1105 Yakima Street - Debbie Macomber [9]
“You’ll be coming home with us,” Olivia was saying when Mack returned his attention to Ben and Charlotte.
“But, Olivia…”
“Mom, you can’t stay here and you can’t stay with Will. Where would you sleep?”
“It would probably be best if you went with Olivia,” Will concurred as Ben nodded. “My apartment’s pretty small with only the one bedroom. I’d sleep on the sofa if necessary, but frankly, it makes more sense for you to go home with Olivia.”
Charlotte nodded. “I’ll need to collect a few things. Ben,” she said, “will you find Harry?”
“I’ll go in with you,” Mack offered. “It’s better if you don’t go anywhere close to the kitchen until after the fire investigator’s had a chance to finish his report and the insurance people have come by.”
Then Mack joined Ben in looking for the cat. They found him a few minutes later, cowering under the front porch.
“It’s all my fault,” Charlotte was saying when they returned, shaking her head as if to erase the memory of that afternoon. “Harry!” She held out her arms for the cat. “Oh, my sweetie…” She nuzzled his broad head and then raised her eyes to Olivia. “I’m still not clear on what happened… .”
“Don’t worry, Mom.”
“If Ben and I are going to be with you for several weeks, I’ll help you as much as I can,” Charlotte promised. “I’ll clean and cook and I won’t be a bother.”
“Mom, you’d never be a bother.”
“I’ll bake for Jack,” she said, her eyes lighting up with anticipation. “You know how he enjoys my baking.”
“Jack doesn’t need you baking for him, Mom.”
“Then I’ll cook him a pot roast. Jack’s fond of my pot roasts.”
“Jack’s fond of food, Mom,” Olivia said. “The fact is, I can’t think of a single thing you cook that he doesn’t dig into like a starving man.”
Charlotte beamed with pride. “Jack’s a man of discriminating taste. Haven’t I always said so?”
“Indeed.” Olivia rolled her eyes. “Come on, Mom, Mack and I’ll help you and Ben collect what you need, starting with the cat carrier. Then we’ll go to our house.”
“You’re sure about this?” Charlotte asked.
“Very sure,” Olivia said, and slid one arm around her mother’s waist.
Ben and Charlotte Rhodes would be fine, Mack mused as he followed them. They had family.
Three
Chad Timmons paced his Tacoma apartment and was so deep in thought, he nearly collided with the wall. That just proved it—the woman drove him to distraction. From the moment he’d met Gloria Ashton, it’d been an on-again, off-again relationship. Like some unpredictable wind, she blew hot and then cold. The worst of it was he’d put up with it. Well, he’d had about all he could take. He refused to play her games anymore—and that was what they were. Games. As far as he could see, there was no way he could win because she kept changing the rules. One day she wanted nothing to do with him. The next, she couldn’t keep her hands off him.
Fine. He’d decided he was finished. And he’d stuck to that. Until Roy McAfee had hurtled into his life like a meteorite on its passage to earth. The crater that blast had left was deep enough to bury him.
Gloria was pregnant—with his baby. He was about to become a father.
Talk about changing the rules…
It all added up now. After they’d spent the night together, Chad had felt so sure they could resolve their differences. He was high on love, his head in the clouds, like some sappy walking cliché. The shock of her taking off without a word had made him feel bereft and stupid. Oh, she’d written a note, but that had explained nothing.
So he’d vowed that if this was how she felt, he’d deal with it. He was finished. Chad had resigned from his position at the Cedar Cove Medical Clinic, moved to Tacoma and accepted a job as an emergency room physician. He’d even started dating someone else. Joni Atkins was a lot less volatile and a lot more decisive.
A baby.
Even now, Chad had difficulty coping with Roy’s news. If he