Seaside Avenue (Cedar Cove #7)(86)

“I saw Olivia,” she rushed to tell him, fresh tears filling her eyes.

Cliff put his arm around her shoulders and they walked slowly back to the house. Once inside, she turned to him. “It’s cancer,” she said starkly.

He nodded grimly. “What’s the prognosis?”

“We won’t know until she sees the surgeon, and that won’t be until next week. We’ll find out more then.” Grace paused for a moment, her voice threatening to break. “She hasn’t told Charlotte or her children.”

Cliff urged her to sit down at the table and began preparing tea. Grace smiled, thanking him, and didn’t say that one more cup of tea was probably the last thing she needed.

She saw the envelope with the returned rent check on the table and sighed. Another concern to deal with, another problem to solve. It felt trivial compared to what Olivia was going through, but still…

Cliff glanced at the envelope, too. “Oh, I talked to Judy this afternoon.”

Grace knew the rental agent couldn’t be blamed. She herself had insisted Judy accept the Smiths as tenants despite their unsatisfactory references.

“Apparently, this isn’t the first time these people have done this.”

That didn’t come as any surprise to Grace.

“Judy talked to another agent from the Bremerton area,” Cliff continued. “She learned that this couple’s made quite the habit of bilking their landlords.”

“Could Judy tell you how long it would take to evict them?”

Cliff frowned. “People like this know how to work the system. She said it might take six months to get them out.”

“Six months!” Grace cried. “That’s ridiculous.”

“I agree.” He shrugged. “It’s pretty hopeless. They’ll exploit their rights as tenants and drag everything out until the bitter end.”

“That’s an outrage.”

“For now there isn’t anything we can do,” Cliff said, “except file eviction papers and play this out.”

She groaned, letting her head fall to the table.

He reached into a high cupboard and brought out a half-full bottle of bourbon. “There’s one thing we can do—substitute strong drink for weak tea.”

Despite herself, Grace smiled.

Thirty-Four

Teri could tell that something was bothering Rachel. The salon was humming with activity the way it always did on Fridays. But, busy or not, the two of them usually managed to arrange their schedules so they could have lunch together. At noon, Rachel claimed she simply wasn’t hungry.

“What do you mean, you’re not hungry?” Teri demanded. “Whatever’s bothering you must be big. Nothing takes away your appetite.”

Rachel didn’t even smile.

In spite of Teri’s efforts to get her to talk about her trip to Pittsburgh, Rachel had barely said a word. For that matter, she hadn’t mentioned Jolene or Bruce, either, which was highly unusual.

If Teri had her guess, what distressed her friend was her ongoing confusion about Nate and Bruce. Nate hadn’t made any secret of his intentions. And then there was Bruce.

Teri wanted to shake that man and tell him to take action, do something before he lost Rachel for good. If he did, it would be his own stupid fault. As for Rachel…Teri didn’t know what to think. She didn’t doubt that Rachel loved Nate, but—in Teri’s opinion—she loved Bruce more.

A few weeks ago, when Rachel phoned, rattled because Bruce had kissed her, she’d made it sound as though that was the first time it’d ever happened. News flash: Bruce had kissed her long before that night.

Although this last kiss—maybe there’d been more to it. Rachel had obviously been shocked. So, it appeared, was Bruce.

The only time she’d mentioned him was to tell Teri how angry he’d been when he picked her up from the airport. According to Rachel, he couldn’t dump her on her doorstep quickly enough.

At four, Teri had a perm, and because she was too busy watching Rachel and worrying about her, she got behind schedule. When James showed up at five-fifteen to drive her home, she had another half-hour left.

“I’ll wait,” James, the soul of patience, assured her. He glanced nervously around the salon. “Perhaps it would be best if I waited in the car. By the way, you might bring your umbrella when you come out. It’s really begun to storm.”

Rachel had finished for the night. “I’ll see everyone tomorrow,” she said, raising her hand in farewell as she started toward the door.

“What are you doing this weekend?” Teri called out.

Rachel shrugged. “Nothing much. Right now I have to pick up my car at the garage on Harbor Street

. I had the oil changed. Then I’m going home to soak in a hot bath.”

“James can take you,” Teri offered. No reason he couldn’t. All he’d be doing otherwise was sitting in the car—reading, no doubt. But it wouldn’t take him long to drop Rachel off and by the time he came back, Teri figured she’d be ready.

“No, that’s all right,” Rachel said, shaking her head. “The exercise will do me good.”

“But it’s raining out! Why get wet when James is here twiddling his thumbs? He can easily drive you.”

“It would be my pleasure, Miss Rachel,” James told her in that polite way of his.