Free 204 Rosewood Lane by Debbie Macomber Page B

mother’s house on Lighthouse Road. She hadn’t been avoiding Olivia, but she hadn’t sought her out, either.
    By the time Justine pulled up in front of the large two-story house with the wide wraparound veranda, her mother was at the door, waiting for her.
    â€œHi, Mom.”
    â€œJustine! I’m so glad to see you,” Olivia said, hugging her tight. “You haven’t come to the house in ages.”
    â€œI’ve been busy—in fact, last weekend I flew up to Alaska to see Seth.”
    â€œYou were in Alaska? You might’ve let someone know.” The disapproving edge was back, but Justine chose to ignore it.
    â€œYou’re right, I should have,” she agreed mildly. She wasn’t here to fight with her mother.
    â€œCome inside,” Olivia insisted, wrapping her sweater more snugly around her. “It’s cool this evening.”
    Justine obediently followed her mother into the house. The kitchen was the most comfortable room and it seemed natural to sit there. “Tea?” Olivia asked. It was one of their longstanding rituals.
    â€œPlease.”
    Her mother turned away as she put water on to boil. “How is Seth?”
    â€œWonderful. He’ll be home soon. I miss him so much. That’s the reason I flew to Alaska—I just couldn’t stand being so far away from Seth and I had all these air miles from my credit card. I called the airline, got a seat and off I went—without even knowing if I’d find him or not. I was afraid to tell you what I was doing for fear you’d try to change my mind.”
    â€œYou went through all that to be with your husband?” her mother asked.
    â€œOh, yes. I really am in love with him, Mom.”
    Justine expected this news to be exactly what her mother wanted to hear. Instead Olivia was frowning.
    â€œWhat?” Justine asked.
    Olivia pulled out a chair and sat across from her. “Does Seth know you had lunch with Warren?”
    So that explained it. Her mother knew. For that matter, so did Seth, and while he hadn’t asked her not to see Warren again, she could tell he wasn’t pleased that she’d accepted his invitation to lunch. Justine had been a bit surprised by that, but she wouldn’t do it again.
    â€œWarren wants you back, doesn’t he?” her mother said when she didn’t immediately respond.
    â€œDid I mention that Maryellen Sherman and I met for lunch earlier this week?” Justine said, pointedly changing the subject. Warren was off-limits as far as she was concerned. “She wanted to congratulate Seth and me.”
    Her mother set the bowl of tea bags in the center of the table. “So you’d prefer not to discuss Warren.”
    â€œThat’s right.”
    Olivia squared her shoulders and nodded firmly. “Then we won’t. Tell me about Seth. When will he be back?”
    Justine filled in the details. The longer she spoke, the more relaxed her mother became—and Justine understood why. Her mother finally had complete confidence in her love for Seth. Olivia now knew that nothing Warren said or did was going to change the way Justine felt about her husband.
    â€œHow is Maryellen?” Olivia asked as she poured them each a second cup of tea. “I see Grace every week at our aerobics class, but we seldom have a chance to talk.” She laughed. “Actually we need all our energy just to breathe. Did Maryellen tell you Grace filed for divorce?”
    Justine nodded. “By the way, what happened with Maryellen’s marriage?” It’d never occurred to her to ask before. Justine had only been fourteen at the time. All she remembered was her mother and Grace, her best friend, talking on the phone a great deal. Maryellen had moved home for a while, and she’d taken back her maiden name as if she’d never been married at all.
    Her mother stirred a teaspoon of sugar into her tea. “I don’t think anyone