204 Rosewood Lane (37 page)

“Yes, Bob, I do.”

 

Finally Rosie was to have her day in court. She'd waited almost six months for this. Sharon Castor, her attorney, walked next to her as they approached the front of the courtroom and sat down.

“We have Judge Lockhart,” Sharon whispered.

Having a female judge reassured Rosie, since another woman would understand her position more clearly than a man. Although he continued to deny it, Zach was involved with Janice Lamond. If he'd been honest about the affair, the divorce would have been over months ago. She blamed him for the delays, blamed him for everything. He, of course, blamed
her.
He accused Rosie of dragging things out and being unreasonable. She accused him of lying. On and on it went.

“That's good, isn't it?” Rosie whispered, leaning her head close to Sharon's.

“Lockhart's fair, if a bit unorthodox.”

That wasn't what Rosie wanted to hear. She wanted this procedure to be quick and straightforward. After six months of haggling over every detail, she was ready for the divorce to be done. Ready to make a new life for herself and put the bitterness and ill will behind her.

Zach approached the table, his attorney at his side.

Rosie didn't look at Zach, but she felt his gaze burn through her. She stiffened her spine and refused to acknowledge him. Her eyes stung from lack of sleep. Her head throbbed with the worst headache in ten years and she felt she might be physically ill. Zach would never know any of this, however. She'd keel over in a dead faint before she'd let him know what his affair had done to her sense of worth, her dignity and her heart. This divorce had just about destroyed her emotionally.

The judge was announced and all the people in the courtroom briefly rose and then immediately reclaimed their seats.

“Good morning, Your Honor,” Sharon Castor said, rising to her feet once more.

“Good morning.” Judge Lockhart flipped through the pages of the brief, scanning the details. “I see you've reached a settlement in the matter of alimony.”

“We have, Your Honor.”

“I've read through the parenting plan.”

Rosie caught her breath. She'd held out as long as she could on the issue of joint custody. It wasn't what she wanted. She assumed, from the amount of time Janice and Chris spent with Zach, that he intended to make them part of his life and thus part of her children's lives. Knowing that, she fought him with everything she could. Their fights had grown ugly and vengeful. Rosie regretted the things they'd said and done, but in the heat of her anger, the venom had flowed out of her. She hadn't known she was capable of behaving this way. Hadn't known Zach was capable of treating her with such contempt.

“It appears that you've agreed to joint custody.”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

Judge Lockhart gestured at the document. “It states here that the children, ages fifteen and nine, are to live with their father three days a week in the first and third week of each month and four days a week in the second and fourth week. Is that correct?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“They are to pack up their belongings and transfer from their house to his apartment—and back—every three or four days. Isn't that a lot of moving about for these children?” the judge asked, frowning.

“Your Honor.” Zach's attorney stood. “It's important to my client that he share custody of his children.”

“I have no squabbles with his motivation or the concept of shared custody,” Judge Lockhart said, “but to my way of thinking, it isn't the parents who need a stable home life, it's the children.”

“My client couldn't agree with you more,” Otto Benson said, and Zach nodded.

“Ms. Castor, is your client in agreement as well?”

Sharon looked at Rosie, who stood. She spoke directly to the judge. “I want what's best for my children.”

Judge Lockhart studied both Zach and Rosie. “The family home is at 311 Pelican Court. How long have you lived at this address?”

“Three years, Your Honor.”

“You intend to keep the home?”

“Yes, Your Honor,” Sharon answered on Rosie's behalf.

The judge set aside the paperwork and sighed heavily. “That being the case, I'm going to put your word to the test. Both of you have stated that your main concern in this divorce is your two children. That's what I want to hear. Both of you seem determined to stay in their lives and I commend you for that. I hope you mean it. I agree to accept all conditions and terms as submitted to this court with one exception: joint custody.”

“Your Honor!” Zach roared to his feet.

“Hear me out, Mr. Cox,” the judge ordered and Zach sat back down.

Smugly Rosie crossed her arms, pleased that this insightful judge had seen through her husband.

“As I stated earlier, it's important for the children to have a stable home. You two—not the children—are the ones who've decided to end this marriage. Therefore, the children are to remain in the house and the parents are the ones who'll be moving in and out every few days.”

“But, Your Honor—”

“These are my terms. Either accept them now or delay the divorce.”

Horrified, Rosie looked at Zach. How could they go along with this after they'd struggled over every single detail?

“Have you made a decision?” the judge asked.

Zach and his attorney were whispering. Soon afterward Otto stood. “Your Honor, my client agrees.”

Sharon glanced at Rosie and she, too, nodded. “My client agrees also.”

“Very well,” Judge Lockhart said, “the marriage is dissolved. I hope you can make this work, for the sake of your children.”

Rosie hoped so, too.

 

“Call him,” Charlotte urged Olivia. “He's miserable and so are you.”

“No, Mother.” Olivia put her teacup down. “Not this time.” She was still furious with Jack, and she refused to approach him. If he could so easily give up on her, then she considered herself better off without him. But she asked, “How do you know he's miserable?”

Her mother set aside her knitting and reached for the teapot in the middle of the kitchen table. She replenished her cup and then Olivia's. “He asks about you every week when I drop off my column.”

That was encouraging. Still, Olivia had seen no actual evidence of his concern. If Jack cared for her as much as he
said
he did, then he should take her advice and fight for her.

The phone rang, and Olivia absently reached for it. “Hello.”

“It's Seth.” Her son-in-law didn't sound like himself. “Justine's water just broke and her labor's started. We're leaving for the hospital now.”

“But it's early,” Olivia cried. Three and a half weeks early, and that couldn't be good for Justine or the baby.

“No one bothered to tell the baby that.”

What she heard in Seth's voice was a sense of panic. “I'm leaving now,” she assured him. “Everything's going to be fine. Babies are born early every day.”

“Yes, I know. This just caught me off guard. Can you call Stan for me?”

“Of course. Take a deep breath and I'll meet you at the hospital.”

As soon as Seth hung up, Olivia punched out Stan's work number and was put through immediately. “Stan Lockhart.”

“Hello, Grandpa,” she said, bubbling over with mingled excitement and concern. “Justine's in labor and on her way to the hospital. Do you want to meet us there?”

Stan laughed, sounding delighted and equally thrilled. “I wouldn't miss it for the world. Tell her I'll see her soon, Grandma.”

“No need to rush,” her mother said as Olivia set the portable phone in its base. “These things take time.”

So spoke the wisdom of age, but Olivia knew she'd be hopeless anyplace but at the hospital. A baby was about to be born into their family, and she felt too much joy to hold inside. She couldn't sit still, and began pacing compulsively through the house.

“Go,” Charlotte advised a few minutes later. “I'll take care of everything here. Call me later.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Olivia kissed her mother's cheek, grabbed her purse and car keys and was out the door.

For nearly an hour she sat alone in the waiting area. Seth came out to give her bits of information every now and then; so far, everything was going smoothly. Stan arrived, looking frazzled, two hours later. They sat and drank coffee and chatted.

“Remember the night James was born?”

“I don't think I could forget that.” She gave an exaggerated shudder. “We barely made it to the hospital.”

Soon they were laughing, caught up in memories of the early years of their marriage.

“Remember the Christmas Eve you decided to assemble Jordan's bicycle?” she asked.

“Don't remind me,” Stan groaned. “As I recall, the instructions were in Japanese and you were the one who said assembling a bike couldn't possibly be that difficult.”

“My mistake.”

“What about the time you decided to teach Justine how to bake bread?”

Olivia rolled her eyes at the memory. In an effort to be helpful, Justine had picked up—and dropped—a ten-pound bag of flour that exploded on impact. For years afterward, Olivia found traces of the powdery substance all over the kitchen—beneath the sink, behind the refrigerator, in the backs of drawers.

The hours passed with barely a notice as they immersed themselves in laughter and memories.

At close to nine, Seth appeared, wearing the biggest grin Olivia had ever seen. She'd almost forgotten the reason they were at the hospital. She leapt to her feet, ready for the news.

“We have a son,” Seth announced. “Leif Jordan Gunderson. He's a big boy for arriving early. Six pounds, two ounces. The doctor said he's a mite premature, but his lungs sound like they're working just fine.”

Olivia promptly burst into tears.

 

By the time Olivia got home, she was happy but exhausted. Her mother had left a note on the kitchen table.

 

Think about what I said.

Jack misses you.

Call him.

Mom

Jack. Olivia hadn't give him a thought since she'd left for the hospital. In fact, she'd had a perfectly wonderful time reminiscing with Stan. All of a sudden she wasn't sure what she wanted anymore. All of a sudden there was more to think about than she'd realized. If her ex-husband wanted back in her life, then maybe she should let him. Maybe she should consider
all
her options. Maybe it
wasn't
too late for her and Stan….

Getting ready for bed, Olivia thought about her divorce, and the couple she'd seen earlier that morning came to mind. Her decision to take them at their word and force them to put their children first had been a bold one. The kids were to stay in the home, and the parents would move in and out. Everyone who lived at 311 Pelican Court would be going through a big adjustment and for the sake of their children, she sincerely hoped they could make it work.

As for her…well, Olivia would watch and wait. She'd see how things went at 311 Pelican Court—and she'd be keeping an eye on events at 204 Rosewood Lane, too. Just making sure that Grace continued to regain her confidence, her emotional equilibrium.

And with two men in her own life, who could tell what might happen at 16 Lighthouse Road?