Silver Linings (21 page)

Rover wanted out soon after I arrived back at the inn, so I stood on the porch and waited until he finished. I couldn't help but wonder what my intuitive pet would think of Rich Marlow. His reaction to this other man would say a great deal. If Rover took an instant shine to Rich, that would tell me everything I needed to know about Rhyder's brother.

I heard the approach of a vehicle coming down the driveway and right away recognized Bob Beldon's car. He'd been with Mark the day before, helping Mark clear out his garage.

Bob parked in the slot vacated by Carrie and Finn Dalton.

“Hi, Bob,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. As far as I could remember Bob had never made a trip to the inn without Peggy. I couldn't imagine the reason for this unexpected visit.

“Jo Marie.” He removed his Seahawks cap and slapped it across his knee.

I wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean, so I waited for him to explain. He stood on the sidewalk and braced his foot against the bottom step.

“What can I do for you?” I asked, when he wasn't immediately forthcoming.

“Mark asked me to stop by.”

“Mark?” I repeated, my voice strange to my own ears. I strived to look calm and collected and knew I'd failed.

“He wanted me to tell you why he left.”

Right away the anger was back. What respect I had for Mark evaporated. “Mark couldn't tell me himself?” I demanded, not bothering to disguise my exasperation. “He asked you to do his talking for him?”

Bob slapped his cap against his knee a second time. “I wasn't keen on this myself, until he explained.”

“What possible excuse did he have?” My voice vibrated with anger.

Bob's look held mine. “He loves you.”

So he said. “He has a peculiar way of showing his feelings.” If this was the way Mark chose to prove his love, then I was better off without him. I'd said it before and I'd say it again.
God save me from irrational, unreasonable men!

Bob discounted my outburst with a hard shake of his head. “Mark knew if he explained what he was about to do, you'd attempt to talk him out of it, and because he loves you, he feared you'd convince him to stay. He said he couldn't take that chance.”

“What?”

“Perhaps we should go inside and talk, Jo Marie. I think you're going to need to sit down for this.”

The morning had flown by, and Coco couldn't believe it when she looked at her watch and discovered it was time to head to the school to decorate for the evening's events. At Stef's house she reconnected with several of her classmates she hadn't talked to in years. It was a kick to catch up with those she hadn't seen since graduation. And, naturally, there was the gossip. Apparently, Tom Peters had arrived driving a Porsche that was said to cost six figures, and then one of the guys discovered it was a rental. Hailey Gentry was going through a divorce and this was her second marriage. There'd been lots to learn and lots to share, too.

Katie was quiet most of the time they were at lunch. Coco knew Katie was brooding over James. Her expectations for this first encounter had been far too high.

Katie had always been overly sensitive. That wasn't necessarily bad, it was the reason her friend was an excellent social worker. From the moment they'd first connected, Coco knew Katie had a big, generous heart. She championed the underdog and did her best to right the wrongs of others. She cared, and that was what made her so endearing as a friend.

Coco sincerely hoped that after sleeping on it, James could accept that Katie would never intentionally hurt anyone, least of all someone she loved, without good reason. Perhaps tonight Katie would find him more receptive.

Once at the gym, Coco made her way to Angie Palmer. She'd hoped to talk to her at lunch, but Angie had been seated three chairs down and a discreet conversation would have been impossible.

“Hey, Angie, do you have a minute?” Coco asked, once the reunion organizer had parceled out tasks for everyone to prepare for that evening's dinner.

“Sure thing. What do you need? And by the way, thank you.”

“I'm sorry?”

“For helping with the decorating.”

“No problem,” said Coco.

“I wanted to ask you about Hudson Hamilton.”

Angie frowned. “Who?”

“Hudson Hamilton.”

“I know he was in our class,” Angie said, looking thoughtful. “Wasn't he?”

“Yes. If I remember right, he was the class valedictorian.”
How could anyone forget that?

“Oh right. Hudson—shaggy brown hair, sort of nerdy? I have so much on my mind, sorry. Now, what was it you were asking?”

“Is he coming to help decorate?”

Right away Angie shook her head. “Not Hudson. I would never ask Hudson.”

“Why not?”

“Come on, Coco, you're not serious, are you? I can barely remember who he is.”

She was serious, but it was best to let this pass. Coco had wanted to see him again as soon as possible. She hoped she'd get the chance at the dinner later that evening. “He's coming tonight, isn't he?”

“I think so.”

“Can you check?”

Looking frustrated, Angie glanced around at the team of decorators. “Can I do it later? We've got a lot to do here, Coco. Why the sudden interest in Hudson, anyway?”

“I bumped into him last night. Literally.”

“Has he changed? Did he evolve into a hunk or something?”

“No…yes. I didn't recognize him, but that was more me than it was him. He looks pretty much the same, though a lot better dressed, I'd say. We've all changed, right?”

“Not Donny Applegate,” Lily Franklin called out.

A flurry of activity was going on around them. There were six-foot ladders positioned by the basketball nets and signs hung around the room. Posters were taped to the wall with highlight photos from their glory days at Cedar Cove High.

“Remind me who Donny Applegate is,” Coco said to Angie.

“Donny was the lead in the play our senior year. He played Atticus Finch in
To Kill a Mockingbird.
Remember?”

Coco didn't.

At her blank look, Angie giggled. “I'm not the only one who doesn't remember everyone in the class.”

“What about Donny?” Katie asked, joining Coco. “What makes him so special?”

“Nothing really,” Angie admitted. “Well, other than the fact that he's still acting. Ashley Lambert claims she saw him in a television commercial.”

“Was he?”

Angie shrugged. “Don't know. He didn't return the information sheet.”

“So he isn't attending the reunion?”

“I guess not, but Ashley said she recognized him immediately, and she should know because she went to Homecoming with him when they were sophomores.”

“But just think, Donny getting a role on national television.”

“It wasn't national,” Lily corrected. “It was local. For Flush King Plumbing.”

Coco rolled her eyes. It apparently didn't take much to impress her classmates.

“Okay, Coco, are you ready to help now?”

“Ready, willing, and able. Just tell me what you need me to do.”

Her assignment was to decorate the tables. Angie had rented tablecloths in their school colors of maroon and gold. With Katie's help, Coco covered each table with memorabilia from the year of their graduation: CD covers, old magazines, class photos and such.

When Lily noticed, she called out, “Hey, Coco, that's super-cool.”

Again with Katie's help, they arranged the centerpieces on each table. The decorations were cheap and tinselly, but when they finished, Coco had to admit the tables looked nice.

They'd completed everything by four o'clock, which allowed the group two hours to change clothes for that night's events.

Angie stopped Coco just as she was about to leave. “You asked about Hudson.”

“I did.” She didn't bother to hide her enthusiasm. “Did you see if he's paid for tonight?”

Angie set her laptop on the table and opened it. She balanced it on one arm while she did a quick search. “Let me see. Hudson Hamilton. Does anyone else find the name Hudson rather odd?” she mumbled, as she searched her records.

“It's probably a family name,” Katie suggested.

“What a terrible name to give some kid,” Lily said, coming to stand behind Angie.

“It distinguishes him,” Coco argued, uncertain why she felt obliged to defend him. “Besides, I heard it's a name that's trendy.”

“Hudson?”

“Actually,” Katie said, entering the fray, “there's a famous Christian missionary who worked in China named Hudson Taylor.”

“Really. How'd you know that?”

“I read about him.”

“You always did like to read, didn't you?” Lily said, studying Katie.

Angie looked up. “He's here, but he didn't fill out the questionnaire, so there's nothing here that I can tell you.”

“Oh,” Coco said, doing her best to disguise her disappointment.

“Would you mind rechecking to be sure James Harper is signed up for the dinner?” Katie asked.

“Of course he is.” Coco was convinced of it.

Again Angie looked down at the computer screen. “I just closed out of the program. Can't you two just wait until tonight and hook up with old friends?”

“I guess,” Katie said wistfully.

“All right, all right,” Angie muttered, reopening the program and focusing on the small screen. “Yes, James has paid up, too. Didn't I already tell you that?”

Katie didn't bother to answer.

They headed out of the gymnasium. Angie and Lily stayed behind to let in the catering group while Coco and Katie started toward the parking lot.

As they neared Coco's car, Katie slowed her steps. “I should have asked if he'd paid for one or for two,” she said.

“Why didn't you?” Coco asked, and unlocked the car.

“I was afraid. If James is bringing a date or a girlfriend, I don't think I could bear it.”

“Katie—”

“I know. I know. I've got to let go,” she said, cutting Coco off. “After tonight I'll have my final answer and I'll accept whatever it is. I won't have any other choice.”

Coco didn't feel she was in any position to lecture her friend about relationships. Because of her personality and being a people person she'd never had trouble meeting men. However, any time she began to get close to serious with someone she found an excuse to back out. It went without saying she had trust issues. She wanted to blame Ryan, but the truth was—and she'd recognized it long ago—the problem was hers. Several really wonderful men had drifted in and out of her life, and she'd let them go out of fear.

“I'm afraid,” Coco said, choosing her words carefully, “that you've built up James in your mind. He was your hero, your first love, and over the years you've turned him into some knight or prince who can do no wrong. In your eyes he's perfect, and the reality is that like every one of us, James is flawed.”

“Of course he is. We all are. All I'm asking for is another chance with him. Is that so hard?”

Coco opened her car door and shook her head. “You're putting way too much pressure on him and on yourself, Katie. You can't expect to make up for ten years in a single weekend.”

What her friend said was true. Nonetheless, Coco realized Katie couldn't help but hope.

“Let matters evolve naturally,” Coco continued. “Now that James has had a chance to see you and know that you want to talk, he needs time to absorb it, to open his mind and his heart to you. I believe he will, but if not, then it's his loss. And”—she hesitated—“something he will eventually regret.”

Katie nodded and seemed to realize the wisdom of Coco's words.

They drove back to the inn in silence. Katie immediately headed to her room. “I'm going to shower and change for tonight.”

“Yeah, me, too.” Coco stepped across the hall but as soon as she was in her room, she changed her mind. She was more curious now than ever about Hudson.

Sitting on top of the bed with her legs crossed, she logged on to her laptop and Googled Hudson Hamilton's name. She found three Hudson Hamiltons.

Three. So much for all that talk about his
unusual
name.

One looked to be a mental case. Obviously that wasn't the Hudson Hamilton who'd graduated from Cedar Cove High. The second Hudson's bio caught her attention immediately. She scrolled down and found his photo, confirming it was him.

“Hudson,” she repeated, her heart pounding. “Really?” Goodness, she wondered if any of her other classmates had a clue about him. He wasn't anything like what he'd been in high school. She remembered Hudson being utterly socially inept. Every time he'd talked to her it seemed his tongue had gotten tied up in knots and the words had stumbled out of his mouth making little sense.

Taking her laptop with her, she leaped off the bed and scooted across the hall and pounded on Katie's door.

“It's open,” Katie called out from the other side.

Coco nearly fell into the room in her eagerness to share what she'd found. “You won't believe this,” she said, bouncing onto Katie's bed.

Her friend stood wide-eyed with one towel wrapped around her head and the other around her torso. “Believe what?”

“Hudson.”

Katie frowned and narrowed her gaze. “Will you please tell me why you're so stuck on Hudson?”

“I don't know; the fact is I've been trying to figure it out myself. Maybe it's because I discounted him when we were in school.” And maybe because she'd felt this sudden connection with him. Whatever the reason, he'd captivated her. He was her alluring mystery man. Rather than invent an excuse, she whirled her computer screen around for Katie to see. “Hudson works at the University of Washington. He does cutting-edge medical research.”

Katie remained emotionless and stuck out her hand as if to say,
And…?
“That surprises you?”

“Yes…I mean, okay, so he's smart, really smart. We knew that in high school; I admire the fact that he's doing something with his life and making a difference.”

“You're smart, too.”

“Oh hardly, but I'm good at what I do, building apps.” She didn't mean to discount her own abilities. She enjoyed her job, but Hudson's work was important, life-changing.