74 Seaside Avenue Part 12

"It's me," he said, feeling a bit unnerved when he glanced at the clock on his nightstand and saw that it was after midnight.

"Bruce? Do you know what time it is?" She sounded more awake now-and annoyed.

"Sorry..."

"What's wrong?"

"When we talked earlier," he began, not knowing where to go from there.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"We were on the phone for over an hour."

His announcement was met with silence, so he forged ahead. "There's something happening between us, Rachel."

She sighed, or it could have been a suppressed yawn. "No, there isn't."

"I've never talked to a woman for that long in my whole life." He hesitated, then added, "Someone other than Stephanie, I mean."

"You woke me out of a dead sleep to tell me that?" Now her voice was incredulous.

"Yes."

"Bruce, listen, we're friends. We've been friends for years. Friends talk."

"I don't chitchat on the phone," he said forcefully. "I just don't. I never have."

"You're making too much of this, okay? It's not a big deal."

"Jolene's worried." He said the next thing that came to mind.

"About you?"

"No," he told her swiftly. "She's worried about you."

"Me?"

"Yes. She's afraid you're going to marry Nate and leave." He was worried, too, but he couldn't tell Rachel that. He'd already revealed far too much of his confusion. His feelings for Rachel were changing-or perhaps he simply hadn't recognized them for what they were.

"Bruce, Jolene and I have discussed this at length. If she mentions it to you again, tell her the person she needs to talk to is me."

"What did you say to her?" he asked. They were talking about his daughter here and he had a right to know.

Rachel yawned before answering. "I promised her she'd always be part of my life."

"So you've decided to marry Lover Boy, after all."

"Would you stop it," she chastised none too gently.

"Now I'm worried about Jolene," he whispered. It felt like he was about to lose his best friend, and depression settled heavily on his shoulders. If Rachel did marry Nate, that was exactly what would happen. She'd move away and leave them both.

"Can I go back to sleep now?" she asked.

"I feel like talking," he murmured, lying down again, the pillow nestling his head.

"Bruce, it's almost one in the morning!"

"I know. But you're awake now, aren't you?"

"Yes, thanks to you. What would you like to talk about-other than Nate and me?"

"You want to go out for dinner on Sat.u.r.day night? After shopping?"

"Bruce!"

"What?"

"I want to go back to sleep. That's what I want to do."

"Oh."

"Take two aspirin and call me in the morning."

Despite himself, he grinned. "Good night, Rachel."

"Good night, Bruce," she said pointedly.

He was smiling as he replaced the receiver-even though he didn't have anything to smile about. Because Rachel might very well marry Nate Olsen, and then the emptiness she'd filled would be deeper than ever before.

Thirteen.

Sitting with the other ladies at the Henry M. Jackson Senior Center, Charlotte Rhodes knitted with furious speed. Her friends chatted, but Charlotte's mind was moving as fast as her hands.

"Charlotte," Helen Shelton said. "You look like you're a thousand miles away."

"Oh..." she murmured with a start. She hadn't been listening to her friends' conversation, but the fact that they'd realized it was embarra.s.sing. She smiled apologetically at Helen, who was a favorite of hers and another expert knitter. She was a widow, living in a lovely duplex on Poppy Lane; the two women had much in common and spent many an afternoon knitting and exchanging stories.

But at the moment Charlotte was worrying about her son and his recent move to Cedar Cove. On the surface, Will's decision to retire in Was.h.i.+ngton seemed logical, but knowing what she did, Charlotte had good reason to be suspicious.

"Bess asked if you'd check her knitting," Helen said. "I can't quite figure out what she's done wrong."

"Of course." Charlotte set her own knitting aside and studied her friend's half-finished sock. She'd discovered many an easy fix in sixty years of working with needles and yarn. When people came to her with knitting difficulties, her initial advice was always the same: Read the pattern. If the directions weren't clear the first time, then read them again.

She glanced at the sock pattern, which had been pa.s.sed around among the knitters and looked a little the worse for wear. She found Bess's mistake quickly enough and repaired it, using a crochet hook to pick up a dropped st.i.tch.

The ladies at this table were her dearest friends in the world, and yet Charlotte couldn't divulge her troubles to them. That just wasn't done by most women of her generation. Family problems stayed inside the family. They were not to be discussed with outsiders, and that included one's very closest friends.

She envied Olivia and Grace their friends.h.i.+p. There wasn't anything those two couldn't and didn't talk about. But Charlotte couldn't share her disappointment in her oldest child with anyone other than her husband. Ben might not be Will's father but he was part of her family now.

How could she tell her friends that her only son had a weak character? How could she reveal to these women that Will had dishonored his wedding vows? Not once, but repeatedly. His ex-wife, Georgia, had kept this a secret for as long as she could and then the poor girl couldn't take it anymore. Charlotte didn't blame her. If Clyde had been alive, she knew he'd be embarra.s.sed and ashamed by Will's behavior and would no doubt have a few things to say to his son. Maybe it was just as well that Clyde had gone on to his heavenly reward rather than suffer such disillusionment about his only son.

Ben was at home when she returned from the knitters' group. He opened the front door as she approached the steps, taking them slowly and one at a time.

"You look like you're carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders," he said, taking the bag from her hand and steering her into the house. Charlotte went automatically to the kitchen.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" she asked.

"If conversation goes along with that tea."

Charlotte wasn't sure she could talk; her throat felt like it was closing. Swallowing hard, she nodded because she needed to talk, needed to share the feelings that pressed on her so heavily.

Ben collected the cups and saucers while she boiled water and measured out tea leaves. Soon they were sitting at the kitchen table across from each other but before she could pour the tea, he reached for her hand.

"Is it Will?" he asked.

"Where is he? Do you know?"

Ben shrugged. "He left a couple of hours ago. Said he was meeting with a rental agent to look at apartments."

"Did he say where he was hoping to move?"

"He told me he'd like to find an apartment near us, in the downtown area."

"I was afraid of that," she said starkly.

"Why?" Ben asked, sounding genuinely taken aback. "It seemed thoughtful of him to want to be close by. In case either of us needs him, he said."

"Hogwash," Charlotte sputtered.

Ben's eyes widened at her outburst.

"I know my son," she said, "and his wanting to be downtown has nothing to do with any concern for our well-being." Her hand shook as she filled their teacups. "We aren't the only ones nearby," she muttered, then pressed her lips together in consternation.

Ben frowned, as if he didn't understand.

"It's Grace," she said, setting the teapot back on the table.

"Do you seriously think he's still hung up on Grace?" Ben asked. He seemed to find it far-fetched that Will would go to such extremes. "He knows she's married to Cliff, doesn't he?"

"Of course he does. But a little thing like a wedding ring hasn't stopped him in the past," she said. A sick feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. "I know my son," she said again. "He's highly compet.i.tive. That's one of the reasons he was such a success in the corporate world."

"In other words, he doesn't like to lose."

"He detests it." Charlotte could list plenty of examples from her son's youth but resisted. "He's going to move downtown and in a week or two he's going to get a library card."

"Because of Grace..."

"For no other reason," she elaborated. "He hasn't felt a need for one in the last thirty-five years. Now, however, it's going to be a necessary part of his relocation. Mark my words," she added, tapping her fingers rhythmically on the table.

"It's too late as far as Grace is concerned," Ben said. "She's happily married."

"I know." And Charlotte felt it was her duty to see that nothing ruined Grace's happiness. Grace was like a second daughter to her. Charlotte wasn't planning to sit idly by and allow her own son to destroy Grace's life. He wouldn't succeed in seducing her again, but he was perfectly capable of interfering in her marriage, spreading innuendo and suspicion.

"Then why are you so worried?"

Before she could answer, the front door opened. In walked Will, looking carefree and decidedly pleased with himself. His eyes brightened and he smiled as he entered the kitchen. "I'm back," he announced. "And I'd love a cup of tea."

"How'd it go?" Charlotte asked. She stood automatically to get him a cup and was struck by what a handsome man he was, even more handsome at sixty than he'd been as a young man. He was tall and well-built, physically fit. He had a sense of style, too; from the time he was a teenager he'd taken care with his clothes. She remembered that he'd always been far more fas.h.i.+on-conscious than his peers. Recently his hair had begun to gray at the temples, giving him a distinguished look. Considering his appearance and his well-developed charm, it was little wonder that women had fallen at his feet. Even sensible women, like Grace.

"I found a small two-bedroom unit right off Harbor Street," Will told them triumphantly.

"Off...Harbor Street?"

"On the water," he said as she handed him his tea.

Charlotte knew of only one apartment complex on the waterfront. "I haven't seen a rental sign there," she said, none too pleased. Naturally Will had chosen an apartment that was practically next door to the library.

"I'm subletting the unit," he explained. "I'd prefer a more upscale place, but this will do for now."

Charlotte caught Ben's eye. He nodded, got up and politely excused himself.

She waited until he'd left the room, then confronted her son. "This doesn't happen to be Linnette McAfee's apartment, does it?"

"It sure does." He sounded surprised. "How did you know?"

"I spoke with her mother," Charlotte told him. "Corrie hates the idea of her daughter moving away from Cedar Cove." But Linnette was determined to leave, whether the apartment was rented or not.

"Well, her loss is my gain," Will said, as though it was a joke. "I should be able to move in sometime next week."

"Then I suppose congratulations are in order," she managed to mumble.

"I'll be out of your hair but I'll still be around," Will told his mother.

Charlotte didn't comment. Instead she stood and carried her untouched tea to the sink. Keeping her back to her son, she attempted to control her reactions. Turning to face him, she tried to gauge his intentions, troubled by the fact that she thought the worst of her only son.

"You're sure you're doing the right thing?" she asked tentatively.

Will wore a perplexed expression. "Of course I'm sure. Although you're both healthy, I feel it's my duty to be close by in case you need me."

"Olivia and Jack are less than two miles away."