“I talked to your brother this afternoon,” Mack said conversationally. “We grabbed a coffee after work.”

“Oh?” Mary Jo was concerned about Linc. Nothing seemed to be going right for him and Lori. The business was close to failing and he was at odds with his in-laws. The last she’d heard, Lori had disowned her entire family. She wasn’t speaking to either her mother or her father.

“Did you know they’re looking for a new apartment?”

“No.” Mary Jo dropped her pen. She would’ve thought Linc might mention it to her, but he tended to be private, to keep his problems to himself.

It made sense that her brother and Lori would need a new place. The Bellamys owned the apartment building where they currently lived, and neither Linc nor Lori wanted to be indebted to them. Still, Mary Jo knew that Linc didn’t approve of Lori’s cutting off her family. He’d tried to talk to her, but Lori was adamant—she wanted nothing more to do with them. Because Linc and Mary Jo had lost their own parents, they had a different view; Mary Jo suspected that Lori wouldn’t appreciate how important family was until she was without either parent and there was no opportunity left to reconcile.

“I put out the word to the fire crew and Linc picked up some business this week.”

“Great!” She leaned down and kissed him again, letting her mouth linger on his.

“I…I could,” Mack said, clearing his throat before he continued, “try to send more business his way.”

Laughing softly, Mary Jo patted his back. “You do that.”

“Will I get more kisses like that one?”

“Probably.”

Mack brightened. “My dad’s helping, too.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, he’s good friends with the sheriff.”

Mary Jo remembered that about Troy Davis and her father-in-law.

“Well, Dad was talking to Sheriff Davis and suggested he might have the city ask your brother to bid on a contract to service police vehicles.”

“But, Mack, he has an auto body shop.”

“He can manage oil changes, can’t he?”

“I’m sure he can.”

“And routine maintenance?”

Mary Jo shrugged. “I assume he could.”

“Work is work, and your brother is hungry.”

Mary Jo was well aware of how hungry her brother was.

“Speaking of hungry, when’s dinner?” Mack glanced around the kitchen.

Mary Jo had started on the pumpkin as soon as she got home and hadn’t really thought about dinner. “Ah, any chance I could talk you into going out tonight?”

Mack cocked his head. “I could be persuaded,” he said, winking at her.

“Very funny,” she muttered. “Can we afford to take Linc and Lori? After all, this is a celebration.”

“A celebration?”

“Noelle just took her first step.”

“Oh, right. Where do you want to go?”

Knowing their own budget was tight, Mary Jo said, “The Pancake Palace. I love their spaghetti and meatballs, and Thursday night is all-you-can-eat spaghetti.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“I’ll call Linc and Lori and see if they can join us,” Mary Jo said. “Besides, I have an idea.”

“I bet you’re thinking the same thing I am.”

Half an hour later, when Mack had carved the pumpkin and Mary Jo had fed and changed Noelle, it was time to meet her brother and his wife. They took her car for the short drive down to Harbor Street and the Pancake Palace.

Linc and Lori were waiting for them outside the restaurant, apparently deep in conversation.

“How are you guys?” Mary Jo asked after they’d left the car and unfastened Noelle from her seat.

“Oh, good,” Lori said. “Everything’s fine.”

Mary Jo noticed that her brother didn’t echo his wife’s sentiment. Lori took Linc’s hand, and she was sure that whatever they were discussing concerned their troubles with her family.

They entered the restaurant and were quickly seated, despite the number of families availing themselves of the pasta specials. She recognized Pastor Dave Flemming and his wife, who waved cheerfully. Once the hostess had obtained a high chair for Noelle, Mary Jo gave her daughter a cracker while everyone else looked over the menu. She’d already made her decision—the spaghetti and meatball dinner.

“By the way,” Mack said, hidden behind the menu. “This is our treat.”

“You don’t need to do that,” Linc insisted.

“True,” Mack said mildly, “but we’re celebrating the fact that Noelle took her first step.”

“That’s early, isn’t it?” Lori’s eyes widened with surprise.

“Yes, but she’s been ready for weeks now,” Mary Jo explained. “Only, she was afraid to let go. It took her daddy to get her to leave her comfort zone.” Mary Jo knew how hard it was for her staunchly proud brother to allow them to pay for his and Lori’s dinner.

Linc lowered his menu. “You’ve done so much already,” he said, sounding almost humble.

This was Linc? Mary Jo looked up. She wanted to ask her big brother if he was okay. Humility was so unlike him.

“What did I do?” Mack asked as he reached for his water glass.

“This is the best week we’ve had since I opened the shop and practically everyone’s made a point of mentioning your name.”

“Mine?” Mack feigned astonishment. “All I said was that you do quality work at competitive prices.”

“Sheriff Davis stopped by to talk to Linc, too,” Lori added. She slipped her arm through Linc’s and pressed her head against his shoulder.

Mack raised both hands as though to avert their thanks. “I didn’t have anything to do with that.”

“No, but your father did. I appreciate everything you’ve done. If anyone’s paying for dinner, it’ll be Lori and me.”

Mary Jo released a pent-up sigh. That sounded much more like her take-charge brother.

“We’ll settle up later,” Mack said. “Come on. Let’s order.”

After they’d finished their meals, they chatted over coffee and dessert. Noelle had eaten at home but Mary Jo spooned some plain spaghetti, cut up and sprinkled with cheese, into her mouth. Soon after, Noelle fell asleep. Mack cradled his daughter in his arms; every now and then he’d bend his head and press his lips against her soft curls.

Mary Jo loved watching Mack with Noelle. He was her father in every way that mattered, every way except the biological. How fortunate she was to have met and married such a decent, honorable man, especially after falling for a jerk like David Rhodes. Thanks to Noelle’s grandfather, Ben Rhodes, David was completely out of their lives. She’d never learned precisely what agreement Ben had struck with David, but whatever he’d said or done convinced David to sign the paperwork allowing Mack to legally adopt Noelle. They’d already started the legal procedure.

“I’m going to miss living in Cedar Cove,” Lori murmured.

“You’re leaving?”

“Looks like it,” Linc said without elaborating.

Mary Jo made eye contact with Mack.

“We can’t seem to find a place that—” Lori began.

Linc put a restraining hand on her arm.

“Linc,” Mary Jo said. “Tell us what’s going on.”

Her brother remained stubbornly quiet.

“Listen, you two, we’re family,” Mack told them. “As soon as I heard that you and Lori were looking for a new apartment, I told Mary Jo. We’ve come up with an idea we wanted to present to you.”

Linc and Lori exchanged a puzzled glance.

“Before you say anything,” Linc said, holding up his hand. “Lori and I have decided to move back to Seattle. I don’t know how much longer I can hold on to the business. I’ve had one good week—thanks to you, Mack—but there’s no guarantee it’ll continue… .”

“Why go all the way to Seattle?” Mary Jo asked. “The commute will take hours out of your day.”

“We were going to move in with Mel and—”

“No way!” Mary Jo couldn’t see that happening in a million years. It was a setup for disaster. Her two brothers, both younger than Linc, were terrible slobs, and Lori would be miserable.

“Mary Jo and I would like to offer a solution,” Mack said.

Mary Jo smiled. “We’d like to rent you the other half of the duplex.”

Linc stared at them, while Lori’s eyes widened.

“But…I thought you’d rented it out?” Linc said after a moment.

“We had a couple who was interested, but it fell through,” Mary Jo explained. “They decided to stay in Seattle.”

“So, the other half of the duplex is still vacant?”

Mack nodded. “It sure is—vacant and available.”

“You could move in anytime,” Mary Jo said. “Really. We mean it. We want you to.”

Linc slowly shook his head. “I’m honored that you’d offer, but we can’t accept.” His jaw had that stubborn set Mary Jo knew so well.

“We can’t?” Lori looked as if she was about to break into tears.

“We can’t,” he repeated emphatically. “We’d be trading one charity situation for another.”

“Now just a minute,” Mack said, raising his voice. “I didn’t say we wouldn’t be charging rent.”

Mary Jo placed her hand on her husband’s thigh. Mack had to know that Linc and Lori could barely make it without paying rent.

“I’ll charge you the same as I did Mary Jo,” Mack said. Beneath the table he put his hand over hers.

“How much?” Linc asked.

Mack named the figure he’d first charged Mary Jo, which was a greatly reduced rate. When she’d learned what he’d done, she’d been outraged; it’d been a source of major conflict. Mary Jo was more like her older brother than she’d realized. She hoped he wouldn’t object to paying less than market value.

“That’s the same amount Mack charged you?” Linc asked, eyeing her closely.

“It is.”

“That’s incredibly reasonable,” Lori told her husband.

“You’re sure about this, Mack?” Linc seemed unconvinced.

“Positive.”

“We could stay in town, Linc,” Lori said, squeezing his arm. “I wouldn’t have to quit my job and you’d be able to put all your energy into the business.”

“What do you say?” Mack asked.

Linc smiled and thrust his hand across the table. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

Fifteen

Rachel unlocked the door to the house she shared with Nate Olsen in Bremerton, not far from the naval shipyard. She shed her jacket, set down her purse on the hall table and walked into the living room.

Ever since she’d moved away from Bruce and Jolene, her stress was much lower. Her blood pressure was back in the normal range, she’d started to gain weight and her iron levels had improved. At her routine appointment, she’d heard that Bruce had phoned the doctor’s office to check on her and the baby. Their privacy policy wouldn’t allow them to divulge any information about her, but they did tell Rachel he’d called. Knowing he was concerned buoyed her spirits.