“Merry Christmas, Grandma.”
“Merry Christmas to both of you. No—” she raised her coffee cup in a toast “—to all three of you.”
A CEDAR COVE CHRISTMAS
To our dear friend
Rhett Palmer
“The Mayor of the Airwaves”
Prologue
“I can’t believe Grace is willing to do this on Christmas Eve,” Mary Jo said, slipping the frilly red dress over Noelle’s head. The one-year-old fussed, objecting to the fact that her face was momentarily covered.
“It’s Noelle’s birthday,” Mack reminded her.
Not that Mary Jo needed reminding…
“A year ago today you stepped off the foot ferry to Cedar Cove…”
“And met you,” she finished for him.
“At the library…”
“Because Grace thought I needed medical attention.”
“Which you did,” Mac continued, smiling at their exchange, “because you were about to give birth.”
“Only I didn’t know that at the time.”
“No one did.”
Noelle squealed.
“Except Noelle,” Mary Jo said. “Right, sweetie?” She nuzzled her daughter’s face. “Happy birthday, baby girl.”
“Ma Ma.”
“That’s right, sweetie. That’s me.”
“Ma Ma,” Noelle repeated and gleefully clapped her hands.
“Are my two girls ready to party?” Mack asked. He had his coat on and a big collection of birthday and Christmas gifts tied up in a large bag that made Mary Jo think of something Santa would haul around. “We don’t want to keep everyone waiting.”
Grace had invited half of Cedar Cove—or so it seemed to Mary Jo—to her Christmas Eve bash, which was also Noelle’s birthday party. All three of Mary Jo’s brothers planned to attend, which was only fitting since they’d lost out on the chance to welcome their niece into the world a year ago. Mary Jo still had to grin whenever she thought about her brothers racing around the county like Keystone Kops frantically searching for their missing sister.
Grace’s two daughters and their families would be at the ranch as well, along with Grace’s dear friend Olivia and Olivia’s husband, Jack. And Charlotte and Ben Rhodes were on the invitation list, too, as well they should be.
Then, of course, there were Mack’s parents, Roy and Corrie McAfee. His oldest sister, Gloria, had sent her regrets. She was a sheriff’s deputy and unfortunately she’d pulled the Christmas Eve shift. His other sister, Linnette, who lived in North Dakota, was a new mom herself and had mailed a gift Noelle had cheerfully ripped open that morning. It was a pull toy that made popping sounds with every step. Mack had laughed and promised revenge. Mary Jo could see a toy drum set in little Wade Mason’s future.
Oh, yes, this was going to be quite the party and one Mary Jo had never expected. But then, she hadn’t expected any of this. That day exactly a year ago—when she’d come from Seattle with the desperate, and misguided, idea of finding Noelle’s birth father—had changed her life.
What she’d found was love, friends, a home, a whole new family. Not that there was anything wrong with her old one, but the people of Cedar Cove had expanded her family above and beyond anything she could ever have dreamed of.
“I’ll get the car warmed up and then come back and help you and Noelle,” Mack said.
“Okay, darling.”
“Darling?” Mack’s eyebrows rose ever so slightly, giving him a sexy, enticing look. “I have to say I prefer that to the nickname the guys at the firehouse have for me.”
“And what’s that?”
“You think I’m going to tell you? Not on your life.”
“Loverboy?”
He laughed, shook his head and disappeared out the front door. Mack returned a couple of minutes later to carry Noelle to the car. “You ready?”
“Ready.”
Noelle, bundled up in her winter coat with the faux-fur hem and edging around the hood, raised her tiny arms up to Mack. Her daughter had reached out to Mack a year ago, too. And Mack had responded—to both of them.
Love, family, friends—a place to belong. Her first Christmas in Cedar Cove had given her all that. And this, her second one, was a celebration of the first.
Christmas Eve. It was a night for remembering and rejoicing in two birthdays, wasn’t it?
One
A year ago
Even though she was listening to Christmas carols on her iPod, Mary Jo Wyse could hear her brothers arguing. How could she not? Individually, the three of them had voices that were usually described as booming; together they sounded like an en tire football stadium full of fans. All three worked as mechanics in the family-owned car re pair business and stood well over six feet. Their size alone was intimidating. Add to that their voices, and they’d put the fear of God into the most hardened criminal.
“It’s nearly Christmas,” Linc was saying. He was the oldest and, if possible, loudest of the bunch.
“Mary Jo said he’d call her before now,” Mel said.
Ned, her youngest brother, remained suspiciously quiet. He was the sensitive one. Translated, that meant he’d apologize after he broke David Rhodes’s fingers for getting his little sister pregnant and then abandoning her.
“We’ve got to do something,” Linc insisted.
The determination in his voice gave her pause. Mary Jo’s situation was complicated enough with out the involvement of her loving but meddle some older brothers. How ever, it wasn’t their fault that she was about to have a baby and the father was no where in sight.
“I say we find David Rhodes and string him up until he agrees to marry our sister.”
Mary Jo gasped. She couldn’t help it. Knowing Linc, he’d have no qualms about doing exactly that.
“I think we should, too—if only we knew where he was,” she heard Mel say.
Un able to sit still any longer, Mary Jo tore off her earphones and burst out of her bed room. She marched into the living room, where her brothers stood around the Christmas tree, beers in hand, as its lights blinked cheerfully. Ever since their parents had been killed in a car accident six years earlier, her older brothers had considered them selves her guardians. Which was ridiculous, since she was over twenty-one. Twenty-three, to be precise. She hadn’t been legally of age at the time of their deaths, but her brothers seemed to for get she was now an adult.
All four of them still lived in the family home. Mel and Ned were currently seeing women, but neither relationship seemed all that serious. Linc had recently broken up with some one. Mary Jo was the only one eager to leave, chafing as she did at her brothers’ at tempts to decree how she should live her life.
Admittedly she’d made a mess of things; she couldn’t deny it. But she was trying to deal with the consequences, to act like the adult she was. Yes, she’d made a massive error in judgment, falling for an attractive older man and doing what came all too naturally. And no, she didn’t need her brothers’ assistance.
“Would you guys mind your own business,” she demanded, hands on her hips. At five-three she stared up at her brothers, who towered above her.
She probably looked a sight, al though at the moment her appearance was the least of her problems. She was dressed in her old flannel night gown, the one with the Christmas an gels on it, her belly stretched out so far it looked like she’d swallowed a giant snow globe. Her long dark hair fell in tangles, and her feet were bare.
Linc frowned back at her. “You’re our sister and that makes you our business.”
“We’re worried about you,” Ned said, speaking for the first time. “You’re gonna have that baby any day.”
“I don’t know nothin’ about birthing no babies,” Mel added in a falsetto voice.
If he was trying to add humor to the situation, Mary Jo wasn’t amused. She glared at him angrily. “You don’t have to worry about delivering my baby. This child is my concern and mine alone.”
“No, he isn??
?t.”
From the very minute she’d tear fully announced her pregnancy four months ago, her brothers had decided the baby was a boy. For some reason, the alternative never seemed to occur to them, no matter how often she suggested it.
“You’re depriving this baby of his father,” Linc said stubbornly. It was a lament he’d voiced a hundred times over the past months. “A baby needs a father.”
“I agree,” Mary Jo told him. “How ever, I haven’t seen David in weeks.”
Mel stepped for ward, his disapproval obvious. “What about Christmas? Didn’t he tell you he’d be in touch before Christmas?”
“He did.” But then David Rhodes had made a lot of promises, none of which he’d kept. “He said he’d be visiting his family in the area.”
“Where?” Ned asked.
“Cedar Cove,” she sup plied and wondered if she should’ve told her three hot headed brothers that much.
“Let’s go there and find him,” Linc said.
Mary Jo held up both hands. “Don’t be crazy!”
“Crazy,” Linc echoed with a snort of indignation. “I re fuse to let you have this baby alone.”
“I’m not alone,” Mary Jo said. She gestured to ward them. “I have the three of you, don’t I?”
Her brothers went pale before her eyes. “You…you want us in the delivery room?” Mel asked in weak tones. He swallowed visibly. “You’re joking, right?”
Mary Jo had delayed registering for birthing classes be cause David had promised to at tend them with her. Only he hadn’t man aged to show up for the first session or the one after that or the following one, either. Giving up on him, Mary Jo had begun a session that week—a lot later in the pregnancy than she should have. She’d gone by her self and left the class in tears. Al though she’d considered asking Ned if he’d be her birthing partner, she hadn’t found the courage to do it yet. And she wasn’t sure he’d be the best choice, any way. Her other options were her girl friends Casey and Chloe; how ever, Casey was terrified by the idea and Chloe, married last year, was expecting her own baby.
“Right.” She struggled to maintain her composure. “That was a joke.”
They released a collective sigh.
“You’re distracting us from what’s important here.” Obviously, Linc wasn’t going to be put off. “I want to talk to David Rhodes, just him and me, man to man.” He clenched his hands at his sides.
“And when Linc’s finished, I want a turn,” Mel said, plowing his fist into his open palm.
Mary Jo rolled her eyes. She’d de fended David to her brothers count less times. She’d de fended him to Casey and Chloe—the only other people who knew David was her baby’s father. Casey worked with her at the insurance company in Seattle, so she’d met David, since he’d come to their office for meetings every few weeks, representing corporate head quarters in California. David had charmed just about every body—with the possible exception of Casey.
He’d al ways had such good excuses for missing the birthing classes, and she’d believed him. It was easy to do be cause she so badly wanted to trust him. He claimed to love her and while the pregnancy certainly hadn’t been planned, he’d seemed genuinely pleased when she’d told him. There were a few legal and financial matters that needed to be cleared up, he’d explained, but as soon as they were dealt with, he’d marry her.
For a number of months Mary Jo had convinced her brothers that David’s intentions were honorable. Now, though, she had to resign herself to the fact that David wasn’t willing or able to marry her. She realized she didn’t know as much about him as she should. Granted, he was older by at least twenty years, but her infatuation had led her to dismiss the significance of that. Now Mary Jo had to doubt his sincerity. She hadn’t heard from him in more than two weeks and he wasn’t answering his cell phone, and even during their last conversation, he’d been preoccupied and abrupt. He’d mentioned that he’d be in Cedar Cove for Christmas with his father and step mother and would call her then. “Do you want to marry David?” Ned asked. He was the only brother to take her feelings into consideration.
“Of course she wants to marry him,” Linc answered, scowling at him. “She’s about to have his baby, isn’t she?”
“I believe I can answer for my self.” Mary Jo calmly turned to ward her oldest brother. “Actually—”
“You’re get ting married,” Linc broke in.
“I won’t have you holding a gun on David!”
Linc shook his head, expression puzzled. “I don’t own a gun.”
She sighed; her brothers could be so literal some times. “I was speaking figuratively,” she said loftily.
“Oh.” Linc frowned. “Well, I’m not talking figures, I’m talking facts.” He raised one finger. “You’re having a baby.” He raised a second. “The father of that baby needs to accept his responsibilities.”
“He will,” Mary Jo murmured, al though any hope that David would take care of her and the baby had long since been dashed.
“Yes, he will,” Mel said firmly, “be cause we’re going to make sure he does.”
“And that includes put ting a wed ding band on your finger,” Linc in formed her, giving her a look that said he wouldn’t tolerate any argument.
The baby kicked as though in protest and Mary Jo echoed the child’s feelings. She no longer knew what she wanted. In the beginning she’d been head-over-heels in love with David. He was the most exciting man she’d ever met, and with out even trying, he’d swept her off her feet. Mary Jo had been thrilled when he paid attention to her, a lowly ac counting clerk. Com pared to the boyfriends she’d had—as naive and in experienced as she’d been her self—David was a romantic hero. An older man, confident, witty, indulgent.
“Mary Josephine,” Mel said loudly. “Are you listening?”
Blinking to clear her thoughts, Mary Jo focused on her middle brother. “I guess not, sorry.”
“Sorry?” Mel stormed. “We’re talking about your future here and the future of your son.”
De spite the serious ness of the situation, Mary Jo yawned. She couldn’t help it. She covered her mouth with one hand and placed the other on her protruding belly. “I’m going to bed,” she declared.
“Mary Jo!” Linc shouted after her as if she were a marine recruit and he was her drill instructor. “We need to decide what to do here and now.”
“Can’t we talk about it in the morning?” She was too exhausted to continue this argument with her brothers at—she glanced toward the antique clock—al most midnight.
“No.”
“Linc, be reason able.”
“We have to get this settled.” Mel joined forces with his older brother.
Again Ned didn’t speak. He cast her a look of quiet sympathy but he wasn’t taking sides. Mary Jo could see that he felt Linc and Mel were right—not about becoming Mrs. Rhodes but about the need to make some kind of decision.
“Okay, okay, but we’ve already said everything there is to say.” She sagged onto the sofa and tried to keep her eyes open.
Linc glanced at the clock, too. “As of about one minute ago, it’s officially Christmas Eve. Rhodes promised to be in touch before Christmas.”
Exhaling a deep sigh, Mary Jo shrugged. “He might’ve said on Christmas. I’ve for got ten.”
“Well, I haven’t.” Mel’s feet were braced wide apart, his arms folded across his chest.
“I haven’t for got ten, either.” Linc, too, crossed his arms. They looked like bouncers at a tough bar, but Mary Jo feared the per son they’d toss out on his ear would be David Rhodes.
And he’d de serve it; she knew that. He’d deceived her not once, not twice, but a dozen times or more. Still, some of the responsibility was hers. Even though she was aware that he’d abused her trust, she’d foolishly believed him, giving him chance after chance. Now her brothers were trying to save her from him—and from her self.
“David said he’d contact you before Christmas,” Linc re minded her. “Th
at gives him less than twenty-four hours.”
“Yes, it does.” Her agreeing with him was sure to confuse her well-meaning brothers.
Apparently shocked by her unaccustomed meek ness, Linc narrowed his eyes, then checked the clock again. “Yup, less than twenty-four hours. It’s time you realized he has no intention of doing the proper thing.”
Mary Jo couldn’t argue with that. She was just tired of discussing it. “You never know,” she said, forcing a note of optimism into her voice.
“Then you’re living in a dream world, little sister,” Mel said through gritted teeth.
Ned sat down next to Mary Jo and reached for her hand. “Linc and Mel are right,” he told her gently.
“About what?” She was so exhausted, her vision had started to blur.
“Some one needs to get in touch with David. If we can’t find him, then one of his family members. He has to be held ac countable.”
Linc snorted again. “David Rhodes has to make an honest woman of you.”
If Mary Jo heard that one more time she was going to scream. “I am an honest woman! I don’t need David or any man to validate what each of you should al ready know.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Linc muttered. “Don’t get your knickers in a knot. It’s only an expression.”
“What we all want,” Mel began, as if to clarify their thoughts, “is for you to be happy—with the father of your baby.”
Mary Jo doubted that was even possible. She’d lost faith in David and as much as she wanted to believe he loved her and cared about their child, the evidence stated otherwise.
“He’s not giving us any choice,” Linc said, his dark eyes menacing. “We’re going to find him and—”
“Linc, please. Hold off for a few days. Please.” She hated to plead but it was Christmas and she didn’t want to see the holiday ruined for any of them. She was protecting David—again—and the irony didn’t escape her. Despite all these months of intermittent contact and broken promises, Mary Jo still felt the urge to shield him from her brothers.