1105 Yakima Street (20 page)

“He didn’t remember it was there,” Jack continued as if reading her mind, “and he stumbled over it.”

“They should call 9-1-1,” Olivia cried. Jack put on his coat and followed her out of the house.

“Ben is embarrassed enough as it is,” Jack said. “And Charlotte told me he’s not hurt.”

“We don’t know that.”

“No, but we’ll find out soon enough.” They hurried to Jack’s car and were off, not even bothering to lock up.

Charlotte met them at the front door, pale and shaken.

Jack walked straight past her and into the kitchen, where Ben sat on the floor, knees bent and head down. “I feel like an old fool,” he muttered.

“It was an accident,” Jack said. “We’ll have you up in a second.”

With his hands under the older man’s arms, he hauled Ben to his feet, hardly exerting himself.

“Are you okay?” Olivia asked.

“Yes. Except for my pride, which has taken quite a beating.”

Charlotte pulled out a chair and collapsed into it. “I just didn’t know what to do,” she said, her voice trembling. “Oh, thank goodness you were able to come.”

Olivia crouched beside Charlotte and hugged her,
whispering reassurances. It was just as she’d told Jack. Just as she’d known for a while. She was the parent now. She’d become her mother’s mother.

M
onday afternoon, Rachel left work early. She went to the Cedar Cove library, where she sat in one of the big overstuffed chairs and awaited her stepdaughter’s arrival. She’d called Jolene’s cell to make this appointment; the girl had agreed to meet her but Rachel had no idea what to expect. Jolene had attended a counseling session, and it had been a complete waste of time, according to Bruce. She’d been sullen and silent through the entire session, refusing to participate in the conversation. The longer Rachel stayed away from her husband and stepdaughter, the more obvious it became that she wouldn’t ever be able to return. It was time to make other arrangements, permanent ones.

Rachel wondered if Jolene would stand her up and was somewhat surprised when the library door swung open and the girl stepped inside. She came alone, which was also rather unexpected, since Jolene usually traveled with a pack of friends.

She stood in the foyer and scanned the library until her gaze fell on Rachel. As soon as she saw her, Jolene’s eyes narrowed. Walking across the library, she carelessly
dropped her backpack on the floor and sat in the chair next to Rachel’s.

“You wanted to talk to me?” she said without any greeting. Her voice was devoid of warmth.

“Yes, thank you for coming,” Rachel replied pleasantly, choosing to ignore her stepdaughter’s attitude.

“Why did you ask me to come here?”

“Actually, I have several reasons.”

Jolene looked conspicuously at her watch. “How long is this supposed to take?”

“Not long,” Rachel promised. So far, the meeting was going exactly as she’d feared. The girl’s hostility was un-disguised. The battle lines were drawn and swords ready. Except that Rachel was about to hand over her weapon. She was finished.

Inhaling deeply, she came directly to the point. “Mainly, I wanted to tell you I’ve decided to leave the area.”

Jolene’s eyes flew to hers. “Does my dad know?”

“Not yet.” She would tell Bruce later.

“Why are you telling me?”

“Well,” Rachel said, “I thought you’d want to celebrate. You’ve beaten me, Jolene. You win. You can have your father all to yourself. I won’t be in touch.”

“What about the baby?” she demanded. “You can’t do that to my brother or sister.”

Rachel shook her head. “I grew up without a family. My aunt tried but she didn’t have a warm bone in her body. She was raised in an era when children didn’t speak unless spoken to. Her mantra was that cleanliness was next to godliness, so what she held most important was a spotless house. There was very little fun in my life and—”

“You told me all this before,” Jolene said, defiantly crossing her arms.

“You’re right. Sorry, no need to repeat myself, is there? All I meant was that my aunt taught me what
not
to do, what not to be.”

“What’ll happen with the baby?” Jolene sounded like an attorney representing her father’s interests.

“Happen?” Rachel shrugged. “Well, I’ll raise this child and love him or her to the very best of my ability.”

“What about my dad?”

“What about him?”

Jolene glared at her. “He has a right to the baby, too.”

“I’m not preventing your father from having contact with the child, Jolene, I’m protecting him or her.”

“Protecting him or her from
what?
”

Rachel hardly felt a reply was necessary. The answer should be obvious, even to Jolene. If Jolene hated Rachel this much, then she couldn’t trust her to feel any differently toward her child.

When Rachel didn’t immediately reply Jolene’s eyes widened as realization dawned on her. “I would never hurt a baby,” she insisted as though highly insulted.

“Perhaps not physically,” Rachel agreed, “but there are other ways of inflicting damage. I can’t risk that.”

Jolene’s gaze moved past her and she swallowed visibly. “Where will you go?”

She hadn’t decided. “I’m thinking of Portland.”

“Oregon?”

Rachel nodded.

“Why there?”

“It’s close but not too close, and far enough away that your father won’t be tempted to…” She let the rest fade.

“Dad’s been seeing a counselor.”

“Yes, I know.”

“I went, too.”

“So I heard.”

Jolene looked away, apparently embarrassed by her behavior at the counseling session.

Rachel hadn’t expected changes overnight, but there had to be
some
effort and Jolene seemed unwilling to bend at all.

“You need to talk to Dad.”

“I will.” Rachel hadn’t spoken to Bruce during the past three weeks. They’d exchanged a few emails, in which they’d kept each other up to date. After Jolene’s stunt—making herself ill—and then the wasted counseling session, Rachel felt convinced the situation was hopeless. If Jolene would rather throw up than let her father see his wife—well, what more was there to say?

“The counselor has Dad
setting boundaries
with me.” She said the words sarcastically. “It’s stupid.”

“Uh-huh.”

Jolene looked down at her feet. “You gave Dad back the money, too, didn’t you?”

Rachel was surprised the girl knew anything about that. “Your father told you?”

“No, Teri Polgar did. She came to the house and made a big stink about it.”

Rachel could well imagine that scene. Teri wasn’t one to hold back her opinions. No doubt she’d told both Bruce and Jolene what she thought of them, whether they wanted to hear it or not.

“Dad was pretty upset about it. You not taking the money, I mean.”

“Tell him—that is, if you want to say anything about our meeting—tell him the baby and I are doing well. I don’t need money. I can care for the baby on my own.” She didn’t want a thing from him. Eventually her pride
would give way and she’d need to ask, but until then she was content to manage on her own without any help, financial or otherwise, from Bruce or Jolene. They’d both done quite enough.

“My dad loves you.”

The lump was back in her throat. “Yes, I know.”

“If you loved him you wouldn’t be doing this,” Jolene accused her. “You wouldn’t be keeping the baby away from him.”

Rachel wasn’t willing to be attacked for the difficult choices she’d had to make. But rather than defend herself, she disregarded the girl’s comment. Standing, she placed one hand over her stomach. “I appreciate you meeting me this one last time,” she said in a low voice. “Goodbye, Jolene.” She started to walk away.

“Wait,” Jolene cried.

“Wait?” Rachel echoed. “For what?”

“I…have something for you.”

Rachel wondered if Jolene was telling the truth.

“I told my dad you called and wanted to meet. He wrote you a letter. I wasn’t going to give it to you, but…I think maybe I should.” The girl reached for her backpack, unzipped it and dug around inside. After a moment she pulled out an envelope, then handed it to Rachel. “Go ahead and read it,” she said.

“Have you?” Silly question. Of course she had.

Jolene’s eyes dropped so quickly, that was answer enough. “Just read what Dad wrote.”

Rachel opened the blank envelope, which either hadn’t been sealed or had been replaced.

The last two lines blurred as tears filled Rachel’s eyes. She swallowed, blinking hard, so Jolene wouldn’t know how emotional the letter had made her.

“Thank you for giving this to me.” Her hand trembled as she folded the paper and slid it back inside the envelope.

“Dad’s right,” Jolene whispered.

Rachel looked up and saw that Jolene’s head was bent. A tear splashed on her backpack and she jerked her hand across her face.

“Your father is right?” Rachel repeated softly. “About what?”

Jolene shook her head, refusing to answer.

“If you ever need me, all you have to do is check in with Teri Polgar. She’ll get in touch with me and I’ll give you a call.”

“You’d do that?” Jolene asked.

“Yes.”

“After everything I’ve done?”

“Yes,” she returned without hesitation.

“Why?”

“First, you’re my stepdaughter, and second, you and I used to be close.” That felt like a long time ago, but Rachel could look back through the years and hold on to the good memories without allowing the more recent ones to taint her perspective.

“The baby…” Jolene began, and then paused. “You’ve got a tummy.”

“I see you noticed.”

“How could I not?” she said, and almost smiled.

The door of the head librarian’s office opened and Grace Harding came out. Behind her a puppy scampered, running across the library and directly toward Jolene.

Bending down, Jolene scooped the small dog into her arms. The puppy started to lick her chin. Squinting, Jolene laughed and held him away from her face.

“Beau,” Grace called out as she hurried toward them. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Jolene said. “He’s just so cute.”

“He’s a darn nuisance. I keep forgetting to close the office door behind me. This is the second time today.” She reached for Beau, but Jolene continued to hold him.

“Would it be all right if I petted him for a while?” she asked, looking up at the librarian.

Grace glanced at Rachel as though to get her permission.

“Fine with me,” Rachel said.

Grace lingered a moment. “When are you coming back to the salon, Rachel?” she asked. “With both you and Teri gone, I’ve had a heck of a time finding someone to cut my hair the way I like.”

“I…won’t be coming back.”

“That’s a shame.” She paused. “And I bet that’s how all your clients feel.”

She didn’t know what to say. Rachel had heard via Jane that a number of her clients were looking for her. She hated to disappoint anyone but she seriously doubted they’d follow her to Portland or wherever she landed.

“Bring Beau back to me when you’re tired of playing with him,” Grace said.

“Okay.” Beau had settled down in Jolene’s lap and chewed on her finger until she moved her hand just out of his range.

Rachel enjoyed watching Jolene with the puppy. Several minutes later, she stood to leave but Jolene asked, “Could you stay a little longer?”

“Okay.” She waited, unsure if Jolene had something else to say. She leaned down and petted the puppy, who immediately tried to chew on her finger, too.

“Be careful, he’s got sharp little teeth.”

Rachel had discovered that. “Ouch.” She jerked her hand away and examined her finger to see if he’d drawn blood. Thankfully he hadn’t.

“I never had a dog,” Jolene said. “I wanted one but Dad said we’d have to leave him alone all day, and that didn’t seem right.”

“I never had one, either.” Her aunt hadn’t been keen on pets, although Rachel had longed for a dog.

“Too messy?” Jolene guessed.

“Too messy,” she confirmed, and offered her step-daughter a tentative smile.

Jolene cuddled the small dog as though that required her undivided attention.

“Rachel,” she whispered after several minutes. “Don’t move to Portland.”

“You want me to go someplace else?” She frowned, a little confused.

“No.”

“Another town farther away?”

“No,”
Jolene repeated emphatically. “I don’t want you to move at all.”

Rachel didn’t say anything, afraid she might be reading more into this than warranted. “Are you asking me to stay in Cedar Cove?”

“I…I don’t know.”

That wasn’t the answer she’d hoped to hear.

“All I can say is I don’t know what my dad will do when he finds out you’re leaving the area.”

Rachel realized her decision would be hard on Bruce, but she didn’t feel she had any choice.

“I…don’t want you to go, either,” Jolene said.

Perhaps that was a start.