Ultimate Cedar Cove Collection. Debbie Macomber
she was looking forward to a real conversation. Sure, they saw each other, but there was rarely an opportunity to say more than a few words in passing.
Olivia had already secured the booth when Grace arrived. She slid in across from her and reached for the menu tucked, as always, behind the napkin canister.
“Wasn’t this our booth back in high school?” Olivia asked.
Grace had to think about that. Was it? “I don’t remember, but it might be.”
“Remember how Kenny Thomas broke up with me right here in the Pancake Palace?” Olivia reminded her.
“The rat fink.”
Their eyes met and they smiled, chasing memories. But Grace’s amusement faded as she recalled how often she’d met Dan here during their high-school days. How different her life might have been if he’d broken up with her, or she’d had the courage to return his high-school ring. Even then, while she was still a teenager, Grace had sensed that they didn’t bring out the best in each other. Deep down, Dan had known it, too. Then, just before graduation, Grace had discovered she was pregnant. Dan had wanted to marry her and she’d managed to convince herself it was the right thing to do.
“Kelly and I met here for dinner not long ago,” Grace told her, breaking off her thoughts before she fell into the abyss of self-pity. It was the night Kelly had persuaded her not to file for divorce. She’d promised to wait until after the baby was born, but she’d regretted that decision ever since.
“I envy your relationship with your daughters,” Olivia admitted.
“Aren’t you and Justine getting along?”
Olivia gave a slight shrug. “We don’t argue, if that’s what you mean, but we don’t talk openly. I heard through the grapevine that Warren’s asked her to marry him, but she hasn’t even mentioned his proposal to me.”
“Maybe she knows what you’ll say.”
Olivia’s eyes turned thoughtful. “I’ve vowed not to be negative, but it isn’t easy.”
One thing Dan’s disappearance had done was bring Grace closer to her daughters. They talked at least once a day, mostly to encourage and support each other. After the latest episode, they’d decided they could no longer bear not knowing where Dan was. The girls were willing to help with the expense of the private investigator; they felt as desperate for answers as Grace did.
“I hired Roy McAfee again last week.” Grace had talked to him soon after Dan’s disappearance, and decided after his initial investigation that she couldn’t afford his services anymore. As the weeks crept by, she’d come to understand that neither she nor the girls could afford not to hire him. They had to know what had happened to her husband, and there seemed to be no other way. “The frustration is driving me insane.”
“Do the girls approve?”
Grace nodded. “They’re the ones who talked me into it. They want answers as badly as I do. Badly enough to help foot the bill.” Hiring a private detective was expensive, but as Maryellen had said—only half joking—the medical bills for a nervous breakdown would be far higher.
Something inside Grace had snapped the night she cleared out Dan’s closet. She should probably have checked herself into a psychiatric ward. She’d reached her limit, and her daughters had immediately recognized it even if she hadn’t.
“What did Roy say?”
“I gave him what information I could, and he promised to get back to me.”
“Did you tell him about your suspicions?”
Grace sighed and picked up her fork, squinting at the water spots. “He didn’t agree or disagree with me. But I have faith that if there’s another woman, he’ll find out who it is.”
“And,” Olivia said, leaning forward, “what proof were you able to give him?”
“Not a damn thing.” Grace had searched through everything Dan owned and come away all the more confused. How careful he’d been, how clever. Not a shred of evidence remained—at least, nothing tangible she could hand over to Roy.
“But gut instinct tells you there’s someone else?”
She nodded slowly. “As I think back, I see more and more clues.”
“Such as?”
“You know Dan. He didn’t care much about appearances, but recently I started remembering little things about the first time he went missing.”
“Like what?”
“That morning was the same as always, but I realized later that he’d combed his hair and shaved. Dan usually shaved at night. He altered his routine that day.”
“He was meeting her?”
“That’s my guess.”
“What about this time?”
Grace had reviewed their last morning together a hundred times or more. “I can’t remember exactly, but I think so.” What she did recall was the faint scent of his aftershave as he collected his lunch bucket from the counter and headed out the door.
“I remember a year ago I asked him if he felt guilty about something because he was acting kind of… furtive.” That incident had played back in her mind, too. Dan had shot her a stricken look as though she’d caught him red-handed. Naturally he’d denied everything, and because she’d wanted to believe him, she had.
“Have you heard anything from Roy yet?”
Grace wadded up the paper napkin in her fist. “He phoned this afternoon.”
“And?” Olivia’s eyes widened with anticipation.
“Nothing. He said that if Dan does have another job, he’s not using his social security number.”
“What about the woman? Did Roy give you any ideas on who it might be?”
“No. He’s asked around, put out feelers in Seattle and beyond, but he hasn’t come up with a single lead. Whoever it is, I suspect they’ve been meeting for years. She probably got tired of Dan’s inability to make a decision and told him it was either her or me.” Although Grace spoke without emotion, plenty of it churned inside her. It had become more and more apparent that Dan had been under pressure. He wasn’t by nature a cruel man, although at times he was capable of saying and doing cruel things. Whoever this woman was, Dan must have loved her very much.
“It’s like he disappeared off the face of the earth.”
“I know.” Grace stared down at the table. “All I want is an answer,” she whispered. “I know it might be hard to believe, especially after everything he’s put us through, but I want Dan to be happy.” She’d never been able to fill the emptiness inside him. It’d been worse after Vietnam. Then Kelly had been born, and it was as though this second daughter had renewed his purpose. For a few years they’d been happy. Dan had encouraged Grace to get a college education, and was an invaluable asset with the girls. They’d been a team, a family. Now he was gone.
“What if you don’t get those answers?” Olivia asked gently.
Grace had considered that, too. It was a very real possibility. Dan didn’t seem willing to tell her why he’d left—not to her face, at any rate. Perhaps that was the reason he’d decided to make a brief appearance in Cedar Cove. He’d wanted to be seen. Perhaps he was telling her he’d gotten on with his life and now she should do the same.
“If I don’t get any answers, I’ll deal with it just as I have everything else.”
Olivia shook her head admiringly. “You’re a brave woman, Grace Sherman.”
Grace didn’t view herself that way but accepted the compliment. “Hey, when are we going to get some service around here?”
Olivia