LITMIR.BIZ

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inside his raincoat pockets.

      “I had a good time,” Eric announced. Was it Olivia’s imagination or did he sound a little shocked by that revelation?

      “I did, too,” Jack said.

      Eric didn’t say anything for a moment. “Would you like to meet again sometime?”

      “I’d like that very much,” Jack said solemnly.

      “Me, too.”

      Eric smiled charmingly at Olivia. “It was nice meeting you.”

      “You, too, Eric.”

      The cars started to leave the Bremerton ferry and it was time to walk onboard.

      “I’ll be in touch,” Jack said, steering Olivia toward the terminal and the ticket booth for walk-on customers.

      Eric raised his hand in farewell and eased away, taking small steps backward.

      Jack purchased their tickets, and as they boarded the ferry, he said, “That went well, didn’t it?”

      “Very well.”

      She could feel his relief and found his reaction—his entire attitude toward his son—a bit puzzling. Still thinking about it, she followed him up the steps to the main deck. Jack hurried ahead of her toward the back railing and stood there, the wind in his face as he looked out over the Seattle waterfront.

      “There he is,” Jack called. He placed his finger between his lips and let out a piercing whistle.

      Eric jerked around, saw them and waved once more.

      “He’s a well-adjusted young man,” Olivia murmured.

      “The credit for that goes to his mother.”

      “You weren’t part of his life while he was young?” That would explain the awkwardness between them.

      “I was around but…I wasn’t much of a father.”

      Olivia understood what he was saying. Between law school and everything else that’d been crammed into the early years of her own children’s lives, Olivia suffered her share of regrets. She’d longed to be a good mother, still did, but there were only so many hours in a day.

      “I’m proud to be his father.”

      It was probably the best compliment a father could give his son, but unfortunately Eric hadn’t been there to hear it.

      “Do you see him often?” she asked, attempting to gauge the relationship.

      “We try,” was all Jack would admit. “However, we have a lot of issues—” he grimaced at the word “—that we need to work through.”

      She smiled at his distaste for what he called psychobabble. He’d told her more than once that he preferred plain speaking.

      “But you and Eric are both making the effort,” she said quietly.

      Jack nodded. “Yes, we are.” Then, as though searching for a way to turn the subject from himself, he asked, “Any word from Justine?”

      Olivia wanted to groan aloud. Her daughter was her main source of concern just now. Although Justine hadn’t said anything to Olivia, word had filtered through town about her and Seth Gunderson. Olivia felt like cheering. Seth was exactly the kind of man she pictured for her headstrong daughter.

      Then Seth had left for Alaska, and all of a sudden the gossip was about Warren Saget ordering a huge diamond ring from Berghoff Jewelers. Warren had purposely chosen a local jeweler, and the whys of it didn’t escape Olivia. He wanted her to know. Coward that he was, Warren Saget didn’t have the courage to confront Olivia face-to-face. He left the broadcasting of his intentions to the gossipmongers of Cedar Cove.

      “You heard?” Olivia asked.

      Jack gave a nonchalant shrug. “Did she say yes?”

      “I have no idea.” It hurt to admit that her only daughter hadn’t even discussed a marriage proposal with her mother.

      “If she says yes, what will you do?” Jack asked, watching her closely.

      “Do?” As if Olivia had a choice. “What can I do? I’ll grin and bear it, but I’ll have a hell of a time calling Warren my son-in-law, especially since we’re almost the same age.”

      “Is Seth Gunderson aware of the…proposal?”

      That was the mystery of the hour. “I wish I knew.”

      “Are you worried?” Jack asked.

      “Damn straight,” she said grimly.

      Jack threw his arm around her shoulder. “Everything’s going to work out, just wait and see.”

      Olivia tried to think positive thoughts, but she wondered if Jack was referring to her situation, or his own.

      Twelve

      Charlotte believed with all her heart that Tom Harding had entrusted her with his most precious keepsakes for a reason. She was to find an heir or, failing that, make sure these things were properly displayed in a museum. It was a task she took seriously. Seriously enough to flirt with breaking the law.

      For days she mulled over what to do. Because Tom had been a ward of the state, her biggest fear was that the saddle, guns, poster and television scripts would be confiscated and sold at auction in order to recoup the money spent on his care. According to Washington State law, Tom was only allowed two-thousand dollars’ worth of property. At least, that was how Olivia had explained it.

      “Can the state take all this away?” she’d asked her daughter the day of their discovery.

      “Well…”

      Charlotte knew what that “well” signified and, despite the risk, took action behind her daughter’s back. And the state’s… If it meant she was about to be hauled off to the clinker, then so be it.

      Since then, Olivia had been preoccupied with court issues, but Charlotte’s innate honesty made it impossible not to tell her daughter what she’d done. She decided to pay a visit to the judge’s chambers one Monday at noon. It wasn’t likely that Olivia would have her own mother arrested.

      Charlotte peeked inside and was instantly welcomed by the smell of old books and lemon oil. Looking up from her desk, Olivia frowned. “Hello, Mother.”

      “Do you have a minute?”

      Deep in thought, Olivia took a moment to focus before answering.

      “In case another time would be better, I want you to know I’ve been back to Tom’s storage unit and have taken some of his things. I couldn’t put it off any longer. Janet wanted that key.”

      “Mother,” Olivia cried, covering her ears. Her daughter always did have a certain dramatic flair. “Don’t tell me that.”

      “I have them in my safekeeping. We both know what’ll happen once Social Service discovers Tom had anything of value.” Charlotte simply couldn’t allow that to happen.

      Olivia stood, stared at her, then promptly sat down. She sighed. “Well…there’s a case, weak though it is, for claiming that the items weren’t of any real value until after his death.”

      That sounded like an argument an attorney would make, but still…an excellent justification, Charlotte thought with a satisfied nod. Anyway, it wasn’t as though Charlotte had cleared out the storage unit. She’d left the furniture, shabby and worn but still usable. She’d taken only what she felt Tom wanted her to save from obscurity. Only the things that should go to his family—if she could find anyone.

      “Don’t worry,” Charlotte said. “I have everything under control.” It worried her that Olivia had so little to say. Perhaps there were more legal ramifications than she understood, whole laws she didn’t even know she’d broken.

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