“Have you heard from him?”
Janine sighed. “No.”
“Why don’t you call him?”
“What’s the use? I can’t be in a serious relationship with someone in another state who may never come back to live here. We want different things.”
“Seems to me you want each other,” Julie said, taking a sip of her sweet tea.
“We do. But, I love it here. I finally found my home, and I don’t want to leave. William doesn’t feel the same way.”
“I’m sorry, sis,” Julie said. She didn’t really have any answers for Janine. If Dawson left, she’d feel the same way.
“Thanks. Listen, I’m not really in a party mood. Can you tell Dawson that I’m so proud of him, but I need a little alone time?”
Julie rubbed her arm. “Of course. He’ll understand. Call me if you need me.”
Janine nodded as she walked toward the path home. Julie knew she’d find her sister snuggled up with a pint of ice cream by the time she got home later.
“Hey,” she heard Dawson say from behind her. He slid his arms around her waist and kissed her neck. “I didn’t expect this many people to show up. I hope we have enough food.”
She turned around and smiled. “Don’t worry. Lucy probably has food in the fridge that would be enough to feed all of these folks three meals a day for the next week.”
Dawson laughed. “Yeah, she does kind of overcook, doesn’t she?”
“So, when does your first guest arrive?”
“This evening at six. Kind of a late check-in, but at least we’ll have everything cleaned up from the party by then.”
“Any idea who the mystery guest is?”
“Lucy handled all of the reservations, actually. No idea who my first guest will be, but I’m excited to welcome him or her. They will be staying in Granny’s room. We call it the Seagrove Suite. It has an attached bathroom and a nice sitting area.”
“This is all so exciting,” Julie said, beaming up at him.
“Thanks for being here.”
“Where else would I be?”
“There’s the man of the hour!” an older man said, slapping Dawson on the back. “Your grandmother would be grinning from ear to ear if she saw all this.”
“Oh, hey, Dr. Carlson. How’ve you been?” Dawson said, turning his attention to the man.
Julie smiled and waved as she walked away, wanting to give him space to chat with his old friend. Of course, that meant walking away from the peach cobbler, which made her uncomfortable.
In the back of her mind, all she could really think about was her daughter, Meg. She’d opted not to come to the grand opening because she just wasn’t feeling up to it. Still, she had hope that the new hormonal therapy and group counseling sessions would help Meg get back on her feet and enjoy being a new mother.
“Ain’t this a great party?” Dixie said, walking up beside her, a glass of wine in her hand.
“Are you supposed to be drinking that with your medication?”
Dixie’s head went back a bit, and she rolled her eyes. “Sugar, I’m like a hundred years old. I doubt a glass of wine every once in a while is gonna make much difference.”
Julie laughed. “First of all, you’re not that old. And secondly, I’m worried it might interact with your meds.”
She waved her hand. “Nah, it’s fine. I’m only having one glass because I’m a lightweight, and I just might dance on that table over there if I have another one.”
“Then let’s definitely keep it at one glass,” Julie said, laughing. The mental image of Dixie on a table gyrating to the easy listening music playing at the DJ booth was a bit more than she could handle.
“I see Dawson’s schmoozing it up pretty good. Maybe he should go into politics one day.”
“Yuck. I doubt he’d ever want to do that.”
“Probably true. He’s done some great work here, hasn’t he?”
“Yes. I’m really proud of him.”
Dixie smiled. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen two people so in love.”
“What about you and Johnny?”
Dixie sighed. “Those were good times.”
“Have you heard from William?”
“He called me this morning. Just told me he was settling in and got there safely.”
“Janine’s a wreck.”
“I bet. I don’t know what my son was thinking. Seagrove is his home, but he sure fights it. There’s nothing wrong with living a small life and loving it, ya know?”
Julie smiled. “I know better than anyone. My so-called big life almost sucked my soul out of my body. Living here has turned me into the person I always wanted to be.”
Dixie rubbed her arm. “Fate brought me the daughter I never thought I’d have.”
“And it brought me the stand-in mother I always wanted.”
Dixie chuckled. “Better not tell your momma you think that. She’d come down here and challenge me to a fight.”
That was probably true. SuAnn definitely didn’t like anyone taking the limelight away from her. She loved her mother, but having a nice, safe distance between them made for a much better relationship. The holidays would be coming soon, and she’d have to invite her, but she had plenty of time to prepare for that.
“Well, I’d better get on home and take my meds,” Dixie said, handing the rest of her glass of wine to Julie. “Don’t let this go to waste, ya hear?”
Julie laughed and nodded. “I’ll be sure to finish it off before I dig into that peach cobbler in a minute.”
As she watched Dixie walk toward her car, she looked around at all of the people on the deck and the beach and thought about this new life she’d built on Seagrove Island. Nothing could’ve prepared her for how her life had changed. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought of all of this, but God had blessed her in ways her mind couldn’t have imagined a little over a year ago.
Dawson watched as everyone filtered off the property and back into their cars or golf carts. It had been a long day filled with fun and conversation, but he was ready to settle in for the night and meet his first guest when they arrived.
“I think everything went great,” Julie said as she helped Dawson fold up the last of the tables.
“I think so too. I was surprised at how many people showed up.”
They leaned the table against one of the many large oak trees. “Well, I wasn’t. Everybody loves Dawson Lancaster, especially me.” She put her arms around his waist and laid her cheek against his chest.
“I love you too,” he said, pressing his lips to the top of her head. Her hair smelled like strawberries. She looked up and kissed him. Her breath smelled like peach cobbler. Dawson chuckled.
“What?”
“Exactly how much peach cobbler did you end up eating?”
Julie smiled slyly. “I plead the fifth.”
“So, are you sticking around to meet my first guest?”
She stepped back and scrunched her nose. “Do you need me to? It’s just that Janine didn’t seem like herself when she left earlier, and I kind of want to get home and make sure she’s okay. I also want to call and check on Meg…”