Sandpiper Way (Cedar Cove #8)(93)

“What’s in the basket?” Olivia asked.

“Dinner for you and Jack.”

Everyone had been so kind and thoughtful. Grace had brought over a taco casserole the night before. She’d made it from scratch, using her homemade salsa and lots of cheese in hopes of tempting Olivia to eat. The fact was, Olivia had lost ten pounds in the last two months. Those were pounds she could ill afford to lose. Her clothes hung on her.

Jack, on the other hand, still struggled with his weight and all these delicious things around the house tormented him. He’d had two helpings of Grace’s casserole while Olivia had barely managed a few bites. They’d frozen the leftovers.

“What’s for dinner?” Olivia asked as she removed the layer of foil covering the basket.

“Soup,” Charlotte answered. “Chicken noodle.”

“Oh, Mom, that’s perfect!”

“And fresh-baked bread.”

“Any Christmas cookies or candy?” Jack wanted to know, stepping into the kitchen. He’d draped a towel around his neck and his face was red.

“Jack!”

“Hey, it’s Christmas.” He poked around inside the basket and triumphantly brought out a plate of decorated sugar cookies.

“My favorite!” he cried delightedly. “Sugar cookies.”

“Every kind of cookie’s his favorite,” Olivia told Ben under her breath.

Ben chuckled and whispered back, “That’s how I feel. Anything Charlotte bakes is instantly my favorite.” He smiled at Olivia’s mother as she puttered around the kitchen, making a fresh pot of green tea.

“Thanks, Charlotte,” Jack said. He peeled back the plastic wrap and grabbed a cookie. On his way out of the kitchen, he kissed his mother-in-law’s cheek.

Once the three of them were sitting around the table, Olivia asked, “So what’s new with you?”

Ben glanced at Charlotte. “We leave for our cruise in the morning.”

Olivia gasped. “Already?” With so much else happening, she’d completely forgotten about the cruise.

Charlotte placed her hands on the table. “I’m still not sure we should leave you.”

“Mom, you’re going.”

“But—”

“Not only are you going on that cruise, I absolutely demand that you have the time of your lives.”

“But…” Charlotte frowned. “You might need me. You’ll be starting your treatment soon and—”

“I have Jack,” she broke in.

Her mother sighed expressively. “Jack is a man. Don’t get me wrong, I love him dearly, but no matter how much he loves you, he’s not your mother. And when you’re sick, that’s who you need,” she said.

That Charlotte and Ben would even consider not going at this late date nearly brought Olivia to tears. “I’m going to be fine, Mom. Before you know it, this will all be behind me.”

Olivia clung to that belief. This was the longest stretch of time she’d spent away from the courthouse since she’d become a judge. She’d had no choice in the matter but she missed her work and her colleagues.

Her mother still seemed worried. “I just don’t feel right about it.”

“You’re going, Mom, and you have to promise me you’ll enjoy every minute.”

Before Charlotte could argue anymore, Jack walked back into the kitchen and reached for another cookie. A bell-shaped one this time, with white frosting. He hesitated almost as if he expected Olivia to slap his hand.

“You aren’t going to stop me?” he asked.

“Consider that cookie your reward for working out.”

“My only reward?”

She raised her eyebrows and nodded.

Jack shook his head morosely and set the sugar cookie back on the plate. “In that case one cookie will do.” He took the chair next to Olivia.

Olivia did her best to suppress a smile, but didn’t succeed. With some effort she returned her attention to her mother. “Just think about lazing away your days in the Caribbean sunshine.”

Charlotte reached across the table and entwined her fingers with Ben’s. “Being in the sunshine over Christmas does sound wonderful,” she said in a wistful voice.

“The warmth will do our aging bones good,” Ben told her.

“Yes, I know…but the thought of leaving Olivia bothers me.”

“Hey,” Jack protested, “what am I? Chopped liver?”

“You’re just a man.” Olivia repeated what her mother had said, her mouth twitching.

“You’ve never complained about that before,” Jack muttered.

Looking benignly at her mother, Olivia kicked him under the table.

Jack, being Jack, doubled over and grabbed his ankle, grimacing as if she’d injured him.

“Will you cut it out?” she said when he popped back up.

Ben laughed. “I think we can rest assured that Olivia is well on the road to recovery. Jack, now, might need intensive therapy for that ankle.”

Charlotte rolled her eyes.

“A car’s coming for us first thing in the morning,” Ben told them. “Our flight for Fort Lauderdale takes off at eight and the cruise starts on December eighteenth. We’ll be back home a week later on Christmas Day.”