Rainier Drive (Cedar Cove #6)(36)

Midmorning, he took Katie outside for a walk in the sunshine, and Ellen brought Maryellen a cup of tea. “I thought I’d make a chicken pot pie for dinner this evening,” she said. “It used to be one of Jon’s favorites.”

“I’m sure he’ll appreciate it,” Maryellen said, but she had to wonder if Jon would even notice.

Fourteen

Justine was grateful to hear from her mother and even happier to see her. Late Wednesday afternoon they met for tea at 16 Lighthouse Road, the house where she’d grown up and where Olivia still lived. In a sense, Justine would always think of it as home. Leif had a play date with a friend from his preschool, and it was good to be with Olivia, just the two of them.

“Jack’s out doing an interview with Pastor Flemming about the church’s work with hurricane relief,” her mother explained as she carried the teapot and a plate of oatmeal cookies to the kitchen table.

This was Olivia’s way of telling her that the timing of this visit was intentional—a chance for the two of them to be alone. Only a few years ago Justine couldn’t have imagined sharing her troubles with her mother. They’d rarely talked or discussed anything of importance. Now it seemed only natural to do so.

“What do you want to talk about?” Justine asked. If her mother had purposely arranged this time to make sure they weren’t interrupted, then there had to be a reason.

Olivia glanced up from pouring the tea into china cups. “I guess I wasn’t very subtle, was I?”

“It’s all right, Mom. I’m your daughter—you don’t need to be subtle with me.”

“Why don’t you tell me how you’re doing first?” Olivia set the teapot in the center of the table, then took her seat.

Justine reached for her cup and added a teaspoon of sugar, making lazy circles with her spoon. “I’ve decided to go back to work part-time for First National Bank.” She said this casually, as if it were a small thing. It wasn’t. “I’ll be out of the house for part of every day.” She was silent for a moment, wondering whether to talk about the underlying reason. “Getting away from Seth helps me deal with all the stress,” she admitted. She had to either spend time away from her husband for a few hours every day, while Leif was in preschool, or slowly go insane. She was relieved that Seth had talked to Larry Boone about taking the job at the boatyard but as yet nothing had come of it. She didn’t know if the hesitation was due to Seth or the other man. Seth was so volatile that Justine hadn’t asked for fear of causing problems.

These last few weeks, living with Seth had felt like being trapped. His thoughts and all his efforts seemed to be focussed on finding the arsonist. Despite their brief attempt at resolving the tension between them, Seth was as driven as ever. The fire had consumed far more than the building that had housed their restaurant; it had consumed her husband, too. This angry, unreasonable person wasn’t the man she’d married and Justine felt she no longer knew him.

“How does Seth feel about your taking this job?” her mother asked.

The sugar had dissolved but Justine continued her gentle stirring. “I…haven’t told him yet, but I don’t think he’ll care one way or the other.” She doubted he’d even realize she was gone.

“Oh, Justine.” Her mother read the pain in her response. She leaned across the table and laid one hand over hers.

“The funny part is, I forgot to pick up my birth control prescription at the drugstore the other day and then I thought, why bother? Seth hasn’t even come near me since the fire.”

“He’s upset.”

Seth was more than upset, and making love couldn’t compete with his need to be angry. Every bit of tenderness in him seemed to be gone. All that remained was his sense of unfairness and rage.

“To say he’s upset doesn’t even begin to cover it, Mom. Seth is impatient and edgy and determined to find out who started the fire. It’s become an obsession. He wants me to be angry, too, and he can’t understand why I’m not.”

Olivia sipped her tea and sat back. “You’re angry about this,” she murmured. “Aren’t you?”

“Yes, of course I am. But I want to let it go. I’m trying to. I’m choosing to look at this the way I would any other traumatic event. We need to move on.”

“And Seth’s not ready to do that?”

“No. And my lack of righteous anger complicates the issue,” Justine went on, a bit wryly. She’d given up reasoning with Seth. Any sort of acceptance on her part, or desire to advance to something new, only angered him further.

“He spoke to Jack recently,” her mother said thoughtfully.

This was news to Justine, but then she knew little of what Seth did these days.

“He approached Jack about putting a picture of that pewter cross in the paper. Apparently that was Roy’s idea. He and Seth think someone might recognize it and give the sheriff a lead. At this point, the investigation’s stalled.”

“Is Jack going to do it?”

Her mother selected a cookie from the plate. “I believe he said he’d talk to the sheriff first and see if that would help or hinder the investigation.”

Since Seth rather than the sheriff had spoken to Jack, Justine assumed that Troy Davis was reluctant to release this information. Most likely, Seth had gone behind the sheriff’s back in an attempt to keep the investigation alive.