liked him, too.
He pulled into the gravel parking lot outside the Taco Shack and hurried around to help her out. Not until he slammed the car door did she notice that it was dented and didn’t close properly.
Ever the gentleman, he held the door to the roadhouse for her. They walked up to the counter, and stood in line; the place was deservedly popular. Olivia studied the menu, hand-printed on a large board suspended from the ceiling. She ordered the combination plate, which included a cheese enchilada and a bean burrito, and iced tea. Jack ordered something she’d never heard of, plus a side of the stir-fried jalapeños. That suggested he wasn’t planning to kiss her—definitely a disappointment.
She found them a seat by the window, vacated by another couple barely a minute before. When she climbed over the bench of the red-painted picnic table, Olivia was grateful she’d changed out of her dress. She hadn’t been here in ages and had forgotten just how rustic it was. The window was decorated with what resembled red Christmas lights, but on closer examination, she saw they were shiny plastic peppers. She found that an amusing detail.
Jack brought napkins and plastic forks to the table and a large container of fresh salsa. When their order was ready, he collected both plates, then went back for their drinks. The food smelled delicious and she closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of Jack’s peppers and the mixture of salsa and coriander.
They talked comfortably about a variety of topics: town politics, the paper, the play they’d both seen. She felt as though she’d known him for years. She wouldn’t have said he was her type, but she was beginning to believe she didn’t have one. Stan was an engineer, and like her, a highly organized person.
“Did I mention my son recently got married?” she said casually.
“No.” Jack grinned widely. “That’s great!”
“He’s about to make me a grandmother.”
He gave her an engaging grin. “You’re the most beautiful grandmother I’ve ever seen.”
Her ego thanked him. “Both the marriage and the pregnancy came as a surprise, but I don’t mind.” Well, she did…a little. “James sounded happy and although I haven’t met his wife, she seems very nice.” Olivia had her fears, but she wouldn’t second-guess her son and his decisions. This was his life, not hers.
“Stan and I were on the phone, discussing the prospect of becoming grandparents when you arrived. That’s why it took me so long to answer the door.”
“You must have a good relationship with your ex.”
“I wish we’d gotten along this well while we were married,” she joked. “Now his second wife’s getting the benefit of all my training.”
“Stan’s remarried?”
Olivia nodded.
Jack studied his dinner for a moment, then said, “Because of the treatments Eric underwent for the cancer, he’ll never father children.”
Which meant there was no possibility of Jack’s ever being a grandfather, Olivia realized. “I’m sorry.”
“No need to be.” It seemed he wanted to change the subject. “Do you speak to Stan often?” he asked.
“Only in matters having to do with the children,” she told him. “They’re both adults now, so there isn’t much reason for phone calls and so forth. I suppose we’ll be in touch a little more often once James’s baby is born. What about you and your ex?”
Jack tore his paper napkin in half, then looked horrified by what he’d done. “I haven’t spoken to Vicki in years. Unfortunately, our divorce was bitter.”
“I’m sorry,” she said again because she could see that talking about his ex-wife distressed him.
“What’s the matter with couples these days?” he asked. “Doesn’t anyone stay together anymore?”
“The Beldons have been married since shortly after high school,” Olivia said, leading into the subject of how he knew Bob.
“Ah, yes, Bob and Peggy.”
“I went to high school with both of them,” Olivia explained.
“They were boyfriend and girlfriend back then?” Jack asked.
“From tenth grade on.” Those two had been together practically as long as she could remember.
“Bob was in Vietnam,” Jack said.
“Is that how you know him?” Olivia asked.
Jack shook his head. “I met him later. About ten years ago.”
Olivia waited, wondering if he’d tell her how they’d come to meet. He didn’t.
“Bob’s the one who suggested I apply for the job here in Cedar Cove. I was looking for a slower pace and decided to take him up on his offer to visit the bed-and-breakfast. I immediately fell in love with the area.”
“And so you uprooted your whole life.”
She met his gaze and they shared a smile.
“I’m glad I did,” he said, offering her a jalapeño.
She shook her head vigorously. “I’m glad you made the move, too.”
Very glad!
In the wee hours of Sunday morning, Cecilia poured herself a soothing glass of milk and sat at the small table in her tiny kitchen. She rested her bare legs on the second chair and leaned back, closing her eyes.
After a night on her feet, her toes throbbed. It’d been much worse when she was pregnant. She remembered how badly her ankles had swollen nearly every night. From the first, the pregnancy had been hard on her. She hoped subsequent pregnancies wouldn’t be as difficult, then realized there wouldn’t be any more. Never again did she plan to risk that kind of emotional pain.
She sipped the milk, hoping it would help her sleep. The John F. Reynolds had pulled back into the naval shipyard earlier in the day, just as predicted, leaving Cecilia to wonder if she’d hear from Ian.
Probably not. She was mentally reviewing the reasons they should stay away from each other when the phone rang.
Startled by the unexpectedness of it, Cecilia grabbed the receiver.
“Hello.”
Silence.
Great, a prank call. If she could afford caller ID, she would’ve phoned right back and given the pervert a piece of her mind.
“Hi.”
Ian.
She was too breathless to respond.
“I tried calling you earlier, but you weren’t home,” he said.
“I was at work.”
“I
