At first, his meaning wasn’t clear, and then Gloria understood that he was asking if she wanted him to confront the baby’s father. “Everything’s fine.”

He frowned. “Are you sure about that?”

“Very sure.”

He returned to the computer screen. “It’s been a lot of years since we’ve had babies in this family,” she heard him say. “High time we did again.”

Twenty-Eight

“I think taking your parents to dinner is a lovely idea,” Mary Jo said as she slid into the booth across from Mack at D.D.’s on the Cove. They’d arrived first and been seated.

Linc and Lori had agreed to watch Noelle for the evening. The baby, familiar with her aunt and uncle, had gone to them without a fuss.

“Aren’t you the one who said we should tell them about the engagement over dinner?” Mack smiled. He picked up the wine list and began to study it while Mary Jo read over the menu.

“When I suggested dinner, I assumed I’d cook.”

“This is a celebration,” Mack said. He reached for her left hand, and she flexed her fingers, showing off her diamond ring. “I didn’t want you to have to do all that extra work.”

This man who would soon be her husband was considerate, thoughtful, loving. As it stood now, Mary Jo wasn’t sure what they were going to do regarding David. His presence in their lives hung over them like a storm cloud. Either it would eventually blow past or it would rain down upon them in torrents. Mary Jo was braced for whatever happened, whatever the future held. One thing was certain; she wouldn’t allow David to take Noelle away from her. Mack wouldn’t, either. They’d stand side by side and face any threat from David together.

“Here’s Mom now,” Mack said. He stood to greet his mother as the hostess escorted her to their booth.

Corrie kissed her son’s cheek and smiled down at Mary Jo, who held her left hand under the table, in her lap. “Roy’s parking the car. We got caught in traffic.”

“Traffic?” Mack repeated with a laugh. “You could walk to the restaurant.” The McAfee family home was up the hill, only five or six blocks from the waterfront.

“True,” Corrie admitted, “however, we did drive and we had to wait at the stoplight.”

Mack shook his head. “You’ve been away from Seattle too long.”

Mack’s mother smiled as she pulled a menu toward her.

Mary Jo had already chosen her meal. The fresh Alaskan halibut, steamed and then topped with shrimp, cheese and a dollop of sour cream sounded delicious. Her brothers had always been meat-and-potatoes people and she rarely cooked fish. Now that she was living on her own, she took every opportunity to sample the bounty of the Pacific Northwest.

Roy joined them, sitting in the booth next to Mack. “Sorry we’re late,” he said.

They weren’t, not really. Well, maybe a minute or two. Mack got his promptness from his family, Mary Jo thought. This was another admirable trait he shared with his parents.

“Roy,” Corrie said, glancing up from her menu, “on your way in, did you notice that the special of the day is oysters?”

“Fresh from Hood Canal,” Mack added. “That’s what I’m having.”

Roy didn’t bother to pick up his menu. “Sounds good to me, too.”

Corrie continued to study the offerings. “Everything looks so wonderful, it’s hard to decide.”

“While you’re thinking,” Roy said, “I’d like to say this dinner invitation is a pleasant surprise. It isn’t every day one of our children treats us to a meal out.”

“There’s a very good reason,” Mack said, smiling tenderly at Mary Jo.

“I suspected as much.” Roy leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. “You want my help, right?”

“Help?” Mary Jo asked in confusion.

“With Jacob Dennison’s letters. I talked to Mack about it the other day and he said the two of you have hit a dead end.”

“Well, yes,” Mary Jo began, “but that’s—”

“Actually, Dad,” Mack said, gently cutting off Mary Jo’s response. “We could definitely use some help with that if you have the time.”

“I like nothing better than solving a good mystery.” He sent his wife a smug glance as he spoke.

Corrie sighed and directed her question to Mack. “That’s the reason you asked us to dinner?”

“Well, no.” He was about to explain when the waiter came for their drink order.

“I believe we’re all having fish,” Roy said. “So I suggest a white wine.”

“We’ll take a bottle of your best champagne,” Mack told the waiter, ignoring his father’s advice. “It isn’t every day a man gets engaged.”

At his announcement, Corrie nearly flew out of her seat. “I knew it! I just knew it.” Grinning, Mary Jo raised her left hand, and Corrie shrieked with delight. “Oh, Mack, I’m thrilled. And the ring’s beautiful.” She took Mary Jo by the shoulders and hugged her close. “This is absolutely perfect. One day we’re longing to be grandparents and then suddenly we discover we’re going to have three.”

“Three?” Mack said, looking bewildered. “Is Linnette having twins?”

Roy, as usual, got straight to the point. “It’s Gloria,” he said.

“Gloria,” Mack repeated, frowning. “I didn’t even know she was seeing anyone.”

“We didn’t, either,” Corrie told him. “We only just heard the news ourselves…. I probably should’ve let her tell you herself.”

“I’m glad you said something,” Mack said, concern in his voice.

“Let’s get back to you and Mary Jo,” Corrie said eagerly. “Have you set a date?”

“Not yet,” Mary Jo said.

“But soon,” Mack insisted.

She nodded as they locked eyes.

“I’m thinking August,” Mack said next.

“August?” Mary Jo and Corrie chimed in simultaneously.

“Mack,” Corrie said, pressing her hand over her heart. “That’s next month!”

Mack looked from his mother to Mary Jo. “Is that a problem?”

Mary Jo didn’t know how to answer. “I… We haven’t discussed what kind of wedding we’re going to have.” Between Mack’s schedule and her own, they hadn’t had time to go over the details of their engagement. Nor had they given any thought at all to the wedding itself or a honeymoon or anything else.

“Do you want a church wedding?” Roy asked.

“I do,” Mary Jo answered.

“I guess,” was Mack’s reply.

“You guess?” Mary Jo muttered, and rolled her eyes.

“Okay, okay,” Mack said, recovering quickly, “I definitely want a church wedding.”

“What about a reception?”

Mary Jo and Mack both nodded.

“Would you two want a dinner with the reception?” Corrie asked.

Mary Jo hadn’t considered that. It sounded more expensive than they’d be able to afford. “Would a cake, maybe some mixed nuts and those colorful mints be enough?”

“That’s fine,” Corrie assured her.

“If Mary Jo wants a dinner, that’s okay by me,” Mack said decisively.

Corrie smiled at her son. “Serving a dinner might mean postponing the wedding by a month or two,” she explained. “These things take time and planning.”

Mack shook his head. “Then we can do without the meal.”

Mary Jo couldn’t hold back a laugh. Mack’s eagerness to marry her was endearing—and it also sent a chill of excitement through her. Excitement about the days and nights ahead….

The champagne arrived and they ordered their meals. Once their flutes were filled, Roy offered a lovely toast. Mack’s normally succinct father was downright lyrical and his kind words brought tears to her eyes.

For most of the meal they discussed wedding plans, to the point that Mary Jo’s head started to spin. She’d only drunk half a glass of champagne or she might’ve thought the alcohol was affecting her.

Watching Mack with his parents, seeing how close he was to Linnette, she recognized once again that this was a man she could trust. Mack had been brought up with the same values she had. Knowing Ben, she realized David had been raised that way, too, but at some point, years before, he’d abandoned those values for his own selfish purposes.

Their dinners were served and Mary Jo’s halibut was every bit as good as she’d imagined. Better. Perhaps it was because of the occasion; she couldn’t tell. Mack’s family had welcomed her, accepting her and Noelle without question, without voicing a single doubt. How fortunate she was to marry into a family like this!

As they ordered coffee, Mack returned to the subject of the letters. “Dad, you mentioned Jacob Dennison when you first got here.”

“I did. Your mother and I had a small wager going.”

“And I won,” Corrie said, looking pleased with herself. “Your father assumed your dinner invitation had to do with those letters.”

“And your mother assumed it was because you two had something important to tell us.”

“Which they did,” Corrie stated gleefully.

“I would like to remind you,” Roy said with a comical scowl, “that you made the same assumption once before and you were totally off base.”

“Yes.” Corrie nodded. “I was then, but I’m not now.”

Mack held up his hand. “The thing is, Mary Jo and I ran into a problem in our research. So we kind of dropped it for a while.”

“It’s been fascinating, learning about World War II,” she told them. “Mack and I rented the movie The Longest Day and we found out even more about the Normandy invasion.”

“Jacob was part of the 101st Airborne unit that dropped in behind enemy lines,” Mack reminded them.

“One group missed their target and landed right inside Sainte-Mère-Eglise, only to be mowed down by the Germans,” Mary Jo said. “It was horrible.” She’d hardly been able to watch the scene, especially since the man who’d written those beautiful letters might well have been one of the young soldiers who’d lost his life there.

“I believe the group you mean was the 82nd Airborne,” Mack inserted.

“I saw that movie, too,” Roy said. “Years ago.” He rubbed the side of his face. “Didn’t the men who parachuted in have a clicking device?”

“Yes,” Mack confirmed, “the clickers were handed out so the men could find one another. They were to click once and those replying were to click twice.”

“They dropped dummies in parachutes, too,” Roy said. “They exploded on impact and confused the enemy.”

“Getting back to the letters… What stumps us is the fact that they stop after that one in early June 1944,” Mary Jo said. For her own satisfaction if nothing else, she wanted to learn his fate, even if he’d been killed. All they knew was that he hadn’t been listed among those buried in France or among the known dead.