Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove Series

by Debbie Macomber

  “We can’t ask Grace to do any more than she already is.” Jon said aloud what Maryellen had been thinking.

  “I know….” Tears filled her eyes. The worry and stress were more than she could handle.

  “Maryellen…”

  She covered her face with both hands and bent her head.

  “Sweetheart, it’ll be all right.”

  “No, it won’t.”

  “I’ll get a mortgage on the land.”

  “No!” she insisted. This land, an inheritance from his grandfather, was everything to Jon. If they lost it, he’d be devastated.

  Her husband was silent for a long time. Finally he stood up and walked away.

  “Jon?” she said when she saw that he was returning upstairs. “Where are you going?”

  “To make a phone call.”

  “To whom?”

  He turned and looked over his shoulder. “I’ll contact my family, Maryellen. It’s what you want me to do, isn’t it?”

  She didn’t answer him.

  “Do I have a choice?” he said quietly.

  “I’m sorry!” she choked out. “But it’s not my fault—I didn’t make any of this happen, so don’t be angry with me.”

  “It’s what you want, though, isn’t it?” he persisted.

  It was, but only because it made sense to give his father and stepmother an opportunity to rebuild their relationship with Jon, their only living child. And because Maryellen needed the help. Jon did, too.

  He sighed and wiped a hand down his face. “They can’t stay with us, understand?”

  She nodded.

  “And they’re only welcome until the baby’s born.”

  She swallowed hard. “You’re going to tell them that?”

  “Damn straight I am. I don’t want them anywhere near me. This isn’t for me, Maryellen. The only reason I’m doing it is for you, and for our daughter and our baby.”

  Tears streamed down Maryellen’s cheeks. She hated being this emotional. “Call them if you want,” she managed to say between sobs. “Only don’t be upset with me. I can’t bear it if you’re angry. I just can’t bear it.”

  Jon came back downstairs and was immediately at her side. He gathered her in his arms and let his shoulder absorb her tears. “I’m not mad at you,” he whispered into her hair. “I’m furious with myself.”

  “But why?”

  “Mostly because I can’t be the man you need me to be. You think I should forgive them for what they did. Hard as I try, Maryellen, I can’t.”

  Her arms went around him and they clung to each other. Somehow, they’d get through this time, with or without his parents’ help.

  Roy McAfee stood in front of the charred rubble that had once been The Lighthouse restaurant. It made him sick to his stomach. His son stood on one side and Gloria on the other.

  “Sheriff Davis told me the arson investigator says the fire was deliberately set,” Gloria said, hands on her hips as she surveyed the damage. Slowly she shook her head, as if it was difficult to take in the scene before her. Roy felt the same way.

  Arson. Roy hated to hear that. This wasn’t the sort of thing you expected to find in a quiet community like Cedar Cove. The article in The Chronicle reported that the Gundersons were in shock and that no decisions had been made yet. They didn’t know at this point whether or not they were going to rebuild.

  “Is there a suspect?” Roy asked his daughter.

  Gloria nodded. “A person of interest—a high school boy. He started a fire a few months back and was recently let go from the restaurant.”

  “The shed in the park?” Roy remembered reading about that, but the boy’s name had been kept out of the paper.

  Gloria nodded again.

  “Does he have a motive?”

  “Sheriff Davis seems to think so. The money box is missing, too.”

  Roy tried to remember what he’d heard about the toolshed fire. “What does the kid have to say?”

  “He’s a runaway,” Gloria informed him.

  “Dad,” Mack said, “didn’t you have a teenager visit the office last Monday?”

  Roy nodded. His son had connected the dots even before he had. “The Coxes’ daughter wanted to hire me,” he murmured thoughtfully, “to find her boyfriend.” The high school girl had been saving for a vehicle, but was willing to lay down every penny if Roy could locate the missing boy. Roy had been touched by her devotion—but not once had she mentioned that this boyfriend was in a heap of trouble. Well, she should save her money. The law had far better resources than he did. If she insisted on spending her money, he’d suggest a good attorney.

  “The kid’s name was Anson Butler,” he said.

  That got Gloria’s attention fast. “Butler came in to see you?”

  “No, his girlfriend. He’s the one who’s missing.”

  She held his look. “He’s also the one who’s wanted for questioning about the fire.”

  Raising his eyebrows, Mack kicked at the ashes. “I suppose now’s as good a time as any to let you know I’ve been a volunteer with the Kent Fire Department for the last couple of years.”

  “Is that so?” It was Gloria who showed the most interest.

  “Yeah,” Mack said with a careless shrug. “I enjoy it.”

  “I hear the Cedar Cove fire department has two paid openings,” Gloria said. “You might want to apply.”

  Mack looked at Roy, as if seeking his approval.

  Roy nodded solemnly. “I wish you would.”

  His son grinned. “In that case, I will.”

  Roy squatted down and picked up a handful of ashes. He had his family with him now. Gloria, the daughter he’d never known, and Mack, his formerly estranged son. Linnette had already moved to Cedar Cove and if Mack got a job with the fire department, he’d be living here, too.

  He let the ashes run through his fingers and wondered if Anson knew that Allison was prepared to give up everything she owned in order to find him. He hoped that, one day, the kid appreciated what she’d been willing to sacrifice on his behalf.

  Straightening, Roy looked over the scene one last time. He knew losing the restaurant had come as a devastating shock to Seth and Justine Gunderson. Even with the evidence right before his eyes, he found it difficult to believe anyone would purposely set out to do them harm. Who had started the fire remained to be seen. Troy Davis considered the teenage boys Seth had recently laid off—especially Anson Butler—his prime suspects; Roy thought that was a little too convenient. But if it wasn’t a disgruntled employee, then who?

  Roy hadn’t had a chance to talk to Seth or Justine yet, but he was thinking he’d stop by their home at 6 Rainier Drive sometime soon.

  DEBBIE MACOMBER

  6 Rainier Drive

  To Martha Powers

  My walking partner, fellow career dieter and best of all

  My friend

  Contents

  Some of the Residents of Cedar Cove, Washington

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-T
hree

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Some of the Residents of Cedar Cove, Washington

  Olivia Lockhart Griffin: Family Court judge in Cedar Cove. Mother of Justine and James. Married to Jack Griffin. Lives at 16 Lighthouse Road.

  Jack Griffin: Editor of the Cedar Cove Chronicle. Recovering alcoholic. Married to Olivia. Recently suffered a heart attack.

  Charlotte Jefferson Rhodes: Mother of Olivia and of Will Jefferson. Now married to widower Ben Rhodes.

  Justine (Lockhart) Gunderson: Daughter of Olivia. Married to Seth Gunderson. Mother of Leif. The Gundersons live at 6 Rainier Drive.

  Seth Gunderson: Justine’s husband. Co-owner, with Justine, of The Lighthouse restaurant, which was recently destroyed by fire.

  James Lockhart: Olivia’s son and Justine’s younger brother. In the Navy. Lives in San Diego with his wife, Selina, and daughter, Isabella.

  Stanley Lockhart: Olivia’s ex-husband and father of James and Justine. Now lives in Seattle.

  Will Jefferson: Olivia’s brother, Charlotte’s son. Married and lives in Atlanta.

  Grace Sherman: Olivia’s best friend. Librarian. Widow of Dan Sherman. Mother of Maryellen Bowman and Kelly Jordan. Now married to Cliff Harding. Lived at 204 Rosewood Lane.

  Cliff Harding: Retired engineer, now a horse breeder living in Olalla, near Cedar Cove.

  Cal Washburn: Horse trainer, employed by Cliff Harding.

  Maryellen Bowman: Oldest daughter of Grace and Dan Sherman. Mother of Katie. Married to Jon Bowman. Pregnant with their second child.

  Jon Bowman: Photographer, married to Maryellen. Father of Katie.

  Joseph and Ellen Bowman: Estranged father and stepmother of Jon.

  Zachary Cox: Accountant, married to Rosie. Father of Allison and Eddie Cox. The family lives at 311 Pelican Court.

  Anson Butler: Boyfriend of Allison Cox. Suspect in The Lighthouse fire.

  Cecilia Randall: Navy wife, living in Cedar Cove. Accountant, working for Zach Cox. Married to Ian Randall. Mother of Aaron.

  Rachel Pendergast: Works at the Get Nailed salon. Friends with widower Bruce Peyton and his daughter, Jolene. Romantically involved with sailor Nate Olsen.

  Bob and Peggy Beldon: Retired. Own a bed-and-breakfast at 44 Cranberry Point.

  Roy McAfee: Private investigator, retired from Seattle police force. Two adult children, Mack and Lynnette. Married to Corrie, who works as his office manager. The McAfees live at 50 Harbor Street.

  Lynnette McAfee: Daughter of Roy and Corrie. Moves to Cedar Cove to work as a physician’s assistant in the new medical clinic.

  Gloria Ashton: Police officer on Bremerton force. Lynnette’s friend and neighbor—recently discovered to be her sister, adopted at birth.

  Troy Davis: Cedar Cove sheriff.

  Pastor Flemming: Local Methodist minister.

  Teri Miller: Hair stylist at Get Nailed. Friend of Rachel Pendergast.

  One

  Justine Gunderson woke suddenly from a deep sleep, with the vague sense that something was wrong. A moment later, she remembered, and an intense sadness pressed down upon her. Lying on her back, she stared up at the dark ceiling as the realization hit her yet again. The Lighthouse, the restaurant she and Seth had poured their lives into, was gone. Gone. It had burned to the ground a week ago, in a blazing fire that lit up the night sky for miles around Cedar Cove. A fire started by an unidentified arsonist.

  Without bothering to look, Justine knew her husband wasn’t in bed with her. Only a week had passed since the fire, but it felt like a month, a year, a lifetime. She didn’t think Seth had slept more than three or four hours at a stretch since that shocking phone call.

  Folding back the sheet, she climbed slowly out of bed. It was barely four, according to the digital readout on the clock radio. Moonlight filtered through a gap in the curtains, creating patterns on the bedroom walls. Justine slipped her arms into the sleeves of her robe and went in search of her husband.

  As she’d suspected, she found him in the living room, pacing. He moved ceaselessly, his angry strides taking him from the fireplace to the window and back. When he saw her, he continued to walk, looking away as though he couldn’t face her. She could tell he didn’t want her near him. She barely recognized this man her husband had become since news of the fire.

  “Can’t you sleep?” she asked, whispering for fear of waking their four-year-old son. Leif was a light sleeper and although he was too young to understand what had happened, the child intuitively knew his parents were upset.

  “I want to find out who did this and why.” Fists clenched, Seth turned on her as if she should be able to tell him.

  Tucking her long, straight hair behind her ears, Justine sank into the rocker in which she’d once nursed their son. “I do, too,” she told him. She’d never seen Seth this restless. Her strikingly blond husband was of Norwegian extraction, a big man, nearly six-six, with broad shoulders to match. He’d been a commercial fisherman until soon after their marriage. That was when they’d decided to open the restaurant. The Lighthouse had been Seth’s dream, and with financial assistance from his parents, he’d invested everything—his skill, his emotions, their finances—in this venture. Justine had been at his side every step of the way.

  In the beginning, while Leif was an infant, she’d kept the books and handled the payroll. When their son grew old enough for preschool, she’d assumed a more active role, working as hostess and filling in where needed.

  “Who would do this?” he demanded again.

  The answer eluded her just as it did him. Why anyone would want to hurt them was beyond her comprehension. They had no enemies that she knew of and no serious rivals. It was hard to believe they’d been the target of a random firebug, but maybe that was the case. So far, there’d been little real progress in tracking down the arsonist.

  “Seth,” she whispered gently, stretching her hand toward him. “You can’t go on like this.”

  He didn’t respond, and Justine realized he hadn’t heard her. She longed to ease his mind, to reassure him. Her fear was that the fire had destroyed more than the restaurant. It had stolen Seth’s peace of mind, his purpose and, in some ways, his innocence. He’d lost faith in the goodness of others and confidence in his own abilities.

  Justine’s innocence had been devastated one bright summer afternoon in 1986, when her twin brother, Jordan, had drowned. Justine had held his lifeless body in her arms until the paramedics arrived. She’d been in shock, unable to grasp that her brother, her twin, was gone. He’d broken his neck after a careless dive off a floating dock.

  Her entire world had forever changed that day. Her parents divorced shortly afterward and her father had quickly remarried. To all outward appearances, Justine had adjusted to the upheaval in her life. She’d graduated from high school, finished college and found employment at First National Bank, then risen to branch manager. Although she’d had no intention of ever marrying, she’d been dating Warren Saget, a local builder who was the same age as her mother. Then she’d met Seth Gunderson at their ten-year high-school reunion.

  Seth had been her brother’s best friend. She’d always felt that if Seth had been with Jordan that day, her brother might still be alive, and her own life would’ve been different—although she wasn’t sure exactly how. It was ridiculous to entertain such thoughts; she recognized that on a conscious level. And yet…it was what she believed.

  All through high school she’d barely spoken to Seth. He was the football hero, the class jock. She was the class brain. And never the twain had met until that night nearly six years ago,
when she’d run into him at the reunion planning meeting. Seth had casually mentioned that he’d had a crush on her during their high-school days. The look in his eyes told her he’d found her beautiful then and even more so now.

  They hadn’t experienced an easy courtship. Warren Saget hadn’t wanted to lose her and made a concerted effort to pressure her into marrying him. He’d instinctively understood that Seth was a major threat. Warren bought Justine the largest diamond she’d ever seen, promising a life of luxury and social prominence if she agreed to be his wife.

  All Seth had to offer Justine was a twenty-year-old live-aboard sailboat—and his love. By that time, she was so head-over-heels crazy about him that she could scarcely breathe. Still, she struggled, unwilling to listen to her own heart. Then, one day, she couldn’t resist him anymore….

  “I’m calling the fire marshal this morning,” Seth muttered, breaking into her thoughts. “I want answers.”

  “Seth,” she tried again. “Honey, why—”

  “Don’t honey me,” he snapped.

  Justine flinched at the rage in his voice.

  “It’s been a full week. They should have some information by now, only they’re not telling us. There’s something they don’t want me to know and I’m going to find out what. If I have to bring Roy McAfee in, I will!” He looked directly at her then, probably for the first time since she’d entered the room.