She saw that Grace had moved into the dining room, set ting the table. “Thank you,” Mary Jo told her.
“You’re very welcome. Is your soup still hot?”
Mary Jo had for got ten about that. “I’ll check.”
“If not, let me know and I’ll re heat it in the microwave.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” she murmured. Even if it was stone-cold, she wouldn’t have said so, not after everything Grace had done for her.
But as Mary Jo tried her first spoonful, she realized the temperature was perfect. She finished the en tire bowl, then ate all the crackers and drank her decaf coffee after adding a splash of cream. As she brought her dishes to the sink, Grace re turned to the kitchen. “My daughters will be here at six,” she said, looking at the clock. “And my daughter-in-law and her family should be back soon. We’re having dinner together and then we’re leaving for the Christmas Eve service at our church.”
“How nice.” Mary Jo had missed attending church. She and her brothers just seemed to stop going after her parents’ funeral. She still went occasion ally but hadn’t in quite a while, and her brothers didn’t go at all.
“Would you like to join us?”
The invitation was so genuine that for a moment Mary Jo seriously considered it. “Thank you for the offer, but I don’t think I should.”
“Why not?” Grace pressed. “We’d love to have you.”
“Thank you,” Mary Jo said again, “but I should probably stay quiet and rest, like the EMT suggested.”
Grace nodded. “Yes, you should take his ad vice, although we’d love it if you’d at least have dinner with us.”
The invitation moved her so much that Mary Jo felt tears spring to her eyes. Not only had Grace and her husband taken her into their home, they wanted to include her in their holiday celebration.
“I can’t believe you’d want me here with your family,” she said.
“Why wouldn’t we?” Grace asked. She seemed astonished by the comment. “You’re our guest.”
“But it’s Christmas and you’ll have your…your family here.” She found it hard to speak.
“Yes, and they’ll be delighted to meet you.”
“But this isn’t a time for strangers.”
“Now, just a minute,” Grace said. “Don’t you re member the original Christmas story?”
“Of course I do.” Mary Jo had heard it all her life.
“Mary and Joseph didn’t have any where to stay, either, and strangers offered them a place,” Grace re minded her. “A stable,” she added with a smile.
“But I doubt those generous folks asked them to join the family for dinner,” Mary Jo teased.
“That part we don’t know be cause the Bible doesn’t say, but I have to believe that any one who’d lend their stable to those young travelers would see to their other needs, as well.” Grace’s warm smile wrapped its way around Mary Jo’s heart. “Join us for part of the evening, okay? I’d love it if you met the girls, and I know they’d enjoy meeting you.”
Mary Jo didn’t immediately respond. Al though she would’ve liked to meet Grace’s family, she wasn’t feeling quite right. “May I think about it?”
“Of course,” Grace said. “You do whatever you need to do.”
Leaning for ward in the chair, Mary Jo supported her lower back with both hands, trying to ease the per sis tent ache. Sit ting had be come difficult in the last few weeks. It was as if the baby had latched his or her foot around one of her ribs and in tended to hang on. Mary Jo was be ginning to wonder if she’d ever find a com fort able position again.
“Can I help you with any thing?” she asked.
Grace surveyed the kitchen. “No, I’ve got everything under control. I thought I’d sit down with you for a few minutes.”
Mary Jo nodded. “Yes, please. I’d like that.”
“So would I,” the other woman said. “Here, let me get us some fresh coffee. And what about some Christmas short bread to go with it?”
Ten
At the fire station, Mack McAfee sat by him self in the kitchen, downing yet another cup of coffee. The only call so far that day had been for the young pregnant woman who’d had the dizzy spell at the library. For some reason, she’d stayed in his mind ever since.
Be cause he wasn’t married, Mack had volunteered to work Christmas Eve and part of Christmas Day, al lowing one of the other fire fighters to spend the time with family. Unfortunately, his mother was none too happy that he’d agreed to work over the holidays.
Mack’s parents lived in Cedar Cove and his sister had, too, until she’d left several months ago, her heart broken by that cow poke who used to work for Cliff Harding. Linnette had taken off with no plan or destination and ended up in some Po dunk town in North Dakota. She seemed to love her new home out there in the middle of no where. Mack didn’t under stand it, but then it wasn’t his life.
He was happy for Linnette, knowing she’d found her niche. She’d al ways said she wanted to live and work in a small rural town. As an experienced physician assistant, Linnette had a lot to offer a community like Buffalo Valley, North Dakota.
Gloria, Mack’s oldest sister, had been given up for adoption as an infant; their relationship had only come to light in the past few years. Mack was just beginning to know her and so far he’d discovered that they had a surprising amount in common, de spite their very different upbringings. She’d promised to stop by the house and spend part of Christmas with their parents, but she, too, was on the duty roster for tonight.
When Gloria had first moved into the area—with the goal of reconnecting with her birth family—she’d worked for the Bremerton police. Since then, how ever, she’d taken a job with the sheriff’s department in Cedar Cove.
Mack’s cell phone, attached to his waist band, chirped. He reached for it, not bothering to look at the screen. He al ready knew who was calling.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Merry Christmas.” Her cheerful greeting was strained and not entirely convincing.
“Thanks. Same to you and Dad.”
“How’s everything?”
His mother was at loose ends. Not having any of her children with her during the holidays was hard for her. “It’s been pretty quiet here this afternoon,” he said.
Corrie al lowed an audible sigh to escape. “I wish you hadn’t volunteered to work on Christmas.”
This wasn’t the first time his mother had brought it up. But as the fire fighter most recently hired, he would’ve been as signed this shift any way.
“It’ll be lonely with just your father and me.” Her voice fell and Mack sighed, wishing he could tell her what she wanted to hear.
“It’ll be a wonderful Christmas,” he said, sounding as positive as he could.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” she agreed in a listless voice. “I decided to cook a ham this year in stead of turkey. It’s far less work and we had a turkey at Thanksgiving. Of course, I’m going to bake your father’s favorite potato casserole and that green bean dish everyone likes.”
Mack didn’t under stand why his mother felt she had to re view her dinner menu with him, but he let her chatter on, knowing it made her feel better.
“I was thinking,” she said, abruptly changing the subject.
“Yes, Mom?”
“You should get married.”
If Mack had been swallowing a drink at the time he would’ve choked. “I beg your par don?”
“You’re settling down here in Cedar Cove?”
He noticed that she’d made it a question. “Well, I wouldn’t go that far.”
“I would,” she said. “You have a steady job.” She didn’t add that this was per haps his tenth career change in the last six years. Mack was easily bored and tended to jump from job to job. He’d worked part-time for the post office, done construction, delivered for UPS and held half a dozen other short-term jobs since drop ping out of college. He’d also renovated a run-down house and sold it for a tidy
profit.
Mack’s rest less ness had contributed to the often acrimonious relationship he’d had with his father. Roy McAfee hadn’t approved of Mack’s need for change. He felt Mack was irresponsible and hadn’t taken his life seriously enough. In some ways Mack sup posed his father was right. Still, his new job with the fire department seemed to suit him perfectly, giving him the variety, the excitement and the camaraderie he craved. It also gave him a greater sense of purpose than any thing else he’d done.
He and his dad got along better these days. Roy had actually apologized for his attitude to ward Mack, which had come as a real shock. It had made a big difference in their relationship, though, and for that Mack was grateful.
“You think I should be married,” he repeated, as though it was a foreign word whose meaning eluded him. “You’re twenty-eight.”
“I know how old I am, Mom.”
“It’s time,” she said simply.
“Re ally?” He found his mother’s decree almost humorous.
“Have you met any one special?” she asked.
“Mom!” he pro tested. Yet the picture of Mary Jo Wyse shot instantly into his mind. He knew from the conversation he’d over heard at the library that she was pregnant and single and that David Rhodes was her baby’s father. He’d also heard a reference to Charlotte and Ben Rhodes. He was familiar with them, but completely in the dark about David.
“I’m not trying to pres sure you,” his mother said. “It’s just that it would be nice to have grand children one day.”
Mack chuck led. “If you want, I’ll get to work on that first thing.”
“Mack,” she chastised, “you know what I mean.”
He did but still enjoyed teasing her. While she was on the phone, he decided to take the opportunity to find out what he could about the father of Mary Jo’s baby. “Can you tell me any thing about David Rhodes?” he asked.
“David Rhodes,” his mother said slowly. “Is he related to Ben Rhodes?”
“His son, I believe.”
“Let me go ask your father.”
“That’s okay, Mom, don’t bother. It’s no big deal.”
“Why’d you ask, then?”
“Oh, some one mentioned him, that’s all.” Mack was reluctant to bring up Mary Jo; for one thing, it’d been a chance en counter and he wasn’t likely to see her again. Clearly she wasn’t from here.
“Mack. Tell me.”
“I treated a young woman at the library this morning.”
“The pregnant girl?” Her voice rose excitedly.
Word sure spread fast in a small town, something Mack wasn’t used to yet. “How do you know about Mary Jo?” he asked.
“Mary Jo,” his mother said wistfully. “What a nice name.”
She had a nice face to go with it, too, Mack mused and then caught him self. He had no business thinking about her. None whatsoever.
“I met Shirley Bliss in the grocery store earlier,” his mother went on to say. “The last thing I wanted to do was make a dash to the store. You know how busy they get the day before a big holiday.”
Actually, he didn’t, not from experience, but it seemed logical enough.
“Any way, I ran out of evaporated milk. I needed it for the green Jell-O salad I make every Christmas.”
Mack remembered that salad well; it was one of his favorites. His mother had insisted on making it, he noted, even though Mack wouldn’t be joining the family for dinner.
“I could’ve used regular milk, I suppose, but I was afraid it wouldn’t taste the same. I don’t like to use substitutes if it can be avoided.”
“Shirley Bliss, Mom,” he re minded her.
“Oh, yes. Shirley. I saw her at the store. She was with her daughter, Tanni.”
“O-k-a-y.” Mack dragged out the word, hoping she’d get to the point.
“That’s a lovely name, isn’t it?” his mother asked. “Her given name is Tannith.”
“Tanni’s the one who told you about Mary Jo?” he asked, bringing her back to the discussion.
“No, Shirley did.” She hesitated. “Well, on second thought, it was Tanni’s boy friend, Shaw, who told her, so I guess in a manner of speaking it was her daughter.”
“And how did Shaw hear?” he pressed, losing track of all these names.
“Apparently Mary Jo came into Mocha Mama’s this morning and was asking him a lot of questions.”
“Oh.”
“And he suggested she ask Grace Harding about David Rhodes.”
“I see.” Well, he was beginning to, any way.
“Shirley said Shaw told her that Mary Jo looked like she was about to deliver that baby any minute.”
“She’s due in two weeks.”
“My good ness! Do you think David Rhodes is the baby’s father?” his mother breathed, as if she’d suddenly made the connection. “It makes sense, doesn’t it?”
He al ready knew as much but preferred not to contribute to the gossip obviously making the rounds. “Did Shirley hap pen to say where Mary Jo is right now?” Maybe some one should check up on her. Mack had recommended she rest for the remainder of the day but he didn’t like the idea of her being alone.
“No,” his mother said. “She’ll be fine, won’t she?”
“I assume so….”
“Good.”
“Where’s Dad?” Mack asked.
His mother laughed softly. “Where do you think he is?”
It didn’t take a private eye—which his father was—to know the answer to that. “Shop ping,” Mack said with a grin.
“Right. Your father’s so efficient about everything else, yet he leaves gift-buying until the last possible minute.”
“I remember that one year when the only store open was the pharmacy,” he re called. “He bought you a jig saw puzzle of the Tower of Lon don, two romance novels and some nail polish re mover.”
“And he was so proud of him self,” Corrie said fondly.
“We all had a good time put ting that puzzle together, didn’t we?” It’d been one of their better Christmases, and the family still did jig saw puzzles every holiday. A small family tradition had come about as a result of that particular Christmas and his father’s last-minute gift.
“You’ll call in the morning?” his mother asked.
“I will,” Mack promised. “And I’ll stop by the house as soon as I’m relieved. It’ll be late tomorrow afternoon. Save me some leftovers, okay?”
“Of course,” his mother said. “Gloria’s schedule is the reverse of yours, so she’s coming over in the morning.” Corrie sounded slightly more cheerful as she said, “At least we’ll see you both for a little while.”
After a few words of fare well, Mack snapped his cell phone shut and clipped it back on his waist band.
He’d no sooner started get ting everything ready for that night’s dinner than Brandon Hut ton sauntered into the kitchen. “You got company.”
“Me?” Mack couldn’t imagine who’d come looking for him. He was new in town and didn’t know many people yet.
“Some guy and a woman,” Brandon elaborated.
“Did they give you a name?” Mack asked.
“Sorry, no.”
Mack walked to ward the front of the building and as he neared he heard voices—one of them unmistakably his sister’s.
“Linnette!” he said, bursting into the room.
“Mack.” She threw her self into his arms for a fierce hug.
“What are you doing here?” he asked. The last he’d heard she was in Buffalo Valley and in tended to stay there for the holidays.
She slipped one arm around his waist. “It’s a surprise. Pete suggested it and offered to drive me, so here I am.”
Mack turned to the other man. In a phone conversation the month before, Linnette had told him she’d met a farmer and that they were seeing each other. “Mack McAfee,” he said, thrusting out his hand.
Pete’s hand shake was firm. “Pleased to meet you, Mack.”
> “Happy to meet you, too.” He turned back to his sister. “Mom doesn’t know?”
Linnette giggled. “She doesn’t have a clue. Dad, either. It’s going to be a total shock to both of them.”
“When did you arrive?”
“About five minutes ago. We decided to come and see you first, then we’re going to the house.”
“Dad’s out doing his Christmas shop ping.”
Linnette laughed and looked at Pete. “What did I tell you?”
“That he’d be shop ping,” Pete said laconically.
“Mom’s busy cooking, I’ll bet.” This comment was directed at Mack.
“My favorite salad,” he in formed her. “Even though I won’t be there, she’s making it for me. I’m al ready looking for ward to the leftovers. Oh, and she’s doing a ham this year.”
Linnette laughed again. “She discussed her Christmas menu with you?”
“In minute de tail.”
“Poor Mom,” Linnette said.
“I wish I could see the expression on her face when you walk in the door.”
“I love that we’re going to surprise her.” Linnette’s wide grin was per haps the best Christmas gift he could have received. His sister, happy again.
Mack hadn’t seen her smile like this in…well, a year any way.
“Call me later and let me know how long it takes Mom to stop crying.”
“I will,” Linnette said.
His sister and Pete left for the house, and Mack returned to the firehouse kitchen, where he was as signed cooking duty that evening. He resumed chopping onions for the vat of chili he planned to make—how was that for Christmas Eve dinner? He caught him self wishing he could be at his parents’ place tonight, after all. Al though he’d just met Pete, Mack sensed that he was a solid, hardworking, no-non sense man. Exactly what Linnette needed, and some one Mack wanted to know better.
It seemed that Linnette had found the kind of per son she needed, but had he? Mack shook his head.
And yet, he couldn’t for get Mary Jo Wyse.
Which wasn’t remotely logical, considering that their relationship consisted mostly of him taking her blood pres sure.
Christmas in Cedar Cove Page 17
