Pelican Court (Cedar Cove #3)(56)

“I was thinking,” she said, hesitating as her heart began to race. It might be silly to feel this way, but she was nervous and on edge.

At her pause, Jon turned to look at her.

“About Christmas,” she added. “I was thinking about the two of us sharing Katie.”

“I could take her Christmas Eve and you could have her Christmas Day,” Jon suggested.

“You’ve certainly been flexible with the schedule,” she said appreciatively. In almost every instance, Jon had been agreeable about the schedule alterations she’d required. “But my thought was that you might like to spend Christmas with Katie and me and my family.”

“And not have her Christmas Eve?”

“No—no, you could take her then if you wanted, but this is in addition to Christmas Eve.”

“You’re asking me to join you for Christmas?” His voice was surprised.

“I’d like it very much if you could come for the day.” She smiled shyly at him. She was shocked by the depth of her desire, shocked by how badly she wanted him with her and Katie.

For a moment, it seemed as if he was pleased by her invitation. Then, for no reason she could decipher, his grin faded and he turned away from her, physically as well as emotionally. “I appreciate the invite, but I can’t.”

“You…can’t?” Maryellen didn’t bother to hide her disappointment, although she attempted to swallow her hurt.

“I have other plans.”

“Oh.” Well, she had her answer, but it wasn’t one she liked. Jon had met someone else. She was sure of it now. “I should’ve invited you earlier, I guess,” she said, recovering quickly. “Perhaps we can get together next Christmas.”

“Perhaps,” he said, without committing himself.

Soon afterward, Jon made an excuse and left with Katie. Maryellen walked numbly along the waterfront. She felt rejected and dismayed and upset.

Not wanting to return to an empty house, she drove to her mother’s place on Rosewood Lane. This was the home where Maryellen had grown up. She loved this old house with the big dormer and the old-fashioned front porch. As a teenager, she’d spent many evenings sitting on those steps.

Her mother’s car was parked in the garage, with the door left open. Buttercup was outside and barked when she eased to a stop in the driveway. As soon as the golden retriever recognized her, she wagged her tail in greeting. Maryellen stroked the dog’s head and spoke a few words to her mother’s companion, then knocked at the kitchen door and let herself in.

Grace sat at the computer, intently studying the screen when Maryellen entered.

“Hi, Mom,” she said in a dejected voice.

Grace spun around, her eyes wide. “Where did you come from?”

“I just walked in. I knocked.”

“Give me a moment.” Her mother turned back to the computer and frantically typed something. Then she closed it down, stood and came into the kitchen, where Maryellen sat at the table.

“So, what brings you?” her mother asked.

She was behaving a bit strangely, Maryellen thought, frowning. It was almost as if she’d stumbled upon her mother doing something illegal. Whatever it was, Grace had guilty written all over her. If she hadn’t been so absorbed in her own troubles, Maryellen would have pursued the matter.

“Mom, I think Jon’s got a girlfriend,” she blurted out, and realized immediately how juvenile that sounded.

Her mother reached for the teakettle and filled it with tap water. “What makes you say that?”

“I just know. He’s avoiding me.” She tried to figure out how long this had been going on and couldn’t remember. “I invited him to spend Christmas with me and Katie and the rest of the family. He declined, said he had other plans.”

Grace sat down at the kitchen table and studied her. “I have a question for you.”

“All right.” What Maryellen wanted just then was advice and comfort, not questions.

“Why do you care?”

“Why do I care?” she repeated, faltering over the words. “Why do I care?” she repeated. “Well…because I just do.”

“You were the one who insisted you didn’t want Jon in your life.”

“I don’t,” she blurted out, and knew it was a lie. “I didn’t,” she amended, “but I’ve had a change of heart.”

“That could be the problem,” her mother said. She got up as the water started to boil.

“What do you mean?” Maryellen asked.

“Maybe Jon’s had a change of heart himself.”

Sixteen

With only a few days left before Christmas, Corrie McAfee was eager to finish the last of her shopping. She’d assumed that when Roy took early retirement from the Seattle police force they’d travel. Touring Europe was something they’d talked about for years.

Retirement had sounded so liberating. No alarm clocks; a come-and-go-as-you-please kind of lifestyle. It had been that way at first, but Roy had gone stir-crazy within eighteen months. Shortly after their arrival in Cedar Cove, he’d hung out his shingle as a private investigator.

Linnette, their twenty-four-year-old daughter, had predicted as much. The older of their two children, she was most like her father. She shared Roy’s insight into people; they both possessed an innate ability to read character and see through pretense. Linnette also had a genuine desire to help people, especially children. In fact, she was receiving her physician’s assistant degree in June. She’d be arriving for the holidays on Wednesday afternoon, and joining Corrie and Roy for the Christmas Eve worship service at church.