92 Pacific Boulevard

“Tanni is Shirley Bliss’s daughter,” Olivia said as if the connection had suddenly clicked. “Will is dating Shirley.”

“How’s that going?”

“I don’t know. My brother doesn’t talk to me about his relationships.”

Grace was naturally curious. She wanted to warn Shirley but didn’t feel it was her place to speak to the other woman. If Will had changed—and there was reason to believe he had—she didn’t want to do anything to ruin his chances. “I had my doubts when I learned Will was returning to Cedar Cove,” she said.

Olivia gave her an assessing look. “I did, too. After that…situation with you, I didn’t feel I could trust my own brother.” She slowed her steps. “I’m just relieved it didn’t do any lasting damage.”

She meant damage to Grace’s relationship with Cliff. Ultimately it hadn’t, but Will’s interference—and Cliff’s reaction to it—was one of the problems they’d needed to resolve.

Changing the subject, Grace asked, “What does Jack have to say about you stepping down from the bench?”

Olivia grinned. “Not much. He says he’s fine with whatever I decide. But I feel that if I retired, he’d start thinking along those lines himself, and I’m not sure that’s a good idea for Jack.”

“Why not?”

Olivia was thoughtful for a moment. “Sometimes I think he’s got ink running in his veins. Jack’s a completely different person at the newspaper office. He comes alive when he’s working to a deadline, and he has great instincts about stories. He might be tempted to hand over the reins, but I suspect he’d regret it after a few months.”

Olivia had always had such empathy for others and such an unerring sense of what motivated them; it was one of the reasons she was so effective—and highly respected—as a judge.

“Look at Goldie,” Grace said, smiling as she pictured their favorite waitress at the Pancake Palace. Goldie had been waiting tables at their longtime hangout from the first year Olivia and Grace were in high school. She had to be in her seventies and still worked three or four days a week.

“I doubt anyone would dare mention the word retirement to Goldie,” Olivia said.

“Who’d serve us our coconut cream pie?”

“Exactly.”

They strolled a little longer, and then Grace noticed that Olivia was slowing down. “Shall we sit for a while?” she said.

Olivia nodded, and they found a big log, tied the horses to a nearby tree and sat gazing out over Puget Sound. The Fauntleroy ferry, tiny in the distance, was steaming toward Vashon Island.

“I miss our aerobics class,” Olivia said.

“What you miss is the coconut cream pie afterward.”

Olivia chortled. “Perhaps you’re right.” Suddenly she slugged Grace in the shoulder.

“Hey, what was that for?” she said, rubbing her upper arm.

“Because you quit going.”

“I need an exercise buddy,” Grace protested. “You don’t expect me to trudge down to the gym all by myself, do you?”

“I guess not. But we’re going back, so don’t get soft on me.”

“Me?” Grace yelped. “I can run circles around you any day of the week.”

“Wanna bet?”

Grace shook her head. “Maybe not.”

At that they both smiled and lapsed into a companionable silence.

The year before, Grace had been terribly afraid she’d lose Olivia to cancer. She hadn’t, and Olivia’s prognosis was good. Her bout with cancer had taught both of them many lessons, but none as profound as the knowledge that nothing would ever stand between them. Their friendship was for life, in every sense of those words.

Thirty-Three

Megan was beginning to look pregnant, Troy thought. He’d stopped by the house after work on Wednesday afternoon because he had an important favor to ask.

“It won’t be much longer before you’ll need to wear maternity tops,” he said when she let him into the house.

A sweet smile lit up her face. “Do you think so, Daddy?”

“I do.” He felt a surge of excitement at the prospect of his first grandchild’s birth.

“I noticed this morning that it’s getting difficult to zip up my pants. Look.” She turned sideways and placed one hand beneath the barely discernible roundness of her belly.

“Yup, you’re pregnant, all right.” How Troy wished Sandy had lived to hold this baby…

“I have a favor to ask you,” he said, all business now.

“Anything, Daddy, you know that.”

He followed Megan into the kitchen, where she’d just started dinner preparations. Craig, who worked as an engineer at the navy shipyard, wasn’t home yet, but he would be soon. “I want Faith to spend the night with you.”

His daughter didn’t hesitate. “Of course. I love Faith.” Then, frowning slightly, Megan said, “She can’t stay with her son?”

“Scott’s kids are on spring break and he took the family to Disneyland.”

“Oh, heavens, you know Faith’s always welcome.”

This would be more than a simple visit. “Is the bed in your spare room made up?”

Megan nodded. “I hope you don’t mind me asking why.”

“I want her safe.”

His daughter, who’d been stirring spaghetti sauce, instantly looked up. “Safe from what?”

Safe from whom was more accurate. “I’m going to spend the night at her house. I have cause to believe the intruder may come back tonight—if it’s the person I think it is.” He’d been giving the pattern of the break-ins a lot of thought. The man he’d become convinced was the intruder had been spotted in town by one of his deputies that afternoon. On at least one other occasion—the day Faith’s tires were slashed—he’d been sighted at the biker bar on the edge of town.

“It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got time.” Her eyes, so like Sandy’s, sparkled with interest.

“Unfortunately, I don’t. I’ll explain everything later, okay?”

From the way she compressed her lips, Troy knew his daughter didn’t like being kept in the dark, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

“Dad, I know you mean well, but I’m pretty sure Faith will insist on staying at her own home. Like I said, she’s welcome at our place, but maybe it makes more sense if you stay there. With her.”

Troy deliberated for a moment and decided Megan was probably right. “I haven’t discussed this with Faith yet.”

“Oh, Daddy, you should know better. No woman likes a man making decisions for her. Faith has a mind of her own.” She shook her head. “I’m betting she won’t agree to this. If I were her, I wouldn’t.”

He nodded slowly. What his daughter said made sense.

As they headed back into the living room and toward the front door, Troy heard her mutter something else under her breath.

“What?” he asked impatiently.

“Daddy,” she said, “when are you going to ask Faith to marry you?”

“I—”

“You love her, don’t you?”

“Well, yes, and I have every intention of—”

“What are you waiting for?”

Troy grinned. After all these months, his relationship with Faith was finally back on an even keel, and at last there was hope, real hope.

Once again, he acknowledged that Megan was right. He’d be a fool to squander this opportunity. Faith had been his first love, and while he’d loved Sandy with an intensity that couldn’t be equaled, he’d never forgotten Faith. A man didn’t forget his first love.

“Soon,” he said. “I’ll ask her soon.”

“Good.” His daughter hugged him as he left.

Once he got to Faith’s house, Troy suggested she spend the night with Megan, and as his daughter had predicted, she was having none of it.

“I’m not leaving my home, Troy, so save your breath.”

Troy shook his head wryly. “Megan told me as much. But the truth is, you’re more of a distraction than a help.”

“Am I now?” The information appeared to please her.

“I don’t want to put you in danger’s way,” he explained.

“Any more danger than I’ve already been in?”

Troy could only shrug.

“You can spend the night here,” Faith said.

“The two of us, alone together?”

She raised her eyebrows. “Don’t worry about being distracted. I’m not inviting you into my bed.”

He chuckled. “That’s a shame.”

She smiled and looked away. “I can’t say I’m not tempted, though.”

“You’re going to make this impossible,” Troy groaned.

“I won’t, I promise,” she said in a serious voice.

“More’s the pity.”

“You won’t even know I’m here,” Faith told him. “You can settle in and make yourself at home. I’ll go about my nightly routine, which is probably what this…person will be watching for. Agreed?”

Troy nodded. “Agreed.”

“Good.”

Troy leaned forward and kissed her with all the hunger and pent-up frustration that had plagued him since she’d moved back to Cedar Cove.

He couldn’t speak for Faith, but Troy felt that kiss in every single cell. When they broke apart, she pressed her hand over her heart, gasping. “Oh, Troy…”

He brought her back into his arms. “Shall we do that again?”

Faith cleared her throat. “We’d better not.”

“Maybe you’re right. I need to concentrate. I’ve got people to phone.” His first call went to a couple of his best deputies.

“We’re on,” he said. Weaver and Johnson had parked a dark unmarked vehicle farther down Rosewood Lane and awaited Troy’s instructions. His next phone call was to Megan.

“You were right. Faith will remain here with me.”

“I hate to say I told you so.”

“No, you don’t,” Troy said. “You love it.” His daughter laughed.

After moving his own vehicle to the next street, Troy walked back to Faith’s. With his deputies in place, Troy made himself comfortable, prepared to sit up all night, if necessary. He reclined in the chair in front of the television, while Faith sat across from him, knitting. It was a cozy domestic scene, one he hoped would be repeated many times once they were married.

He remembered Megan’s words and wondered if he should ask her right then and there. He opened his mouth, but just as quickly closed it. He should at least give her a ring. He had to do this properly, but he didn’t want to wait much longer. This weekend, he told himself.

At ten o’clock Faith yawned.

“You don’t need to stay up on my account,” he said.

“You’re sure?”

“Positive. Go on to bed. Just promise me that if you hear a scuffle or any activity in this part of the house, you won’t come rushing out of your bedroom.”