this, I can just do a good enough job on it,’” Jacob said, smiling fondly at Samantha as he spoke. “But in almost every situation, you want to do your best. It’s what’s going to make the best life for yourself and the people around you, and it will teach you how to work hard and really apply yourself. Everything is more fun when you care.”
“I care,” Samantha said, grinning. “Is that why I think this is so much fun?”
Jacob laughed. “Maybe. I’m a little worried you’re going to start wielding a paintbrush like it’s a bubble wand, though.”
Samantha placed her hand on her heart, pretending to be aghast. “I would never.”
Hazel thought about the conversation she’d had earlier with her sisters. There were definitely times when it was tough to raise a child, but she’d learned to figure it out over the years. Things had been especially hard for her when she’d first gotten pregnant, since her husband Simon had been self-centered and somewhat controlling, which had made her feel helpless and alone, even within a partnership. Their marriage had soon ended in divorce, and she’d raised Samantha by herself.
Now, however, everything had worked out so beautifully. With Jacob, she felt safe and supported, and as though she had someone in her life who always had her back and her best interests at heart. She knew that Jacob loved Samantha almost as much as she did, and she trusted him to be a wonderful father to her little girl. After all, hadn’t he just been giving her splendid advice? She felt so proud of him and of the kind, considerate heart he had. She felt incredibly grateful for the fact that he loved not only her, but also her daughter.
“Hey, Mom!” Samantha turned in Hazel’s direction and noticed her standing in the doorway. She sashayed forward to hug her. “I didn’t know you were here.”
“I just got here,” Hazel said, hugging her daughter back tightly and rocking her back and forth a little. “I wanted to watch the two of you for a second. Sounded like Jacob was giving you some great advice.”
“Yeah, he’s pretty smart.” Samantha winked at Jacob. “But luckily for both of you, I already know how to work hard. Let’s get this whole room primed and painted tonight. The person to cover the most amount of wall space gets free ice cream.”
Hazel and Jacob laughed. “How about we all get ice cream whether we finish the room or not?” Hazel suggested.
“Mom, we need a reward for our labor,” Samantha said, shaking her head. “It helps with motivation.”
“She’s a smart kid,” Jacob said, jerking his thumb toward Samantha. “I love the idea of ice cream as a reward for painting tonight. I think getting it all done might be a bit ambitious—we want to make sure we’re doing a careful job.”
Samantha shook her head. “You two need to have more faith in the ability of our team,” she said. “We’ve absolutely got this.”
Hazel turned to Jacob with a grin and shrugged. “I guess we’ve got this. I’ll run downstairs and put on my painting clothes and then let’s go to town on this room.”
“Whoo!” Samantha cried. “I’m going to go so much faster than you two.”
“But carefully.” Jacob chuckled.
“Hey, we put plastic and painter’s tape down,” Samantha protested.
“Carefully,” Hazel reiterated.
Samantha sighed dramatically. “Okay. Carefully it is. But I’m still going to beat you.”
Laughing, Hazel went downstairs, excited about spending a productive, quality evening with her partner and daughter.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Oscar stuffed his hands deep in his pockets and hesitated at the corner of the street. He’d been walking for about half an hour around the charming downtown of Rosewood Beach, which looked to him more like the center of an eighteen-hundreds village than a “downtown,” but they hadn’t asked his opinion on the terminology when they’d started naming everything there.
He was aware that his feet had continued to take him closer and closer to Ocean Breeze Café, but he was still in denial about the fact that he wanted to go there. He hadn’t been to the café in a couple of days, and he was feeling more bored than ever and increasingly sick of frozen dinners and cups of instant coffee.
After his last conversation with Sally, his pride had demanded that he not go back to the little café, at least not for a while. The extent to which he had continued to think about it had boggled his mind, however. He’d even had a dream about going back—he’d dreamt that he’d stumbled inside during a snowstorm and Sally had been the only one there. She’d made him an omelet, and he’d told her the truth about it that time, assuring her it was one of the best omelets he’d ever tasted.
Ever since the dream, he’d been craving an omelet and a break from his boredom. Even the knowledge that the locallibrary was quiet and clean and run by kind librarians who had informed him without him having to ask that he could get a tourist library card without a permanent address hadn’t been enough to keep him fully occupied. He’d rented a couple of nonfiction books from the library, and those had been nice to read at night with the wind howling outside, in front of a cozy fire.
During the day, however, he missed working. He felt restless, and he often found himself pacing his kitchen, where the sight of the little smiling waffle magnet on his refrigerator made him more determined than ever to ignore the fact that he wanted to go back to Ocean Breeze Café.
That morning, however, he’d decided to go for a walk. He’d figured that exercise would be good for him, and he’d found himself walking closer and closer toward the street where Ocean Breeze Café was located.
Finally, with a sigh, he knew he had hesitated at the corner long enough, and he turned his feet in the direction of the café.
I’ll just get a coffee,he thought.I’ll sit down at the counter if any of those stools are open, and I’ll get a coffee. Easy enough. In, and then out again. No harm in getting a simple cup of coffee. Maybe Sally won’t even be there.
He realized in the next second, however, that he very much wanted her to be there. Alarmed by the thought, he started to walk faster.
