Rosewood Lane (Cedar Cove #2)(73)

“And then there’s Jack.”

“Ah yes, Jack.” Olivia’s voice softened somewhat. “I feel bad about our fight. I lost my temper.”

“Call him,” Grace said. “My guess is he’ll be thrilled to hear from you.”

Olivia considered the suggestion a moment, then shook her head. “Not yet. Give me time to calm down and I might reconsider.”

“Want to go out for dinner?” She wouldn’t have offered, since her budget was tight these days, but she knew Olivia still needed to talk.

“Come to my place. I’ve got plenty of leftovers. Mom’s friends made her enough meals to last a month. There’s a huge dish of broccoli lasagna.”

“You’re on.” Grace so seldom cooked meals anymore that anything homemade sounded heavenly.

Two hours later, lulled by a tasty meal, a glass of red wine and the sweet alto voice of Anne Murray, they sat in Olivia’s living room. Charlotte was sound asleep in the back bedroom.

Relaxed, Grace accepted a second glass of wine and closed her eyes. “What would you think if I called Jack?” she asked. “We used to do that in high school, remember? If I had an argument with my boyfriend, you’d call and smooth the way for me.”

Olivia giggled softly, sitting beside Grace on the sofa. “Of course I remember, but it sounds a bit juvenile, don’t you think?”

“And your point is?” Grace asked.

Olivia laughed. “Go ahead. See what he says.”

Grace didn’t need to be told twice. This was silly, but fun, too. Olivia gave her the portable phone and Grace found Jack’s number on speed dial, then waited for the phone to ring.

Just before Jack answered, she changed her mind and passed the phone to Olivia. “I don’t know what to say.” She was afraid Olivia was going to cut the connection. Instead her friend held the phone to her ear.

“It’s me,” she said. “I wanted to apologize for blowing up at you this afternoon.”

Olivia didn’t say anything for several moments, then she slowly smiled. “You’re forgiven, too.” She laughed at whatever he said. “You can thank Grace. She was the one who insisted I had to patch this up. As usual, my friend was right.”

Soon after, Olivia disconnected and looked over at Grace. “Thanks,” she whispered.

Grace felt good. “You’re welcome.”

“Do you want me to call Cliff for you now?”

She shook her head, but Olivia ignored her. “His number?”

“Olivia!”

“Don’t make me look it up,” she said. “And don’t tell me you don’t know what it is, either.”

“Oh, all right.”

To her surprise Olivia didn’t immediately hand her the receiver. She waited until Cliff had answered, then said. “Hi, Cliff, this is Olivia Lockhart. I wanted to thank you for the flowers you sent Mom. They’re absolutely lovely.” After a brief discussion of Charlotte’s prognosis, she said, “I have someone here who wants to say hello.” She handed Grace the receiver.

Grace drew in a deep breath and tried to relax as she brought the phone to her ear. “Hello, Cliff.”

“Grace.” He sounded both surprised and pleased. “I thought Olivia was staying with her mother.”

“Not exactly—Charlotte’s staying here. But once she’s back in her own house, her friends want to take turns spending the night with her. I’m here because Olivia and I went to our aerobics class and then had dinner and a couple of glasses of wine.”

“Ah, that explains it. You’re feeling brave enough to talk to me.”

“Something like that.”

“We never did finish our conversation that Saturday, did we?”

“No,” Grace admitted.

“Are you willing to try again?”

It was as if she really had reverted to being a teenager. “I’d like that very much,” she said shyly.

“So would I,” Cliff said, and then repeated. “So would I.”

Sharon Castor, Rosie Cox’s attorney in the matter of her divorce from Zach, had explained that the next step was a settlement hearing. Both parties would meet with their attorneys at a mutually agreed-upon location to go over the final details of the case, including child custody.

They were scheduled to meet at the library in the courthouse. The main problem had to do with the children. If they couldn’t agree on custody and division of property, they’d go before the judge in an informal hearing. Sharon had said the judge’s decision wasn’t binding, but it was most likely what would be decided if the suit went to trial. Meeting with the judge informally would save everyone time and expense, which suited Rosie. She wanted this over as quickly as possible. Now that the process had been set in motion, she was eager to get out of this disastrous marriage.

For the first time since Zach had become a partner in the accounting firm, lack of money was an issue. While they were married, they’d lived on a budget and Rosie had been good about keeping their expenses within the confines of that—admittedly generous—monthly allotment. All of a sudden, she had less than half the money she’d had before, and it was difficult to meet expenses. The financial difficulties she’d experienced since Zach moved out of the house were bad enough. But he’d taken half the furniture and half the linens and half of just about everything else. A dozen times a day she’d reach for something to find it wasn’t there. It was a harsh reminder of her husband’s absence from the family.