“That’s the last of the potatoes from Harvest Market, but Mr. Douglas is planning on making a grocery run tomorrow. He said he’ll buy whatever everyone needs and they can pay him back later.”
“Fantastic,” Vivian said. “I’ll text him with a list later. I think more potatoes would be good, unless you’re thinking something else for tomorrow, Tom?”
“I was thinking rice,” Tom said. “He could pick up a few bags of brown rice. We don’t have enough to feed half the town, unfortunately.”
Hazel laughed at his joke at the same time her heart gave a little pang of sadness. Was it really half the town that was struggling after the storm? Tom’s words might have been an exaggeration, but they might not have been. She hated the idea of so many people she cared about being stuck in troubling circumstances.
Terrence wiped his glistening forehead with a pocket handkerchief and went to stand next to Vivian as she stirred the sizzling beef. She gave him a peck on the lips as soon as he reached her side, and Hazel couldn’t help grinning when she saw them.
It’s weird to see Mom in love with someone other than Dad,she thought,but it makes me so happy to see them together. And I know Dad would have wanted this for her.
Terrence Rawlins was the local health inspector, and no one would have expected his particular, persnickety personality to mesh so well with Vivian’s warm and free spirit. The two had turned out to be a fantastic match, however. Terrence had seemed to be aware of the potential for romance first, and he had remained such a kind and faithful friend to Vivian that she’dcome to realize that her heart saw him as more than just a coffee-tasting pal. The two of them made a wonderful couple, since she brought out his fun and compassionate sides, and he grounded her and gave her the trustworthiness and protection she’d been craving.
“You get any sleep, Tom?” Terrence asked the cook sympathetically.
Tom shook his head. “Hardly. I was gathering ingredients last night, as soon as Vivian told me this is what we’d be doing. We’ve been having people come in for food all day. Some of them eat it out in the dining room, but a lot of them are taking food home in to-go boxes. Speaking of which, we’d better ask Mr. Douglas to get us some more of those when he makes a grocery run tomorrow. Our next shipment isn’t coming in until the day after tomorrow, and I think we’ll run out by then.”
“Hello? Anybody home?” The cheerful voice of Sally Lipton, the owner of Ocean Breeze Café, filled the kitchen. Hazel turned and saw her poking her head in through the to-go order window with a huge smile on her face. Her boyfriend Oscar was standing beside her. Sally was known for being upbeat and optimistic, and she seemed to have worked wonders on her boyfriend Oscar, who had been known for quite the opposite when he first came to town but who was now smiling comfortably as if he assisted with giving out food to the needy every day.
They’re such a cute couple, Hazel thought with a secret grin.I think he really needed her, coming to town all alone after losing his standing as a businessman in New York. She’s really opened up his eyes to how much joy there is in the world. And she so deserves the fairytale ending she’s getting.
Oscar and Sally came into the kitchen, where they were both hugged warmly by everyone there. Oscar returned his hugs a bit awkwardly, but Hazel noticed that his eyes glowed withhappiness as he and Sally settled into their places in the cooking brigade.
“Ryan said that they’re getting more people picking up food at the brewery,” Sally said as she started to open cans of vegetables. “I think maybe tomorrow we should try cooking in both places instead of just here.”
“Sounds good to me,” Tom said. “I can man the ship here, and I know the McCormicks have some great cooks over there.”
Hazel smiled, loving the way she was hearing the McCormick Brewery being spoken of positively at the pub. It was nice to know that the old feud was finally ending once and for all. Instead of a rival, the brewery was becoming like a sister business, one that looked out for The Lighthouse Grill and aided it in many different ways. Hazel never would have expected such a wonderful surprise to occur in their lives, but there it was.
“Do you need more food brought over to Ocean Breeze Café?” Alexis asked, turning Cash’s harness around on her body so that she could see her son better and start playing with his hands. “Last we heard from Ryan they still had enough food at the brewery, but maybe we should run some more to-go boxes over there as well.”
“We’ll need more tomorrow, but we should be good for the rest of today,” Sally assured her. “That was a great idea Julia had, using all three restaurants to distribute the food.”
“And pooling our resources was a great idea too,” Tom said. “We got most of the first round of vegetables from you, Sally, and those were the best because they were fresh. And we got so much beef from the brewery—I think we’re still using it.”
“I’m proud of the way we’re coming together for this,” Vivian said with a warm smile. “It makes me prouder than ever to be a part of this community.”
“Do Julia and Cooper need help with passing out the boxes?” Hazel asked after a moment. Now that there were so manypeople helping in the kitchen, she felt as though she might be of better use somewhere else.
“I bet they could use it,” Terrence said. “The line of people was pretty long when I was in there last.”
“I’ll head out there, then,” Hazel said. She’d been sitting for so long, concentrating on peeling potatoes, that the thought of standing up and doing something simple sounded like a much-needed break. Besides, she wanted to see the faces of the people they were helping. She had been feeling a maternal concern for the entire town ever since the morning after the storm.
She stepped out into the dining room of The Lighthouse Grill and found Julia and Cooper standing next to a stack of to-go boxes as well as stacks of plates and forks next to two crock-pots. Hazel saw a few families eating inside the restaurant, all of whom looked tired and a little dirty. Her heart went out to them, since it seemed clear that they were some of the unfortunate ones who currently didn’t have a home to bring their food back to.
Most people, however, came in for a to-go box or two. They came every couple of minutes or so, and Hazel, Julia, and Cooper did their best to make them feel welcome and cared for. Hazel found herself wanting to ask each of them how they were doing, and if they needed any help fixing their homes, but she had to bite her tongue. Jacob was already stretched thin doing all the repair work he could as fast as possible, and she herself had already been doing everything she knew how to do for the people in her town.
I wish it was more, she thought with a sigh as an elderly couple who said they had been without power ever since the storm began left the restaurant with their arms around each other and two boxes of food tucked into a brown paper bag.I know this is important, and feeding people is a worthy cause, but I want to be doing even more than this.
She reminded herself that everyone was clearly incredibly thankful for the help they were giving, and that proved how much what they were doing was needed. When tough times hit, food could be a balm to the soul, especially food made by caring hands.
The next person who burst through the front doors of The Lighthouse Grill caused Hazel to grin with delight. Delilah Bates, one of her favorite movie stars, had struck up a romance with Tom when one of her movies had shot on-location in Rosewood Beach. The serene, wholesome town had captured the movie star’s heart just as much as Tom had, and she’d decided to live there whenever she wasn’t filming a movie in L.A., which was most of the time now that she was an older actress instead of a young star. Hazel still wasn’t over the fact that someone who she had grown up admiring on the silver screen was now one of her dear friends and neighbors.
Delilah’s face was glowing with excitement, and Hazel immediately got the sense that she had news. Hazel already knew that Delilah’s cottage had been spared any damage from the storm, so she wasn’t there to get food. It was clear from the movie star’s bright expression that something good had just happened.
“I was at Harvest Market helping them sort food items into bags for people to take home,” Delilah said, slightly out of breath but smiling broadly. “And then Veronica got a call that they’ve placed the first six displaced families with hosts on the list. More people are signing up all the time, but these first six are all set to move into the homes of the people who are opening their doors to them.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful news,” Julia said. “That happened so quickly.”
