“Are you two sweethearts doing okay?” Miss Bobbie toddled over with a plateful of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and bosom-filled hugs for each of them. “Do you need more coffee? How about another round of pie?”
“Oh, no thank you, Bobbie Jean.” His father flashed one of his best smiles. “You’ve taken great care of us all afternoon.”
Her plump, round cheeks flushed to the shade of ripe strawberries. “Well now, you know I love both you boys so much.”
Brock didn’t doubt it. He would bet she loved every person in all of Mystic Cove, but Miss Bobbie was definitely fluttering her lashes at his father.
“You just let me know if you need anything else, anything at all.” She propped her purple glasses on top of her fluff of white hair. “I’ll be back in the kitchen whipping up a fresh batch of lemon cream cheese muffins.”
She gave Brock’s shoulder a light squeeze, and he smiled up at her. “Thanks, Miss Bobbie.”
“Of course, darling.” She cast a curious gaze around the rest of her shop, then fisted her hands on her hips. “Now, where’s that girl of yours?”
“Ah, you mean Juliette?”
“The very one.”
Heat crawled up Brock’s neck, and he attempted to rub it away. “I mean, she’s not exactly my girl.”
At least, he didn’t think so. Juliette had mentioned wanting to try, but it had been a pretty vague blanket statement. She could’ve meant she wanted to try dating, or that she wantedto try staying in Mystic Cove. For all he knew, there were any number of things she wanted to try.
“Could’ve fooled me.” Miss Bobbie sniffed. “If I were you, I wouldn’t be waiting around too much longer, Kelly. It’s only a matter of time before someone else comes along and snatches her off the market.”
Then she turned on her heels and headed back toward the kitchen with a smart smile stretched across her face.
“She’s not wrong, you know.” Aidan ran his thumb along his jaw. “It’d be a shame if you let her get away. Again.”
“Rub it in, Dad,” Brock muttered, but a tiny voice in his head knew his father and Miss Bobbie were right.
Juliette was everything any man could ever want. She was smart. Brilliant, actually. She was soft, but knew when to make her feelings known. She made him laugh. Not to mention she was beautiful. If he sat back and just let things play out, there was a chance she might wander into someone else’s arms, especially since they’d made no real declarations to each other. They weren’t exclusive, and she didn’t owe him anything.
He had time. He was sure of it. He just had to get through Yaya’s funeral first.
Besides, he and Juliette were still business associates, and that would take some definite negotiating. But Brock would ask her to date him, and only him.
Eventually.
CHAPTER 23
Afew days had drifted by since Yaya passed away, and Juliette still hadn’t seen Brock. He was busy, probably overwhelmed, and she wanted to make sure to give him space. She’d sent him one or two texts just to check in, and all of his responses had been brief and appreciative but nothing more. Most of the communication had come from Anders in terms of their project management and the beach house timeline. She’d been grateful for his updates, because it allowed her to continue working without having to distract Brock.
Though a tiny part of her wished he’d at least say something of significance to her.
But as much as she wanted to be there for him if he needed her, which apparently he didn’t, her mind continued to wander elsewhere. Rodrigo would be arriving in Mystic Cove tomorrow with Charity Rhodes, and she’d been desperately trying to mentally prepare for their inevitable reunion.
When she called Gabrielle to tell her the news about Yaya, her sister was heartbroken. She’d cried harder than Juliette expected, but she wondered if that had more to do with Gabi’s stress levels at work and less with Yaya’s actual passing.
While Juliette waited to hear from Brock, she spent her days at the beach house, working solo, though sometimes one of her sisters dropped in to help keep her motivated. Plenty of remodeling had to be done, and she was slightly worried about being able to showcase the property at its fullest potential, but she was doing all she could to ensure Rodrigo and Charity saw her vision. She’d drawn up a layout of exactly how the venue would look, down to the specifics of the way everything would flow from the ceremony, to the photos, to the reception. There was even a backup plan in case the beach was rained out, or in the event of a winter wedding. She created color boards for each room, spent hours moving through the spaces to finalize the finishing touches, and brought in different forms of art from as many local artisans as possible to support the community. Even better, the newest additions to the venue, courtesy of Lovely Mud, were ready for pickup.
Juliette parked her car in front of Erin’s store and rushed inside. The wind coming off the coast was exceptionally bitter this morning, and she didn’t care for the way it ripped through her layers of clothing. She pulled open the door and was thankfully greeted with a blast of warmth.
“Hey!” Erin popped up from behind a pile of boxes. “Sorry for the mess. A new shipment of supplies arrived today.”
Juliette winced. “I’m pretty sure I created a bigger mess the last time I was here.”
“Don’t even worry about that.” Erin waved off her apology and strode over to a clay-splattered table where two large brown paper bags sat. Her logo, two ink-drawn hands working with a pile of lopsided wet clay and the words “lovely mud” scrawled across the top, were printed on both of the bags. “I’ve got your order all ready to go.”
A rush of excitement caused Juliette’s smile to widen. “I can’t wait to see them. They’re going to be perfect in the beach house. I know just the spot for the vase.”
