Rainier Drive (Cedar Cove #6)(95)

“Jon?” Maryellen whispered.

Her soft voice drew him from his reverie. As he stared down at his sleeping son, Jon’s heart filled with such overwhelming love that he thought it might burst wide open. For the first time, he understood his father’s dilemma.

Jon had two children now, too. Katie and Drake, and he loved them equally. If he had to choose to send one to prison over the other, which would it be? He didn’t ever want to find himself in such a horrible position—sacrificing one child to protect the other. Granted, Joseph had no legal or moral right to make such a choice, to play God in this way, but Jon could understand it now, at least a little. Yes, Jim had been guilty, but he was a weak and vulnerable man, easily broken. He’d lied about Jon’s culpability, and Joseph had backed him up. Joseph had chosen to sacrifice Jon because he was stronger than his brother. Prison would have destroyed Jim. In the end, of course, Jim had destroyed himself, despite Joseph’s attempts to save him with rehab and counseling and unstinting support.

“I’ll tell them,” he said.

Maryellen clasped his hand. “Thank you.”

“They’ve been here nearly twenty hours, too,” he reminded her.

As he walked into the waiting area, Ellen and Joseph immediately stood. Two other people who sat at the far end glanced over, then returned to their conversation. His parents looked at him, their eyes wide with expectation. They were both tired and disheveled, especially his father. Only the day before, Joseph had frantically stumbled through knee-deep running water in a desperate attempt to save Katie. His father, with a weak heart, had nearly suffered a heart attack while rescuing his granddaughter.

If he lived another hundred years, Jon would never forget the panic in his father’s eyes when Jon found him sitting on a fallen log, holding a sobbing Katie in his arms. He’d been panting with relief and physical exertion and was deathly pale. Seeing the embankment his father had clambered down in his struggle to reach Katie, Jon thought it was a miracle the old man hadn’t been swept away himself.

“We have a son,” Jon told them.

Ellen brought her hands to her mouth and tears streamed from her eyes.

“A boy,” his father repeated, grinning proudly.

“He’s perfect.”

“Maryellen’s okay?” Joe asked.

“She’s exhausted. I’m married to an incredible woman, you know that?”

Joseph grinned again and nodded in obvious agreement.

“How much does he weigh?” his stepmother asked.

“Six pounds, thirteen ounces,” Jon said. “He measured twenty-one inches.”

“He’s going to be lanky like his father,” Joseph commented.

“And grandfather,” Ellen added, looping her arm around her husband’s waist. She leaned her head against his arm. “Have you and Maryellen chosen a name?”

Jon looked at the two of them. “We decided on Drake,” he said.

“Drake. Drake Bowman.” His father seemed to test the name, then nodded approvingly. “I like it.”

“Drake Joseph Bowman,” Jon said, his gaze connecting with his father’s.

Joseph stared at him, and then his eyes filled with tears that ran down his cheeks.

“Oh, Jon.” Ellen was sobbing now. She held out her arms to him and after the briefest hesitation, Jon hugged his stepmother and then his father.

He hadn’t known he was capable of forgiveness until that moment. What he’d discovered was that when a man found love, the kind of love and contentment he’d discovered with Maryellen, there wasn’t room in his life for hatred.

Forty-One

Teri stirred the boiling macaroni and tasted it to see if it was done. She sometimes overcooked it, and that would ruin everything. This dinner was special—she was cooking for Bobby.

Although she’d been married for more than two weeks, it was the first meal she’d put together for her husband. Bobby was flying in from someplace in Russia following an important match. She’d had no idea the demands on his time would be this constant.

Although he was faithful about phoning each and every day, and often more than that, Bobby hadn’t contacted her when he’d finished this match. As far as Teri could figure, Bobby was on a plane. He’d caught a flight immediately after the competition and was landing in Seattle at five. James was with him and would drive him from Sea-Tac to Cedar Cove—to their home. Yes, they had a real home now, at 74 Seaside Avenue.

Within days of her return from Las Vegas, Teri had purchased the house. Bobby insisted she move out of her apartment and into a place big enough for both of them. He’d written the check, and she’d moved in so quickly that her head was still spinning. She’d learned that when Bobby Polgar wanted something done, it got done.

He’d given her a credit card, which she’d used to buy new furniture from a high-class Seattle shop, including a leather sofa, the price of which shocked her, and a solid-wood dining suite. And then there was the bed….

Eager to show her husband the house and cook for him, Teri had decided to make one of her favorite meals. The macaroni-and-cheese dish was a hit whenever she brought it to the Christmas potluck at work. She had a couple of variations on it, too. Sometimes she added cooked taco meat, which was just hamburger and taco seasonings. Occasionally she threw in some chopped tomatoes.