maryellen was certainly in high spirits, grace noted as her daughter let her in. she loved maryellen and jon's home, which was built in a northwest style and only a few miles from cliff's property. with each visit, she marveled at jon's ingenuity and skill. while he developed his artistic career, handling the management aspect as well as the photography itself, he also worked on his house and its grounds. each and every day grace was grateful her daughter had met jon bowman-and that she'd married him.

katie took one look at her grandma and gleefully waddled toward her, small arms held wide.

without hesitation, grace squatted down and scooped her up, to cries of delight. "how's my katie-girl?" she asked, nuzzling the toddler's face.

katie squealed and hugged her back, both arms locked around grace's neck.

"we're ready, mom," maryellen said. she opened the refrigerator and took out a molded salad. it was a recipe that had been in the family for years, made from lime gelatin, cream cheese and melted marshmallows. grace had always associated it with thanksgiving dinner and apparently so did her daughter.

"i made salad," maryellen said unnecessarily. "and jon baked an apple pie."

"i baked a pumpkin pie," grace told her.

maryellen laughed. "cliff said we didn't have to bring a thing. it seems we decided he needed a little help, after all."

"i can't believe he's willing to prepare an entire turkey dinner by himself," grace said, impressed that cliff was taking this on. as far as she knew, he usually settled for sandwiches, canned soup or a simple grilled steak.

"mother, you don't honestly think cliff is going to cook, do you?" maryellen looked at her incredulously.

"that's what he said. didn't he?"

"with all these restaurants and grocery stores offering to provide an entire meal for a reasonable price?" as if she'd suddenly remembered something, she turned to her mother. "what are olivia and jack doing for thanksgiving?"

grace smiled. "how did we get from store-bought turkey dinners to the subject of olivia?"

"by way of justine, of course."

ah yes, it made sense now. restaurants provided turkey dinners, and justine and seth owned the lighthouse restaurant.

"olivia and jack went to reno to be with eric, shelley and the twins," grace explained, referring to jack's son from his first marriage. according to olivia, everyone was excited about the trip. they'd flown out on wednesday evening-the night of the aerobics class olivia and grace usually attended. it was the first one olivia had missed in months. grace felt guilty for not going, but without the motivation of meeting her best friend, she'd ended up staying home. if not for olivia, grace would have given up on the class years ago. her knees often hurt afterward and any benefit she gained from repeatedly leaping up and down was wiped out by the pie and coffee they had after class.

"oh, yes, i seem to remember that you mentioned olivia had plans," maryellen said absently as jon loaded the car. when everything was inside, including the portable high chair, he placed a bundled-up katie in her car seat.

grace sat in the back next to her granddaughter. katie was a sweet child, with huge expressive eyes. she was talking now, gibberish mostly, but she seemed to enjoy carrying on long, one-sided conversations.

grace couldn't help feeling bad that jon's stepmother was missing out on all the stages of katie's development. grace knew it saddened maryellen, but jon had been unwilling to compromise in his attitude toward his parents-even when he'd learned of his father's stroke.

katie was the bowmans' only grandchild, and they'd never even seen her, except in the photographs maryellen had surreptitiously sent. it broke grace's heart.

cliff was standing in the open doorway when jon pulled into the yard. a light rain had just begun, and he hurried out to the car to usher grace into the house, returning to carry in some of katie's paraphernalia.

despite maryellen's predictions, grace expected to be greeted by the wonderful aroma of turkey and sage; she wasn't so much disappointed as amused when there was no such smell. a fire crackled in the fireplace and the house was warm and inviting, but cliff was quite clearly taking advantage of a precooked thanksgiving dinner.

while maryellen and jon got katie out of her jacket and settled with some blocks and a teddy bear, grace found cal in the kitchen. he stood by the counter making a pot of coffee. he smiled when he saw grace. "happppp-y thanks...turkey day," he managed.

"you, too, cal." grace admired the young man and liked him. "speaking of turkey and turkey day," she said, glancing around. "it doesn't look-or smell-like there's much cooking going on around here."

cliff stepped into the room behind her. "guilty as charged. cal and i opted for culinary assistance."

"the lighthouse?" jon asked, joining them.

cliff nodded. "they're providing a full meal-and they're going to deliver it, ready to go." he checked his watch. "anytime," he added.

no sooner were the words out of his mouth than the doorbell rang. cal went to answer it, and both seth and justine walked in, carrying their dinner. seth held the aluminum foil roasting pan with the turkey and justine had two large bags. they set their bounty on the kitchen counter.

"need help?" cal asked.

"there's more in the car," justine said, throwing off the hood of her rainproof jacket.

"let-t-t me." cal disappeared to collect the remaining food.

justine slipped her arm around her husband's waist. seth was a big fisherman with a robust physique and hair so blond it was almost white. a few years ago, when the local fishing industry fell on troubled times, he'd taken his savings and justine's business sense and built the lighthouse restaurant.

"this is our last stop," justine explained. "seth and i decided to make this delivery ourselves so we could wish you all a happy thanksgiving."

"where are you off to next?" maryellen asked. "there's enough here to feed an army. we'd love it if you joined us," she suggested, looking to cliff for confirmation.

"we certainly would," cliff said.

"seth's family is waiting for us," justine told them. "but thanks for the invite." she smiled as cal came in with another two bags. "and thanks, cal, for getting those."

within minutes they were out the door and on their way.

cliff and cal set the table while grace and maryellen arranged the feast on platters and in serving bowls. christmas music played softly in the background, coming from a seattle radio station. the mood was festive and joyful as they gathered around the table.

grace sat beside cliff and across from cal. when they all bowed their heads to say grace, cliff reached for her hand as he whispered a simple heartfelt prayer. the sincerity of his words touched her. she had much to be thankful for. three years ago, on her first thanksgiving without dan, she'd battled depression and loneliness as she and maryellen struggled to make the best of a painful situation. now her daughter was married, with a family of her own. and grace had grown in ways she'd never expected. after a difficult time, she'd been able to accept dan's death, to find a measure of peace with it. she'd begun to reinvent her life-and cliff had been part of that process.

there was a lot of joking and laughter as they served themselves, passing bowls and platters around the table. it felt, grace thought, as if they were all part of the same family.

"i think we should each give thanks for one thing," maryellen suggested. "let's take a minute to do that." she cast her eyes down at the pristine linen tablecloth. "i know i'm grateful for so much."

"i am, too," cliff said. he took grace's hand again and smiled at her. "i'm most thankful that grace is with me today. i'm hoping we can spend more time together in the weeks and months to come."

grace bit her lip to keep the emotion at bay. "thank you," she whispered.

"your turn, mother."

still holding cliff's hand, grace looked around the table. "i'm grateful for my family and friends and-" she paused, swallowing hard "-for this time with cliff." she'd thought the relationship was over and now hope had been revived. hope that they'd be able to see past their mistakes and move toward a future together.

seeming to understand, cliff squeezed her hand. for a long moment, his eyes held hers.

"your turn," jon said, gesturing toward maryellen.

maryellen waited until she had everyone's attention. "today i'm most grateful for the new life growing inside me."

shocked, grace dropped her fork. "you're pregnant?"

maryellen's eyes were glistening. "i found out last week. i can't tell you how hard it was not to say anything until now."

"maryellen?" jon whispered hoarsely. "you're pregnant? but i thought...is it safe so soon?"

grace knew he was referring to the fact that she'd so recently miscarried. another pregnancy this close to the last one clearly worried him. it concerned grace, too, but she wouldn't say anything to diminish her daughter's happiness.

maryellen merely nodded. "i feel fine," she said. "i really do."

"jon?" cliff said, motioning to her husband at the other end of the table.

for a moment he seemed incapable of responding. he kept his eyes focused on maryellen. "i'm most grateful for my wife," he whispered.

as if to protest being left out, katie banged the high chair with her cup, making a loud noise.

"and katie," he added, to the accompaniment of delighted laughter.

after dinner jon tracked down grace, alone in the kitchen as she wrapped leftovers. cliff and cal had gone to the barn to take care of some afternoon chores. he didn't waste time leading up to the subject. "you didn't know?"

"you mean that maryellen's pregnant? no, and apparently you didn't, either."

his expression was tortured, his face haggard. "grace, i have to tell you, i'm scared. it's too soon."

"jon," she reminded him gently, "it seems to me you know what makes babies as well as i do."

"maryellen seemed so sure nothing would happen...."

"we don't have any choice but to leave this in god's hands," grace told him. it was the best reassurance she had to offer. she prayed maryellen wouldn't lose this baby, too.

seventeen

the word sale held a special meaning for corrie mcafee, and that was buy. there was a very good reason the friday after thanksgiving was the biggest shopping day of the year. the sales were not to be missed. corrie liked nothing better than to hit the stores early. the earlier the better, as far as she was concerned.

the alarm rang at five and she was dressed and out the door half an hour later, on her way to pick up linnette. linnette had been assigned duty on thanksgiving day, and in exchange, had today off. corrie had waited until after her daughter's shift to serve the traditional turkey dinner, although it hadn't felt right. putting dinner off until late had been worth it, however, since it meant linnette could go shopping with her now.