Rainier Drive (Cedar Cove #6)(99)

Forty minutes later, her doorbell chimed, and for a fleeting moment, hope emerged and had her rushing to answer the door. But it wasn’t Cal, and she’d been deluded to even think it might’ve been. Instead Dr. Chad Timmons stood there.

“You’ve given your notice?” he demanded, pushing his way past her, irritation written on his face. He was still dressed in his whites and had obviously come straight from the clinic.

She nodded.

“I won’t let you.”

“Sorry, too late. I’ve already had that discussion with Alma McDonald,” Linnette said without emotion. “I’ve written my letter of resignation. Besides, what makes you think you can force me to stay?”

“You can’t leave,” Chad insisted, his hard gaze holding hers. “Okay, so you had an important relationship go sour. Happens to all of us sooner or later.”

It had never happened to her until now, and she wasn’t sticking around to see Cal and his new girlfriend together at every community function. Perhaps a stronger, better woman would be capable of that, but Linnette couldn’t do it.

“Do you intend to run away every time you hit a difficult patch emotionally?” he asked. “Is this the kind of pattern you want to set in your life? Come on, Linnette, get a grip. You’re an adult. Act like one.”

The harshness of his words felt like an attack. She stood up to it, though. In little more than a year, she’d experienced two disappointments in romance. She wanted out. Okay, her reactions were childish; she didn’t care. Besides, she didn’t know why Chad felt so concerned about this, since he was interested in Gloria, not her. Fine, she’d dealt with that, and really it hadn’t been so painful because Cal had entered her life. She’d sure made a mess of that relationship.

“Sorry,” she said, meeting his eyes. “I’ll let you know where I land.”

Chad frowned. “You’re really going?”

She nodded. No one else knew yet. She still had to tell her parents and Gloria, but she was leaving Cedar Cove.

That much was certain, even if nothing else was.

Forty-Three

“Allison.” Her father’s voice rang over her cell phone. “Could you stop by the sheriff’s office?”

“Now?” she asked, glancing regretfully at her two friends. She was on her way to the Silverdale Mall for a much-needed shopping break. Her mom had let her use the car, and Allison had volunteered to drive. Since graduation, all she’d done was work at her dad’s office. She had less and less of a social life these days. It seemed pointless to date anyone else, because no matter how this whole arson mess ended, she loved Anson.

“Yes, now,” her father insisted. “It’s important.”

“Does…does this have anything to do with Anson?” Her friends looked at her, and their conversation instantly died.

“It does.”

Her heart leaped into her throat. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.” After apologizing to her friends as she dropped them at a bus stop, Allison reversed her direction and headed back into Cedar Cove. Her stomach was in knots. Something had happened.

The sheriff’s door was closed, and Seth and Justine Gunderson sat outside his office. So did Roy McAfee, the private investigator she’d once gone to on Anson’s behalf. They all smiled warmly when they saw her.

“Hello,” she said nervously.

“Hello,” Justine said. “I think you’re supposed to wait here, too.”

Allison took the fourth chair and twisted her purse strap around her palm. “Is my father talking to the sheriff?” she asked.

Mr. Gunderson nodded. He began to speak, but the door opened then, and her father stepped into the hallway. He brightened when he saw her.

“Can you tell me what this is about, Dad?” she asked, coming to her feet.

“I sure can.” Her father smiled. “Actually, it wasn’t Sheriff Davis or I who asked to see you.” He held open the door and gestured her inside.

Wondering at his words, Allison entered the small office and noticed Sheriff Davis right away. A soldier stood next to him, a handsome young man, wearing fatigues and a cap. The name tag on his jacket said Butler.

Butler.

No, it couldn’t be. Allison looked again. It was.

“Anson?” she whispered, hardly able to believe what she saw.

He smiled and held out his arms. Even with her father and the sheriff watching, she didn’t hesitate. Allison rushed forward for the biggest, most precious hug of her life. Her throat was crowded with tears of joy. “You enlisted in the army? All this time you were in the army?”

Anson grinned. “There aren’t a whole lot of options for someone hoping to escape a few unpleasant complications.”

“When?” she asked, astounded at the changes in him. He looked better, healthier than at any other time she’d seen him.

“I’d made the decision before the fire that burned down The Lighthouse. I talked to a recruiter and saw there were more opportunities for me with the military than anyplace else. I enlisted in Silverdale. Even though I was a ‘person of interest’ with regard to the fire, I wasn’t charged with anything, so it didn’t stand in my way. I had all the credits I needed to graduate.”

Relieved though she was, Allison felt angry, too. He could have trusted her! “Why didn’t you tell me?”