Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove Series, Volume 3 (122 page)

“The cookies are ready, as well.”

“And what did the kitchen look like afterward?” Charlotte asked
with a knowing gleam in her eye.

“A disaster. I helped with the cleanup.”

“You're a good wife.”

Her mother had set a good example.

“Justine wanted to serve beef Wellington, so I thought we'd do
a turkey tomorrow.”

“You can't go wrong with that,” Charlotte said.

“No, you can't,” Olivia agreed. There'd be stuffing and plenty
of gravy, too. Her mother would work with her and add her personal assortment of
herbs and spices to create the distinct taste everyone loved. Although Olivia
had watched carefully and taken notes, hers never turned out quite the same.

“Anything else?”

Olivia hesitated. With her mother, everything was homemade,
from the dinner rolls to the desserts, of which there was always a wide variety.
Pecan pie, fruitcake, rum cake, apple strudel and more.

“I bought a couple of coconut cream pies from the Pancake
Palace.” Half expecting her mother to berate her for taking the easy road,
Olivia held her breath.

“Oh, that's wonderful.”

Wonderful?
Olivia could hardly
believe it. Her tensed shoulders sagged with relief.

“Everyone knows the Pancake Palace makes the best pies in
town.”

Olivia understood how difficult it was for her mother to deal
with change. It wasn't easy for anyone, but the older people got, the harder it
was. In her eighties now, Charlotte had coped with the transition from home to
the assisted-living complex pretty well. She'd given up the house where she'd
lived so many years of her life and surrendered much of her independence. Olivia
was exceptionally proud of Charlotte and Ben. Naturally, there'd been doubts
along the way, but all in all, the move had been a success.

“Anything else you'd like on the menu?” Olivia asked.

“My homemade applesauce.”

“Of course, with the sweet pickles from last summer.”

Charlotte rested her hands in her lap. “Those will be the last
sweet pickles I put up,” she said and, after a short pause, resumed her
knitting.

Olivia opened her mouth to reassure her mother that there'd be
more pickles and more summers, then realized this was Charlotte's way of telling
her she was willing to give up that part of her life. No longer would she
maintain a large garden or make applesauce and sauerkraut. The time had come to
set all those endeavors aside.

A sharp pang of loss stabbed Olivia, but then she brightened.
None of those activities, those special times, were really lost. With a little
planning and foresight, they could continue into the next generation, and the
one after that, too.

“Justine was talking about your pickle recipe a little while
ago,” Olivia said, and gently patted her mother's knee. “It wouldn't surprise me
if she decided to put up sweet pickles next summer.”

Her mother nodded approvingly. “I'll help if she needs
advice.”

“I know you will.” A shift had taken place in their family. It
hadn't been apparent at first and the irony of it was that Charlotte had
recognized it before anyone else. Olivia felt a burst of joy. The recipes, the
special family times, the laughter and the pleasures of being together would
remain intact. Each generation would take what was produced and what was passed
on by the one before, and then share it with the next. Eventually other
traditions would be added, too.

“I'll be by to pick you and Ben up at five,” she said. Reaching
for her purse, Olivia stood.

“When are James and his family coming?” her mother asked as her
fingers expertly wove the yarn around the needle. Socks again. Charlotte must
have knit more than a hundred pairs over the years. These, no doubt, were for
one of the great-grandchildren.

“James, Selina and the children will be there in plenty of
time, don't worry.” Olivia didn't have the heart to explain that they'd arrived
the night before. Charlotte had spoken to her grandson on the phone but she'd
obviously forgotten.

Unfortunately, these lapses happened more and more often. Her
mother could recall the recipe for sweet pickles from memory, but a brief
conversation the day before completely eluded her. They'd have a more definitive
answer to Charlotte's memory problems when they met with the specialist in
January. Until then, all they could do was wait.

“I love you, Olivia,” her mother said softly as Olivia started
out the door.

The comment struck her as odd. Her mother rarely said those
words. She smiled. “I know, Mom, and I love you, too.” She came back and bent
over to kiss her mother's cheek. “I'll see you in a few hours.”

For an instant Charlotte regarded her blankly and Olivia knew
that her mother had no idea why her daughter would be returning so soon.

Five

F
ive puppies now had homes. Five to go.

It'd been love at first sight. Jack Griffin had come by with
his son, Eric, and Eric's family. The grandsons had each chosen a puppy. They'd
fallen to their knees and eight puppies had raced into their arms. It had taken
quite a long time for the boys to make their decisions. In the end, they'd
selected two males; in fact, they'd already given their puppies names, albeit
not very original ones: Baron and Duke. Five were left, since Eddie Cox had
picked one up for his parents—three females and two males. Ted had volunteered
to watch over whatever puppies didn't have homes when Beth and the girls drove
to Whistler, but she hated to burden him with extra animals.

Instead of returning to the house after she'd seen off the
Griffins and their puppies, Beth wandered into the back of the yard where she
had the heated kennel. She opened the gate and let her dogs run in among the
trees. They were happy to exercise and she enjoyed playing with them, enjoyed
their boundless energy.

Her whole family had been pet lovers. From her earliest
memories, they'd always had a dog. Kent loved animals, too, which was one of the
reasons she'd been attracted to him all those years ago…and now. At one time
he'd considered entering veterinary college, but the application process was
complex and difficult, with only a few candidates accepted each year. He'd tried
two years running and was declined both times. Although bitterly disappointed,
he'd decided to change his course of study to engineering. In the end, that
career choice had suited him well.

Thinking of Kent, Beth was forced to confront his news head-on.
He was involved with someone else. Danielle had made a point of telling everyone
what “good” friends they were. Although Kent had called her merely a friend, it
was obvious that Danielle intended it to be so much more.

After three years, this shouldn't come as such a shock—only it
did. Her heart felt weighted down by grief and disappointment. Yet she was the
one who'd set him free. Not once had she made an effort to turn the tide of the
divorce proceedings. Perhaps this was one of those classic scenarios; she didn't
want him but she didn't want anyone else to have him, either.

Still, she had to ask herself: Did she want her ex-husband
back? She couldn't answer that, not with certainty, and in any event the
decision had been taken out of her hands. This sense of loss and confusion was
probably typical of ex-wives, she reasoned. It must be.

“Mom?” Bailey was calling her.

Pulling herself out of her musing, she shouted and waved. “Over
here.”

“I saw the Griffins leave and you didn't come back in the
house.”

Beth didn't feel much like company at the moment. “I thought
I'd let the dogs run a bit first,” she said.

Sophie joined her sister. It'd started to snow again, thick
flakes that drifted lazily down. The wind chilled her through her thick jacket.
Because she spent so much time outdoors, she'd learned to ignore the cold. But
this particular chill seemed to come from the inside out....

“Are you upset about Dad and Danielle?” Sophie asked, still
putting on her gloves. She didn't look at Beth, as though she wanted to hide her
own reaction to Kent's “friend.”

“You mean because your father has someone else in his life? Oh,
heavens, no.” She wondered how effective her lie had been.

“We don't like Danielle,” Bailey announced for the two of
them.

“You have to admit she's beautiful.”

Both girls rolled their eyes. “Mom, she's plastic. I can't
imagine what Dad sees in her. Besides, she treats us like we're still in
diapers.”

“Give her a chance,” Beth urged. She didn't know why she was
championing the other woman when she agreed with everything her daughters
said.

“Tell us again, how did you and Dad meet?” Bailey asked.

Instead of answering their question, she asked one of her own.
“Did you know that at one time your father wanted to be a veterinarian?”

“Dad?”

“Get out of here!”

“We met in college,” Beth said. “You remember that.” They'd
heard the story a hundred times. It didn't make sense to repeat it now. “Are you
sure you want to hear this?”

Their response was immediate and enthusiastic. “Yes!”

“Okay. We met on campus. A friend-of-a-friend situation. My
roommate was dating your father, and I was dating another guy named Steve. I
liked your father a whole lot more than Steve, but he was with Melanie and I
couldn't very well make a play for him. We dated as a foursome quite a bit and
then one day Melanie told me she liked Steve better than Kent and I confessed
that I liked Kent better than Steve.”

“And the two of you wanted to switch dates,” Sophie finished
for her.

“That is so cool,” Bailey said.

“Well, it would've been if the guys felt the same way about us,
but they didn't. Steve claimed he wanted to marry me, but I wasn't interested.
Kent, on the other hand, only had eyes for Melanie.”

“Oh, brother. Clearly, Dad's needed direction in the girlfriend
department for a long time.”

“We worked it out. Melanie broke up with Kent and I took the
initiative and phoned to console him. What he wanted was for me to convince
Melanie to take him back....” She paused and kicked at a pile of snow. “I guess
I was always the second choice with your father.”

“Oh, Mom, that isn't true!”

Beth smiled, letting her daughters know she wasn't serious.
Well, maybe she was, not that it mattered.

“Whatever happened to Melanie? Did she marry Steve?”

“No. She left college in our junior year and dated a guy from
France. Eventually she followed him there. We lost contact after a while. I
haven't heard from her in years.”

Princess raced to Beth's side. Panting, the collie dropped a
stick at her feet. “You want to play fetch, do you?” she asked, and bent to pet
her thick fur. Princess was a rescue someone had brought her. Her friend had
found the collie on the side of the road near the freeway. With some effort she
was able to get the large dog into the car. Rather than take her to the animal
shelter, Beth's friend had brought her to Beth. Half-starved, Princess was in
bad shape, and Beth had nourished her back to health. She'd tried to find her
owner, but the dog had no identification. Now Princess was deeply attached to
Beth and was one of the dogs in the Reading with Rover program Grace had
instigated at the library.

“Dad still loves you,” Bailey insisted.

“Of course he does,” Beth said, and meant it. “We were married
for twenty-three years. I'm the mother of his children. While we might have
opposing opinions on certain issues, when it comes to you girls, we're in total
agreement.”

“Bailey means he
really
loves
you.”

Beth threw her arms around her daughters and brought them
close. “Listen, you two. I know this is difficult. Maybe you believed that your
father's visit to Cedar Cove meant more than he intended it to mean. Maybe you
believed he was making a statement about reconciliation.” Well, he'd made a
statement, all right. He wanted to introduce their daughters to his “friend.”
“The reason your father's here is because he wanted us all to meet Danielle. He
wants us to welcome her into the family.”

“I can't do it.” Sophie's chin rose defiantly.

“Me, neither.”

For that matter, it wasn't going to be any easier for Beth.
Nevertheless, she was determined to do her best.

“They'll be coming back here, and I want us all to make an
effort, okay?”

Bailey sighed expressively and, after a moment, said, “I'll
try…I guess.”

“Will Dad be here when we decorate the tree?”

Beth had assumed not. He was with Danielle and it would be
awkward to include the other woman. “I…I don't know, but I don't think so.”

“Dad used to enjoy that,” Sophie said.

Beth had, too. It was their special family tradition. They'd
always waited until Christmas Eve to decorate the tree, which went back to her
German roots. Her grandparents hadn't put up a tree until the night before
Christmas, a tradition that had come from the old country.

“Shouldn't we at least ask Dad about decorating the tree with
us?”

“I suppose…” Beth said without much enthusiasm. He would
probably assume the invitation included Danielle.

The girls returned to the house, and Beth stayed outside,
letting the dogs run until they were tired. She gave them each a healthy snack,
then they retreated to their kennel and she went back inside.

Beth had never intended to own six dogs—make that seven with
the puppy upstairs. But then she'd never intended to have her children barely a
year apart, either. Kent was still in his last year of engineering school and
she was working as a teaching assistant to help support them when she discovered
she was pregnant with Bailey. Sophie hadn't been a planned pregnancy, either,
and she'd arrived a mere fourteen months after her sister.