Julie sat at the table across from Janine and Meg. Getting away for a quick lunch to start planning Dixie and Harry's reception was a wonderful break in her day. Christian was keeping the baby so that the girls could go out to lunch. Of course, Colleen was way too busy running the camp back at the inn.
“So, I think that eight tables should be enough. We should be able to seat at least six people at each. I've also been working on the guest list. I don't think Dixie wants it to be a huge affair,” Julie said, sliding a diagram across the table to her sister and daughter. It was good to have people helping her plan, because this whole thing could easily have been overwhelming for one person to handle.
“How are we set on the food? I know you were going to have the bistro do the catering?”
“Yes. And we're also going to have a food truck there. They're going to be doing desserts and margaritas.”
“You found a food truck that does desserts and margaritas? And why can't we hire them full-time to just sit outside of your house?”Meg asked, laughing.
“First off, you’re underage, young lady. And secondly, they’re bookstore customers, so they're doing me a favor. They normally sell barbecue.”
Janine laughed. “I don't think Dixie would be okay with barbecue at her wedding reception, so good plan on the desserts and drinks.”
“Dawson said that we can use this area over here for the dance floor,” Julie said, pointing to her diagram.
“What about a DJ?” Janine asked.
“Already handled. I have to work with him on the music list because I highly doubt that Dixie is going to want rap music or the latest country crooner. I know she and Harry really enjoy big band and old jazz.”
“Boring,” Meg said under her breath. Of course, she was only a twenty year old. She certainly wasn't into big band music.
“That should about cover everything. If you guys can just help with some of the final details, we should be good to go. I thought it might be fun to have the pastor there and an archway with flowers so that Harry and Dixie can say their vows again in front of everyone. What do you think?”
“I think that will be beautiful," Janine said, smiling. "It's all so romantic. I mean, I know it's not a real wedding or anything, but it's the next best thing.”
“Christian asked me the other day about getting married.”
“What did you say?” Julie asked, hopeful that her daughter was ready to tie the knot. Her old fashioned values were coming out again, but she really wanted to see a wedding ring on her daughter’s finger now that she and Christian had a child together.
“I’m not ready yet. I want to finish up with my schooling so that I can totally focus on a big, beautiful wedding. I know I want to marry Christian. I don't have any doubts about that, but I'm in no rush.”
Julie felt a bit crestfallen by that, but she wasn't going to show it. The relationship she had with Meg was wonderful, and her daughter was an adult. She was a mother herself. She was perfectly capable of making her own life decisions whether Julie always agreed with them or not.
“I don't know if I would want a big wedding, but I'm a lot older than you,” Janine said. “Of course, William and I are nowhere near getting married. We've had a few blips in our relationship, and he is so focused on his new business. We have a little ways to go before we get there.”
“I’m with you on the big wedding thing. If I ever got married again, I would want a small ceremony, just a few friends and family. I did the whole big white dress, fancy ceremony. One time was enough.”
Meg and Janine stared at Julie. “You're thinking about getting married again?” Meg asked.
“Oh, no. Besides, Dawson hasn’t asked me.”
Janine grinned. “What would you say if he did ask you?”
Julie rolled her eyes. “I don't play pretend, my dear sister.”
“Oh, come on! You know you'd love to marry Dawson. He's the catch of the county!”
Julie laughed. “Don't tell him that. He'll get a big head.”
“It's hard to imagine you being married again,” Meg said. Julie couldn't read the look on her face.
“I’m not getting married. I was just talking about weddings because y’all were.”
“But what would you say if he asked you?” Meg said.
“I don't know. I'm not sure I'd ever want to get married again. Dawson was talking kind of funny about it last night. He said he wished I was there every night so then we could turn off the lights at the end of the night and go to our own room.”
“Gross,” Meg said, pretending like she was about to throw up.
Julie laughed. “Well, that’s what he said.”
“He loves you so much, sis. You couldn’t find a better man.”
Julie looked at Meg, worried that Janine’s comment might have offended her. After all, Michael was her father, and she didn’t want anyone trying to ruin her daughters’ relationship with their dad, no matter what a dirtbag he was.
“I don’t have to make any decisions about this right now. Dawson hasn’t even asked, and I don’t know that he ever will. Things are great right now. Why rock the boat?”
Janine smiled and rubbed her sister’s hand. “Don’t let fear keep you from moving forward, Julie. You deserve happiness, and Dawson does too.”
She wanted to believe that was true, that she’d finally met the man of her dreams, someone who would never hurt her. But, there was still a small part of her sending off warning bells. She’d thought Michael would never hurt her, and yet he did. In a big way. Betrayal was the hardest thing to get over, and she wasn’t sure she could ever be that vulnerable again.
Dawson blew the whistle and all of the kids froze in place, each of them pretending to be a statue. He blew the whistle again and watched them run around like maniacs.
“This is fun. I wish I could control everyone in my life by blowing this whistle,” he said to Colleen.
“Tell me about it. Are we ready to break for lunch?”
“Yeah, Lucy has it all ready over there on the tables. Mind grabbing a jug of sweet tea from the fridge?”
“Sure.” Colleen walked off, and Dawson blew the whistle again.
“Hey, kids? Time to line up for lunch!”
As the kids walked down the side of the table, loading their plates with hamburgers and chips, Dawson settled himself under a big live oak tree and took a long drink of his water bottle. Today had been a hot one so far, and the kids were keeping him busy. But, he loved it.
“How tall are you?” a little boy suddenly asked. Dawson hadn’t even seen him standing there. He knew the kid’s name was Dylan and that he was eight years old, but that was about it.
“I’m six foot-one. Why?”
Dylan sat down next to Dawson, his plate teetering on his lap. “My daddy was taller than you.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. But he died.”
Dawson’s breath caught in this throat. What was he supposed to say to that?
“I’m sorry to hear that. My daddy died too.”
Dylan looked up at him, his emerald green eyes wide. “He did? How?”
“His heart just gave out.”
“My daddy did something bad.”
Dawson didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to further traumatize the kid by asking questions.
“Looks like he also did something good when he made you.”
“I guess so. But, nobody really wants me now.”
“Dylan, that’s not true. You’ve got Miss Amy, your friends here at camp and your foster family. And me.”
He ate one of his chips and stared off in space. “I like this place. My foster mom has a small house. I don’t get my own room. I share it with two other kids.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. One of them isn’t nice. He makes fun of my red hair and freckles.”
“I think your red hair and freckles are super cool. I always wanted freckles.”
Dylan looked up at him, one eyebrow raised. “Really?”
“Oh yeah. My friend, Billy, had these cool freckles all over his face. Even more than you. He was the most popular guy in my school.”
“Because of the freckles?”
“Totally. I mean, everybody knows that freckles are only given to the strongest people. God does that so we all know who those people are.”
“Are you sure?” Dylan asked, soaking up everything Dawson said.
“Absolutely. I wish I could have freckles. It’s one of my life regrets that I don’t.” He had no idea what he was saying to the kid, but it seemed to be going over well.
Dylan leaned back against the tree and took a bite of his sandwich. “I never knew my mom.”
Yikes. This kid was deep. Dawson didn’t feel at all prepared for this. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to know her.”
“She left when I was a baby. I guess she didn’t want me because she never came back.”
Sometimes, there were no words.
Janine sat at the bistro table, sipping on her iced coffee and eating a bowl of French onion soup. It was a weird combination, but she didn't care. Having a quiet lunch alone was just what she needed today.
Between the planning for Dixie's wedding reception and William frantically trying to get his business up and running, her brain was a bit frazzled lately. She had taught two yoga classes that morning, and she just wanted a few moments of peace. Which was another reason why she had opted to eat lunch across the square and away from her mother's bakery. If she sat anywhere nearby, SuAnn would always find her and talk her ear off. She loved her mother, but sometimes she just needed the peace.
SuAnn was feverishly preparing for the pie baking contest that was coming up in a couple of days, and it was like she’d had a few hundred espressos. Her level of enthusiasm over pie baffled Janine.
“Oh, hey, Janine.” She looked up to see Dawson standing there. She had been so lost in thought that she hadn't even seen him walk up.
“Hey there. Oh, man, you look tired.”
Dawson pointed to the chair across from her. “Mind if I sit down for a minute?”
She nodded. Dawson was never a bother. “Sure, go ahead.”
“I don't usually see you over on this side of the square.”
“It's been a long couple of days, so I just needed some peace. Plus, my mother can't find me over here when I sit behind this fountain.”
Dawson laughed. “And here I am interrupting your peaceful lunch. I'm sorry. I can go…”
“No! You stay put. Plus, I know my week hasn't been nearly as eventful as yours.”
“Yeah, it's been a little crazy. The kids are having lunch right now, and Colleen and Tucker offered to take over for a little bit. It's been a lot more emotional than I thought it would be.”
“Really? Some sad stories?”
“Yeah, but the main one is this boy, Dylan. He's the cutest little thing with red hair and freckles and these bright green eyes. He sat down next to me yesterday and told me that his mother had left him when he was a baby and his father died. I spoke to one of the counselors who told me his father committed suicide a few months ago.”
“Oh my goodness,” Janine said, holding her hand up to her chest.
“He seems connected to me for some reason, so we spent a lot of time together yesterday and even this morning. He's sort of my new right hand man. I took him on the dock and showed him how to bait his hook,” he said, smiling slightly.
“He probably looks at you like a father figure. It's got to be hard losing your parents that way.”
“Yeah. I just don't know how to help him. I'm not a counselor, and I won't see him again after the next few days. I hate that he's stuck in a foster home where he doesn't feel loved either.”
“Say, Dawson… Have you ever thought about…”
“What?”
“Adoption?”
Dawson stared at her, his eyes wide. “No. I surely haven't thought of that. I'm a single guy in his forties. I don't even think they let people like me adopt a kid.”
Janine waved her hand at him. “Sure they do! These kids need good homes. You just have to go through the home study process. I bet if you asked a few questions…”
“No. It's a nice idea, but I'm busy running the inn. I'm not married. I have my contracting business…”
“You do realize that parents sometimes work, right? I don't think that precludes you from adopting a child.”
Dawson stared off into space. “You know, I always thought I'd be a father one day. Even after I lost my son, I figured it would happen. I’d meet somebody, get married again, have that whole white picket fence lifestyle. I used to imagine those fun Christmas mornings with all of us in matching pajamas, hair all messed up, while we opened presents.”
“That sounds nice. What's holding you back from having all of that?”
“I don't know. My life isn't quite what I thought it would be at this stage. Why did I have to meet Julie so late in life? Can you imagine the amazing family we could've built together?”
Janine reached over and squeezed his hand. “It's not too late. Y'all aren’t eighty year old people at the nursing home, Dawson. You're both in your forties. And they say forty is the new twenty.”
Dawson laughed. “Trust me, forty is not the new twenty. When I get up in the morning, everything has started to crack and now I make this grunting noise when I stand up.”
Janine laughed. “You know, if you want to marry my sister, you have my blessing.”
He smiled. “Oh, I want to marry your sister. I just don't think she wants to marry me.”
“You'll never know if you never ask.”
“Do you know something that I don’t?” he asked, squinting his eyes at her.
“No, actually I don't. My sister talks in circles just like you do every time I bring up marriage. But the rest of us see that you two are perfect for each other.”
“I just think Julie would be happy dating for the rest of our lives, but I'm not sure that's enough for me. The longer we're together, the more I want her there. I hate going to our separate houses at the end of the day. I hate calling her my girlfriend instead of my wife.”
“Michael really did a number on her head. And you're nothing like him. She knows that. But I think that's what scares her the most.”
“It scares her that I'm not like Michael?”
Janine nodded. “Losing Michael was hard. That was a twenty-one year marriage that fell apart. But, she loves you way more than she ever loved Michael, so losing you might just do her in. I think that's what she's really afraid of. Rocking the boat and messing everything up and never finding that kind of love again.”
Dawson nodded his head. “I have the same fear. Do I want to take the chance of getting rejected or do I just want to leave things like they are and be thankful for them?”
Janine chuckled. “Relationships aren't easy, are they?”
Meg sat, nervously fidgeting with her hands. Why had the dean called her in to see him? She’d only met him once in passing, and even though it was just a community college, nobody wanted to get called into the dean’s office.
“Sorry to have kept you waiting, Miss Pike.”
She looked up to see Dean Clayton standing there, his large belly protruding out of his sport jacket. He was the epitome of a college professor complete with elbow patches. He shook her hand and sat down.
“No problem.”
“I’m sure you must wonder why I’ve called you here today?”
“Yes, sir, I was wondering about that.” Her hands were now sweating, which they never did. Just great.
“Professor Calvert has recommended you for the teaching assistant program. She said you’ve done remarkably well in advertising class, so she’d like for you to become her assistant for the fall semester coming up.”
“Really?” Meg was shocked. Although she had done well in her advertising class, she never expected that Professor Calvert would want to work with her.
“Would you be interested?”
“Absolutely!” For a moment, she thought about Vivi and how this would affect her schedule, but then she decided that she had to be responsible. Creating a brighter future for herself would only help her daughter, and she’d work out the babysitting issues when and if they came up.
“Excellent. I just have some paperwork here for you to fill out, and then we will be in touch about some training you’ll need to do.” He slid the paperwork toward her. “I hope you realize what an honor this is. Many students want to be teaching assistants, but don’t get the chance. Seize the opportunity, okay?”
Meg smiled. “Oh, trust me. I won’t waste this second chance, Dean Clayton.”