Dawson couldn't believe it was the last day of camp. Julie had been there all day helping out, although their paths hadn’t crossed very much. He didn't know what to say to her. On the one hand, he wanted to drop to one knee and propose, tell her he was going to adopt Dylan and ride off into the sunset as a happy family.
On the other hand, his stomach churned every time he thought about talking to her about adoption. He didn't want to lose her or their relationship. He loved her more than he could describe, and the thought of things breaking apart were almost too much to bear.
As he watched Dylan play with the other kids, he couldn't imagine not seeing him every day. The last week had been life-changing for him, and he already thought of Dylan like he was his son. Sometimes, he felt like his son, Gavin, was speaking to him from heaven.
In fact, last night he’d had a dream about Gavin. They were out in an old fishing boat, and Gavin was telling him it was time. Dawson kept asking him time for what, but Gavin just kept saying it was time. It startled him so much that he had woken up with his heart pounding.
“Can you believe it's over?” Colleen asked as she walked up beside him.
“I can't. What an amazing week.”
“Yeah, I hope we can do this again next year. I've really enjoyed getting to know these kids.”
“Me too. It's going to be awfully quiet around here tomorrow.”
Colleen walked off to help one of the children tie their shoe, and Dawson looked at Dylan again. He was waving from across the yard, a big grin on his face.
“Hey,” Julie said from behind him.
“Hey. I was just telling Colleen how quiet it's going to be here tomorrow.”
She walked over and slid her arm around his waist, resting her head just below his shoulder.
“I know you're going to miss these kids, but especially Dylan.”
He looked down at her. “Yeah. I like that kid.”
“He likes you too. He told me so when we were fishing today.”
Dawson laughed. “You went fishing with Dylan?”
“Colleen put us together. I think she thought it was funny, but I ended up putting a hook in the back of his T-shirt.”
Dawson laughed loudly. “Really? I would've loved to have seen that!”
“It was a funny moment, but thankfully I didn't hurt him or me. We didn't catch one fish, but we had a wonderful conversation. He's a special little guy. I hope he finds a good home soon.”
“Yeah. Me too,” Dawson said. It was obvious that she wasn't thinking that home could be Dawson's. She was thinking of some other family that would come along and sweep him up, and the thought of that made Dawson sad. He wanted Dylan to have a good home, of course, but he wanted it to be his.
“Listen, I want to talk to you later. Do you think we could meet up for dinner down on the dock?”
“Sure. Besides, I have to get going. I need to help Dixie at the bookstore for a few hours.”
He nodded. “I’ll see you around seven?”
“Seven it is.” She rose up on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
As she walked off to her car, Dawson wondered what was going to happen after they talked. He didn't even know what he was planning to say. He just knew they needed to clear the air, and he hoped at the end of it they would still be together.
Julie walked into the bookstore, her heart heavy. She had a sinking feeling about her meeting with Dawson tonight. Maybe he was going to break up with her. Maybe he would choose to be a single father and focus on that without the added stress of having a girlfriend.
Dixie was on her cell phone behind one of the bookcases when she walked in, so she reached around and stopped the bell from dinging and interrupting her conversation.
“Right… on Sunday… three tiers… green… really beachy…” Dixie turned and noticed Julie standing there. “I need to go, Stella. I’ll give you a call back in the morning, okay?” She pressed end on her phone and smiled. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
Julie sat down in the chair. “I didn’t want to interrupt your phone call. What was that about?”
“Well, I wanted to help out with the reception,” Dixie said, scrunching her nose.
“What? No! This is our gift to you!”
“I ran into Stella who runs the City Street Bakery. When she told me all that you’d ordered, I just didn’t feel right letting you do all of that.”
“But she’s across town! We thought for sure you wouldn’t know her.”
“Stella’s grandma and I played cards together years ago.”
“Of course,” Julie said, rolling her eyes. “So that’s who you were on the phone with just now?”
“Yes. I was just ordering a little cake so I could smash it in my beloved’s face.”
“We were getting cake, Dixie,” Julie groaned.
Dixie shrugged her shoulders. “You can never have too much cake, darlin’. Don’t fret.”
“Stella shouldn’t have even taken your order. She knows what we’ve got planned.”
Dixie chuckled. “I’m a pushy broad when I want to be. Don’t be mad at her. Say, you seem like your feathers are ruffled about something. What’s going on?”
Julie put her head on the table. “I think Dawson might be breaking up with me tonight.”
“What?”
“He wants to have dinner on the dock at seven to ‘talk’.”
“And?”
Julie looked up. “When has talking ever been a good thing?”
“You had me worried for a minute. Maybe he just wants to catch up after a busy week.”
“Dixie, come on. He specifically wants to talk. That can’t be good.”
“He loves you.”
“And I love him. But, things have been different this week. I think he’s planning to adopt Dylan.”
Dixie smiled broadly. “That makes my heart feel so warm. Dawson would be a wonderful father to that boy. You don’t want him to do that?”
“Of course I do. I just don’t know where I fit into that scenario.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mothered two daughters. I don’t know the first thing about boys. And what if Dawson wants to do this alone? Are we just going to date forever?”
“Wait. Do you want to marry Dawson?”
Julie allowed a smile to creep across her face. “Maybe.”
“Oh, doll, I’m so happy to hear that! You know that boy is scared as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs to ask you to marry him.”
“You think so?”
“Listen, I know him like the back of my hand, and Dawson wants to propose. I just know it. But, I think he’s scared you’ll say no.”
“I would never say no to Dawson.” Hearing the words come out of her mouth were shocking, even to her. Somewhere along the way, she’d gone from never wanting to get married again to desperately wanting to be Dawson’s wife.
Dixie grinned and clapped her hands in delight. “What if…”
“What if what?”
“What if you proposed to him?”
“Are you serious?”
“Come on! Women can do anything these days, right? He won’t be expecting that at all! And it will show him how serious you are about building a life with him, even if he adopts Dylan.”
“I wouldn’t know what to say…”
Dixie pointed at the center of her chest. “Speak from here, darlin’. That’s all it takes.”
Julie stood up. “I’m going to do it!”
Dixie stood up to join her. “This is so exciting!”
“I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
Dixie reached out and put her hands on Julie’s shoulders. “You can do this. He loves you. Just remember that.”
Julie grabbed her purse and turned toward the door. “Wish me luck!”
SuAnn looked across the square and saw Henrietta standing with a group of her friends. She was holding court, like she was some sort of royalty when in fact she was just a cheater.
As she locked up the bakery door, she thought about the best way to approach this. All day long, she had been boiling inside. The thought of how hard she and Darcy had worked on that contest only to have it taken from them by someone who thought she was better than everybody else.
Before she knew it, she felt her feet walking straight in the direction of Henrietta. There she stood, in all her glory with her too tight skirt and her big bouffant hairdo. She wanted to flick something into her hair and watch it go up in flames. Okay, maybe that was a bit too much. With the amount of hairspray she used that would most certainly cause a flammable event to happen.
“Well, hello, Hen,” SuAnn said, her arms crossed. Henrietta and all of her friends, all as equally tacky as she was, turned around. They looked at her with such disdain that it was obvious Henrietta had filled them in on who she was.
“Again, dear, it's Henrietta. What can I help you with?”
SuAnn chuckled under her breath like some sort of maniac. “Well, I was just wondering if you had filled your friends in on what you did at the pie contest?”
Henrietta cleared her throat. “I’m not sure I understand?”
“I think you do. Would you like for me to explain?”
Feeling cornered, Henrietta turned and looked at her friends. “Would you ladies mind giving us a moment alone? Being the mayor's wife is an exhausting job,” she said, waving her hand in the air.
“Oh, this has nothing to do with you being the mayor's wife…” SuAnn interjected as her friends, or maybe groupies would've been a better word, walked away. Each of them turned around several times to sneer at SuAnn, looks she returned right back to them.
Henrietta turned around quickly and stared at her, her eyes squinting. “What in the world is this about?”
“Well, your tone certainly changed quickly.”
“I don't know what you're getting at about the pie contest. I won fair and square, and it sounds like you've got a lot of sour grapes!”
“I know you cheated.”
Henrietta rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Oh good Lord, this is unbecoming. Losers should lose with dignity. Second place is still good. But don't lower yourself by making false accusations.”
SuAnn smiled. “I know that you cheated. A little birdie told me, and if you'd like I can certainly get the proof to show at the next county commission meeting.”
The color drained out of Henrietta's face. She stood there, her arms by her side, no expression whatsoever. “No one will believe you.”
“Oh, I think they will. Didn't your momma ever tell you that cheaters never prosper.”
“What do you want from me?”
“I want you to set the record straight. I won that contest, and we both know it.”
Henrietta walked over and sat down on a metal bench. She looked as dejected as anyone SuAnn had ever seen. “I don't know what got into me. I won that contest for twelve years in a row. When I found out that you were about to break my streak, something just sent me right over the edge.”
SuAnn couldn't believe her ears. Was this woman actually admitting what she’d done? That seemed very out of character for her.
“I’m new here. That contest was important for me and for my business.”
“I understand that. I truly do. You know, times are really changing around here. When my husband first took office years ago, we were a big deal. Everybody looked up to us. I went to all of the best parties, and we were always invited to everything. But now all of this new blood is winning the elections, and it's only a matter of time before we’re booted out of office.”
“What does that have to do with a pie competition?”
“It was all I had. It was my claim to fame, even though that's ridiculous. Hearing myself say it out loud makes me feel like a loser.”
“You shouldn't define yourself by these kinds of things, Hen.”
“Henrietta.”
SuAnn waved her hand. “See? Henrietta sounds pretentious. Why can't you just let me call you Hen?”
“Because a hen is an animal, not a person. It's not proper.”
“Don't you ever get tired of keeping up appearances?”
“I suppose so. Sometimes. But I'm far too old to change who I am now. Look, I'm sorry for what I did. I don't really know how to make it better. I guess I can go admit what I did, and then you can have the crown and the spa certificate…”
“I don't want the prizes. I just wanted to know I accomplished something here in my new home. It's lonely sometimes, even though my family is here. They're all busy,” SuAnn said, sitting down next to her.
“I know what you mean. My son moved all the way to Atlanta in search of some fancy job. My daughter got married and moved out to some godforsaken ranch in Montana. I never see my grandchildren because they live too far away. And my husband, well let's just say he's not the most entertaining fellow I've ever met.”
SuAnn laughed. “I just got divorced because I got addicted to shopping on those TV stations and ended up spending a ton of money. And my husband was as boring a man as I've ever met. I had to do something to entertain myself.”
The two women looked at each other and started laughing. “Why, aren't we a pair?” Henrietta said.
“Yeah, I guess we are more alike than I thought we were.”
“Say, do you think we might be able to become friends?”
SuAnn thought for a moment. “I guess anything is possible. But first, you have to make things right.”
“I will,” Henrietta said. “I promise.”
Dawson stepped aboard William’s boat, the water causing him to bob up and down as other boats made their way home for the day.
“How’s business so far?”
William laughed. “Well, I’ve been in business less than a week, so I’m not a millionaire just yet. But, things are going well.”
“Good. Congratulations, man.” Dawson sat down and leaned his head back, running his fingers through his hair.
“What’s up?”
“What do you mean?”
William sat down across from him. “Dude, I’ve known you since we were kids. You’re always stressed when you lean back and run your fingers through your hair.”
Dawson sat up and looked at him. “You mean I have a tell?”
“Let’s just say you wouldn’t be good at poker.”
“I’ve got a lot on my mind, and I just had to get away from the inn for awhile. Camp ended this afternoon, and things were so quiet after those kids left.”
“Yeah? I bet you’ll enjoy that quiet,” William said with a laugh.
Dawson scrunched his face. “Is it crazy if I said I don’t enjoy it? That I miss those kids? Or, specifically, one of those kids.”
“Janine told me you’ve formed a bond with one. Dylan, I think?”
Dawson smiled. “He’s a cool kid. The situation he was in… Man, I can hardly think about it without my eyes tearing up.”
“Bad stuff, huh?”
“Yeah. But…”
“But what?”
“I’m thinking about adopting him, if they’ll let me.”
William stopped what he was doing and looked at Dawson. “Seriously?”
“Do you think that’s a crazy idea?”
“I think it’s really noble.”
“Nah, it’s not noble. It’s just that I love that kid. I don’t want to save him. I kind of feel like he’d be saving me.”
“How so?”
“I’ve wanted to be a dad for as long as I can remember. You know that.”
“What about Julie?”
“Well, see, that’s the thing. I don’t know how she’d feel about being married to me and raising a son.”
“Married? Have y’all even talked about that?”
Dawson shook his head. “Not really. At least, not in a few months. Getting her to marry me is going to be hard enough after everything Michael put her through, but asking her to start over and be the parent of an eight year old might put the last nail in the coffin.”
William leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “I think you’re wrong about Julie. I see how she looks at you, man. She’s a good woman, and there’s no way she’d leave you because you want to adopt Dylan.”
“I don’t even know if I’d qualify to adopt him. There’s so much red tape involved. But, I’d at least like to try, you know?”
“Is there a reason why you don’t just propose to Julie?”
“Are you insane? I can’t just propose without even talking about marriage beforehand. She’s not a spur of the moment kind of person. She’s more of a planner.”
“She literally moved here on the spur of the moment and started a whole new life. What makes you think a surprise proposal wouldn’t be the most romantic thing that’s ever happened to her?”
Dawson sat with the idea for a moment while William finished getting his stuff together to go home for the day. What would happen if he just went straight to the jeweler before they closed, picked the perfect ring and popped the question by the ocean in a few hours?
“What if she says no?”
William slapped him on the back. “Then you’ll have your answer. What good is it to keep dating if you want to be a married man? And, at least you’ll know where you stand, right?”
“Right.” Dawson said as he climbed out of the boat. “I just hope I’m not standing alone.”