“What is it?” the toddler asked.
But Julia knew immediately what it was. Tears sprang into her eyes when she realized what Cooper had done for her.
“It's a closet organizer,” she said, looking at her husband with gratitude. “See those flaps at the top with Velcro on them? Those are going to wrap around the bar in the closet and everythingelse will hang down. All of those boxes you see in the fabric are going to be like shelves where we can put all of Quinn's things.”
“Cool!” Macey said. Julia grinned, guessing that the little girl didn't actually think it was very cool but that she was excited because her parents were so happy about it.
“Thank you so much,” Julia said, throwing her arms around Cooper. “I was just standing here feeling stressed about the closet a couple of minutes ago. You’re an angel.”
“I knew you were feeling overwhelmed about it,” Cooper told her, wrapping an arm around her. “I looked for something online and I found this. It's nice because you can rearrange the way these little shelves are set up, to an extent. So you can have lots of little shelves for all of Quinn's smaller items, and then you can have big pockets like this one for her bigger items. And it all hangs a couple of feet above the floor, so you can still arrange some stuff on the floor.”
“It's absolutely magnificent,” Julia said, meaning her words sincerely despite how dramatic they sounded. “This will do wonders with helping fit everything into the closet.” She took a deep breath and exhaled, already feeling significantly more relaxed.
“I know that someday we’ll need more space,” Cooper said, “but this should help for now. And hey, maybe next year when we have another baby, we can look for a bigger place.” He grinned impishly.
Julia let out a playful long-suffering groan that made all of them laugh, even Macey—although it seemed clear that she was laughing simply because her parents were laughing.
Julia burrowed into Cooper’s arms, and Macey held up her arms to be held. Cooper scooped her up and held onto her and Julia at the same time. Julia smiled at her wonderful husband and her two little girls, feeling her heart overflow with gratitude.
“I love you,” she whispered into his ear. “No matter how tired I might be some days, I know that together, we can rock this whole parenting thing.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Faith skipped a little as she made her way down the sidewalk toward Ryan's house. There was an added crispness in the air, and the leaves were beginning to glow with the first gold of autumn. The sky overhead was a vivid blue, and lazy white clouds blew slowly across the expanse. The wind kissed her cheeks, scented with decaying leaves and wood smoke and promising all of the delights of autumn.
She stuffed her hands into her pockets, hardly able to contain her excitement. She was going to share something she’d been working on with Ryan, and she couldn't wait to see his reaction.
I hope he loves the idea, she thought, smiling at a squirrel that was scurrying down a maple tree, looking very self-important.It is a surprising one, given everything that's happened, but I think it's just the thing for everyone.
A few minutes later, she reached Ryan's small house and scampered up the doorstep. She knocked lightly on the red-painted front door and waited for him to open it. As she waited, she looked around his front yard and at the charming little front porch. She allowed herself a few seconds of daydreaming about her and Ryan getting married. She couldn't wait to live in a home with him and share the duties and the joys of a householdtogether. Although he hadn’t proposed yet, they’d talked about marriage, and she felt as though it was only a matter of time until her dream became a reality.
Ryan opened the door, a huge grin on his face. “Hey, sweetheart,” he said, pulling her into a big hug. “Come on in.”
He welcomed her into his house, which already felt like her second home. She'd helped him pick out the pillows for his couch and many of the photographs that hung on the wall. She spent plenty of time in his kitchen, since they liked to cook meals together. The whole place smelled faintly of lavender and vanilla because of some air freshener sticks that she had bought for him.
“I smell food,” she said with a grin, making her way to the kitchen, which was open to the main living and dining area. “Are you going to feed me?”
“Yes, I am.” He laughed at her gleeful attitude. “I'm making us some French dip sandwiches, since I know you love them.” He paused, smiling at her curiously. “You seem like you're in a really good mood today.”
“I definitely am,” she said, flashing a radiant grin at him. “Can I help you with the food?”
“You could cut up some strawberries for the fruit salad,” he said, smiling. “I'll handle the sandwiches though.”
They worked together in comfortable silence, having long ago fallen into a rhythm with each other that became more pronounced whenever they shared a task. Faith noticed Ryan glancing at her curiously now and again, as if he was wondering what was making her so happy.
She chopped up the strawberries with practiced precision and tossed them into a glass bowl along with raspberries, blackberries, and apple slices. Once Ryan had the sandwiches ready, he poured two cups of coffee for them and added generous amounts of cream. A few moments later, they sat downnext to each other at the kitchen table in front of their plates of food.
“Okay,” Ryan said, turning toward her. “Now please tell me why you are positively glowing today. It's clear that something has happened or that you have a great idea of some kind. I can't take the suspense anymore,” he teased with a wink. “Tell me.”
“Okay.” Faith scooted her chair back a little so she could turn toward him fully. She took his hands in hers and squeezed them, smiling at him energetically. “I had an idea. I remember one of my friends in Boston talking about something similar, and he said that it worked extremely well. It's not something that a lot of restaurants are in a position to do, but in a small town like ours all it takes is a conversation to make something like this possible. I know it's a little tricky given the circumstances, but I really think it could be amazing for everyone.”
“Whoa there, Nelly,” Ryan said, shaking his head and laughing. “I'm completely lost. What are you talking about?”
Faith placed her hands down on the table. “What if we created a coupon system? Every time someone went to The Lighthouse Grill, they would get a coupon that would give them a discount at the McCormick Brewery. And every time someone went to the McCormick Brewery, they would get a coupon that would give them a discount at The Lighthouse Grill. That way we'd effectively be sending business back and forth between both restaurants.”
Ryan's jaw dropped, and for a second Faith was worried that he was going to say no because he thought the idea was too extreme. “Faith,” he spluttered a moment later. “That's absolute genius.”
“You think so?” Her face lit up. “I'm so glad you like the idea. I really think it could work.”
