“Our apartment is getting a little cramped. But come on. Look at this doll. She is going to be so excited when she sees it!”
Meg couldn’t help herself. Now that Christian was making good money at the college, and she had her extra income working for one of her professors, she finally felt free enough to spend a little on her daughter.
“Darlin’, that baby girl will remember none of this stuff, but you sure are when you get that credit card bill in January!” Dixie said in her larger-than-life kind of way.
“Fine. I’ll put back the yellow dress… and the tap shoes…”
“Tap shoes?” Julie said as she walked up with Tina. The two of them had gone to look at some particularly amazing candles. “Vivi doesn’t know how to tap dance, Meg!”
Meg grinned. “But wouldn’t she look so cute learning?”
Janine rolled her eyes. “Oh, goodness. Somebody take her wallet away.”
As the women laughed, even at her expense, Meg was so grateful in that moment. She was surrounded by strong women who loved her, and most people couldn’t say they were so blessed.
“Okay, let me pay for all of this and then can we eat some lunch?”
“Yes! I’m starving,” Julie said, putting her hand on her stomach.
“I’ll just meet y’all after you eat,” Tina whispered.
“What? No way! You’re eating with us, lady!” Dixie said. “We treat our guests like family, and I’m buying your lunch today. I won’t take no for an answer.”
Tina looked at Julie. “Trust me, she won’t. You might as well let her do it.”
“Thank you so much, Dixie. I swear, the people in this town are the nicest I’ve ever met,” she said, a broad smile on her face.
“Just don’t take advantage of that,” SuAnn muttered under her breath. If Tina heard her, she didn’t react, but Meg elbowed her grandmother.
“Stop it,” she mouthed, almost dropping some of her items. Sometimes, she didn’t know what was in her grandmother’s head.
“Pay for that stuff, Meg. We’re going to starve to death,” Colleen prodded.
“I told y’all to bring a snack…” Meg said as she walked away. She heard them all grumble and couldn’t help but smile.
Chapter Five
Dawson hammered in the last nail and then lifted the large structure over onto William’s boat. When he had heard that his friend was entering the Christmas boat parade, he assumed he was going to be helping him hang some garland and lights around the edge of the boat. Instead, he’d spent the last two hours building a platform that Janine and Julie would decorate. Apparently, William was going to dress up like Santa Claus and throw candy at the kids.
“Man, that thing is heavy!” Dawson said, wiping the sweat from his brow.
“Thanks so much for doing this. There’s no way I could build all of this stuff without your help. Besides, everybody knows you are the master at carpentry,” William said laughing.
“You don’t have to butter me up. I’m already here working.”
“So, Janine tells me you have some lady staying at the inn now?”
“Yeah. Julie met her at the bookstore and felt bad for her. Her name is Tina.”
“What’s she like?”
“Honestly, I don’t know too much about her. She seems nice enough, but very guarded. Pretty quiet. I think she’s had kind of a rough go at life.”
“It’s nice of y’all to let her stay. How’s Dylan doing?”
“Crazy and energetic as ever,” Dawson said, chuckling. “But, you know, he’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a son. I don’t feel like he’s adopted. He feels like my own biological child.”
“Blood means nothing. It’s all about family loving each other,” William said as he started sanding the edge of the wooden platform.
“You should write greeting cards,” Dawson said, teasing him.
“Janine and I have talked about adoption.”
“Really, I wouldn’t have predicted that.”
“With Janine’s age, it’s unlikely that we could have biological children, and it’s not that important to us. But we might check into the foster care system after seeing what amazing results y’all have had.”
“That’s great. I hope you get to do that. It has been a blessing for us.”
“Of course, we would have to get married.”
“Well, it’s not totally necessary, but it’s preferable.”
“To us it’s necessary. You know those good old southern values,” William said, smiling.
“So, do you think you’ll pop the question soon?”
“Maybe. Not right now, though. Things are so hectic at the yoga studio and with this new charter business that I’d like to stash some money away before doing that.”
Dawson looked at him. “Man, if you’re trying to wait for things to be perfect, that’s never going to happen. Don’t want to butt into your business, but if you love her, there’s no reason to wait.”
William nodded. “I’m sure you’re right. I guess I’m just waiting for the perfect moment.”
“Well, you could do like we did and get engaged at your own wedding.”
William laughed. “You two are very unique, for sure.”
“Are y’all working or talking?” Janine asked as she walked down the dock and over to the boat.
“Don’t judge us. We’ve been working our rear ends off all day,” Dawson said, pointing at her, his eyes squinting.
William stepped out of the boat and gave her a hug, kissing the top of her head before returning to his work.
“This platform looks amazing!”
“Yeah, it was a bear to build, but I think it’s going to suit what you’ll need.”
“Thanks so much for doing this. William, I brought you some lunch if you’re hungry.” She leaned in and put a small cooler on the floor of the boat.
“Thanks, honey,” he said, winking at her.
“Sorry I didn’t bring you anything, Dawson. I wasn’t sure that you’d still be here.”
“No worries. I’m about to head out, anyway. I promised Dylan that I would help him write a letter to Santa Claus this afternoon.”
Janine smiled. “I love seeing you as a father, Dawson.”
“Well, I love being one.”
“Don’t let me hold you up, man,” William said. “I know you have things to do back at the inn.”
Dawson smiled. “Yeah, I’m making something really special for Julie for Christmas.”
“I heard you had a big secret project,” Janine said.
Dawson stepped up onto the dock. “I do, and I think she’s going to love it. At least I hope she does!”
* * *
“A cookie party?”
“Yes. I used to do this with my girls when they were young, so I thought it would be fun to do it again with Dylan and Vivi. You know, start a new tradition?”
Dixie smiled. “Darlin’, I think that is a fabulous idea.”
Julie recalled the days when her daughters were small and they would throw a big party at Christmas time. They would invite family and friends to bring plain sugar cookies, and then Julie would supply icing and other decorations. They would turn on Christmas music, light a fire, and decorate cookies for hours. At the end, they would pack up most of the cookies and deliver them to local fire stations.