92 Pacific Boulevard - Debbie Macomber [56]
When they entered Cedar Cove, Mack pulled up in front of the library and helped Mary Jo and Noelle out. Then he went in search of a parking spot in the adjacent lot. By the time he returned, he found Mary Jo at the checkout desk chatting with Grace, the head librarian. Grace smiled at him.
“I called Olivia,” she said, “and told her Mary Jo was coming in for a visit. She asked to join us.”
“Great.” He tried to sound enthusiastic, but he was slightly jealous that these ladies would have Mary Jo and Noelle to themselves when he’d been looking forward to being alone with them.
“I arranged for tea and cookies in the break room,” Grace added. “I hope you’ll stay.”
Now he was expected to be part of a tea party. If the crew at the fire station heard about this, there’d be no end to the razzing. The whole situation was just too…feminine. “Why don’t the three of you visit while I run a few errands,” he suggested.
Mary Jo’s eyes begged him to reconsider. “Please stay.”
“Well…okay. Unless I’m intruding.”
“You wouldn’t be,” Grace told him.
Mary Jo touched his arm, mutely imploring, and Mack didn’t see how he could decline. Without further protest, he joined Grace and Noelle in the back room.
As Mary Jo unbundled Noelle, Olivia Griffin arrived. She wore a knit cap over a head scarf, but it was easy to see that she was bald underneath. Still, despite the cancer, despite the treatments she was undergoing, the judge exuded vitality. He’d met her Christmas Eve, the night of the birth, and he’d always heard good things about her. His parents only had praise for Olivia, as a friend and as a judge; he could certainly understand why. This was one impressive woman.
Grace and Olivia paid plenty of attention to Noelle. The baby laughed and cooed, and Mack experienced a sense of fatherly pride he had no right to feel. Noelle gripped his finger, apparently determined not to let go.
“I asked Mack to pick me up at the Bremerton ferry this afternoon,” Mary Jo explained as Grace poured tea all around. “I had to get away for a few hours. The boys are driving me crazy.”
“Her brothers,” Mack said, leaning forward.
He left his tea and unfastened Noelle from her carrier, adeptly scooping her up as if he’d done exactly this dozens of times. While the women chatted, he walked around the room, gently stroking Noelle’s back. Her head wobbled a little; then she rested it against his shoulder and promptly fell asleep. Every once in a while, he met Mary Jo’s eyes and they smiled at each other.
“So, what’s going on with your brothers?” Grace asked, holding out a plate of oatmeal cookies.
Olivia shook her head, while Mary Jo accepted one.
She sighed. “Oh…they all seem to know what’s best for me and the baby. Before I met David, I was saving money to get a place of my own. I had quite a bit set aside. Then I found out I was pregnant. After that, with all the stuff I needed for the baby, I didn’t have any choice but to stay with my brothers.”
“You’re feeling the need to move out?”
Mary Jo nodded. “Oh, yes. They mean well and I appreciate everything they’ve done for me, but…it’s time. Noelle’s almost two months old and I need to think about getting a job again.”
“It’s too bad you can’t return to the place you worked before,” Grace said.
“Why not?” Olivia asked. “They can’t fire you for having a baby!”
“The insurance company had to downsize, and my position disappeared right after the first of the year. I got a severance package, but that won’t last forever. I have to find a way to support Noelle and me and still be a good mother.”
Although he wasn’t part of the conversation, Mack interjected his opinion. “You could always move to this side of Puget Sound.” He’d probably come across as too eager but he couldn’t contain his enthusiasm.
“You could,” Olivia agreed.
Grace nodded and brushed her hands free of cookie crumbs.
Mary Jo glanced