1022 Evergreen Place by Debbie Macomber Page A

helped her find a new job, and Grace’s younger daughter, Kelly, provided day care for Noelle.
    Once she’d secured employment and child care, all Mary Jo needed was an affordable place to live. She knew housing costs would be significantly lower than Seattle prices, and she’d been delighted that rent on a refurbished duplex was so reasonable. No wonder. Mack could’ve rented it for twice what he charged her. Well, she’d taken care of that, although it put a serious strain on her budget. She’d checked with a real-estate agent Grace recommended and come up with an appropriate amount. Mack obviously saw that she wasn’t changing her mind on this, since he hadn’t argued when she’d insisted on paying full rent. She also planned to repay him the balance for the months she’d already lived there.
    At one point after she’d been confronted by David, Mack had offered to marry her, which had felt…weird, but she’d said yes, anyway. Fortunately, they’d both recognized what a mistake that was and called it off before they’d made any family announcements. She could only imagine how Linc would react if he’d learned about that.
    Linc.
    Thinking about her brother, Mary Jo smiled as she rolled onto her side and punched her feather pillow toreshape it. She couldn’t remember ever seeing her brother this happy. She wouldn’t have guessed it, but marriage suited him. He and Lori hadn’t known each other long—a shorter time, even, than she’d known Mack—but they seemed to complement each other well.
    Linc wasn’t an impulsive man, but in the past couple of months he’d made two drastic changes to his life. The first was marrying Lori Bellamy. The second was moving to Cedar Cove and starting a branch of the auto body and repair business their father had established more than forty years earlier. Mel and Ned, the two younger brothers, were now in charge of the Seattle shop.
    The fact that Linc had handed over the business to his siblings said he believed they were capable of handling it without him. Apparently he, too, had felt the restraints imposed by family and was ready to move ahead with his life. Good for him!
    At first Mary Jo had suspected that Linc’s reason for coming to Cedar Cove was to stand guard over her. That, however, didn’t appear to be the case. The truth was, she rarely saw him. He was busy setting up his business, equipping and renovating the commercial garage he’d purchased, and enjoying married life.
    Mary Jo must have fallen asleep again because the alarm woke her abruptly at seven. Immediately Noelle woke up, too, hungry and badly in need of a diaper change. Mary Jo gave her a bath, fed and dressed her and took her to Kelly’s house on her way to the office.
    Mary Jo was tired all day, no doubt because of the hours she’d lain awake, thinking about Mack and David Rhodes and Linc…. “Well, at least it’s Friday,” she muttered to herself as she corrected a document for the third time.
    When she finally got home that afternoon, she saw Mack’s truck in their shared driveway. He must’ve beenwaiting for her because he came onto the porch as soon as she climbed out of the car. She gave him a cursory wave, then lifted Noelle from her carrier in the backseat.
    â€œHi,” he said, looking unsettled and yet eager to talk. He’d slid his hands in his hip pockets, a habit that signaled he was ill at ease.
    â€œHello, Mack.”
    â€œAre you still angry?” he asked.
    â€œI don’t think angry is the right word. I think disappointed says it better.”
    He took a moment to consider her reply. “I really am sorry.”
    â€œI know.” Mary Jo had sensed his guilt and regret the minute he’d confessed. “I just wish you’d been honest with me from the beginning.”
    â€œI will from now on.”
    Mary Jo nodded. She really didn’t