“What about the horses?”
“They’re all safe in their stalls. Don’t worry about them.”
“And Buttercup? She hates that kind of noise.”
“She’s locked in the house.”
“Can we, Grandpa, can we?”
The children were jumping up and down, clapping their hands with enthusiasm.
“Why right now?” Grace asked.
Cliff sent her a look of pure innocence. “I was just casting about for a way to keep the grandkids entertained.”
“Oh, all right.” She sighed loudly, holding back a grin.
“Okay if we stay and watch?” Jack said.
Grace and Olivia exchanged looks. As they’d often had occasion to observe, most men were little boys at heart.
“If you must,” Olivia murmured.
The front door opened and Kelly stepped out with Paul, who still held the baby. Grace’s daughter balanced a large tray filled with mugs and Lisa followed with a tin of Christmas cookies.
“Anyone for hot chocolate?” Kelly asked.
“I’d love a cup,” Olivia said.
“Me, too,” Grace added.
Paul glanced over at the kids. “What’s going on?”
“Fireworks in a few minutes,” Grace told him.
“Wow! Great idea.”
“Men,” Olivia whispered under her breath, and then both Olivia and Grace broke into giggles, just like they had when they were schoolgirls.
19
“How did we get so lost—twice?” Linc groaned. The only thing left to do was return to Cedar Cove and start over. That
“That King did us wrong,” Mel muttered.
“You think?” Linc said sarcastically. He was past frustration, past impatience and past losing his cool. All he wanted was to track down his pregnant sister and bring her home. That shouldn’t be such an impossible task, and yet…
“I’m never going back to King’s,” Ned said in disgust.
“Me, neither,” Mel spat. “If I ever go back to Cedar Cove, which is unlikely.”
Frankly, Linc was of the same mind, at least as far as King went. The man had blackmailed him into paying for directions and then completely misled him. True, the sandwiches weren’t bad, but he’d overcharged them. The old coot had an evil streak a mile wide. If he thought it was fun to misdirect them, then he had a perverse sense of humor, too. Perverse? Downright twisted!
“Let’s find a phone that works,” Ned suggested, not for the first time. His brother had harped on that for the last half hour. Their cell phones were useless out here. But it wasn’t as if there was a phone booth sitting on the side of the road just waiting for them to appear.
“Okay, you find one, Ned, and I’ll be more than happy to pay for the call.”
Ned didn’t respond, which was definitely for the best.
“What we need is a sign,” Mel said.
Linc bit off a sarcastic comment. They needed a sign, all right, and it had better be one from heaven. He could only imagine what Mary Jo must be thinking. By now his sister probably figured they’d abandoned her, yet nothing could be further from the truth.
“What’s that?” Ned suddenly cried, pointing into the distance.
“What’s what?” Linc demanded.
“There,” Mel said, leaning forward and gazing toward the sky.
Linc saw a flash of light. He pulled over to the side of the road and climbed out of the truck. He needed to stretch his legs, anyway, and the cold air would revive him. Sure enough, someone was setting off fireworks. The sky burst with a spectacular display of lights.
“Wow, that was a big one,” Mel said, like a kid at a Fourth of July display.
His brothers didn’t seem to appreciate the gravity of their situation. “Okay, it’s nice, but how’s that going to help us?”
“You said I should find a phone,” Ned reminded him.
“Whoever’s setting off those fireworks must have a phone, don’t you think?”
