1022 Evergreen Place - Debbie Macomber [39]
“I thought we’d go to the outlet mall in Chehalis.”
“Great. I haven’t been there since last Christmas.”
The drive would take more than an hour but that gave them a chance to catch up. Corrie wasn’t looking for anything in particular at the stores. True, a bargain was a bargain, but even though Roy had implied otherwise, she was sensible.
“How’s Mack?” Peggy asked.
“Very well,” Corrie replied. She was happy to have her son living so close. His relationship with his father was better than it’d been since he was a child. They’d been at odds for years, which had made family gatherings uncomfortable. For her sake, Roy had tried not to goad Mack but his resolve never seemed to last long. She wasn’t sure how or why things had improved. Nothing had really changed other than the fact that Gloria had come into their lives.
Sadness settled over Corrie as she thought about her oldest daughter. She’d given birth to Gloria as a college student and surrendered her for adoption. She and Roy had broken up; he was involved with another girl by the time Corrie discovered she was pregnant. Without telling him about the baby, she’d returned home to her family and quietly waited out the pregnancy. Not until they’d reunited a couple of years later did Roy learn they’d had a child.
Then, as an adult, Gloria had tracked them down. Corrie was overjoyed at this opportunity to know the infant she’d relinquished to another family. After Gloria’s adoptive parents were killed in a private plane crash, she’d gone in search of her birth family. Gloria had been shocked to learn that her birth parents had married each other and that she had two full siblings—a younger sister and brother.
All in all, their reunion had gone well. Everyone had made an effort, although a certain hesitation remained. Linnette and Mack didn’t share a family history with Gloria, who’d been raised as an only child. They had no memories or experiences in common.
Everyone had worked hard, and continued to work hard, to make Gloria feel loved and wanted. And yet, at times, Corrie sensed a dissatisfaction in her oldest daughter, a feeling that she didn’t belong. In some ways they were still strangers.
“How’s it working out with Mack and Mary Jo living next door to each other?” Peggy asked next.
“So far so good.” Corrie held up one hand, fingers crossed.
“She’s a lovely girl.”
“Did I tell you Mary Jo found a box full of letters from World War II? Mack mentioned that they’ve been doing research on the war,” Corrie said.
“Do you remember who wrote the letters? Or who received them?”
“They were written to a Joan Manry, and they’re from her soldier boyfriend. She worked in the shipyard during the war years, but Mack doesn’t seem to think her family was originally from Cedar Cove.”
“I don’t recognize the name,” Peggy said. She’d been born and raised in Cedar Cove and had married Bob Beldon, her high school sweetheart. They’d lived in the Spokane area for a number of years and then returned to Cedar Cove to retire, buying the bed-and-breakfast.
“Mack said there was an influx of families during the war years.”
“Yes.” Peggy nodded. “They came to work in the shipyard.”
“The young soldier who wrote the letters is called Jacob Dennison. Does that name sound familiar?” Corrie asked hopefully.
“Sorry, no.”
“I was afraid of that.” Corrie sighed. “It’s such an intriguing mystery.”
“What are Mack and Mary Jo doing with the letters? I wonder if either party is still alive.” Peggy checked her rearview mirror as she merged with the freeway traffic heading toward Olympia, the state capital.
“Mary Jo wants to give them to the heirs if they can be located. Mack and Mary Jo have told us quite a lot about those letters. They really are a treasure.”
“I’d like to see them sometime.”
When Corrie murmured, “Oh, I would, too,” Peggy added, “I occasionally look at Bob’s letters from Vietnam and…well, they really bring back that whole time.”
They