Harbor Street (Cedar Cove #5)(44)

“You’re not happy.”

“I am,” she insisted. “It’s just that Seth is working so hard.” She was, too, but she didn’t mention that. “I have a good marriage, and I love my husband and son.”

Warren looked down at the open menu, but she doubted he was reading over the daily specials. “You can’t imagine how difficult it is to live in the same town and see you practically every day. It’s tearing me apart. We had something special and I haven’t found it with anyone else.”

She hadn’t kept tabs on his relationships, but it seemed to her that Warren had gone through a number of women in the last few years. The young ones didn’t last long, she noticed.

“It’s too late.”

“Is it?” he pressed. “I refuse to believe that, Justine.”

“Warren…”

He looked up and over her shoulder. His eyes narrowed as Seth approached the table.

“Seth,” Justine said, flustered that he’d found her with an old boyfriend. “Warren invited me to sit down for a few minutes.”

Her husband glanced at the two glasses of wine. He offered Warren a casual smile. “How are you, Warren?”

“Lonely,” he said, his gaze locking with Justine’s. She swallowed uncomfortably.

Seth placed a possessive hand on Justine’s shoulder. “Has Susan taken your order yet?”

“No.”

“I recommend the oyster stew. It’s the special of the day.”

“Warren doesn’t like oysters,” Justine said and immediately knew she should’ve kept her mouth shut. Judging by Seth’s expression, he didn’t want to be reminded of her once-close relationship with Warren.

“Can you come and see me once you’re finished visiting with Warren?” When she nodded, Seth went to his small office behind the hostess desk.

Justine stood. “I need to get back to work.”

“Seth doesn’t deserve you,” Warren muttered. “I’d treat you like a queen if you came back to me.”

She didn’t even bother to reply. Justine was happy, if tired and overworked. Seth, too. They were both committed to this restaurant; Seth was determined to make good on their investment and pay back the money his father had lent him.

“Circumstances change, Justine. I’ll be waiting for you when you’re ready. You won’t be sorry,” he promised her.

Justine sincerely doubted that.

“You needed to see me?” she asked when she stepped into her husband’s office.

Seth sat behind his desk. “What did Warren want?” he asked her with a frown.

“Not much.” She gave him a quick shrug. “Just to say hello.” It was on the tip of her tongue to plead with him not to be angry. Having a glass of wine with an old friend meant little. Warren was nothing to her anymore and certainly no threat to Seth.

Her husband regarded her a moment, then sighed. “I guess I was rude to him—and to you.”

She didn’t contradict him. Instead, she walked around the desk and sat on his lap. Slipping her arms around his neck, she rested her head on his shoulder. “You’re the one I love.”

“I know.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’m a jealous fool.”

“We both need a vacation.”

Seth snorted a laugh. “That’s not going to happen anytime soon.”

Justine knew that, but she could’ve done without the reminder.

“Hey,” he said, as if he’d suddenly remembered something. “What happened earlier? I saw your grandmother and Ben leave, and then right afterward a younger man shot out of the restaurant in quite a huff.”

“That was Ben’s son, and you wouldn’t believe the afternoon I’ve had.” She described how she’d snatched the check out of the other man’s hand. When she’d finished, Justine was surprised to find her husband smiling. “You think swindling my grandmother out of five thousand dollars is a laughing matter?”

“Not at all,” Seth assured her. “What I find amusing is that David Rhodes took off out of the parking lot, tires squealing. He hadn’t gone more than a block when I saw one of Cedar Cove’s finest racing after him, siren blaring.”

It seemed a fitting end to David’s visit.

Twenty-Two

Ever since Thanksgiving, when the floral arrangement had arrived, Corrie had been feeling uneasy. For the first time since the postcards had begun to show up, she felt she knew who was responsible. The postcards had so far been addressed to Roy. However, she suspected they should’ve been addressed to her, too.

The person in question had nothing to do with Roy’s police background, but everything to do with the two of them. Knowing this killed her Christmas spirit, but for Roy’s sake and Linnette’s, she’d made the effort. The tree was up and the house decorated. She’d even baked Roy’s favorite cookies and given batches of fudge to Linnette and Mack.

On Saturday afternoon, Roy sat reading the paper and watching television at the same time, an ability Corrie didn’t share.

“Would you like to go to a movie?” she asked. Today was unusual in that they didn’t have weekend plans. Even more unusual, Roy wasn’t working.

“Not really.”