1225 Christmas Tree Lane (5 page)

The comment struck her as odd. Her mother rarely said those words. She smiled. “I know, Mom, and I love you, too.” She came back and bent over to kiss her mother's cheek. “I'll see you in a few hours.”

For an instant Charlotte regarded her blankly and Olivia knew that her mother had no idea why her daughter would be returning so soon.

Five puppies now had homes. Five to go.

It'd been love at first sight. Jack Griffin had come by with his son, Eric, and Eric's family. The grandsons had each chosen a puppy. They'd fallen to their knees and eight puppies had raced into their arms. It had taken quite a long time for the boys to make their decisions. In the end, they'd selected two males; in fact, they'd already given their puppies names, albeit not very original ones: Baron and Duke. Five were left, since Eddie Cox had picked one up for his parents—three females and two males. Ted had volunteered to watch over whatever puppies didn't have homes when Beth and the girls
drove to Whistler, but she hated to burden him with extra animals.

Instead of returning to the house after she'd seen off the Griffins and their puppies, Beth wandered into the back of the yard where she had the heated kennel. She opened the gate and let her dogs run in among the trees. They were happy to exercise and she enjoyed playing with them, enjoyed their boundless energy.

Her whole family had been pet lovers. From her earliest memories, they'd always had a dog. Kent loved animals, too, which was one of the reasons she'd been attracted to him all those years ago…and now. At one time he'd considered entering veterinary college, but the application process was complex and difficult, with only a few candidates accepted each year. He'd tried two years running and was declined both times. Although bitterly disappointed, he'd decided to change his course of study to engineering. In the end, that career choice had suited him well.

Thinking of Kent, Beth was forced to confront his news head-on. He was involved with someone else. Danielle had made a point of telling everyone what “good” friends they were. Although Kent had called her merely a friend, it was obvious that Danielle intended it to be so much more.

After three years, this shouldn't come as such a shock—only it did. Her heart felt weighted down by grief and disappointment. Yet she was the one who'd set him free. Not once had she made an effort to turn the tide of the divorce proceedings. Perhaps this was one of those classic scenarios; she didn't want him but she didn't want anyone else to have him, either.

Still, she had to ask herself: Did she want her ex-husband back? She couldn't answer that, not with certainty, and in any event the decision had been taken out of her hands. This sense of loss and confusion was probably typical of ex-wives, she reasoned. It must be.

“Mom?” Bailey was calling her.

Pulling herself out of her musing, she shouted and waved. “Over here.”

“I saw the Griffins leave and you didn't come back in the house.”

Beth didn't feel much like company at the moment. “I thought I'd let the dogs run a bit first,” she said.

Sophie joined her sister. It'd started to snow again, thick flakes that drifted lazily down. The wind chilled her through her thick jacket. Because she spent so much time outdoors, she'd learned to ignore the cold. But this particular chill seemed to come from the inside out….

“Are you upset about Dad and Danielle?” Sophie
asked, still putting on her gloves. She didn't look at Beth, as though she wanted to hide her own reaction to Kent's “friend.”

“You mean because your father has someone else in his life? Oh, heavens, no.” She wondered how effective her lie had been.

“We don't like Danielle,” Bailey announced for the two of them.

“You have to admit she's beautiful.”

Both girls rolled their eyes. “Mom, she's plastic. I can't imagine what Dad sees in her. Besides, she treats us like we're still in diapers.”

“Give her a chance,” Beth urged. She didn't know why she was championing the other woman when she agreed with everything her daughters said.

“Tell us again, how did you and Dad meet?” Bailey asked.

Instead of answering their question, she asked one of her own. “Did you know that at one time your father wanted to be a veterinarian?”

“Dad?”

“Get out of here!”

“We met in college,” Beth said. “You remember that.” They'd heard the story a hundred times. It didn't make
sense to repeat it now. “Are you sure you want to hear this?”

Their response was immediate and enthusiastic. “Yes!”

“Okay. We met on campus. A friend-of-a-friend situation. My roommate was dating your father, and I was dating another guy named Steve. I liked your father a whole lot more than Steve, but he was with Melanie and I couldn't very well make a play for him. We dated as a foursome quite a bit and then one day Melanie told me she liked Steve better than Kent and I confessed that I liked Kent better than Steve.”

“And the two of you wanted to switch dates,” Sophie finished for her.

“That is so cool,” Bailey said.

“Well, it would've been if the guys felt the same way about us, but they didn't. Steve claimed he wanted to marry me, but I wasn't interested. Kent, on the other hand, only had eyes for Melanie.”

“Oh, brother. Clearly, Dad's needed direction in the girlfriend department for a long time.”

“We worked it out. Melanie broke up with Kent and I took the initiative and phoned to console him. What he wanted was for me to convince Melanie to take him back….” She paused and kicked at a pile of snow. “I guess I was always the second choice with your father.”

“Oh, Mom, that isn't true!”

Beth smiled, letting her daughters know she wasn't serious. Well, maybe she was, not that it mattered.

“Whatever happened to Melanie? Did she marry Steve?”

“No. She left college in our junior year and dated a guy from France. Eventually she followed him there. We lost contact after a while. I haven't heard from her in years.”

Princess raced to Beth's side. Panting, the collie dropped a stick at her feet. “You want to play fetch, do you?” she asked, and bent to pet her thick fur. Princess was a rescue someone had brought her. Her friend had found the collie on the side of the road near the freeway. With some effort she was able to get the large dog into the car. Rather than take her to the animal shelter, Beth's friend had brought her to Beth. Half-starved, Princess was in bad shape, and Beth had nourished her back to health. She'd tried to find her owner, but the dog had no identification. Now Princess was deeply attached to Beth and was one of the dogs in the Reading with Rover program Grace had instigated at the library.

“Dad still loves you,” Bailey insisted.

“Of course he does,” Beth said, and meant it. “We were married for twenty-three years. I'm the mother of
his children. While we might have opposing opinions on certain issues, when it comes to you girls, we're in total agreement.”

“Bailey means he
really
loves you.”

Beth threw her arms around her daughters and brought them close. “Listen, you two. I know this is difficult. Maybe you believed that your father's visit to Cedar Cove meant more than he intended it to mean. Maybe you believed he was making a statement about reconciliation.” Well, he'd made a statement, all right. He wanted to introduce their daughters to his “friend.”

“The reason your father's here is because he wanted us all to meet Danielle. He wants us to welcome her into the family.”

“I can't do it.” Sophie's chin rose defiantly.

“Me, neither.”

For that matter, it wasn't going to be any easier for Beth. Nevertheless, she was determined to do her best.

“They'll be coming back here, and I want us all to make an effort, okay?”

Bailey sighed expressively and, after a moment, said, “I'll try…I guess.”

“Will Dad be here when we decorate the tree?”

Beth had assumed not. He was with Danielle and it
would be awkward to include the other woman. “I…I don't know, but I don't think so.”

“Dad used to enjoy that,” Sophie said.

Beth had, too. It was their special family tradition. They'd always waited until Christmas Eve to decorate the tree, which went back to her German roots. Her grandparents hadn't put up a tree until the night before Christmas, a tradition that had come from the old country.

“Shouldn't we at least ask Dad about decorating the tree with us?”

“I suppose…” Beth said without much enthusiasm. He would probably assume the invitation included Danielle.

The girls returned to the house, and Beth stayed outside, letting the dogs run until they were tired. She gave them each a healthy snack, then they retreated to their kennel and she went back inside.

Beth had never intended to own six dogs—make that seven with the puppy upstairs. But then she'd never intended to have her children barely a year apart, either. Kent was still in his last year of engineering school and she was working as a teaching assistant to help support them when she discovered she was pregnant with Bailey. Sophie hadn't been a planned pregnancy, either, and she'd arrived a mere fourteen months after her sister.

Beth had gotten pregnant with Bailey at Christmas-time. Christmas Eve, to be exact. Hard to prove, perhaps, but she was sure of it. She'd
felt
it, felt they'd made a baby that night. Beth wondered if Kent remembered and suspected that, after all these years, he'd put it out of his mind.

They could only afford a small tree that year and had waited until Christmas Eve to decorate it. Beth had said it was tradition, and while it hadn't been
his
family's tradition, he'd been a good sport about it. With little money for ornaments, Beth had made their own. Kent had done his part, stringing popcorn and cranberries while she sewed gingerbread men from pieces of felt, decorating them with eyes and a row of tiny buttons down the front. Each was unique, individual. She still had several of the original ones and others, too, that she'd crafted through the years. She kept them carefully packed away in boxes.

It'd snowed that Christmas Eve, too, but their tiny basement apartment was warm and cozy. As a surprise, Kent had purchased two miniature bottles of rum to make hot drinks. After decorating the tree, they sat in front of the woodstove, their only source of heat, and with Beth on Kent's lap and the cat curled up on the ottoman, they'd toasted the holidays. They'd started kiss
ing and then one thing led to another and three weeks later the stick was blue.

That was Bailey.

How excited Kent had been to have a daughter. When they learned Beth was pregnant a second time, he'd hoped for another girl and had gotten his wish.

The early years of their marriage were financially tight. They'd met every crisis, refusing to let their money problems come between them. They were a unit, a couple, determined to beat the odds. And when it was smooth sailing financially, her marriage had fallen apart.

Somewhere, while the girls were in their early teen years, they'd lost the glue that held them together.

Well, good grief, there was no need to analyze the past at this late date. What was done was done. She smiled despite her mood. If ever there was a profound statement, that was it.
What's done is done. Accept it.
Beth found herself humming a Christmas carol as she headed back to the house.

Bailey was on her cell phone in the kitchen. When she saw Beth, she abruptly ended the conversation.

“That was Dad,” she explained. “He said he wants to be here when we decorate the tree.”

Beth's chest tightened. “Is he… Did he say he was bringing Danielle?”

“I don't know. I didn't ask.”

“Where did he take her to lunch yesterday?” she asked conversationally as she considered the situation. Danielle didn't appear to be the sensitive sort who'd recognize that her presence might be uncomfortable for Beth and the girls. Beth decided she needed to brace herself for the inevitable.

“The Lighthouse restaurant, I think.”

“Oh.” Of course Kent would take Danielle to one of the most expensive places in town.

“What are you making for dinner, Mom?” Bailey asked.

Sophie sent her a pleading look. “
Please
let it be your lasagna.”

Beth laughed. “Of course.” She'd better add two extra settings to the table.

“With Grandma Carlucci's marinara sauce?”

“Would I use anything else?” The recipe came from Kent's maternal grandmother, who was Italian. Because the dish demanded a lot of time and effort she only served it on special occasions. It was one of Kent's favorites, too. She'd actually made it for him, thinking…well, what she'd thought was irrelevant.

“Did your father tell you when he plans to come
over?” she asked, trying to hide how anxious this news made her.

“He's on his way now.”

“Okay,” she said, rubbing her palms together. “Why don't you girls help me carry down the ornaments and we can have everything ready for when your dad gets here.”

“Can we bring Roscoe downstairs?” Bailey pleaded.

“Sure, but you'll need to keep a careful eye on him. He's still a bit weak.”

Roscoe was Beau's—the Hardings' puppy's—brother, and the sickliest of the litter. Ted hadn't held out much hope for his survival, but Beth had given the undernourished puppy plenty of love and attention, bottle-feeding him and carefully administering his medication. At three months he seemed to have turned the corner and she thought he'd survive.

“Can we bring Princess in the house, too?” Sophie asked.

“Of course.” Her dogs spent more time inside than out.

For the next few minutes Beth and her daughters carried down boxes from the storage area upstairs. Princess watched from her place by the sofa. Roscoe was in his bed with his chin resting on his paws, still too weak to
move about much, although he seemed to enjoy the activity around him. “Did you and Dad ever have birds?” Bailey asked, standing near the canaries' cage.

Beth unsuccessfully hid a smile.