Rainier Drive (Cedar Cove #6)(82)

“He is, but he dropped a bombshell when he spoke to Cliff last night.” She cupped her hands around the warm mug, letting the heat warm her palms. “He said he wants to marry Vicki Newman.”

“The vet?” Olivia’s eyes grew wide. “Isn’t he seeing Linnette McAfee?”

“He is…was.”

Olivia opened her mouth, and then abruptly closed it. All she said was a soft, “Oh, my.”

“I know.” Grace shared her friend’s feelings.

“Does Linnette have any idea?”

“Cliff didn’t mention that part, but I assume Cal must’ve at least given her a few hints. She was in the library last week and asked me point-blank if Cliff and I had heard from Cal.”

“You told her?”

Grace felt dreadful about it now. She nodded. “Cliff told me what he suspected was happening between Cal and Vicki. I felt I had to tell her. I tried to be gentle.”

“None of this is your fault.”

It wasn’t her business, either, but she couldn’t leave the poor girl wondering. Now she felt responsible for breaking Linnette’s heart.

Olivia’s hands tightened around her own coffee mug. “Don’t you just want to wring his neck?”

“I certainly think Cal could’ve handled the situation better. Linnette is devastated. From what Corrie said, this is her first really serious relationship.”

“The poor girl,” Olivia murmured sympathetically.

Grace had suspected, at his farewell dinner, that things weren’t going as smoothly between Cal and Linnette as she’d assumed. When she’d discussed it with Cliff later, her husband had said that Cal was awfully eager to leave for Wyoming, eager to get away. Yes, he was genuinely concerned about the mustangs but it was more than that. Cliff hadn’t really understood it at the time; now, however, everything seemed to add up.

“What do you know about Vicki Newman?” Olivia asked.

Grace had taken Buttercup, her golden retriever, to see the vet when the dog had a cancer scare, and she’d been impressed with Vicki’s affection for animals. Sherlock, her cat, had only been in for routine checkups and shots. Vicki was often out at the ranch because of the horses, and had occasionally joined her and Cliff for a coffee. Their conversations tended to be rather stilted.

“She seems nice, but…”

“But what?”

Grace hated to say it out loud. “I find her rather…different. Don’t misunderstand me. I like her, and she’s certainly a skillful vet. She’s always been cordial enough. It’s just that she…communicates better with animals than with people.”

“That could be said for Cal, too, couldn’t it?”

Grace had to agree. “Especially before he started working with the speech therapist,” she recalled. “It was the oddest thing….”

“What was?”

“Whenever he was around the horses, he didn’t stutter at all.” She frowned. “Even though his speech has improved, it’s going to take a lot of effort on his part to learn communication skills. If the way he’s dealt with Linnette is any indication…” Grace couldn’t imagine Cal ever being talkative. She suspected he’d always have trouble sharing his thoughts and feelings with others.

Goldie delivered the pie and refilled their coffee mugs, then stepped away from the table.

“I feel so bad for Linnette.”

“Me, too.” Grace sliced into the pie, feeling a strange sense of sadness. “I just hope Cal’s made the right decision.”

“I do, too.”

“Any news at your end?” Grace asked, eager to hear what Olivia had been up to all week.

“Actually, two pieces of information,” Olivia said.

“I’m all ears.”

“First,” Olivia said, “Mom told me that Ben heard from his older son, Steven.”

“The one who lives in California?”

“No, that’s David. Steven lives on Saint Simons Island in Georgia.”

“Right.” Grace remembered that now. Will Jefferson, Olivia’s brother, lived in the same state; he was definitely not someone she wanted to think about.

“Apparently, David’s in some kind of financial mess and went to his brother for a loan. Steven called to tell his father about it.”

Grace leaned back. “David’s money problem surprises you?”

“Not really. I remember how he tried to swindle my mother out of five thousand dollars.” Olivia’s eyes narrowed. “It makes me mad every time I think about him giving my mother this ludicrous story about needing surgery.”

“Oh, brother.”

“Apparently he already declared bankruptcy a couple of years ago and now there’s no easy solution.”

“He’s being hounded by creditors?” Grace asked. She’d had some experience of that soon after Dan disappeared. It’d been a nightmarish time in her life. She didn’t wish those kinds of pressures on anyone, David Rhodes included. “What I recall is that he asked you to fix his traffic ticket.”

“Like I’d even consider such a thing.”

Grace swallowed another bite of pie. “You said you had two pieces of information.”