LITMIR.BIZ

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idea that they bring gifts had been smart, a good way to placate her and prove how much she meant to them. Women, in his experience anyway, responded well to gifts.

      Except that was probably the same technique David Rhodes had used.

      “Did he buy her gifts?” Linc asked, frowning.

      Ned understood his question, because he answered right away. “If you mean Rhodes, then yes, he got her a few.”

      “Such as?”

      “Flowers a couple of times.”

      “Flowers!” Mel said.

      “In the beginning, at any rate, and then after she was pregnant he bought her earrings.”

      Linc sat up straighter. “What kind?”

      Ned snickered. “He said they were diamonds but one of them came loose so I dropped it off at Fred’s for her. While he had it, I asked him to check it out.”

      Fred’s was a local jewelry store the Wyse family had used for years. “Fake, right?”

      “As phony as David Rhodes himself.”

      Mel twisted around and looked at Ned. “You didn’t tell Mary Jo, did you?”

      Ned shook his head. “I didn’t want to add to her heartache.”

      “Maybe she already knows.” His sister might be gullible but she wasn’t stupid.

      “I think she considered pawning it.” Ned lowered his voice. “She didn’t, so she might’ve guessed….”

      The mere thought of his sister walking into a pawnshop with her pathetic bauble produced a stab of actual pain. “If she needed money, why didn’t she come to me?” Linc demanded.

      “You’ll have to ask her that yourself.”

      “I plan to.” Linc wasn’t about to let this slide. “What does she need money for, anyway?”

      “She wants her own place, you know.”

      No one needed to remind Linc of that. Mary Jo herself did a fine job of informing him at every opportunity. But it wasn’t going to happen now. With a baby on the way, she wouldn’t be leaving the family home anytime soon.

      Linc liked that idea. He could keep an eye on her and on the baby, too. Even if he got married, which was by no means a sure thing, the house was big enough for all of them. His nephew would need a strong male influence, and he fully intended to provide that influence.

      “How much farther?” Mel asked.

      His brother was like a kid squirming in the front seat, asking “Are we there yet?” every five minutes.

      “Hey, look,” Ned said, pointing at the sky. “It’s really coming down now.”

      “Did you think I hadn’t noticed?” Linc didn’t have much trouble driving in bad weather; it was all the other drivers who caused the problem. Snow in the Seattle area was infrequent and a lot of folks didn’t know how to handle it.

      “Hey,” Mel said as they approached the first exit for Cedar Cove. “We’re here.”

      “Right.” Not having any more specific indication of where they should go, Linc took the exit.

      “Where to now?” Mel asked.

      Linc could’ve said, “Your guess is as good as mine.” But he figured his guess was better. “We’ll do what Mary Jo did,” he said. “We’ll chase down David’s family. That’s where she’s going to be.”

      Mel nodded. “Whoever said the Wyse Men needed a star to guide them obviously never met the three of us.”

       Chapter Eight

      Olivia couldn’t wait to see her husband. For one thing, she wanted to tell him about her stepbrother, get his advice.

      David Rhodes…that…that—she couldn’t think of a word that adequately described how loathsome he was. She wanted him exposed. Humiliated, embarrassed, punished. Only the fact that Ben would be humiliated and embarrassed, too, gave her pause.

      When Olivia pulled into her driveway on Lighthouse Road she was delighted to see that Jack was already home from the newspaper office. Impatiently, she grabbed the grocery bag of last-minute items and made her way into the house, using the entrance off the kitchen.

      “Jack!” she called out as soon as she was inside.

      “What’s wrong?” Her husband met her in the kitchen and stopped short. “Someone’s made you mad.”

      Olivia finished unwinding the muffler from around her neck. “Why do you say that?” she asked, not realizing she’d been so obvious.

      “Your eyes are shooting sparks. So, what’d I do this time?”

      “It’s not you, silly.” She hung her coat on the hook along with the bright red scarf her mother had knit for her. She stuffed the matching hat and gloves in the pockets, then kissed Jack’s cheek.

      As she filled the electric teakettle and turned it on, Jack began to put the groceries away.

      “Are you ready to talk about it?” he asked cautiously.

      “It’s David.”

      “Rhodes?”

      “The very one. The man is lower than pond scum.”

      “That’s not news.”

      Early in her mother’s marriage to Ben, his son had tried to bilk Charlotte out of several thousand dollars. He’d used a ruse about needing some surgery his medical insurance wouldn’t cover, and if not for Justine’s intervention, Charlotte would have given him the money. David Rhodes was shameless, and he’d dishonored his father’s name.

      “Is he in town?” Jack asked. He took two mugs from the cupboard and set them on the counter; Olivia tossed a couple of Earl Grey teabags in the pot.

      “No, or at least not as far as I’m aware. And frankly it’s a good thing he isn’t.”

      Jack chuckled. “I couldn’t agree with you more, and I haven’t got a clue what he’s done to upset you now.”

      “He got a young girl pregnant.”

      Jack’s eyebrows rose toward his hairline. “And you know this how?”

      “I met her.”

      “Today?”

      “Not more than two hours ago. She’s young, probably twenty years younger than he is, and innocent. Or she was until David got hold of her. I swear that man should be shot!”

      “Olivia!” He seemed shocked by her words. “That doesn’t sound like you.”

      “Okay, that might be drastic. I’m just so furious I can hardly stand it.”

      Jack grinned.

      Olivia glared at her husband. “You find this entertaining, do you?”

      “Well, not about the young lady but I will admit it’s a pleasant change to see color in your cheeks and your eyes sparkling, even if it’s with outrage.” He reached for her and brought her close enough to kiss her lips, allowing his own to linger. When he released her, he pressed his forehead to hers and whispered, “It’s an even greater pleasure to know all this indignation isn’t directed at me.”

      “I’ve never been anywhere near this upset with you, Jack Griffin.”

      “I beg to differ.”

      “When?”

      “I remember one time,” Jack said, “when I thought you were going to kick me out.”

      “I would

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