LITMIR.BIZ

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the uncapped toothpaste. The solution? They had their own bathrooms now. She’d kept the one off the master bedroom and he had the guest bath. Jack could be as sloppy as he wanted, as long as he closed the door and Olivia didn’t have to see his mess.

      “You’re lucky I love you so much,” Jack whispered.

      “And why’s that?” she asked, leaning back to look him in the eye.

      “Because you’d be lost without me.”

      “Jack …”

      The kettle started to boil, its piercing whistle enough to set the dogs in the next block howling. She tried to break free, but Jack held her fast. “Admit it,” he insisted. “You’re crazy about me.”

      “All right, all right, I’m crazy about you.”

      “And you’d be lost without me. Wouldn’t you?”

      “Jack!”

      Chortling like a schoolboy, he let her go and she grabbed the kettle, relieved by the sudden cessation of that high-pitched shrieking.

      Pouring the boiling water into the teapot, she covered it with a cozy and left the tea to steep. Then she opened the cookie jar and chose two of the decorated sugar cookies she’d baked a few days earlier with her grandson—a tree shape and a star. The afternoon had worn her out physically but she treasured every moment she’d spent in the kitchen with Leif.

      Just as she was about to pour their tea, the phone rang.

      “Want me to get that?” Jack called from the other room.

      A glance at Caller ID told her it was Grace.

      “I will,” she told him. “Merry Christmas,” she said into the receiver.

      “Merry Christmas to you, too,” her friend said in return. “I thought I’d check in and let you know how everything’s going.”

      “So what’s the update?”

      “Everything’s fine.”

      “Mary Jo’s resting?”

      “She was asleep the last time I looked, which was about five minutes ago. The girl must be exhausted. She told me she didn’t get much sleep last night.”

      “She’s in the apartment then, or at the house?”

      “The apartment. Cliff’s daughter and her family are already here, so …”

      Olivia wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of leaving Mary Jo alone, but it was probably for the best. This way she could relax undisturbed.

      “There’s something strange….”

      “What?” Olivia asked.

      “Well, for no reason I can understand, I decided to do a bit of housekeeping in the apartment yesterday. Cal’s been gone a few weeks now, and I put clean sheets on the bed and fresh towels in the bathroom. It’s as if … as if I was waiting for Mary Jo.”

      That was a little too mystical for Olivia. “I’m so glad this is working out,” she said.

      “She’s an animal-lover, too.”

      That didn’t surprise Olivia. She sensed that Mary Jo had a gentleness about her, a soft heart, an interest in others.

      “The minute I brought her into the barn, she wanted to see all the Nativity animals.”

      “You kept her away from that camel, didn’t you?”

      “I kept us both away,” Grace was quick to tell her. “That beast is going to have to chew on someone else’s arm.”

      “Yeah, David’s would be ideal,” Olivia said.

      Grace laughed, but sobered almost immediately. “Listen, Mary Jo has a concern I’d like to talk to you about.”

      “Sure.”

      “She’s got three older brothers who are most likely on their way into town, looking for her, as we speak.”

      “Does she want to be found?” Olivia asked.

      “I think she does, only she wants to talk to Ben and Charlotte before her brothers do.”

      “She’s not trying to protect David, is she?”

      “I doubt it. What she’s afraid of is that her brothers might try to insist that David marry her and she doesn’t want to. At this point, she’s accepted that she’s better off without him.”

      “Smart decision.”

      “Yes, but it came at quite a price, didn’t it?”

      “True. A lesson with lifelong consequences.”

      “We all seem to learn our lessons the hard way,” Grace said.

      “I know I did.” Her children, too, Olivia mused. Justine and James. As always, especially around the holidays, her mind wandered to Jordan, the son she’d lost that summer day all those years ago. Justine’s twin.

      “What time are Maryellen and Kelly coming by?” she asked Grace, changing the subject. Although Mary Jo would be staying in the barn, perhaps she should bring her over for dinner. Give her a chance to feel welcomed by Ben’s second family. Cliff’s daughter, Lisa, her husband and their little girl, April, were out doing some last-minute shopping, apparently, and not due back until late afternoon.

      “My girls should be here around six.”

      “You’re going straight to church after dinner?”

      “That’s the plan,” Grace told her. “I was going to invite Mary Jo to join us.”

      “For dinner or Christmas Eve service?”

      “Both, actually, but I’m having second thoughts.”

      “Why? And about what?”

      “Oh, about inviting Mary Jo to dinner. I’m afraid it might be too much for her. We’ll have five grandkids running around. You know how much racket children can make, and double that on Christmas Eve.”

      “Is there anything I can do for her?” Olivia asked. “Should I invite her to have dinner here?”

      “I’m not sure. I’ll talk to her when she wakes up and then I’ll phone you.”

      “Thanks. And tell her not to worry about her brothers.”

      “I’ll do that.”

      “See you tonight.”

      “Tonight,” Olivia echoed.

      After setting down the phone, Olivia poured the tea and placed both mugs on the table, followed by the plate of cookies, and called Jack into the kitchen again.

      His eyes widened in overstated surprise. “Cookies? For me? You shouldn’t have.”

      “I can still put them back.”

      “Oh, no, you don’t.” He grabbed the star-shaped cookie and bit off one point. “What’s this in honor of?”

      “I had pie with lunch. So I’m trying to be fair.”

      Knowing her disciplined eating habits, Jack did a double take. “You ate pie? At lunch? ”

      “Goldie made me do it.”

      “Goldie,” he repeated. “You mean Will took you to the Pancake Palace?”

      “It’s where I wanted to go.”

      Jack sat down, scooped up the tree cookie and bit into that, too. “You’re a cheap date.”

      “Not necessarily.”

      He ignored that remark. “Did you enjoy lunch with Will?” he asked, then sipped his tea. Jack was familiar with their

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