She noticed how controlled his voice was, as if he knew exactly what he planned to say and had rehearsed it any number of times.

“I’m coming back to Cedar Cove. I’m leaving in the morning.”

“Thank God,” she breathed. Once he got back, he’d realize what a mistake he was making.

“My feelings for Vicki aren’t going to change, Linnette,” he insisted. “I intend to ask her to be my wife.”

Thirty-Four

Grace arrived at the Pancake Palace three minutes ahead of Olivia for their weekly splurge of pie and coffee. They’d both earned it after an hour’s worth of aerobic exercise. If it was just up to Grace, she’d skip the workout and go straight for the pie. Olivia wouldn’t hear of that, however, and was determined that Grace join her for class. Although she complained, Grace actually looked forward to exercising with her best friend. The bonus was that Wednesday evenings were also their time to catch up on each other’s news.

Grace slid into the booth by the window and Goldie, the crusty, retirement-age waitress, immediately brought over a pot of decaffeinated coffee. Grace turned over the ceramic mug—a ritual at the Pancake Palace.

“Olivia’s right behind me,” she said. Reaching for Olivia’s cup, she righted it.

“You girls want the usual?” Goldie asked as she filled both mugs.

Grace nodded. She’d been friends with Olivia so long that she felt she could speak for her. They’d met in first grade and been best friends all through school. Although they were both in their fifties, and into their second marriages, they remained as close now as when they were girls. They’d come here, to this very same restaurant, for sodas after class. The Pancake Palace was a venerable Cedar Cove institution, and Goldie had been there since Grace and Olivia really were girls.

“Why don’t you live a little?” Goldie suggested. “Go for the big-time. I’ve got apple pan dowdy in the kitchen.”

Grace nearly choked on her coffee. “Apple pan dowdy over coconut cream pie? I don’t think so.”

“What about chocolate cream pie?” Goldie said next, her hand on her hip.

Grace considered that, but only briefly. “Not interested, sorry.”

“Blueberry?”

“Coconut cream.”

Goldie shook her head, as if bitterly disappointed. “The judge, too?”

Grace nodded. Olivia and Grace remained steadfastly loyal to coconut cream—and to each other.

Still shaking her head, Goldie disappeared into the kitchen.

Sipping her coffee, Grace recalled the afternoon shortly before their high-school graduation, when she’d told Olivia she was pregnant. They’d been sitting in a booth at the Pancake Palace then, too. This was weeks before she’d had the courage to tell her teenage boyfriend. She’d married Dan and shortly afterward he’d joined the army and was shipped off to Vietnam. Grace sighed; she didn’t know why her mind was traveling down that road.

She looked up to see Olivia walking into the restaurant, and although they’d just finished a strenuous physical workout, her friend had hardly a hair out of place. She’d always been like that; she was such a contrast to Jack Griffin, which made their marriage very interesting indeed. Olivia craved order and Jack…well, Jack didn’t. Despite that, or maybe because of it, they succeeded as a couple.

“I ordered the pie,” Grace said when Olivia sat down across from her.

“Great.” She picked up her coffee and after the first sip, exhaled with satisfaction. “How was your week?”

Grace shrugged. “All right, I guess.”

“You guess?”

She’d never managed to keep anything from her friend, she thought with a slight smile. “Cliff talked to Cal, and he’s on his way back to Cedar Cove with two mustangs.”

Olivia studied her carefully and after a short pause, said, “That should be good news, right?”

Grace lowered her gaze. “Normally it would be.” With Cal away in Wyoming, Cliff had been doing Cal’s work as well as his own. Grace didn’t feel she was much help, but she did her best to assist her husband in Cal’s absence.

“What’s going on?” Olivia asked.

Until now, Grace had kept the romance developing between Cal and Vicki Newman to herself. She didn’t believe she had the right to say anything, especially when he’d been so close to Linnette McAfee. Then last Thursday, Linnette had come to her because she’d sensed that something was wrong. Grace wanted to kick Cal for not being more straightforward with the girl.

“Grace?” Olivia said, breaking into her thoughts. “You look a million miles away.”

“Oh, sorry. It’s Cal.”

“You said he’s on his way back.”

“He is, but he dropped a bombshell when he spoke to Cliff last night.” She cupped her hands around the warm mug, letting the heat warm her palms. “He said he wants to marry Vicki Newman.”

“The vet?” Olivia’s eyes grew wide. “Isn’t he seeing Linnette McAfee?”

“He is…was.”

Olivia opened her mouth, and then abruptly closed it. All she said was a soft, “Oh, my.”

“I know.” Grace shared her friend’s feelings.

“Does Linnette have any idea?”

“Cliff didn’t mention that part, but I assume Cal must’ve at least given her a few hints. She was in the library last week and asked me point-blank if Cliff and I had heard from Cal.”

“You told her?”

Grace felt dreadful about it now. She nodded. “Cliff told me what he suspected was happening between Cal and Vicki. I felt I had to tell her. I tried to be gentle.”

“None of this is your fault.”

It wasn’t her business, either, but she couldn’t leave the poor girl wondering. Now she felt responsible for breaking Linnette’s heart.

Olivia’s hands tightened around her own coffee mug. “Don’t you just want to wring his neck?”

“I certainly think Cal could’ve handled the situation better. Linnette is devastated. From what Corrie said, this is her first really serious relationship.”

“The poor girl,” Olivia murmured sympathetically.

Grace had suspected, at his farewell dinner, that things weren’t going as smoothly between Cal and Linnette as she’d assumed. When she’d discussed it with Cliff later, her husband had said that Cal was awfully eager to leave for Wyoming, eager to get away. Yes, he was genuinely concerned about the mustangs but it was more than that. Cliff hadn’t really understood it at the time; now, however, everything seemed to add up.

“What do you know about Vicki Newman?” Olivia asked.

Grace had taken Buttercup, her golden retriever, to see the vet when the dog had a cancer scare, and she’d been impressed with Vicki’s affection for animals. Sherlock, her cat, had only been in for routine checkups and shots. Vicki was often out at the ranch because of the horses, and had occasionally joined her and Cliff for a coffee. Their conversations tended to be rather stilted.

“She seems nice, but…”

“But what?”

Grace hated to say it out loud. “I find her rather…different. Don’t misunderstand me. I like her, and she’s certainly a skillful vet. She’s always been cordial enough. It’s just that she…communicates better with animals than with people.”

“That could be said for Cal, too, couldn’t it?”

Grace had to agree. “Especially before he started working with the speech therapist,” she recalled. “It was the oddest thing….”

“What was?”

“Whenever he was around the horses, he didn’t stutter at all.” She frowned. “Even though his speech has improved, it’s going to take a lot of effort on his part to learn communication skills. If the way he’s dealt with Linnette is any indication…” Grace couldn’t imagine Cal ever being talkative. She suspected he’d always have trouble sharing his thoughts and feelings with others.

Goldie delivered the pie and refilled their coffee mugs, then stepped away from the table.

“I feel so bad for Linnette.”

“Me, too.” Grace sliced into the pie, feeling a strange sense of sadness. “I just hope Cal’s made the right decision.”

“I do, too.”

“Any news at your end?” Grace asked, eager to hear what Olivia had been up to all week.

“Actually, two pieces of information,” Olivia said.

“I’m all ears.”

“First,” Olivia said, “Mom told me that Ben heard from his older son, Steven.”

“The one who lives in California?”

“No, that’s David. Steven lives on Saint Simons Island in Georgia.”

“Right.” Grace remembered that now. Will Jefferson, Olivia’s brother, lived in the same state; he was definitely not someone she wanted to think about.

“Apparently, David’s in some kind of financial mess and went to his brother for a loan. Steven called to tell his father about it.”

Grace leaned back. “David’s money problem surprises you?”

“Not really. I remember how he tried to swindle my mother out of five thousand dollars.” Olivia’s eyes narrowed. “It makes me mad every time I think about him giving my mother this ludicrous story about needing surgery.”

“Oh, brother.”

“Apparently he already declared bankruptcy a couple of years ago and now there’s no easy solution.”

“He’s being hounded by creditors?” Grace asked. She’d had some experience of that soon after Dan disappeared. It’d been a nightmarish time in her life. She didn’t wish those kinds of pressures on anyone, David Rhodes included. “What I recall is that he asked you to fix his traffic ticket.”

“Like I’d even consider such a thing.”

Grace swallowed another bite of pie. “You said you had two pieces of information.”

Olivia set her fork aside and seemed to be carefully choosing her words. “I don’t think there’s anything to be concerned about,” she began.

“What?” Grace demanded. “Concerned about what?”

“It has to do with my brother, Will,” Olivia informed her.

Grace did her best to appear completely indifferent. “What about him?” He was nothing to her any longer, other than a source of profound embarrassment.

“I know I probably mentioned that he and Georgia are getting divorced. They’ve sold the house and the proceeds have been equally divided between them.”

“Oh.” Grace responded to the news with sadness—not for Will but for his long-suffering wife. Poor Georgia. Grace could all too easily imagine what she must’ve endured through the years. Closing her eyes, Grace acknowledged a sense of guilt for her part in this, and regret that she might have caused the other woman pain. She’d been foolish to get involved with Will. So foolish…Grace had known he was married, which only intensified her guilt. She suspected their emotional affair wasn’t his first, nor was it likely his last. Granted, she hadn’t slept with him but probably would have if the relationship had continued. And according to Olivia, he’d had other actual affairs.