50 Harbor Street - Debbie Macomber [87]
“Is tonight convenient?” he murmured.
“Ah…I guess.”
“Hey, you can’t go back there.” Sally’s voice rang down the hallway.
Linnette spun around and saw Cal.
His eyes narrowed as he read the physician’s name tag.
Linnette straightened. Chad had kept his voice low in order to talk privately and she’d leaned close so she could hear him. Anyone happening upon them would’ve assumed they were deep in conversation—a confidential, perhaps even intimate, conversation.
“No p-problem,” Cal said, and with that he wheeled around and walked out the door.
Once more Linnette resisted the urge to run after him. She hated to let this relationship go, but no longer felt she had any other choice.
Thirty-Five
On Valentine’s Day, Grace drove out to visit Olivia rather than head home to an empty house. Jack had recently returned from the hospital where he’d had bypass surgery, and poor Olivia had her hands full. Apparently Jack wasn’t a good patient, which came as no surprise to Grace. Or Olivia either, Grace assumed.
She rang the doorbell and waited a few minutes before Olivia answered, flustered and unkempt, which was completely unlike her. She stared at Grace and her small bouquet of red carnations and seemed about to burst into tears.
“Looks like you’ve had a rough day,” Grace said sympathetically.
“You don’t know the half of it,” Olivia muttered under her breath.
Jack sat in the living room, arms crossed and eyes flashing defiance.
“Ah,” Grace said, glancing from one to the other. “Did I come at a bad time?”
“No,” Olivia insisted.
“Yes,” Jack countered.
“Perhaps I should come back later?”
“Absolutely not,” Olivia said, glaring at her husband.
Jack sighed his capitulation. “You might as well stay.”
“Jack Griffin!”
“Sorry, Grace.” He rolled his eyes. “I just wonder if you know how stubborn your best friend can be.”
“Olivia?” Grace feigned shock. “Never.”
“Et tu, Brute!” Olivia mutttered.
Grace handed her the flowers and while her friend retreated to the kitchen to find a vase, she sat down across from Jack. “A little overprotective, is she?”
He snickered softly. “How’d you guess?”
“I know Olivia.”
“She’s become my shadow. I can’t even take a—use the bathroom without her running after me to make sure I’m not going to keel over.”
“That’s a natural reaction, don’t you think?” Grace asked. “She nearly lost you, in case you’ve forgotten.”
“She’s suffocating me.”
Olivia poked her head around the kitchen door. “Are you talking about me behind my back?”
Grace wasn’t about to lie. “Of course.”
Olivia frowned. “Don’t listen to him. Jack’s trying to do too much too soon.”
“I’m following doctor’s orders,” Jack shouted. He turned his attention to Grace again. “Tell her to go back to work. I need some breathing space.”
Grace disagreed. “Let her fuss over you. She needs to do that.”
Jack regarded her, then slowly shook his head. “I suppose you’re right.”
“Grace, would you like a cup of tea?” Olivia called.
“Please.”
“I’ll take coffee,” Jack said.
“Green tea is better for you.”
He started to argue but apparently changed his mind. “Whatever you think, dear.”
This time Olivia came all the way out of the kitchen. She pointed at Grace. “What did you say to him?”
Holding back a smile, Grace said airily, “Oh, just that you love him.”
Olivia’s eyes narrowed. “I’m reconsidering that. In all my born days, I’ve never known a man as pigheaded as Jack Griffin.”
Grace would hear none of it. “You’re crazy about this man. You love him—you can’t help loving him.”
To her surprise, Olivia laughed. “I do, and he knows it.”
A smug look came over Jack. “The thing is, I love her, too.” He held out his hand to Olivia, who clasped it firmly. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
“Me, too.” She sniffled, then abruptly went back to the kitchen.
“We argue,” Jack said. “I don’t think she’s used to that.”
“She isn’t,” Grace told him. Her friend, the judge, liked order and control; she rarely raised her voice or lost her cool. Marrying Jack had changed all that.
“But we make up, too,” Jack added. “That’s the best part.” He jiggled