Page 5 of A New Chapter in Rosewood Beach (Rosewood Beach #7)

CHAPTER FOUR

“Here it is!”

With a bit of a flourish, Vivian set down a delicious-smelling rosemary roast chicken onto the dining room table of her home.

Its mouthwatering aroma paired excellently with the smell of the homemade potato salad and the fresh lemonade that she’d also made for the Owens family dinner night.

She always loved cooking, not only for the satisfaction of a job well done, but also because of the delight it brought to the people she loved.

“Oh, man.” Dean groaned happily when he saw the chicken. “That looks incredible, Mom.”

“It really does,” his twin Hazel agreed, her eyes shining at her mother.

I have such a wonderful family, Vivian thought with a rush of affection for them. My children are so kind and thoughtful, and so are all of their partners. How did I get so lucky?

She loved having all of her children over for dinner nights, and now that they all had partners, there were even more delightful people who regularly came over to her home.

In addition to her children and their partners, now there were two more members of their inner circle—Faith Talbot and Ryan McCormick.

Faith had surprised them all earlier in the year by arriving in town unexpectedly.

Vivian had remembered her at once as the daughter of one of her favorite cousins, but her children had felt at first as though Faith was a total stranger to them.

They soon embraced the idea of welcoming their long-lost cousin into their home, however, and now she was an integral part of their family.

The biggest surprise of all was undoubtedly Ryan McCormick.

He was the son of Judd McCormick, a man who had made it his mission on several occasions to compete with The Lighthouse Grill in ways that were far from kind.

When the Owens had first heard that their cousin had fallen for the son of Judd McCormick, they’d been shocked and a little perturbed.

They’d decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, however, and he soon proved himself to be cut from a different cloth than the rest of his family.

Ryan was considerate and good-natured, and it was clear that he made Faith extremely happy.

That was enough of a recommendation for the Owens.

And I like that we’ve welcomed a McCormick into our home, Vivian thought with a smile as she watched Ryan whisper something playfully into Faith’s ear. Maybe this will help quell that silly old feud we never wanted in the first place.

“I absolutely cannot wait to eat this,” Alexis said, putting her hand on her heart in a way that was unintentionally dramatic. “I’m famished.”

“I know, baby,” Grayson said, patting her shoulder.

She turned to him in surprise. “How do you know? I didn’t say anything about being hungry until now.”

He shook his head, chuckling. “You’re always hungry.”

Everyone around the table laughed, including Alexis. Now that she was in the final stages of her pregnancy, she seemed to always be wanting to snack on something.

“Well, she’s eating for two,” Vivian said with a smile. She was pleased that all of the food she’d been making for Alexis and Grayson hadn’t gone to waste.

“And the second person is getting bigger all the time,” Alexis said with a laugh, patting her stomach.

“I don’t want to keep my hungry sister or my unborn niece or nephew from eating right away,” Hazel said, her eyes gleaming, “but I think we should make our announcement now.”

Alexis and Grayson had decided to wait to find out the gender of their baby until the birth, much to their family’s disappointment.

For a while, Samantha’s favorite topic of conversation had been predicting that the baby would be a girl, and the rest of the family seemed to be split fifty-fifty on their guesses about the gender.

Vivian was looking forward to her next grandbaby’s birth for many reasons, but she was especially excited about learning the gender.

She would be just as excited if it was a boy or a girl, but she knew that it was going to be part of the great joy of the day to know for sure.

“Yes!” Julia’s face lit up. “It’s an announcement for you, Mom.”

“What?” Vivian looked around the table, confused. Everyone was grinning at her eagerly as if they knew something she didn’t know. “What’s this all about?” she asked. “An announcement for me?”

Hazel stood up and cleared her throat before clasping her hands together, clearly about to begin a speech.

“Mom.” She took a deep breath. “We’re all so proud of you, and the way you’ve kept The Lighthouse Grill thriving since Dad passed away.

You work so hard, and we talked about it, and we decided that we want to give you a time of relaxation.

” She reached into the pocket of her jacket and took out a pink envelope.

She handed it to Vivian with a flourish, and the rest of the family clapped.

“But—” Vivian said, feeling her heart glow with happiness. “Thank you—it’s so sweet of you. But I don’t need anything. What is this?”

“Open it.” Dean grinned at her. “We all bought it together.”

Vivian opened it, her fingers shaking slightly with excitement. Inside the envelope was a gift certificate for a full day at a spa in Providence.

Her eyebrows went up as she stared at the certificate. “Oh, I don’t need this!” she gasped. “A spa day? That seems so exorbitant.”

“You deserve it, Mom,” Alexis said warmly, taking her mother’s hand in hers and squeezing it. “We all want you to have this.”

Tears rose to Vivian’s eyes. “You’re all so thoughtful. Thank you. This means so much to me.”

Her family applauded again, and Ryan whistled.

“We love you, Mom,” Julia said.

Vivian wiped away a tear. She felt an ache of happiness in her chest as she looked at the smiling faces around the table. “Come on, let’s eat before it gets cold,” she said with a gentle laugh.

The meal began, and the conversation soon turned to other subjects.

As she listened to her children and their partners talk about all of the details of their lives, Vivian thought about how they must have organized a meeting together to decide what would be the best gift for her.

Although she hadn’t admitted it out loud, she loved the idea of a spa day.

She never would have chosen such a luxurious present for herself, or asked for anything like that, but she felt deeply touched that her children had wanted to pay for something like that for her.

I can’t wait to go, she thought eagerly as she lifted a forkful of the creamy potato salad to her lips. I have been feeling a bit tired lately. A nice, relaxing day will be just what I need.

She noticed Hazel beaming at her from across the table. Vivian smiled back at her daughter, feeling like the luckiest woman in the world.