Sleep was impossible that night.
She was still working the early shift so she could attend her afternoon business class. The sky was dark when she walked out to the apartment parking lot the next morning. Her breath made small clouds in the chilly air, and she rubbed her bare hands together to chase away the cold.
She opened the car door—and when the interior light flashed on she saw another beautiful, long-stemmed red rose.
Christie closed her eyes in frustration. Then she grabbed the flower, threw it on the ground and stomped all over it.
Twenty
Grace had been planning this surprise for Olivia for almost two weeks. As soon as she’d mentioned it to Peggy Beldon, Peggy had called Corrie McAfee. Soon Faith was part of the scheme, too. Within a few days Charlotte had spread the word to a number of Olivia’s friends, and Grace had more volunteers than she could use. Olivia was loved by everyone who knew her.
All they needed was a day without drizzle. In the Pacific Northwest the month of March was notoriously—in a word—wet. Friday morning, however, Grace woke to clear skies and sunshine. After weeks of continual misty rain, this was a welcome change.
The television weatherman predicted sunshine for the rest of the day, with cloudy skies and rain to follow overnight. Grace figured a few hours of sunshine was enough to accomplish what she had in mind.
Reaching for the kitchen phone, she was about to punch in Peggy’s number when Cliff wandered into the kitchen and poured himself a mug of coffee. He’d already been in the barn to feed his horses. He never slept past seven; his horses’ schedule didn’t permit it.
“Morning, sweetheart,” Cliff said. He took a gulp of coffee, then set his mug down and slipped up behind her to nuzzle her neck.
“Cliff,” she chastised, laughing. “I have to call Peggy.” She breathed in deeply. He smelled of fresh hay and leather, and the combination struck her as immensely virile. These were the scents she associated with her husband.
“You weren’t complaining last night,” he reminded her as she made her call.
He had a point. “But I wasn’t on the phone then.”
“Good morning, Thyme and Tide,” Peggy said with her usual friendliness. She had a gift for making people feel appreciated, even over the phone.
“Meet me at Ace Hardware at 9:30,” Grace said, trying to ignore her husband’s roaming hands. “Can you…can you let Corrie know?”
“Sure thing,” Peggy told her. “I’ll see you there.”
“Great.” That was all Grace could manage with Cliff nibbling on her neck. She sighed with relief as she hung up the phone, then twisted around in her husband’s embrace. “You’re asking for trouble, Cliff Harding.”
“Uh-huh.” He kissed her soundly on the lips.
Grace loved his playfulness and responded in full measure.
After a few minutes, Cliff released her but his eyes were still closed. “You make me mighty glad I’m a married man.”
“Good. Now hold that thought until I get home later this afternoon.”
“Will do.”
Grace opened the refrigerator and took out a small container of yogurt. That, together with coffee, would constitute her breakfast.
“What’s up with you and Peggy?” he asked. He got the peanut-butter jar and dropped two slices of whole-wheat bread into the toaster.
“It’s for Olivia, remember?”
When he seemed uncertain, she explained. “A few of us are getting together and planting flowers in Olivia’s yard. It’s sort of a get-well-soon bouquet on a larger scale.”
“Yeah, I remember now. But isn’t it a bit early to be planting flowers?” he asked.
“Some varieties do well in this weather, and when April comes they’ll be in full bloom.”
His toast popped up and Cliff set both pieces on the counter, slathering them with a thick coating of peanut butter.
Grace opened the cupboard and pointedly handed him a plate.
He accepted it with a lopsided grin. “If you insist.”
“I do.”
Leaning against the counter, Cliff took a bite of his breakfast while Grace retrieved a spoon from the cutlery drawer and sat at the table. Years ago, she’d read a diet book that said never to eat standing up. She’d followed that advice ever since.
“Back to Olivia,” Cliff continued. “She’s getting through this cancer ordeal, isn’t she?”
“I think so, but it’s really too soon to tell. I thought this would lift her spirits. She’s gone through a rough patch, and I figured she could use a bit of cheering up.” According to Jack, the second and third sessions of chemo had been harder on her than the first.
“Peggy and Corrie wanted to help,” Grace went on, “and then Faith joined in. Charlotte’s going to bring us all lunch.”
Cliff pulled out a chair and sat down across from her. “You’re a good friend, Grace.”
Grace dismissed his praise with a shake of her head. “Olivia’s my best friend. This is the very least I can do for her.”
“I’d be happy to help, too,” Cliff offered.
She smiled gratefully at his willingness to pitch in. “Thanks, honey, but I think we have it covered.”
“Okay, but let me know if there’s anything you need.”
“I will,” she promised, finishing her yogurt. She deposited the container in the garbage and started to leave when Cliff stopped her.
“I don’t suppose you let Jack in on this plan of yours?” he asked.
“Oh.” Actually, she hadn’t.
He grinned. “Go on. I’ll take care of that for you.”
“Thanks.”
By nine-thirty, Grace and her accomplices met at the local Ace Hardware next to the craft store. Peggy arrived in her pickup, with Corrie sitting in the front seat beside her. Faith had come in her own vehicle and Charlotte was waiting in the parking lot, along with Ben.
When Grace parked next to her friend’s truck, Peggy climbed down and hugged her. “Bob built four flower boxes for Olivia’s front porch.”
“What a sweetheart,” Grace said delightedly.
“Roy wanted to contribute, too,” Corrie said. “So he painted them. They’re white, and they really look nice—I know Olivia’s going to be pleased.”
“Wonderful!”
“Charlotte has so much food in the backseat, she could feed an entire navy fleet,” Ben told her.
“How can you say that, Ben Rhodes?” Charlotte muttered. “I just hope I brought enough. After all that physical labor, these girls are going to be hungry.”
Walking into the store, they each grabbed a cart. After they’d chosen their supplies and selected a variety of seedlings, they loaded everything into Peggy’s truck. Then they set off en masse.
The caravan got to Olivia’s home on Lighthouse Road just before ten-thirty. Jack met them on the front porch. “Hi, everyone!”
“I take it Cliff got hold of you?” Grace asked, hurrying up the walkway to meet him.
“This is a terrific idea.”
“Does Olivia know?”
“Not yet,” Jack said. “I thought I’d let you tell her.”
Grace ran up the porch steps. “How’s she doing today?”
Jack hesitated. “She had a rough night.”
Grace suspected Olivia had gone through a lot of those recently. When they’d spoken on the phone yesterday, Olivia had sounded tired. The last chemo had weakened her, left her exhausted.
“Anything I can do?” Grace asked.
Jack’s gaze held hers. “I think you’re already doing it.”
Grace walked past Jack and into the house. “Olivia,” she called out, her voice echoing through the living room. “Where are you?”
“Back here.” She heard Olivia’s thin, weak voice from down the hallway.
Grace found her in the back bedroom, where Olivia had set up a sewing machine. She’d decided to make a quilt for her oldest granddaughter; she’d been working on it for weeks, doing a li
ttle each day until she was too tired to continue. The project had given her purpose and helped take her mind off what she was enduring.
She sat at the sewing machine, pale and slumped. Grace struggled to hide her reaction. Olivia’s bald head glistened in the light and around her shoulders she wore a prayer shawl knit by one of the ladies from church.
“Did you tell me you were coming by?” Olivia asked in puzzlement, as if she must have forgotten. “For heaven’s sake, why are you dressed like that?” She gestured at Grace’s torn jeans and faded Mariners sweatshirt.
“Come outside and see for yourself.”
“See what?”
“I’d rather show than tell,” Grace persisted.
Olivia got slowly to her feet, correcting her balance as she did, then trailed Grace into the front room. The door was wide open.
“What’s going on out here?” Olivia asked.
“Come and see.” Grace ushered her out. On the front lawn, pitchforks and shovels in hand, stood Peggy, Corrie and Faith. They’d emptied the truck bed; boxes of annuals and perennials lay spread about the lawn.
“What’s everyone doing with all those flowers?” Olivia asked.
“You mean you can’t guess?”
Olivia looked at Grace for an explanation. “No.”
“We’re here to spruce up your yard and bring a bit of spring,” Grace said.
Olivia blinked rapidly, but couldn’t fend off the tears that filled her eyes.
“Coming through!” Jack said, carrying a huge box from the trunk of Charlotte and Ben’s car, Ben on his heels with an equally large carton. Both were packed with containers and covered bowls.
“Your mother provided lunch.”
Olivia seemed to have trouble speaking. “Oh…oh, my goodness,” she finally murmured. “Whose idea was this?”
“Who do you think?” Jack said, joining them on the porch. He slid one arm around Olivia’s thin shoulders and drew her close.
“Grace. Oh, Grace.” Olivia reached for her hand and squeezed tightly.
“Now, go back inside where it’s warm,” Grace said urgently. “We’ve got things to do out here. We’ll call you when we’re done so you can inspect our work.”
Olivia dashed away tears and nodded.
As soon as she was safely back in the house, Grace and company began their task. With everyone pitching in, it took only an hour to get the flower beds weeded and planted.
Peggy, an experienced gardener, turned the soil and added mulch before Corrie inserted the tender plants into the rich-looking earth.
With Jack’s assistance, Grace and Faith set the flower boxes on the ledge around the front porch and arranged ivy and pansies in each.
Charlotte and Ben were inside, getting everything ready for lunch.
Just as they broke off before going in to eat, Sheriff Davis’s patrol car turned the corner and stopped directly across the street. He got out, strolling toward them. “I received word of a disturbance on Lighthouse Road,” he said in mock-serious tones.
Everyone laughed, but although he’d addressed the whole group, his eyes sought out Faith. Grace glanced over at her companion, whose face was flushed with what Grace assumed was pleasure.
The last she’d heard, they’d ended their relationship. Judging by Faith’s heightened color and the intense look in Troy’s eyes, there’d been some kind of reconciliation. However, neither seemed prepared to speak.
Grace thought it was time to intervene. “Hello, Sheriff,” she said, pulling off her gloves. “What can we do for you?”
“I came by to see if there was any way I could help. I, uh, heard about what you’re doing and I’d like to be part of it.”
“We’ve got everything under control, but thanks for the offer.”
“We were about to stop for lunch,” Jack said. “Care to join us?”
Troy hung back. “Are you sure there’s enough?” he asked uncertainly.
“Charlotte did the cooking,” Jack told him. “So, trust me, there’s more than enough.”
“In that case, thanks. I’d like to.”
“Good,” Grace said with genuine happiness—a feeling visibly shared by Faith. She wondered what had happened to change things between those two.
They took turns washing up. By the time they were all finished, Charlotte invited them into the dining room to eat. Grace smiled at her yellow apron with its sunflower-shaped bib.
“We’re serving buffet style,” she announced, waving her arms expansively.
“I can’t believe you’d do this,” Olivia said, standing next to her mother. “All of you.”
“We wanted you to know how much we care,” Peggy said, plate in hand as she circled the table. “Wow, look at this fabulous food.” There were three different kinds of salads, deviled eggs and freshly baked bread with ham, turkey and cheese slices for sandwiches. Charlotte had also included canned goods from her garden—sweet pickles, dill pickles, pickled beets, plus jams, jellies, peaches and pears.
“Oh, my goodness, I nearly forgot,” Grace said. She hurried to the door. “I left something in the car. Be right back.”
Grace returned two minutes later, carrying a pie box. “Goldie sent this over from the Pancake Palace.”
Olivia’s face broke into a delighted smile. “Coconut cream?”
“What else?”
They served themselves and sat in a circle around the room, balancing their plates on their laps.
“I feel like the luckiest woman alive,” Olivia said, once more sounding close to tears.
“We love you and want to see you well again,” Corrie told her.
“And back in the courthouse where you belong,” Sheriff Davis added.
He’d taken the chair beside Faith’s.
Grace was startled by a sudden knock at the door; before Jack could get up to open it, in walked Cliff, Bob Beldon and Roy McAfee.
“I hoped we’d timed it so we’d be here for lunch,” Cliff said.
“Help yourselves, boys,” Charlotte said. She stood and got them each a plate and a napkin, while Jack and Ben brought out three chairs from the kitchen. The new arrivals filled their plates and joined the circle.
“I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to thank everyone,” Olivia said.
“We don’t need any thanks,” Grace told her. “We wanted to do this. In fact, it’s been in the planning stages for weeks—I actually had to turn people down. So many of your friends wanted to contribute. You are loved, Olivia, and this is just our attempt to let you know that.”
“Well, I’d say you’ve done a more than adequate job….”
Olivia looked around the room, her gaze resting on each one in turn. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and smiled tremulously at Grace. “I’ll have a piece of that coconut cream pie now.”
Twenty-One
“I got a job!” Mary Jo’s excited voice burst over Mack’s cell phone.
He turned away from the other men in the break room at the fire station and concentrated on his phone. He hadn’t expected a call from Mary Jo and it jolted him, since they almost always communicated by texting. “That’s great.” He mentally reviewed their past messages and he couldn’t recall her mentioning another job interview.
“I probably shouldn’t have phoned you at work, but I’m so thrilled I can hardly sit still. A job changes everything.”
He assumed the job was in Seattle, and his heart sank. The interview with Will Jefferson hadn’t led to employment; the owner of the Harbor Street Gallery had only been able to offer a part-time position. Will couldn’t tell her when the job would become full-time—“eventually” was the most he could promise—so Mary Jo felt she had to pass. Mack didn’t blame her, although he’d been disappointed.
Meeting Will Jefferson had given her confidence, and she’d decided to start applying elsewhere, presumably in Seattle; she hadn’t referred to any particular places.
“Tell me about your job,” he said, trying to hide his own lack of enthu
siasm. Ever since he’d talked to Mary Jo about moving, he’d created the ideal scenario in his mind. He pictured Mary Jo and Noelle living next door to him and imagined the three of them spending time together. A lot of time…
“I’ll be working in an attorney’s office,” Mary Jo was saying, “which I thought would be perfect, because, well…you know?”
This seemed to indicate that she’d have a built-in resource should David Rhodes try to interfere with her and Noelle.
“The money isn’t as much as I could make in Seattle, but the cost of living in Cedar Cove is quite a bit less, right?”
It was 4:00 p.m., and the shift change was taking place as they spoke. Mack waved to his friends, cell phone to his ear, and started out of the station house. “Wait!” Not until he was close to his car did it hit him. “Are you saying you have a job here—in town? In Cedar Cove?”
“Yes.” She sounded surprised by his question, as if he should know. “I’ll be working for Allan Harris.”
“Where are you now?”
“Mocha Mama’s,” she told him. “I’m celebrating with a latte.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” Five, if he could manage it.
Mack snapped his phone shut and trotted the last few steps to his car. He’d had plans but they could wait; seeing Mary Jo was more important. His next shift at the fire station wasn’t until Friday, which gave him two full days to finish painting both units. Once that was accomplished, he’d be all set to rent out the other half of the duplex. He’d already moved in, but for the moment was more or less living in chaos.
He knew exactly who he wanted as a tenant. Mary Jo would need a place to live—and what better place than right next door to him? He’d mentioned it once but in a vague way, not identifying himself as the owner. He didn’t feel completely comfortable with the deception, but wasn’t sure how she’d react if she knew. Mary Jo was cautious and uncertain about men, all men. Given her history, Mack could understand it. He’d like to meet David Rhodes in a back alley someday, but that wasn’t likely to happen; for one thing, the guy was obviously avoiding Cedar Cove.