Cedar Cove Collection. Debbie Macomber

can compromise. I’ll check the paper and get back to you with some ideas.”

      “Okay.”

      They still hadn’t decided whether to meet in Seattle or Cedar Cove, but that gave Troy a legitimate excuse to call her later. Not that he really needed an excuse … They kissed good-night, a brief, comfortable kiss, and Troy left. As he made his way down side streets to the freeway on-ramp, he couldn’t stop smiling.

      The freeway traffic remained heavy, thanks no doubt to the holiday weekend. Driving back to Cedar Cove took nearly ninety minutes. As soon as he walked into the dark, silent house, he noticed the flashing red light on his phone. He checked the caller ID function; all four calls had come from his daughter. No surprise there.

      It was close to eleven, too late to return Megan’s call. He’d phone her in the morning, when his head would be clearer and he’d be better prepared to answer her questions. He’d tell her enough to satisfy her curiosity for the moment, but he wouldn’t lie.

      As he started toward his bedroom, the phone rang again. Apparently Megan wasn’t going to let this rest.

      “Yes, Megan,” he said, recognizing the number. Who else would be calling him this late at night? Well, except for work, of course.

      “It’s Craig,” his son-in-law said in a flat tone. “I just got back from the hospital.” He hesitated and Troy could hear him taking a deep breath. “Megan lost the baby.”

      Troy felt as if he’d had a fist slammed into his belly. The first word out of his mouth was “No.”

      “I’m sorry…. We tried to reach you. Apparently you had your cell turned off.”

      Troy hadn’t bothered to check. “I was … out.”

      “Megan’s taking the miscarriage pretty hard.”

      Troy felt the sudden need to sit down. “What went wrong?” he asked, shocked by the news.

      Sandy had lost two pregnancies after Megan, and both times the experience had been devastating. He couldn’t stand that this had happened to his daughter, too.

      “The doctor couldn’t say for sure. Sometimes they can’t tell.”

      “Is she still at the hospital?” Troy asked.

      “No, she’s here.”

      “Can I talk to her?”

      “Of course.”

      Troy heard his daughter’s tears even before she started to speak. “Daddy, where were you? We tried and tried to call, and we couldn’t get hold of you.” Megan was sobbing in earnest now. “I needed you, Daddy, I really needed you and you weren’t there.”

      “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”

      “I wanted this baby so much. This baby was Mom’s gift to me and now … now there isn’t a baby.”

      Troy didn’t know how to comfort her, any more than he’d known how to help Sandy when she’d miscarried. While he’d been out with Faith, sipping expensive wine in a fancy restaurant, walking on the beach, kissing her, his daughter had been at the hospital losing her baby. His grandchild.

      Nineteen

      Bobby wants me to cut my hours,” Teri complained to Rachel as they walked along the Cedar Cove waterfront. They were on their lunch break and both felt the need to get out of the salon, into the crisp, fresh air and lovely September sunshine. Before long, the October rains would come and warm, bright days such as this would be rare.

      “Is that what you want?” Rachel asked, tossing the leftover crust from her sandwich to the seagulls.

      Teri didn’t reply, and Rachel glanced up from feeding the gulls.

      “Do you want to work part-time?” Rachel repeated.

      “I don’t know what I want anymore,” Teri confessed. “I love my job, but I love Bobby, too, and he needs me more than Mrs. Johnson needs a spiral perm or Janice Hutt a color job.”

      “Then you have your answer,” Rachel said, as if the decision should be an easy one.

      “I don’t think it’s quite that simple.” Feeling queasy, Teri sat on a bench that overlooked the Cove. Baskets of blooming annuals in an array of pinks and reds hung from the lightposts along the walkway. “Bobby is so intense and, well …” She hated to say it, but she needed a break from her husband every now and then. A few hours apart from each other did them both good. Working at the salon was the perfect arrangement.

      Rachel sat down beside her, and instantly a flock of seagulls gathered at their feet. She tossed the last of the bread onto the lawn, then shooed the birds away.

      “This whole thing’s giving me an upset stomach,” Teri murmured. In fact, she felt like throwing up.

      “You’re pale,” Rachel said, eyeing her closely.

      “Darn him.” She closed her eyes as a wave of nausea swept over her. “Since the hair show, Bobby’s been worse than ever.”

      “Worse?”

      “He hardly lets me out of his sight.” Teri knew without looking that James was somewhere in the vicinity. He’d been assigned to watch over her whenever she was away from home. To his credit, James tried to be as unobtrusive as possible. But Teri couldn’t help knowing he was there, especially when he hung around the mall, peering into the salon every ten or fifteen minutes. The other girls were used to it now and tended to ignore him.

      “Get Nailed is more than my job,” Teri continued. “It’s a big part of my social life, too. You’re there and I’d miss seeing you every day.”

      “Yes, but …” Rachel paused. “I’m actually thinking maybe Nate and I.” She let the rest fade.

      “You really think you might marry Nate?” Teri liked the other man well enough and she knew Rachel was completely enthralled with him. But as she’d told Bobby, she was unsure this was right for her friend. Apparently she wasn’t the only one with doubts; Rachel seemed to have reservations herself, otherwise she would’ve moved to San Diego when Nate was transferred.

      “I’m still trying to decide,” Rachel said miserably. “Nate and I talk about it every time we’re on the phone. He’s coming to see me and I know he’ll want an answer.”

      “So the pressure will really be on.”

      “Exactly.”

      “If you love him, why the doubt?”

      Rachel sat back against the park bench and crossed her legs, one foot swinging. “You’re going to think I’m being silly.”

      “Rachel, you’re my best friend! I’d never be that judgmental.”

      “It has to do with Jolene,” she said with a deep sigh. “I know what it’s like to lose a mother. That was hard enough on the kid, but then her grandmother died, too. Bruce’s family lives somewhere out east and they don’t seem to have much contact. I’m afraid Jolene will feel abandoned if I leave now.”

      “How old is she again?” Teri asked.

      “Twelve. She’s almost ready for junior high. This is such a vulnerable age. Bruce is worried, too, and, well, I just don’t feel I can do that to Jolene.”

      Teri understood Rachel’s quandary. “But you can’t base your life on Jolene.”

      Rachel leaned forward and uncrossed her legs. “Now you sound like Nate. Jolene’s gotten to be a real sore point between us. I’m afraid to even mention her name because whenever I do, he gets upset with me.”

      “What about Bruce?” Teri wondered if Jolene was the only complication.

      “What about him?”