“Justine! I’m so glad to see you,” Olivia said, hugging her tight. “You haven’t come to the house in ages.”
“I’ve been busy—in fact, last weekend I flew up to Alaska to see Seth.”
“You were in Alaska? You might’ve let someone know.” The disapproving edge was back, but Justine chose to ignore it.
“You’re right, I should have,” she agreed mildly. She wasn’t here to fight with her mother.
“Come inside,” Olivia insisted, wrapping her sweater more snugly around her. “It’s cool this evening.”
Justine obediently followed her mother into the house. The kitchen was the most comfortable room and it seemed natural to sit there. “Tea?” Olivia asked. It was one of their long-standing rituals.
“Please.”
Her mother turned away as she put water on to boil. “How is Seth?”
“Wonderful. He’ll be home soon. I miss him so much. That’s the reason I flew to Alaska—I just couldn’t stand being so far away from Seth and I had all these air miles from my credit card. I called the airline, got a seat and off I went—without even knowing if I’d find him or not. I was afraid to tell you what I was doing for fear you’d try to change my mind.”
“You went through all that to be with your husband?” her mother asked.
“Oh, yes. I really am in love with him, Mom.”
Justine expected this news to be exactly what her mother wanted to hear. Instead Olivia was frowning.
“What?” Justine asked.
Olivia pulled out a chair and sat across from her. “Does Seth know you had lunch with Warren?”
So that explained it. Her mother knew. For that matter, so did Seth, and while he hadn’t asked her not to see Warren again, she could tell he wasn’t pleased that she’d accepted his invitation to lunch. Justine had been a bit surprised by that, but she wouldn’t do it again.
“Warren wants you back, doesn’t he?” her mother said when she didn’t immediately respond.
“Did I mention that Maryellen Sherman and I met for lunch earlier this week?” Justine said, pointedly changing the subject. Warren was off-limits as far as she was concerned. “She wanted to congratulate Seth and me.”
Her mother set the bowl of tea bags in the center of the table. “So you’d prefer not to discuss Warren.”
“That’s right.”
Olivia squared her shoulders and nodded firmly. “Then we won’t. Tell me about Seth. When will he be back?”
Justine filled in the details. The longer she spoke, the more relaxed her mother became—and Justine understood why. Her mother finally had complete confidence in her love for Seth. Olivia now knew that nothing Warren said or did was going to change the way Justine felt about her husband.
“How is Maryellen?” Olivia asked as she poured them each a second cup of tea. “I see Grace every week at our aerobics class, but we seldom have a chance to talk.” She laughed. “Actually we need all our energy just to breathe. Did Maryellen tell you Grace filed for divorce?”
Justine nodded. “By the way, what happened with Maryellen’s marriage?” It’d never occurred to her to ask before. Justine had only been fourteen at the time. All she remembered was her mother and Grace, her best friend, talking on the phone a great deal. Maryellen had moved home for a while, and she’d taken back her maiden name as if she’d never been married at all.
Her mother stirred a teaspoon of sugar into her tea. “I don’t think anyone really knows, not even Grace. When Maryellen got married, I remember Grace telling me she didn’t feel Clint Jorstad was a good match for her daughter.”
“Apparently she was right,” Justine said. Then a frightening thought occurred to her. “What do you feel about Seth and me?” she asked, raising hopeful eyes to her mother, trusting her judgment and wisdom.
“Oh, Justine, I think the world of Seth. I couldn’t be more pleased for you both. Seth’s perfect for you.”
Justine smiled. “I think so, too, Mom, I really do.” For the first time in a while, she thought about her brother. Seth and Jordan were best friends, and then Jordan had drowned the summer they were all thirteen. Seth was in Alaska with his father and hadn’t learned of the accident until he’d returned home. Justine had been with Jordan that dreadful August day. She’d held his lifeless body until the paramedics arrived. He was her twin, her best friend and her brother. Her entire world had changed that summer. Only a few months afterward, her parents had divorced and within a shockingly short time her father had remarried. Her younger brother, James, seemed oblivious to the uprooting of their security, but Justine had felt it all, lived it all.
“What are you thinking?” her mother asked, a slight frown on her face.
Justine shook her head. “Nothing important,” she said, which wasn’t true. But she didn’t want to bring up the one memory that would never stop hurting. The one death her mother could never recover from. Drinking the last of her tea, she carried the cup and saucer to the sink and said, “I’d better get home.”
“Thank you for coming by.” Olivia touched Jus-tine’s cheek. “I’m thrilled about you and Seth. Honestly.”
“I am happy, Mom,” Justine said and impulsively hugged her mother. “Next time I won’t wait so long to visit.”
“Good.” Olivia walked her to the porch and waved as Justine drove off.
When Justine got back to the apartment complex, she found a note from the manager taped to her door; it said she’d accepted a delivery on Justine’s behalf.
After dropping off her mail, she hurried down to the manager’s office and learned that a huge flower arrangement had arrived. The large crystal vase was filled with an array of carnations, pink lilies, irises and a handful of others she couldn’t name, as well as artful sprigs of greenery. It could only be from Seth.
Justine could hardly wait to read the card. Seth loved her, missed her, and her sweet, wonderful husband must have realized she’d need an emotional boost to get her through the next few weeks.
Justine discovered almost immediately how wrong she was. Only one word was written on the card.
Warren.
She groaned with disappointment and tossed the small card onto the kitchen counter. She set the vase carelessly on the table, cringing every time she looked at it.
An hour later, while she was scrounging around her refrigerator, seeking out something easy and edible for dinner, the doorbell rang.
She answered it to find Warren Saget standing there, wearing a flashy thousand-dollar business suit and an even flashier smile. “Hello, Justine.”
“Hello, Warren,” she said without enthusiasm.
“Did you get my flowers?”
She
