She had too many things going on right now. Her life was so stressful, with Mimi’s injury and Olivia’s return. Jake was like a steady lighthouse on a stormy day, reaching out to find her and bring her home safely, no matter what else was going on in her world.
“When do you think the results will come back from the DNA test?”
“It has to be soon,” she answered. “The website said four to six weeks and it’s been almost four.”
“Again, you know you might be right where you started, with no more information about your father than you have now.”
“I know. But I might find him, too. I had to take the chance.”
If she ended up disappointed, at least she would know that she tried, and she would never forget that Jake had been willing to help her every step of the way.
13
JULIET
Sometimes her daughter left her so exasperated, she wanted to scream. Not loudly. Just enough to get her attention and make her see how silly she was being. Instead, Juliet petted Olivia’s cute little chi-poo, Otis, and tried not to show her annoyance.
“I thought we settled this already. You’re going out tonight and Henry’s coming over to watch Doctor Who with me.”
Olivia sighed. “We did. Or I thought we did. But you’ve had such a difficult day and I have so much work to do, catching up with payroll and orders from the garden center and also trying to work on this big campaign one of my clients is doing to push their new line of services. I don’t feel good about leaving you and everything on my to-do list so I can go socialize.”
“Stop that right now. Your to-do list can wait until morning, can’t it?”
Olivia didn’t answer, only looked overwhelmed, which made Juliet feel guilty and worthless. Right now, her own to-do list was ridiculously empty, consisting of only finish a chapter and take your medicine on schedule.
“Melody needs you more than I do tonight,” she went on. “That girl has had a terrible year, filled with disappointment and betrayal. For once, she’s being kind to herself by letting some of her friends celebrate her birthday with her. A good friend would do everything she could to support that, not look for excuses to wriggle out.”
Oh, the classic guilt trip. Juliet experienced a qualm at employing it but only for a minute. She felt worse at the idea of Olivia sacrificing the opportunity to lift a friend who needed her because she felt she had to stay here at Sea Glass Cottage with Juliet.
Even if that meant spending the evening with Henry.
The doorbell rang through the house before Olivia had a moment to reply and Otis jumped off Juliet’s lap with his surprising agility.
“That will be Henry,” Olivia said with a sigh. “I suppose it won’t hurt to leave you in his capable hands for one night.”
The pain medication was sending her imagination into overdrive. That was all. She did not need to think about Henry Cragun’s capable hands right now. Still, the image was in her head now. Her face felt hot suddenly, her breathing shallow.
“Go celebrate with Melody. We will be fine,” she insisted. “I would be perfectly fine on my own, which I’ve told you again and again, but of course nobody around here listens to me.”
Olivia ignored her, which didn’t surprise Juliet at all, and opened the door.
“Hi, Henry.”
He was carrying two reusable grocery bags and wore a smile that made Juliet’s skin feel prickly and hot.
“Hi, Olivia. You look lovely tonight. I hope somebody has warned the men of Cape Sanctuary to leave their hearts at home tonight unless they want them broken.”
“Yes. That was exactly the message I Tweeted a few minutes ago.” Olivia gave a rueful shake of her head but couldn’t quite hide her smile.
As Henry and Olivia smiled at each other, Juliet was aware of a stupid, wholly unreasonable quiver of jealousy.
The two of them were only about fifteen years apart, not an unreasonable span when the man was older than the woman. Yes, that was a traditional, patriarchal idea but unavoidable.
In the eyes of many, that fifteen-year gap was virtually insignificant, as long as Olivia was the younger of them. How unfair that Juliet’s eight years of seniority should loom so largely between them.
Of course, it seemed to bother her more than anyone else. Was she the misogynist?
“Thanks for being available tonight,” Olivia said. “I still don’t feel good about Mom being alone right now,