Cedar Cove Collection (Books 1-6). Debbie Macomber

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СКАЧАТЬ know.” Maryellen gently squeezed her arm. “How are you handling this?”

      “About the same as you did when your divorce came through.”

      Maryellen sighed deeply. “That bad?”

      Grace looked away, determined not to allow this day of giving thanks to become a day of grief and anger.

      The phone rang and Grace motioned for Maryellen to answer, fearing that if she spoke now, her voice would crack.

      “Hello,” Maryellen said, then frowned. “Hello? Hello?” After a moment, she hung up the receiver. “That was weird. There was no one at the other end.”

      “I got a call like that earlier,” Grace said. “No one answered then, either.”

      Maryellen stared at her with stricken eyes. “Do you…think it was Dad?”

      Grace had already guessed exactly that, but she had no way of knowing for sure. Cutting back on expenses had been important, and soon after Dan’s disappearance, she’d cancelled Caller ID and the other extras the phone company offered.

      “Why would he do such a thing?” Maryellen demanded, sounding angry now. “Why can’t he just stay out of our lives instead of playing these sick games?”

      “I suppose he misses us,” Grace said. It was the only reason she could think of.

      “If he misses us so much, why doesn’t he come home?” Maryellen shouted. “I’m going to tell him that.” She reached for the phone and started punching in numbers.

      “Who are you calling?” Grace asked.

      “Star 69.”

      “It won’t work,” Grace said, her voice tight. “I couldn’t afford all those extras…. Dan must’ve known that. He must’ve figured out that I wouldn’t be able to trace the call.” She closed her eyes in a futile effort to regain her emotional balance. “Sometimes I think I hate him for doing this to us.”

      “Mom, it’s all right. We can’t let him ruin our day….”

      “Your father and I were married for more than thirty-five years.” Her legs felt shaky and she sank into a kitchen chair.

      The phone rang again.

      “Don’t answer it!” Grace said. “Don’t give him the satisfaction. Let it ring, just let it ring.”

      On the fifth ring, the answering machine came on, and once more the only sound they heard was static.

      Maryellen pulled out a chair and sat down across from Grace. She took her mother’s hands, clasping them tightly. “I don’t know why Dad left,” she whispered, “but whatever the reason, it wasn’t because of anything you did or didn’t do. You’re a wonderful mother and you were a good wife.”

      Grace hung her head, watching as her tears dripped onto the quilted place mat. “Thank you, sweetheart.” She wished she could believe Maryellen, but she didn’t think men walked away from long-term marriages if they were content.

      She sniffled and made an effort to put the phone calls out of her mind. Maryellen released her hands, passing her a tissue to wipe her eyes.

      “I wish Cliff Harding was here,” Maryellen said forcefully. “That would shake Dad up, wouldn’t it? It’d serve him right if a man answered the phone.”

      Grace smiled shakily. “That it would.”

      The potato water had begun to boil over, and Grace leaped up to turn down the burner. She used those few seconds to compose herself and when she returned to the table, she was smiling.

      “Mom,” Maryellen said hesitantly. “What about you and Mr. Harding? Are the two of you going to start dating now that the divorce is final?”

      Grace had been thinking about this for weeks, unable to arrive at a firm decision. In fact, she’d put Cliff off once already. “Probably not,” she told her daughter.

      “You should,” Maryellen urged. “I like him. I know Kelly might have a hard time accepting another man in your life, but she’ll get used to it.”

      “It isn’t because of what Kelly will say—or you or anyone else, for that matter,” Grace confessed. “Don’t misunderstand me, I like Cliff, but I’m not ready to enter the dating world.”

      “But Mom…”

      “It’s too soon. I still feel too raw. I thought…I hoped I’d find some closure when the divorce became final, but I can see now that isn’t going to happen. I have to know, Maryellen. I need answers. Where’s your father? Why couldn’t he tell me where he went or why? What deep, dark secret is he hiding from us?”

      Grace knew very well that life didn’t always supply the answers. Perhaps one day she’d find peace. But for now there was none. Instead, the uncertainty and the anger and grief raged inside her, as strong as they’d been the day her husband disappeared. Not that her life was devoid of happiness or that she didn’t still have plenty to be thankful for. She had her daughters, her friends, her job, but—

      “You have to, Mom. You have to.”

      Her daughter said this with such urgency Grace didn’t know how to respond.

      “If you don’t, I’m afraid you’ll end up like me.”

      “And what exactly is wrong with you?” Grace asked sharply.

      “Look at me!” Maryellen cried. “I’m thirty-five and I’m terrified of falling in love again. I don’t trust my own judgment. I practically have a panic attack if a man wants to kiss me. I’m so afraid of what might happen that I refuse to allow any man close to me. I look at Kelly and Paul, and they seem so happy and so normal. Why couldn’t my marriage have been like that?”

      “Oh, Maryellen…” Grace had no idea what to tell her daughter. Maryellen so rarely spoke of her marriage that she felt at a loss as to how to comfort her.

      “I love little Tyler so much. But I’m never going to have a child of my own.”

      “Don’t say that. You’re still young,” Grace insisted.

      Maryellen shook her head. “Don’t let your divorce do to you what mine did to me,” she repeated. “Please, Mom. You have a lot of good years ahead of you. If you get another chance at love, take it! Promise me you’ll take it—and that you’ll be happy. Otherwise I don’t think I’ll ever find any kind of contentment myself.”

      Thanksgiving with her mother had been one of the most disturbing days of her life, Maryellen thought as she opened the gallery first thing Friday morning. She still felt emotionally drained from it. If she could’ve taken today off, she would have. But she expected to be swamped with customers in what was traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year.

      With so many people stopping by the gallery, it was almost two before she had a chance to eat her leftover-turkey sandwich. The only reason she had a moment to herself then was due to her assistant, Lois Habber-smith, СКАЧАТЬ