1225 Christmas Tree Lane (17 page)

“Mom, what time will Dad get here?” Sophie asked, as she and Bailey hurried into the kitchen. “Is Danielle coming, too?”

Beth had expected them long before now. She was clearing away the last of their brunch dishes, irritated that she hadn't heard from Kent. She was determined not to contact him, although she considered it bad manners to keep his family waiting on Christmas Day. “I don't think your father actually gave us a time,” she said with more generosity than she felt. He'd certainly implied it would be that morning.

“Oh,” Sophie murmured.

“It's already afternoon,” Bailey said. “We've never opened our gifts this late.”

That seemed like a minor complaint to Beth. The thought of spending Christmas Day with Kent's…friend was enough to make her feel like going back to bed. Playing hostess to Danielle was above and beyond the call of duty.

It hadn't bothered her nearly as much until she'd realized how deeply she still loved Kent. For the past three years, she'd been able to live with a degree of contentment, refusing to acknowledge how lonely she was.

“Mom, call Dad and ask when he's going to be here,” Bailey said.

“Why don't
you
phone him?” Beth suggested. She purposely banished the picture of Kent and Danielle cuddled together while their daughters impatiently awaited his arrival.

“Okay.”

Cell phone in hand, Bailey sat down, propping her elbows on the kitchen table.

Beth tuned out her daughter's conversation as she silently prayed for the strength to get through the day. Depression weighed heavily on her. If she managed to survive this Christmas, she'd tell Kent she'd made a mis
take. She loved him and wanted him back in her life. Only she couldn't tell him that in Danielle's presence.

No, she might as well forget any hope of a reconciliation, she told herself. Danielle was young and beautiful and competitive. She wouldn't give Kent up easily. Beth had made the mistake, and now she had to live with the consequences. “Mom? Mom?”

“Yes,” Beth said, turning her thoughts away from her ex-husband.

“Did you hear what I said?”

“Sorry, no.”

“Are you feeling all right?” Sophie asked, joining her sister at the table.

“I…don't know.” What Beth really wanted was to escape to her room with a fake flu bug and leave the girls to celebrate Christmas with Kent and Danielle. But she couldn't do that to her daughters. She'd muddle through and somehow find the strength to pretend all was well.

“Dad's on his way,” Bailey told her.

“Good.” She forced a smile. Turning from the sink, she grabbed a dish towel and wiped her hands dry. Needing fortification, she went to freshen her makeup.

Upstairs in her bathroom, she stared at her reflection
in the mirror. Sad. Sad. Sad. She straightened her shoulders, saying, “You can do this. You can do this.”

When she walked down the stairs she found Kent standing by the front door. She stopped abruptly before she reached the bottom. He looked up at her; their eyes met, and her heart immediately reacted. She gave him a tentative smile.

Kent smiled back.

He spoke first. “Merry Christmas,” he said.

“Thank you.” Her voice sounded wispy. “Merry Christmas.”

“Dad,” Bailey said excitedly, rushing over to him. She paused and looked around. “Where's Danielle?”

Kent broke eye contact with her. “She isn't here.”

“Isn't here? Did she stay at the B and B?”

“Not…exactly.” He bent down to take off his boots.

“Then where is she?”

Kent glanced at his watch. “I imagine she's at the airport about now.”

“The airport?” Sophie repeated. “I thought she was spending Christmas in Cedar Cove.”

“That was her original plan. She came with me, hoping to meet up with a sailor she'd met when he was on leave in California. Apparently, she read more into the relationship than she should have.”

“What?”
Beth asked in shock. “She came to meet up with a sailor? But…”

“Danielle was hoping to see this guy, Hunter. She and I were talking about that, and I told her I still had feelings for you, but wasn't sure what to do when you asked me to come here for Christmas. She offered to come with me and—”

“Wait.” Beth's hand flew to her chest. “I asked
you?
I think there's been some misunderstanding.” Beth noticed that the girls had skittered off as she spoke.

Kent frowned. “You mean you didn't?”

Beth frowned, too. “Are you saying you
weren't
the one who wanted to spend Christmas as a family?”

“Bailey! Sophie!” Beth and Kent shouted at the same time.

“Bailey Madison. Sophie Lynn,” Beth threw in for good measure.

Their two daughters reappeared, looking sheepish.

“Okay, we admit it,” Bailey said, hands in her back hip pockets. “The thing is, Sophie and I think this whole divorce is wrong. We thought if the two of you were together at Christmas, you'd realize what a terrible mistake you made. Then Dad had to go and ruin everything by bringing Danielle.”

“I didn't exactly bring her,” he clarified. “Danielle
told me she intended to visit the area at the same time, and we discovered we'd be on the same flight and had booked rooms at the same bed-and-breakfast.”

“Just a minute,” Beth said in confusion. “But she works with you, right? That's all true?”

“Yes. She works in the accounting department.”

“Are…are you… Have you ever been involved?”

“Good heavens, no.”

“But…”

Kent broke eye contact. “While we were at the airport waiting for the plane, we started talking. Just like I already told you, I explained that I wasn't sure how I felt about being here this Christmas. I missed my wife, but the girls had hinted that you were seeing the local vet and I didn't want to be a fifth wheel. So Danielle said what you needed was some competition and I…agreed. I felt it was worth a shot, anyway. So she put on this ridiculous act and—” He shrugged, glancing up the staircase at Beth. “I regretted the entire charade immediately, but by then it seemed too late. The whole thing had taken on a momentum of its own….” He shrugged. “I just hope you can forgive me.”

The girls sent each other a triumphant smile, as if they were personally responsible for this turn of events.

Kent continued to hold Beth's look.

She bit her lip and started down the remaining steps.

“Problem is,” he told his daughters, “I don't know how your mother feels about me. It's been three years.”

“Mom's crazy about you,” Bailey said.

“Of
course
Mom loves you,” Sophie added her voice to her sister's. “She'd be a fool not to.”

“What about Ted Reynolds?” Kent asked.

“What about him?” Bailey returned. “Mom loves you, not Ted.”

“I'd rather have your mother tell me so herself.” Kent stood with one foot braced against the bottom step. He stretched out his arm to Beth.

She placed her hand in his. “Oh, Kent, I've never stopped loving you. I never will.”

He grabbed her by the waist and lifted her down the last two stairs, setting her feet on the ground.

As Beth slipped her arms around his neck, she buried her face in his shoulder. “We've both been so foolish.”

He kissed her again and then again, as if he couldn't get enough of her.

Cradling his face with her hands, Beth gazed into his eyes, aware of their daughters grinning from the sidelines.

“These girls have a lot of 'splainin' to do,” Kent said in a stage whisper.

“It was Bailey's idea,” Sophie maintained.

“Both of you were being ridiculous about this stupid divorce,” Bailey said quickly. “We felt we had to do something.” She obviously intended to share the blame—or the praise.

“So you conspired to bring us together,” Kent muttered.

“You aren't mad, are you?” Bailey asked, moving closer to her sister.

Kent brought his attention back to Beth and kissed the tip of her nose. “Are
you
upset?” he asked.

With her husband's arms around her and the Christmas tree lights shining in the background, Beth had to admit she wasn't. “Not in the least. Actually, I think it was a brilliant idea.”

“Okay, if you must know,” Sophie said, “I did help Bailey a little.”

“Isn't this the best Christmas ever?” Bailey exclaimed, hugging her sister. “And we haven't even opened our gifts yet.”

Beth had to agree. This was the best Christmas of her life.

Valentine's Day

“This is so romantic,” Bailey said to her sister. “I'm so happy, I want to cry.” They left the kitchen, ready to set out the plates and forks to serve cake to their parents' guests.

“We did it,” Sophie said, almost giddy with happiness. “I don't know
how,
but it worked. Mom and Dad are back together.”

“Just like they were meant to be.”

Their parents were remarried and their dad was now
living at 1225 Christmas Tree Lane, where he planned to take on the business aspects of the farm.

Beth came down the stairs and into the living room, with Kent directly behind her. “Oh, girls, the table looks lovely.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

The coffee-and teapots were filled and the cake sliced. This wasn't a wedding reception, Beth had explained to her daughters. It was an opportunity to introduce Kent to her friends and neighbors in Cedar Cove.

Bailey thought her father had never looked handsomer or her mother more beautiful. They were constantly together now. It had started while they were all in Whistler during Christmas break. Bailey couldn't remember a time they'd had more fun as a family. After their short vacation, Kent had returned to California. Before he could move north to Washington State, he needed to make some decisions and changes.

Within six weeks he'd sold his engineering company to his partner, packed up his house and found responsible tenants. In between all those negotiations and all that packing, Kent flew up to Cedar Cove practically every weekend to be with their mother. It was the most romantic thing.

They'd remarried in a private ceremony on January
twenty-eighth. Only the girls and Kent's brother Michael, who'd come in from California to act as best man, had been in attendance. Afterward, their parents had sent out announcements to family and friends. From the comments Bailey heard, everyone seemed to think this remarriage was wonderful. To Bailey and Sophie it was just plain…right.

“We have our first guests,” Sophie called out, standing by the living room window. “It's Grace, the lady who has Beau.”

“Grace Harding,” Beth said. “And her husband, Cliff.” She headed for the door.

“There are four of them,” Sophie added.

“The other two are Olivia and Jack Griffin.”

Their mother ushered their guests in out of the rain. Grace and Olivia stepped inside the house and were warmly greeted by Beth and Kent.

“I think we might have met earlier,” Kent said, shaking hands with the two men. “Didn't I see you at the Christmas Eve service?”

Both men nodded.

“Would you like some coffee and cake?” Bailey asked politely.

“Sure! Thanks.” The two men eagerly accepted her offer while the women raised their hands to decline.
“We're driving to Seattle for a Valentine's treat,” Grace said. “I'm saving my calories for that.”

“Me, too,” Olivia chimed in. “By the way,” she told Beth, “my mother sent you a small gift. The ladies in her knitting group made you several cotton dishrags. Not very romantic, perhaps, but Mom says everyone can use extras.”

Beth took the package gratefully. “Charlotte is always so thoughtful.”

“Oh, Ben and Mom both send their very best wishes. She wanted me to tell you that bringing the dogs to Sanford Suites has been a real blessing to everyone. They all just love working with those dogs.”

“It's a help to me, too.”

Bailey smiled. Apparently, her mother was using the senior citizens to help her with dog training. Beth claimed this provided two benefits in one: not only did the older people get a form of therapy spending time with the dogs, they also got a sense of purpose from it. The Reading with Rover program at the library was another of her successes.

Beth slipped an arm around Kent's waist. “I have to admit that getting those dogs to Sanford Suites can be a bit of an ordeal.”

“You won't need to do it alone anymore,” Kent told her and, leaning over, gave her a quick kiss.

Seeing her parents like this, so openly in love, Bailey almost forgot her job.

“Since Olivia isn't having cake, you can give me a bigger slice,” Jack whispered. Bailey threw him a conspirator's smile and willingly complied.

“I heard that, Jack Griffin,” the judge said from the other side of the room.

“How's Beau?” Sophie asked.

“I believe he's the smartest dog I've ever owned,” Grace said, beaming with pride. She entertained them all for several minutes with stories of the puppy's antics.

The sound of another car pulling into the driveway attracted everyone's attention. “Oh, good,” Sophie said, peering out the window. “It's the couple who owns the bed-and-breakfast where Dad stayed during Christmas,” she announced. “Oh, and look! They brought their dog.”

“They named her Millie,” Beth said. “I've been doing dog obedience classes with her and four of her siblings over the past two months.”

Bob and Peggy Beldon sat down for cake and coffee just as the Griffins and Hardings left. Millie lay contentedly at Peggy's feet.

Bailey hurried into the kitchen for a doggie treat, returning just in time to hear Bob Beldon say to her fa
ther, “Welcome back to Cedar Cove.” Bob dug into the white cake with raspberry filling.

“You'll never guess who we heard from,” Peggy said conversationally and then, before anyone could guess, she answered her own question. “Danielle!”

Bailey was all ears. Sophie, too. Her sister set down the coffeepot and waited for the punch line.

“And?” Their dad frowned; clearly, Danielle wasn't a good memory.

“She sent a check to pay for the damage she did and wrote a letter of apology.”

“I'm glad she apologized,” Kent said. “She caused quite a scene.”

“I'll say,” Bob muttered between bites of cake. “I've been in theater for twenty years, and I've never seen more of a drama queen than that woman.”

“But she had a broken heart,” Sophie said, looking at Bailey. “Right?”

Her younger sister was far more charitable than Bailey was inclined to be. She had a point, though. They could afford to be generous. Their parents were together again, and, after all, Danielle's plan to make their mother jealous had started out as a misguided favor to their dad.

“In my opinion, the sailor who dumped her made a lucky escape.”

“Bob,” Peggy said pointedly. “Be kind.”

“Okay, okay. At least she was responsible enough to pay for the damages and send us a note of apology.”

“I still feel bad about all of that,” Kent said. “I had no idea she'd react the way she did.”

“It wasn't your fault,” Bob told him. “We appreciated your offer to pay for the damages, but you weren't the one who created the mess. We mailed Danielle a letter after the first of the year, and three weeks later the check arrived.” They chatted for another twenty minutes, and then the Beldons went home, with Millie heeling very nicely.

The Flemmings and their two sons stopped by next, passing the Beldons in the driveway. The dogs were at home, but Matthew and Mark spoke animatedly about their puppies whom they'd named Charlie and Sam. It was obvious that the boys had taken very successfully to dog ownership. Bailey remembered when she and Sophie had become dog owners for the first time. Watching the two brothers reminded her of the summer their parents had allowed them each to choose a puppy at the local animal shelter. Bailey got a beagle and Sophie had an Australian shepherd. They'd named them Barney and Fi Fi, and those dogs had been their companions for more than ten years.

Over the course of the next two hours, more people than Bailey could keep track of came and went. Bruce and Rachel Peyton arrived with their newborn daughter, Corinna. Jolene had gotten one of the puppies for Christmas, too, and bragged equally about Corinna and Poppy, her dog.

Troy and Faith Davis came by for cake and to chat with their parents. So did the McAfees, who were full of compliments about
their
puppy, Asta—as smart and charming as the dog in those movies, Roy bragged. Everyone was so friendly. Bailey was in charge of serving cake and Sophie busied herself with coffee and tea.

Soon after, Teri and Bobby Polgar, plus Christie and James Wilbur—proud owners of Chessie—dropped over with a bottle of champagne. Then Will Jefferson and Miranda Sullivan, sporting an engagement ring, brought
another
bottle.

By the end of the afternoon it seemed as if everyone their mother knew in town had made the effort to welcome Kent to Cedar Cove.

Everyone, that is, except Ted Reynolds, the veterinarian.

Briefly, Bailey had wondered if her mother's friend would stop by. No one said anything, but Sophie noticed
and so did Bailey. That saddened her a little because she knew that Ted and her mother were fond of each other.

“Well, that looks like everyone,” Beth said, carrying the leftover cake into the kitchen.

“You girls did a great job.”

“Wait!” Sophie cried out. “I see a car coming down the driveway.”

“It's Ted,” Bailey said excitedly.

“Ted?” Beth pushed open the kitchen door and stuck her head out. “Oh, I was hoping he'd have a chance to come.” She brought out a piece of cake and set it on the table, as if it'd been there all along just waiting for Ted's arrival.

Kent opened the front door and extended his hand. “Good to see you, Ted.”

“You, too. I'd like you to meet my friend Lana.”

Ted had a female friend? Bailey met her sister's eyes.

“Ted,” Beth said, holding out her hand to him. “I'm so glad you brought Lana. I've been wanting to meet her.”

Mom knew about this? Bailey thought that was a good sign. Lana was a petite attractive blonde who seemed as effervescent as Ted was low-key.

Ted stood with his hand protectively around Lana's waist. “Everyone, this is Lana Carr.”

Bailey and Sophie introduced themselves after their parents did.

“Sit down, please,” Beth said and gestured Ted and Lana toward the chairs. While they took their seats, Bailey and Sophie handed them plates with cake and took drink orders.

“You know, your mother and I haven't had any cake yet,” their father said. “I don't suppose we could get a slice, too?”

“Sure thing, Dad.”

Bailey cut two additional slices and brought them in while Sophie prepared coffee for their guests.

Bailey went back to the kitchen to start cleaning up, and Sophie joined her there a couple of minutes later. When she opened the kitchen door, the sound of their parents' laughter drifted toward her.

“Everyone seems to be getting along,” Bailey commented.

“They are. I think Mom and Dad and Ted and Lana are going to be good friends. Did you hear how they met?”

“Mom and Dad?”

“No, Ted and Lana, silly.”

“Tell me.”

“She brought in a dog who'd been hit by a car. She
used to work for a vet in Tacoma, a friend of Ted's, until she moved to Cedar Cove. His friend had mentioned Lana was single and wanted to introduce them, but Ted said the timing was bad.”

“Yeah, he had his eye on our mother,” Bailey murmured.

“Lana saw his picture and thought he looked like a nice guy, but let it go. She figured he'd contact her if he was interested.”

“But he didn't.”

“No. And then Lana found the injured dog and brought him to the nearest vet, not even knowing it was Ted until she got there. She helped him operate on the dog and did such a good job that he offered her a job at the animal hospital.”

“And she accepted.”

“That's such a romantic story,” Sophie said.

Bailey nodded. “This is a romantic town.”

Her sister gave a contented sigh.

“You know, I like Cedar Cove,” Bailey said. “I like it a lot.”

“I do, too.”

It was the kind of town anyone would love to call home.