50 Harbor Street - Debbie Macomber [43]
Maryellen merely nodded. “I feel fine,” she said. “I really do.”
“Jon?” Cliff said, motioning to her husband at the other end of the table.
For a moment he seemed incapable of responding. He kept his eyes focused on Maryellen. “I’m most grateful for my wife,” he whispered.
As if to protest being left out, Katie banged the high chair with her cup, making a loud noise.
“And Katie,” he added, to the accompaniment of delighted laughter.
After dinner Jon tracked down Grace, alone in the kitchen as she wrapped leftovers. Cliff and Cal had gone to the barn to take care of some afternoon chores. He didn’t waste time leading up to the subject. “You didn’t know?”
“You mean that Maryellen’s pregnant? No, and apparently you didn’t, either.”
His expression was tortured, his face haggard. “Grace, I have to tell you, I’m scared. It’s too soon.”
“Jon,” she reminded him gently, “it seems to me you know what makes babies as well as I do.”
“Maryellen seemed so sure nothing would happen….”
“We don’t have any choice but to leave this in God’s hands,” Grace told him. It was the best reassurance she had to offer. She prayed Maryellen wouldn’t lose this baby, too.
Seventeen
The word sale held a special meaning for Corrie McAfee, and that was buy. There was a very good reason the Friday after Thanksgiving was the biggest shopping day of the year. The sales were not to be missed. Corrie liked nothing better than to hit the stores early. The earlier the better, as far as she was concerned.
The alarm rang at five and she was dressed and out the door half an hour later, on her way to pick up Linnette. Linnette had been assigned duty on Thanksgiving Day, and in exchange, had today off. Corrie had waited until after her daughter’s shift to serve the traditional turkey dinner, although it hadn’t felt right. Putting dinner off until late had been worth it, however, since it meant Linnette could go shopping with her now.
Thanksgiving Day had been gloomy until their daughter arrived—and not just because of the rain. Predictably, Mack had declined her invitation. He claimed he had other plans, none of which he’d described. Corrie didn’t argue with him. Her son’s so-called plans, she supposed, were to avoid arguing with his father and therefore ruining everyone else’s holiday. Corrie wished she could shake some sense into both of them. Roy had been annoyed that Mack hadn’t come for dinner; he would’ve been equally annoyed if his son had shown up. But at least Linnette’s cheerful presence had rescued his mood…and the evening.
When she pulled into the apartment parking lot, Corrie saw that Linnette’s lights were blazing. She didn’t have to wait long for her daughter to walk outside and run down the stairs. Opening the passenger door, Linnette slipped into the front seat.
“Where first?” she asked, her eyes bright with enthusiasm.
“Wal-Mart’s already open,” Corrie said. “The entire store’s probably been bought out by now.”
“You’re joking.”
Corrie laughed. “I have much to teach you, my child.”
This was the first time in years that they’d been able to schedule a Friday-after-Thanksgiving shopping adventure. The last occasion had been when Linnette was still in high school.
“Let’s go into Silverdale next,” her daughter suggested after a quick sortie through the local Wal-Mart. “The sooner we get to the mall, the better our chances of locating a decent parking spot.”
“Good idea.” Corrie headed out of town. There was an unusual amount of traffic for six o’clock on a holiday morning, but she knew from experience that lots of people had the same idea—get to the stores early. Hoping to bring Cal into the conversation, she tried to think of a subtle way to introduce him. She wanted to encourage Linnette to confide in her—yet she didn’t want her daughter to feel manipulated. It was a tricky balance. In the end she decided not to mention Cal. She’d see if Linnette brought up the subject herself.
“Thanksgiving dinner