Cedar Cove Collection

“Done,” he promised. “But will you talk to Shelly for me? Please? I don’t want to sound like I’m meddling.”

“But you are,” Olivia pointed out.

“Yes, but I don’t see any other alternative. They can’t seem to resolve this on their own.”

“All right, give me her phone number,” she said with a sigh. She wrote it down and then made little squiggly lines around the numbers while they continued to talk.

“You doing anything exciting tonight?” Jack asked, and his voice dipped to a sexy growl.

“I don’t know. What have you got in mind?”

“The Chamber of Commerce is having an open house. Wanna go?” Jack’s suggestive tone implied a night of passionate lovemaking, not a rather dull business event.

“I just might be able to fit it into my busy social calendar.”

“Can I pick you up at seven?”

“Seven’s good.”

“Wear something sexy.”

“For the Chamber of Commerce?”

“No, Olivia,” he said blandly, “for me.”

The smile lasted a long time after the conversation had ended.

As soon as Olivia got home, she called Shelly Larson. After a lengthy explanation of who she was and why she’d phoned, she waited for a response to her invitation.

“Does Eric know about this?” Shelly asked.

Her voice was soft and well-modulated. Olivia tried to match it to the photograph Eric had once shown her. As she recalled, Shelly was a petite brunette who worked for a Seattle-based advertising agency. She’d been living with Eric for almost two years.

“Jack suggested I invite you,” Olivia said. “I agreed on the condition that neither of you walked into this blind. He’s hoping you and Eric can settle things once and for all.”

Shelly didn’t respond; apparently she was still considering the invitation.

“Do you have family in the area?” Olivia asked, wanting to get some idea of Shelly’s support system.

“No—my mother died when I was a baby and my dad hasn’t really been part of my life. I was raised by my grandmother, but she’s been gone for three years now.”

“So you’re on your own.”

“Yes.” She didn’t seem interested in continuing with that theme. Instead, she burst out, “I just don’t understand why Eric doesn’t believe the baby is his. It’s an insult to me and to everything I stand for.”

Olivia certainly didn’t want to take sides. According to Jack, his son was incapable of fathering children, but stranger things had happened. “Men are just dense sometimes,” she said, hoping she sounded sympathetic.

“I very much appreciate the dinner invitation,” Shelly said, her voice gaining strength and conviction, “but I have to refuse. Eric and I are finished.”

“Not if you’re carrying his child,” Olivia reminded her. “In that case, the relationship is far from over.”

“It doesn’t matter. Eric doesn’t believe me, and as far as I’m concerned, the courts can deal with this. I don’t want to put a damper on your Thanksgiving—that wouldn’t be fair to you or Jack or your other guests. It was very thoughtful of Jack to want to include me, but it just won’t work.”

Olivia didn’t feel comfortable ending the conversation just yet, now that she knew Shelly was alone in the world. “I’d like to keep in touch, Shelly, if you don’t mind?”

“I guess that would be okay. Jack has a right to know his grandchild.”

They hung up shortly afterward, and Olivia stood there, thinking over what had been said. The young woman had shown extraordinary wisdom in declining the invitation, in Olivia’s opinion. She could sense how badly Shelly wanted to be included in the festivities, yet she’d refused, knowing that the others would be made uncomfortable by the situation between her and Eric.

Jack arrived promptly at seven. “Well?” he asked hopefully. “Did you talk to Shelly?”

“I did, and she turned us down.”

“No.” Jack groaned and ran all ten fingers through his hair in abject frustration.

“What did Eric say?”

“He’d come to dinner if Shelly came, but otherwise he was thinking of joining a few of his friends over in Kirkland where he works.”

“Maybe that’s for the best,” Olivia said.

“Not for me,” Jack cried.

And not for them, either, Olivia supposed.

“Damn, I was counting on better news than this.” He slumped onto her chair, then reached inside his jacket. “I’ve had this for weeks and was waiting for the right time to give it to you.” He took out a gaily wrapped package. “It’s your birthday gift.”

She stared at him in complete astonishment.

“Go ahead,” he urged. “Open it.”

Olivia took the gift, sat down next to Jack and untied the ribbon.

“I’m sorry it’s late,” he said, watching her anxiously.

She peeled away the paper and lifted the lid of a gray velvet box. The instant she saw the diamond tennis bracelet, she let out a gasp.

“Do you like it?” he asked.

“Jack, I…I’m not sure what to say.”

“I wanted you to know how important you are to me, Olivia.”

“Oh, Jack…” She struggled to tell him how thrilled she was and then decided that words weren’t necessary. With great care she set the box aside and slipped her arms around Jack’s neck, kissing him in a way that would leave him in no doubt of her appreciation.

Thanksgiving would be a quiet day for Grace with just Maryellen for company. The divorce had been declared final on Monday. She didn’t have to appear in court; Mark Spellman had phoned her late in the afternoon with the news that everything had gone smoothly. As of Monday afternoon, she was no longer married to Dan. All the paperwork had been signed, sealed and notarized. She was a single woman again.

Thanksgiving morning, Grace woke early. Just as she had a year ago. But last Thanksgiving she’d bought a twenty-pound turkey. While she stuffed the bird and prepared it for roasting, Dan had bantered with her and then gone outside to cut firewood. Later, Kelly and Paul had come to dinner and Maryellen did, too. It had been a pleasant day, a family day, full of laughter and warmth.