Lighthouse Road (Cedar Cove #1)(62)

“How was the ferry ride?” Eric asked as they started walking along the waterfront.

“Great,” Jack said enthusiastically, as though they’d just stepped off a cruise ship instead of a one-hour Puget Sound crossing.

“Are you hungry?” Eric asked next.

“Famished.”

Olivia glanced at father and son, surprised by the awkwardness she continued to sense.

Eric told them he’d chosen a restaurant before their arrival and made reservations. “I hope you like crab,” he said, leading the way.

“Love it,” Olivia assured him.

Eric turned to his father. “I’m game,” Jack muttered.

Apparently Eric wasn’t acquainted with his father’s tastes. That, too, seemed odd. The restaurant Eric had chosen specialized in freshly cooked crab, served on newspaper-lined tabletops. Each patron was supplied with a wooden mallet and a bib. By the time they finished cracking the steaming Dungeness crab and dipping the pieces in melted butter, they were talking with ease, bursts of conversation punctuated by laughter.

Everything about the meal was wonderful. When they’d washed up, Eric walked them back to the ferry. Once more he appeared rather formal, and the conversation, which had flowed so comfortably throughout the meal, suddenly seemed stilted. Jack’s hands were buried inside his raincoat pockets.

“I had a good time,” Eric announced. Was it Olivia’s imagination or did he sound a little shocked by that revelation?

“I did, too,” Jack said.

Eric didn’t say anything for a moment. “Would you like to meet again sometime?”

“I’d like that very much,” Jack said solemnly.

“Me, too.”

Eric smiled charmingly at Olivia. “It was nice meeting you.”

“You, too, Eric.”

The cars started to leave the Bremerton ferry and it was time to walk onboard.

“I’ll be in touch,” Jack said, steering Olivia toward the terminal and the ticket booth for walk-on customers.

Eric raised his hand in farewell and eased away, taking small steps backward.

Jack purchased their tickets, and as they boarded the ferry, he said, “That went well, didn’t it?”

“Very well.”

She could feel his relief and found his reaction—his entire attitude toward his son—a bit puzzling. Still thinking about it, she followed him up the steps to the main deck. Jack hurried ahead of her toward the back railing and stood there, the wind in his face as he looked out over the Seattle waterfront.

“There he is,” Jack called. He placed his finger between his lips and let out a piercing whistle.

Eric jerked around, saw them and waved once more.

“He’s a well-adjusted young man,” Olivia murmured.

“The credit for that goes to his mother.”

“You weren’t part of his life while he was young?” That would explain the awkwardness between them.

“I was around but…I wasn’t much of a father.”

Olivia understood what he was saying. Between law school and everything else that’d been crammed into the early years of her own children’s lives, Olivia suffered her share of regrets. She’d longed to be a good mother, still did, but there were only so many hours in a day.

“I’m proud to be his father.”

It was probably the best compliment a father could give his son, but unfortunately Eric hadn’t been there to hear it.

“Do you see him often?” she asked, attempting to gauge the relationship.

“We try,” was all Jack would admit. “However, we have a lot of issues—” he grimaced at the word “—that we need to work through.”

She smiled at his distaste for what he called psychobabble. He’d told her more than once that he preferred plain speaking.

“But you and Eric are both making the effort,” she said quietly.

Jack nodded. “Yes, we are.” Then, as though searching for a way to turn the subject from himself, he asked, “Any word from Justine?”

Olivia wanted to groan aloud. Her daughter was her main source of concern just now. Although Justine hadn’t said anything to Olivia, word had filtered through town about her and Seth Gunderson. Olivia felt like cheering. Seth was exactly the kind of man she pictured for her headstrong daughter.

Then Seth had left for Alaska, and all of a sudden the gossip was about Warren Saget ordering a huge diamond ring from Berghoff Jewelers. Warren had purposely chosen a local jeweler, and the whys of it didn’t escape Olivia. He wanted her to know. Coward that he was, Warren Saget didn’t have the courage to confront Olivia face-to-face. He left the broadcasting of his intentions to the gossipmongers of Cedar Cove.

“You heard?” Olivia asked.

Jack gave a nonchalant shrug. “Did she say yes?”

“I have no idea.” It hurt to admit that her only daughter hadn’t even discussed a marriage proposal with her mother.

“If she says yes, what will you do?” Jack asked, watching her closely.

“Do?” As if Olivia had a choice. “What can I do? I’ll grin and bear it, but I’ll have a hell of a time calling Warren my son-in-law, especially since we’re almost the same age.”

“Is Seth Gunderson aware of the…proposal?”