1022 Evergreen Place

“She seems to view Kristen as an airhead who’s gotten involved because she needs a volunteer project on her college application. Tanni implied Kristen wasn’t going to get into college on her grades alone. She’s a cheerleader, very cute and bubbly, and Tanni isn’t that type. Like I said, the two are total opposites.”

“She’s recently lost her father, so my guess is that Tanni’s dealing with depression.”

“I think so, too.” Grace hoped the program would provide Tanni with some encouragement—and that the girls would keep their mutual dislike out of the library.

At three-thirty that same afternoon, Grace was surrounded by dogs and kids and mild chaos as the children were matched up with their new canine friends.

“Kristen,” Grace said, “I want you to work with Mimi and Aubrey.” Mimi was a mixed breed, part Pomeranian and part something else she couldn’t identify. Aubrey was a first-grader who clung to her mother’s hand until she was introduced to Mimi. Grace found it gratifying to see how quickly the youngster responded to the dog.

Kristen led the girl to a fairly secluded area by the window, where the lighting was good. Together Aubrey and Kristen sat down on the carpet. Mimi snuggled up next to Aubrey and placed her chin on the little girl’s knee.

“Tanni, I’m going to assign you to Boomer and Tyler.”

“You got it.” The girl nodded and led seven-year-old Tyler and Boomer to the opposite end of the area reserved for the program. Boomer was a golden retriever who reminded Grace of Buttercup, her own dog.

Grace couldn’t help noticing that Tanni moved as far away from Kristen as she could, which didn’t surprise her.

She paired the two adults with two children and two dogs each, but those children were older—ten and eleven, eight and ten, respectively.

Grace stood back and waited. Her research indicated that the children felt more comfortable reading aloud to the dogs than to adults and achieved higher reading levels with practice, which of course made sense. Research showed that being with dogs enhanced their social skills and helped overcome shyness. Watching the children interact with the animals, she witnessed a startling—and very rapid—transformation in each child. She smiled as Boomer, the golden retriever, looked up at Tyler with his big brown eyes and actually held the book open with his paw pressed across the top of the page.

Grace had learned that various bookstores as well as libraries across the continent participated in programs very similar to this. In fact, one large Seattle bookstore brought therapy dogs into the children’s section twice a month. Apparently other bookstores were starting to do the same thing.

Grace only hoped that the reading program at the Cedar Cove library would prove to be as popular and as rewarding.

The thirty minutes seemed to flash by. She moved silently from one reading group to another. It was important that the children feel relaxed and at ease; the volunteers were there to oversee the kids and dogs, but once the children were set up with books, they were to quietly extract themselves and watch from a distance, letting the children read to “their” dogs alone.

Grace joined Kristen after she’d left Aubrey. “What do you think?” she asked.

Kristen’s pretty face lit up with a smile. “Aubrey took to Mimi right away. It was amazing. Did you notice how Mimi cuddled up to Aubrey? It was so sweet.”

From the corner of her eye, Grace noticed as Tanni made a face. Kristen saw it, too. Grace saw a flicker of pain in the girl’s eyes. She didn’t say anything but Grace knew Tanni’s look of contempt had hurt.

When the children were finished, Beth Morehouse collected the dogs and walked them out of the library, with Kristen and Tanni’s help.

Tanni returned to retrieve her backpack. “Do you have a minute?” Grace asked, stopping her.

“Yeah, sure.”

Grace led the way into her small office. “How did you feel the first session went?” she asked, gesturing for Tanni to take the seat across from her.

The teenager slouched down in the chair. “All right, I think. Tyler and Boomer seem to be a good match. I was surprised by how easily Tyler felt comfortable with such a big dog. He’s small for his age and I was afraid a golden retriever might intimidate him, but that wasn’t the case.”

“Beth suggested the pairings.”

“A couple of times I wanted to jump in and correct Tyler, but I knew that’s not what I’m supposed to do.”

“Great.” The children needed to gain self-confidence and self-esteem. That wouldn’t happen if the volunteers intervened and corrected their pronunciation.

Tanni reached for her backpack, which she’d dropped at her feet when she sat down.

“I had another reason for asking to speak to you,” Grace said, broaching the subject carefully. “It’s about Kristen.”

Tanni frowned. “What about her?”

“Do you dislike her?”

The girl shrugged. “Not really.”

“Do the two of you have a history I should know about?”

Tanni stared down at the floor and shook her head. “No.”

“But you don’t like her, do you?” Grace asked, pressing the point.

“No,” Tanni was honest enough to admit.

Grace leaned forward. “Do you mind telling me why?”

Tanni didn’t answer right away. When she did respond, the words seemed to spew out. “Kristen isn’t doing this because she wants to help these kids. You realize that, don’t you?”

Grace raised her eyebrows. “She told you this?”

“Well, no, but it’s obvious. She’s volunteering because she’s hoping for this Citizen Award that’s given out at graduation.”

Olivia had gotten the award the year they’d graduated. The Rotary Club gave it to a graduating senior with good marks who’d shown leadership skills and had a history of volunteering in the community.

“She’d never get it with her grades,” Tanni said scornfully.

“You know this for a fact?” Grace asked.

Tanni hesitated. “Not for sure, but like I said, it’s obvious.”

It didn’t appear all that obvious to Grace. “I think you’re making an assumption about Kristen that might be way off base.”

“It isn’t,” Tanni said without a hint of doubt. “She’s a cheerleader.” This was added in the most contemptuous tone.

“You don’t like cheerleaders?” Grace asked mildly.

“Hardly.”

“I was a cheerleader in high school,” Grace told her.

Tanni chanced a look in her direction. “But things were a whole lot different back then.”

She made it sound like the days of the Wild West, when covered wagons roamed the prairie. “Oh? How’s that?”

“You know,” Tanni said with another shrug.

“Sorry, I don’t.”

“Cheerleaders these days are real airheads. Kristen is, anyway. She’s got this laugh that makes me want to puke every time I hear it.”

Grace wondered what that was about. “Does she have a boyfriend?” she asked.

Tanni lifted one shoulder. “I suppose so. They all do in that crowd.”

“Oh.”

“If you think I’m jealous, you’re wrong! I have a boyfriend, too. Shaw Wilson.”

“Shaw who works at Mocha Mama’s?”

“He isn’t there anymore. He’s at art school in San Francisco. A friend of Will Jefferson’s helped him get in. It’s a really big deal that he was accepted.”

“I didn’t know Shaw wanted to be an artist.” Grace was well aware that Tanni’s mother, Shirley Bliss, was both gifted and successful.

“He’s really talented,” Tanni said, her voice fervent with conviction.

“How wonderful that he has this opportunity.”

She nodded, but Grace could see that the girl missed her boyfriend. “I’ll bet you’re at loose ends without him around,” she said.

Tanni gave the same careless shrug, which wasn’t really a response. “I am. It’s one of the reasons I volunteered here.”

“I’m glad you did.”

Tanni raised her eyes to meet Grace’s. “You mean you want me to stay?”

“Of course.”

“Even if I don’t get along with Kristen?”

“Well, I’m hoping you’d be willing to cut her a little slack.”

Tanni frowned. “How?” she asked.

“Drop the dirty looks and the sarcastic comments.”

Tanni shuffled her feet back and forth. “I’ll try. The thing is,” she said wryly, “it comes sort of instinctively.”

“I’m not saying you have to be friends, Tanni. All I’m asking is that you respect her and stop judging her motivations. So what if she volunteered because she’s going after the Rotary award? Her being here isn’t taking anything away from you, is it?”

“Not really,” she reluctantly agreed.

“That’s what I thought.”

Tanni bent to grab her backpack. “Can I go now?”

“Of course. Thanks for hearing me out.”

“Sure thing.”

“You’ll be back next week?” Grace asked, following her to the office door.

Tanni nodded. “I might not like Kristen, but I think Tyler and Boomer are cool.”

Seven

Rachel Peyton stopped at the dry cleaners to pick up her good jacket on the way home from Get Nailed. As she waited, a wave of dizziness nearly overwhelmed her and she quickly found a chair.

“You okay?” Duck-Hwan Hyo asked, his eyes dark with concern.

Rachel tried to reassure him. “Yes, yes, I’m fine,” she said, but her voice sounded shaky.

“You have baby?”

Rachel nodded. Funny, the man at the dry cleaners had figured it out, but not her own husband. There were times Bruce could be so dense that she wanted to hit him over the head with her shoe. She longed to tell her husband; despite the fact that this pregnancy wasn’t planned, Rachel was excited about the baby.

Duck called something in Korean to his wife. The petite woman came out from the back of the shop and joined her husband at the front counter. They had a brief conversation that involved several sympathetic glances at Rachel.

“You want tea?” his wife, Su Jin, asked softly. “I make you cup of green tea.”

“No, I’m okay, really.”

“You sure?” her husband asked.

“I’m sure, Duck,” Rachel told him. “Thank you. I just got light-headed for a moment.”

“I change my name,” Duck said with a polite bow of his head. “I not Duck anymore. I pick American name.” His face beamed with pride.

“I choose American name, too,” Su Jin announced.

“My American name,” Duck said, squaring his shoulders, “is José.”

“José,” Rachel repeated, and struggled not to laugh.

“My American name,” his wife said next, “is Serenity.”

“I’ll remember both,” Rachel promised them. She collected her dry cleaning and went out to her car. Going to the cleaners had been a delaying tactic. Jolene would be home and there’d be the usual tension between them once Rachel entered the house. If anything, that tension had been escalating.

Jolene and Rachel used to be close; Rachel had been friend as well as surrogate mother to the girl. That changed when Rachel married her father. Then they’d gone from friends to adversaries. Jolene appeared to see Rachel as competition for her father’s affection. The groundwork of friendship Rachel had laid had given way like quicksand as soon as Bruce slid the wedding ring on her finger.

Rachel was still shocked that her relationship with Jolene had disintegrated so fast. She’d done her utmost to be patient and understanding. At first, she’d tried to keep Bruce out of it; she didn’t want her husband caught in an impossible situation, forced to side with either his wife or his daughter. That hadn’t worked. Jolene’s antagonism had grown to the point of near-belligerence, and Rachel no longer knew what to do.

The pregnancy complicated everything. She’d warned Bruce that they needed to be more careful about protection when making love. She’d gone on the pill right away, but had a rare adverse reaction to it. So Bruce had said he’d take responsibility for birth control and he had—most of the time.

She blamed Bruce; she blamed herself. When she’d realized that their occasional slips had resulted in pregnancy, Rachel had been stunned. She’d needed to adjust to it before she told Bruce, knowing he wouldn’t be able to keep the secret from Jolene for long. Based on recent experience, Rachel recognized that the situation, which was barely tolerable now, would only get worse.

She should be heading home and getting dinner started, but the thought of facing Jolene was more than she could bear, especially when she felt queasy, as she seemed to every afternoon. She suspected it was a combination of nausea caused by the pregnancy, worrying about Jolene’s reaction and the constant stress at home.

She couldn’t do it. Instead of driving home, she went to Teri’s place on Seaside Avenue. Rachel hadn’t been to see her friend in nearly a week. She turned into the long driveway and parked in front of the house with a feeling of reprieve—however temporary that reprieve might be.

Rather than ring the doorbell for fear of waking the triplets, she tapped on the door.

To her surprise Bobby answered, a baby tucked in the crook of his arm. “Teri will be glad to see you,” he said, bouncing the baby as he spoke. This was a sight Rachel had never expected to see. Bobby, who was a world chess champion, holding an infant in his arms. It warmed her heart and helped her believe that the power of love could change things for the better.

“Is this a bad time?” she asked, afraid she might’ve walked into the middle of a feeding. Those were always hectic.

“Are you kidding?” Teri asked, sweeping into the foyer. “I’m dying for company. Come on in and make yourself comfortable. Let me bring Jimmy here over to Nikki. I’ll be back in a minute.” Teri took the baby from her husband’s arms and briefly disappeared. When she returned, without little Jimmy, she flopped down on the sofa next to Rachel. Bobby, who’d been awkwardly trying to entertain Rachel with an account of some chess game or other, hurried off, his relief all too evident.

“You look exhausted,” Rachel told Teri.

“I am,” Teri admitted. “We haven’t got the boys into a routine yet. Nikki’s helping me with it.” She sighed gustily. “I have no idea what I’d do without such a wonderful nanny.”

“You were lucky to find her.”

“I know.” Teri smiled, clasping her hands prayerfully. “I’m so grateful. Now … what about some tea?”

“I’d love it,” Rachel said. Ever since she’d declined the cup of tea Su Jin—or Serenity—had offered her, she’d been craving one.

“Me, too. I haven’t had a chance to sit down all afternoon.” Despite looking worn out, Teri leaped back up and hurried into the kitchen, Rachel trailing behind her. “I hope you’re here to tell me Bruce knows you’re pregnant,” Teri said.

Rachel shook her head. “Not yet.”

“Rach, you have to tell your husband.”

Rachel shrugged. “I agree. I just want to preserve what peace there is for as long as I can.”

“You can’t allow Jolene to run your life—which is exactly what’s happening now.”

“Then tell me how to change that and I’ll be happy to do it.”

Teri sat down at the kitchen table, and Rachel took the chair across from her. “Have you tried taking Jolene out, just the two of you?” Teri asked.

Rachel nodded. “But she isn’t interested in going anywhere if I’m along.”

“I thought she liked to shop?”

“She does, but not if I’m with her.” Part of the problem was that Jolene preferred to be with kids her own age rather than an adult. Like almost every young teenager, she was far more influenced by her friends and their opinions than by her parents. Granted, she idolized her dad, but Rachel had become the evil stepmother.

“That’s too bad.”

“I’ve also tried to get her interested in taking a class with me.”

Teri’s eyes shone with approval. “Great idea!”

“I signed us up for cake decorating. You know how much Jolene loves to bake. Bruce thought it was a good idea, too, but it backfired. The night of the first class she pretended to be sick and stayed home. Bruce said the minute I was out the door Jolene experienced a miraculous recovery.” She sighed. “So it’s not like he hasn’t seen some of her bad behavior, but he doesn’t see the whole picture. Anyway, I finished the classes without Jolene attending a single one.”

“Why? Did she get ‘sick’ every week?”

“No, she flat-out refused to go. She said she missed too much the first week and would always be behind. Besides that, she said she wasn’t interested in decorating cakes. That was for retards like me—her word, by the way.”

Jolene was free with her insults but smart enough not to say them in front of her father. And so far, Rachel hadn’t been able to bring herself to tattle.

“How are things between you and Bruce?” Teri asked.

The kettle whistled then and Teri got up to make the tea—decaffeinated, in deference to Rachel’s pregnancy—and assemble a plate of crackers and various cheeses. They carried everything back into the family room and sat down on the sofa again.

“Bruce is … Bruce,” she murmured.

“Oblivious, right?”

Rachel nodded, making a wry face to hide her unhappiness. The pregnancy was playing havoc with her emotions. In the past, she’d never dissolved easily into tears but they sprang to her eyes now. She fought to hold them back, blinking furiously. “He’s got a one-track mind,” she whispered, dabbing at her eyes with a napkin.

“And that one track leads directly to the bedroom.”

Rachel nodded again.

“The fact that he wants to go to bed at eight o’clock every night infuriates Jolene, too. The girl isn’t stupid. She knows why her father’s suddenly so tired.” Rachel had tried to explain to him that his sexual appetite wasn’t helping the situation between her and Jolene, but Bruce said his love life was none of his daughter’s business. He was right; nevertheless, it made Rachel’s relationship with Jolene even more difficult.

Rachel loved the way her husband desired her. The hours they spent locked in their bedroom were the only peaceful times she had. Whenever they made love she had the urge to tell him about the baby … but she hadn’t. She simply couldn’t. And she hadn’t told him he could dispense with using protection. Even Bruce might’ve been able to figure that one out.

It didn’t help, either, that Jolene was often still up, slamming things around, making sure they knew that she knew what they were doing. And Bruce himself often went right to sleep afterward. So … she hadn’t found a natural opportunity to tell him.

Rachel tentatively chose a sliver of cheese from the platter Teri had set on the table. “I dread going home at the end of the day,” she said.

“That’s not good.”

“No, it isn’t, and I feel helpless to change anything. I don’t know what to do, Teri.”

“Well, you could try family counseling.” Her friend pulled up her knees, resting her feet on the edge of the sofa. “Or … do you want Bobby to talk to Bruce?” she asked.

Rachel was grateful Teri had offered, but she couldn’t see how it would improve matters. “Thanks, but no.”

Teri actually looked relieved. “I can’t imagine that Bobby would know what to say, anyway,” she confessed. “I adore that man, but this is not the sort of thing he’s comfortable with. Did I tell you he was away for a few days? The boys and I missed him like crazy.”

“Bobby was away? Where?”

Teri took a sip of her tea. “Bobby and James went to L.A. They had some business they needed to attend to—I don’t know the details.” She frowned as she said it.

“Nothing’s wrong, is there?”

“No, no,” Teri was quick to assure her. “Not with Bobby. It’s my sister again. Christie and James have had another falling-out. James can be as stubborn as my little sister. I don’t think they’re speaking.”

“Oh, no.” Hearing that saddened Rachel. Everything had been going so well between them.

“I’m sure they’ll work it out,” Teri said. “James loves her and my sister feels the same way about him. My guess is that this will blow over in a few days.”

“I hope so. The next time I talk to you, I want to hear that they’ve set a wedding date.”

Rachel finished her tea and left soon afterward, driving straight to Yakima Street. She hadn’t come up with any solutions but felt better for having discussed the problem with her best friend.

When she finally got home, Bruce was already there. She pulled her car into the garage beside his and grabbed her dry cleaning from the backseat. Bruce had the garage door open before she’d even reached the house.

“You’re late,” he said in aggrieved tones.

“I went to see Teri.”

“You didn’t let Jolene know where you were. She was worried.” The accusation in his voice stung, although Rachel didn’t believe for a minute that her stepdaughter was worried.

Jolene stood behind her father, looking far too pleased with herself. “You told me I have to let you know if I’m going to be home late,” she said smugly.

“Well, yes, but I’m the adult here. I don’t report to you.” Perhaps that was too blunt, but she couldn’t restrain herself. Rachel was barely inside the house and the attacks had already begun. “If it’ll make you happy, I’ll call the next time I’m going to be late.”

“I have to abide by the rules, but you don’t?” Jolene said as Rachel stepped past her and into the kitchen.

Rachel ignored the comment, hung her dry cleaning in the hall closet and then walked back to the kitchen, past both Jolene and Bruce. “I’ll start dinner now.”

“What are we having?” Jolene asked, following her.

Rachel had put ground chicken in the refrigerator to thaw. “What would you like?”

The girl shrugged. “Nothing you cook,” she said under her breath.

Rachel pretended not to hear. “Bruce, do you have any preference for dinner?”

“How about tacos?” he called out from the living room, where he sat at the computer desk he’d placed in one corner. He was, as usual, unconscious of the tension between Rachel and Jolene.

“Sounds good to me,” Rachel said, not looking at Jolene as she brought the thawed chicken out of the refrigerator.

“I hate tacos,” her stepdaughter said.

“Since when?”

“Since you started cooking them. My dad used to make them better. We made tacos together and had a lot of fun.”

In other words, Rachel’s advent into their lives had ruined everything.

“I’d love your help,” Rachel said, striving to speak pleasantly and disregard Jolene’s insults. “If you showed me how, then maybe I could make them the way you like them.”

“Not a chance,” Jolene said, and disappeared down the hallway to her bedroom.

Trying to salvage the evening, Rachel went to work; she seasoned the chicken with taco seasoning, grated the cheese, diced fresh tomatoes and shredded lettuce. Then she put the meal on the table, which, to her pleasure, Bruce had set without being reminded. He summoned Jolene and the three of them sat down.

“How was school?” Bruce asked his daughter.

“Great. I got an A on my history test.”

“Congratulations,” Rachel said.

Jolene glanced away as if to discount any praise from Rachel. “Misty asked me to spend the night on Friday. I can, can’t I, Dad?”

Bruce looked at Rachel. “I don’t have any objection if you don’t.”

“I thought Misty’s parents worked swing shift.”

“So?” he asked.

“So, who else will be there until her parents get home?”

“No one,” Jolene said irritably. “Her parents let her take care of herself. We’re not babies, you know.”

“Jolene’s spent the night at Misty’s before,” Bruce added, siding with his daughter.

“But that was a Saturday and her parents were home,” Rachel pointed out.

“Oh, right.”

“Why don’t you have Misty spend the night at our place?” Rachel suggested.

Jolene glared across the table at her. “Not with you here.”

“Jolene,” Bruce snapped, reprimanding her.

“I wish you’d never married Rachel,” she shouted at her father. “I hate having her in our house. I want it to be like it was before.”