Butterfly Cove (25 page)

Jilly glanced at Rafe’s bare chest and shook her head. “Do me a favor. Don’t ever get your picture taken like that in the kitchen. Bare feet. Bare chest. Tight blue jeans. Sweet heaven, I’ll have no business left. Every woman in the world will want your mac and cheese, if they see you cooking like that.”

Rafe muttered darkly. “If you’d get out of here and give us some peace and quiet, we might manage to finish dinner in time to get to the Harbor House.”

Jilly flicked her hair at him. “Enjoy the chipotle. Something tells me you’ll be generating your own kind of heat in here first.”

After Jilly left, Olivia moved to the stove. “It smells amazing. And I’m ravenous.” She looked at the formally set table and the dishes on the counter. “I can’t believe you did all this while I was asleep.” She smiled self-consciously and then wiggled away when Rafe ran a hand over her waist and down her slender hips. “None of that, Deputy. If we get started, you’ll distract me. Then I’ll never get my food.” She slanted him a look under her lashes.

“All you have to do is ask, honey.” Rafe’s voice was husky. “Why don’t you go sit down while I get this into the oven. Then I’ll open up that bottle of merlot I found in the pantry.”

“Feeling quite at home. I’m glad to see that, Rafe. Because for as long as I have this house—you should make it your home.” She watched him assemble the casserole and slide it into the oven. “But why was Jilly so edgy, as if something was up?”

Rafe glanced back at her. “Not sure I follow.”

“Did she tell you something?”

Rafe didn’t answer, his face expressionless. Jilly wanted to break the news tonight. He had to respect that.

“It looked important.” Olivia’s eyes widened. She ran across the room and grabbed Rafe by the shoulder, knocking wine over both of them. “She’s
pregnant!
It slipped out, didn’t it? Jilly can’t keep a secret about anything for long.”

Olivia beamed up at him, so pleased with her detective work that Rafe couldn’t find it in his heart to lie. “You aren’t supposed to know. She wants to announce it tonight. She’s also worried that she’ll be a terrible mother.”

“Jilly? She’ll be fantastic. They will be
great
parents. I’ll bet they’ll have the most popular house on the block.”

“That’s exactly what I told her. But you know how Jilly likes to worry.”

“You know us all so well.” Olivia studied his face for a long time. “Sometimes I forget how close we all were back then. We used to go to the beach, to climb on the cliffs.”

“Better not forget it. I know all your secrets, starting with grade school. And now if you’ll stop distracting me, I’ll get this into the oven so we can take our wine out on the porch and watch the last of the sunset.”

Olivia moved close behind him and kissed his shoulder. Then she kissed the hollow beneath his neck and the center of his hard chest. “I love you, Deputy Russo.” The words held absolute certainty. “I guess I’ve loved you since you stalked me at nine. So can we please get it right this time?”

Rafe Russo’s Crowd-pleasing Guacamole Recipe

Forget about salsa.

This knocks salsa out of the competition. Try it with chips. With rice. With lettuce wraps. With English muffins or black bean soup or chili. As a topping on salad or hamburger.

The ingredients are limited, but be sure the avocados are newly ripened and with no bruises. It’s all about the avocados! And please—only white onions. Not yellow. Not red.

Definitely not Vidalia.

Ingredients

3 ripe avocados

1/2 medium white onion, chopped fine

1 poblano pepper

2 T freshly squeezed lime juice

1/2 tsp smoked sea salt

Chopped cilantro for topping

Chop white onion and put aside.

Dry roast uncut poblanos over a grill or in a cast-iron pan for about five minutes until blistered and black, turning often. (Remember—no oil.) Place cooked peppers in a paper bag until cool, and then peel away the black areas of the skin. Cut peppers and remove seeds. Chop coarsely and add to onions.

Mix in salt.

Cut avocados in half, remove skin and mash slightly, leaving chunks for texture. Toss with vegetables. Add fresh lime juice and mix well.

Sprinkle with cilantro—and enjoy!

Optional: add 3 T chopped fresh tomatoes and crumbles of freshly cooked bacon. Serves 3-6, depending on the appetite.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

T
HE
H
ARBOR
H
OUSE
was lit up brightly when Olivia and Rafe parked outside. Small Christmas-tree lights were draped across the front porch and a big autumn wreath hung at the freshly painted wooden door. Bright red geraniums ran along the top of the porch railing. The house looked alive again, glowing with good energy and fresh life, Olivia thought.

Through the open windows she could hear laughter and the clink of glasses. A baby cried and was quickly comforted. Olivia heard Duffy bark, followed by the sound of Jilly’s good-natured commands to the dog to be quiet and come sit down beside her.

It was chaos. It was noisy and unpredictable.

It was friendship in all its shapes and sizes. The noisy house welcomed her in, wrapped warm arms around her the way it always had growing up, when Olivia had no real home of her own except the cold house and even colder father who had never really made her feel welcome.

She looked up, feeling Rafe’s arm slip around her shoulders. “So what do you think? Will it pass muster for the opening?”

“It looks incredible. You four could never tackle anything simple, could you? You always had to dream big. And you got it right this time. My guess is the parking lot will be overflowing from the first hour you open.”

“I hope you’re right. If I were a tourist driving by, I’d definitely stop in. We’re working on special promotions for knitters. We may even get some visitors from as far away as Portland.”

“Oh, I think they’ll come from a lot farther than Portland,” Rafe said slowly. “Let’s go in. Jilly’s brownies are calling to me. I’m going to get that recipe out of her somehow, mark my words. After all, with a big thriving enterprise like the Harbor House, you need to keep your local law enforcement satisfied.”

Olivia ran a hand across his chest and smiled darkly. “Satisfaction is very high on my list. You can be certain of that.”

Rafe stopped at the doorway. The smells and the noise and the bustle and the laughter hit him with almost physical force. He remembered the derelict outline of the Harbor House, full of graffiti and broken windows as he had seen it, growing up. Every few years things would look better; new owners came, and then they went. Businesses started up and businesses failed.

But this venture would succeed. He could feel it in his gut.

Because these women cared. They would stay the course. All this bustle and laughter and commitment were what he had fought for on the other side of the world. This was what he had come home to find.

But his philosophical musings were forgotten the second the door opened. Caro bore down upon them. Her grandmother followed, carrying Caro’s wriggling child. Jilly’s white dog jumped around Rafe in circles, thrilled by the new arrivals.

After the noisy hellos, Grace introduced the man she was going to marry. Noah studied Rafe gravely as the two men sized each other up.

Noah held out his hand. “Welcome back to Summer Island, Deputy Russo.”

“Nice to be home. And call me Rafe. Hard to believe that things haven’t changed very much back here. When you’re where I was, you got the feeling you were at the end of the world. Time stops over there. You’re sure that nothing will be the same when it’s over.”

Noah nodded. “I know what you mean. There’s a fellow in D.C. who sends his regards. He said to tell you the hats are still green and the beer will be cold. I suppose that means something to you.”

“Yes, it does. Tell him to keep his head down.” Rafe rolled his shoulders. “Whatever happens, you can count on Jilly to cook a fantastic meal,” Rafe said gruffly.

Grace and Olivia had been talking, and now Grace turned to Rafe. “Welcome home, Rafe. It’s been too long. And, Olivia, we have a surprise for you.”

Grace moved back a step while Noah lifted a big framed picture.

Rafe saw that it was an architectural rendering of the Harbor House, captured in an exquisite pen-and-ink sketch. He recognized Olivia’s signature at the bottom. The details in the sketch left him speechless. She had captured the grace and dignity of the old house perfectly.

“We’re going to hang it in the front foyer. Everybody needs to see your work, Olivia.”

Olivia flushed. “I don’t—know what to say.”

“Say that you’ll knit more sweaters for the yarn shop, and I’ll be satisfied. Your samples will sell a lot of yarn.”

Olivia laughed. “I’ll get right on it. I already have six different projects on my needles right now, but who needs to sleep?”

“Don’t worry, Jilly will probably kick me out of the kitchen any day now. After she does, you and I will go knit samples together.” Grace leaned closer. “Jilly has her new food empire all mapped out. Luckily, she’s going to use the internet this time around.” Grace held up a plate to Rafe. “What do you think?”

Rafe turned the plate slowly. “One cappuccino brownie, one cinnamon-chipotle brownie and a slice of banana-cream pie. How did you know what I like, Grace?”

“Easy,” Grace said. “You always had a soft spot for sweet things.” She studied the bustling room. “This is the first time we’ve gotten everyone together here.”

“If you ask me, the four of you have worked a miracle. I still can’t figure out how you managed it.”

“That’s what Noah keeps saying.” Grace moved closer to the tall man and slid her fingers through his.

“You’re going to have at least four people staying here, I can guarantee that.” Noah slid his arm around Grace’s waist. “My father tells me he’s bringing the whole family to visit next month. They’ll be some of your first guests. My mother has heard a lot about Jilly’s cooking and she can’t wait for a one-on-one cooking class.”

Walker tapped a knife on a glass.

Jilly and Walker moved to the front of the room, and Walker held up his hand. “Sorry to interrupt my wife’s excellent desserts, but if you’ll sit down, we have a few things to say. No, don’t look bored. It’s the price of admission for having Jilly’s brownies. You have to listen to a story.”

There were a few mock groans.

“Stow it. Jilly has an announcement.”

Walker looked ready to burst with pride, Rafe thought. And if he was ever lucky enough to have a child with Olivia, would he look that same way?

Rafe figured he probably would.

Jilly glanced around the room slowly. Then she turned to Walker. “I never thought I’d come back to Summer Island. I had bigger plans for things I could only do in big cities. But one night I met a man in a little airport up in a little mountain town and I fell in love. Well, the truth is, I fell in love with his
dog
first. So where are you, Winslow?” A big dog cut through the crowd and sat beside Jilly. He rubbed his head against her leg. “You see what I mean? This guy is a real heartbreaker.” Jilly rubbed Winslow’s head and then took a deep breath. “The other thing is—when Walker and I decided to make our home here in Summer Island, it was because of you. The Harbor House is our home.”

There was another round of applause, and Jilly slid her hands into Walker’s. “The last thing we wanted to tell you is that...we just had the results. We’re crazy excited. I’m terrified, too, but Walker tells me that’s normal.”

“Terrified about what?” This came from Caro’s grandmother, seated and holding Caro’s now-sleeping child.

Jilly looked at Walker. “You tell them.”

Walker rubbed his jaw and smiled slowly. “Jilly’s pregnant. We wanted all of you to know about it first.”

Whatever Walker would have said next was drowned out by shouted congratulations and wild clapping. Glasses of champagne were held high, and crystal clinked.

Jilly went beet-red. Walker looked a little flushed, too. Olivia was pretty sure her heart was going to explode with happiness at any second.

Because these were the people she loved most in the world, she thought she wanted to make her own announcement now. She wanted to say that Rafe was home to stay, and she and Rafe were together now, the way they had always hoped to be.

She didn’t know exactly what their future would be, but they would be together, figuring out the challenges every step of the way.

A cell phone chimed quietly. Olivia glanced up as Rafe reached into his back pocket, pulled out his phone and scanned the number. There was a faint narrowing of his eyes.

He looked at her, smiled and said, “I have to take this.”

Then he walked away, cell phone to his ear.

“Anything wrong?” Jilly moved next to Olivia. The two watched Rafe disappear into the kitchen.

“He got a phone call. Probably nothing.”

Olivia was still waiting five minutes later. Rafe had not returned.

Grace moved next to Jilly. “Where is our local law enforcement officer? Those brownies are going fast.”

“Rafe’s in the kitchen,” Jilly said thoughtfully. “He got a call. Probably some paperwork at the station.”

Rafe walked over to Walker. The two men spoke quietly.

“Wonder what they’re talking about. How to align your tires or clean your distributor cap?”

Rafe saw the three women staring at him and crossed the room. “I’ve got to go. Tom Wilkinson called. There’s a little problem down at the station. I should be back in an hour. Why don’t you stay here with your friends, honey. I’ll come back and get you when I’m done.”