made the event that much more pleasurable for Grace, especially since he’d spent most of the afternoon at her side. Grace seemed more like her old self when Cliff was around. It was touching to see her respond to a man’s attention. When Dan disappeared, Grace had assumed she must be lacking in some way. For months, she’d blamed herself, although Olivia was certain the blame couldn’t be hers.
“I’ll do the pies,” Charlotte said. “Mincemeat, apple, pumpkin and pear. I do love a good pear pie.”
“What about the dinner rolls?” Olivia asked hopefully. Her mother’s homemade rolls were a treat not to be forgotten.
“Of course. That’s understood.”
They completed the menu—who’d be bringing what. Olivia was responsible for the turkey, dressing and all the trimmings. Olivia would ask Justine to provide the fruit salad and whatever else she wanted to contribute. Jack and Eric would be their guests.
As soon as her mother left, Olivia reached for the phone and punched in Jack’s number at the newspaper office. She was connected to his line right away.
“Griffin,” he barked, sounding preoccupied.
“Lockhart,” Olivia returned.
“Olivia.” His voice softened. “Hi.”
“Hi, yourself. What are you doing?”
“Tell me what you’re wearing first.” That teasing quality was back in his voice.
“Jack! I’m at the courthouse.”
“Okay, what do you have on under your robe?”
“Would you stop?”
He sighed as if restraint demanded a lot of effort. “What’s up? Miss me, do you?”
“I called to invite you and Eric to Thanksgiving dinner with Mom, Justine, Seth and me.”
“You are? I mean, sure. Great. We’d love it.”
“You didn’t have any other plans?”
“Nope,” Jack told her. “Well, I was going to get a frozen turkey-in-a-box out of the freezer department and bake that. This’ll be something to look forward to. It’d be perfect if only…” He hesitated.
“If what?” she asked.
“Would you mind inviting one other person?”
“Who?”
“There’s this other woman I’ve been dating for the last few weeks who’s lonely and—”
“Jack!”
“You don’t believe me?”
“Not for a moment.” Olivia was having a hard time not laughing out loud. She’d been worried about their relationship, but everything seemed back to normal.
“I’m serious about inviting someone else,” he said, and the teasing left his voice. “Would you mind terribly if I asked Shelly Larson to join us?”
“Eric’s girlfriend? The one he thinks is pregnant with someone else’s baby?” Olivia frowned.
“I’m desperate for those two to reconcile,” Jack told her. “My son is miserable without her. He loves Shelly, and I think if they were to meet on neutral ground they just might be able to patch things up. Yes, it’ll take some adjusting on Eric’s part, but he’s willing if Shelly is, too.”
Olivia didn’t want to get caught in the middle of this conflict, but she realized that Jack was at his wits’ end. Eric and Shelly were obviously at an impasse—and Eric showed no sign of moving out of Jack’s house.
“Would you do that, Olivia?” Jack pleaded. “For the sake of my sanity.”
And their relationship, Olivia added silently. “On one condition,” she said. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to spring this on Eric, or on Shelly, for that matter. You have to tell Eric I’m inviting her.”
“Done,” he promised. “But will you talk to Shelly for me? Please? I don’t want to sound like I’m meddling.”
“But you are,” Olivia pointed out.
“Yes, but I don’t see any other alternative. They can’t seem to resolve this on their own.”
“All right, give me her phone number,” she said with a sigh. She wrote it down and then made little squiggly lines around the numbers while they continued to talk.
“You doing anything exciting tonight?” Jack asked, and his voice dipped to a sexy growl.
“I don’t know. What have you got in mind?”
“The Chamber of Commerce is having an open house. Wanna go?” Jack’s suggestive tone implied a night of passionate lovemaking, not a rather dull business event.
“I just might be able to fit it into my busy social calendar.”
“Can I pick you up at seven?”
“Seven’s good.”
“Wear something sexy.”
“For the Chamber of Commerce?”
“No, Olivia,” he said blandly, “for me.”
The smile lasted a long time after the conversation had ended.
As soon as Olivia got home, she called Shelly Larson. After a lengthy explanation of who she was and why she’d phoned, she waited for a response to her invitation.
“Does Eric know about this?” Shelly asked.
Her voice was soft and well-modulated. Olivia tried to match it to the photograph Eric had once shown her. As she recalled, Shelly was a petite brunette who worked for a Seattle-based advertising agency. She’d been living with Eric for almost two years.
“Jack suggested I invite you,” Olivia said. “I agreed on the condition that neither of you walked into this blind. He’s hoping you and Eric can settle things once and for all.”
Shelly didn’t respond; apparently she was still considering the invitation.
“Do you have family in the area?” Olivia asked, wanting to get some idea of Shelly’s support system.
“No—my mother died when I was a baby and my dad hasn’t really been part of my life. I was raised by my grandmother, but she’s been gone for three years now.”
“So you’re on your own.”
“Yes.” She didn’t seem interested in continuing with that theme. Instead, she burst out, “I just don’t understand why Eric doesn’t believe the baby is his. It’s an insult to me and to everything I stand for.”
Olivia certainly didn’t want to take sides. According to Jack, his son was incapable of fathering children, but stranger things had happened. “Men are just dense sometimes,” she said, hoping she sounded sympathetic.
“I very much appreciate the dinner invitation,” Shelly said, her voice gaining strength and conviction, “but I have to refuse. Eric and I are finished.”
“Not if you’re carrying his child,” Olivia reminded her. “In that case, the relationship is far from over.”
“It doesn’t matter. Eric doesn’t believe me, and as far as I’m concerned, the courts can deal with this. I don’t want to put a damper on your Thanksgiving—that wouldn’t be fair to you or Jack or your other guests. It was very thoughtful of Jack to want to include me, but it just won’t work.”
Olivia didn’t feel comfortable ending the conversation just yet, now that she knew Shelly was alone in the world. “I’d like to keep in touch, Shelly, if you don’t mind?”
“I guess that would be okay. Jack has a right to know his grandchild.”