"you mentioned that you had a connection with wyse when i hired you," bellamy said disparagingly. "i relied on you to be objective. knowing what i do now, i can see that was a mistake."

for bellamy to question wyse's integrity was one thing, but to raise doubts about roy's went over the line. he jumped to his feet and glared at the other man. neither spoke.

"i completed the job you hired me to do," roy finally said. "this report will stand up, despite what you want to believe. wyse is a decent man." he would defy anyone to come up with anything different.

"that remains to be seen."

roy opened his briefcase and removed the envelope that contained his bill. bellamy thrust his hand out to take it. instead, roy tore it in two. "in future i'd prefer if you took your business elsewhere." he didn't wait for bellamy to respond, just grabbed his briefcase and walked out the door.

in a ten-minute conversation, leonard bellamy had insulted and infuriated him, to the point that roy had actually thrown away money and lucrative future jobs-and felt good about it.

rather than return to the office, roy drove straight home. corrie, as she often did, had taken tuesday off to run errands. checking his watch, he guessed she'd be home by now. his wife always had a calming effect on him. he decided he wouldn't mention his meeting with bellamy; that would only rile him up again and solve nothing. roy applauded lori for defying her tyrant of a father.

when he walked in, corrie was sitting in the kitchen with several bags of groceries lined up on the counter. she appeared to be deep in thought. in fact, she didn't seem to notice he was home.

roy waved his hand playfully in front of her nose. her face melted into a smile, and she automatically turned to him so he could kiss her, which he did. his wife's smile brought him peace and smoothed the sharp edges of his confrontation with bellamy.

"you're home early," she commented as she slid off the stool. "how'd it go with bellamy?"

she'd remembered. well, no need to hide the events of the afternoon, then. he shrugged. "i won't bore you with the details, but i won't work for the man again."

she arched her brows, but if she was tempted to say i told you so, she didn't. "oh? why?"

"we have opposing points of view," he said simply. he gestured at the groceries. "any reason you haven't put the milk away?"

"i was waiting for you to get home and do it for me," she teased.

grinning, he reached for the half gallon of milk and set it inside the refrigerator. "anything else that needs attention?"

"ice cream," corrie cried, and searched hurriedly through the bags until she found the carton, which she shoved in the freezer.

this scattered behavior was odd for his practical, even-keeled wife. roy walked over to the sink and turned on the faucet to pour them each a glass of cold water. "okay, what's wrong?"

she didn't deny that she was upset. "i ran into gloria at the grocery store." she paused as though to collect her thoughts.

roy knew better than to prod her. she'd tell him when she was ready.

"i know linnette so well," she said, although roy had no idea what linnette had to do with this. "i would've realized in a heartbeat that she was pregnant the moment i looked at her."

"it's a bit more difficult over the phone," he agreed, although he didn't know what that had to do with meeting gloria in the safeway store.

"she's upset about something and-"

"linnette is?"

"no, gloria."

roy was beginning to get her drift now. corrie had talked to gloria and couldn't read her the way she could their daughter. except that gloria was their daughter, too. their first daughter.

"i asked her to dinner on sunday."

"good." spending time together was the key. there were wounds to heal and relationships to build. he wanted gloria to feel part of their family because she was family.

"she can't."

"she's working?" roy knew that as the most recent addition to the sheriff's department, gloria pulled the less desirable shifts. she'd been on duty over the fourth of july, and was probably working weekends, as well.

"she didn't give me a reason." corrie was putting away the groceries. "i suggested a weekday as an alternative and she said she'd get back to me, but i'm afraid she won't." corrie shook her head. "she's avoiding us."

that was one possibility but his wife could be exaggerating, making unwarranted assumptions. he didn't want to say that, though. gloria was still a sensitive subject for them.

"do you know if she's seeing anyone?" corrie asked him out of the blue.

"dating, you mean?"

"yes, dating."

"not really. she hasn't said. did she mention anyone to you?"

corrie nodded. "but not his name."

"so you think this might be about relationship troubles?"

"well, isn't it always?" she challenged.

that seemed to be the end of the conversation.

roy spread the cedar cove chronicle out on the kitchen table and opened it to the crossword puzzle.

suddenly corrie exclaimed, "it's that doctor!"

roy glanced up.

"what doctor?"

"the one linnette was so keen on. at the clinic. i remember that he seemed more interested in gloria, and that really bothered linnette."

roy managed to conjure up a hazy memory of this. linnette had liked some doctor but then given up on him and fallen for that horseman, instead. cal washburn, his name was.

roy returned to his crossword as his wife washed fresh herbs and rolled them in a paper towel to store in a refrigerator bag. he had one corner of the puzzle completed when corrie interrupted him again.

"todd," she announced triumphantly. "no, not todd. tim."

"tim?"

"timmons," she said with a snap of her fingers. "chad timmons. dr. chad timmons."

he looked up and saw her watching him intently. apparently something else was required of him, although he couldn't figure out what. "you think gloria's seeing this doctor and having problems with him?"

corrie nodded. "i'm afraid she's having major problems."

"but gloria doesn't want to talk about it."

abruptly corrie turned away, then plucked a tissue from the nearby box and held it to her eyes. corrie was crying? he got up from the table and stood behind her, clasping her shoulders.

"it hurts that our daughter can't talk to us, doesn't it?" he said quietly.

she sniffled, then turned and slid her arms around his middle, burying her face in his chest.

"everything will work out," roy murmured, hoping he sounded reassuring. corrie's feelings had been hurt, and while he wanted to comfort his wife, it was understandable that gloria would choose not to share her emotions with them. if she'd had a falling-out with dr. timmons, then either the two of them would resolve the issue or they'd go their separate ways.

he would've commented on this if not for the fact that corrie started to weep in earnest. huge sobs racked her shoulders. then, shocking him completely, she broke away and ran down the hallway.

for an instant roy was too stunned to react. he found her standing on the tips of her toes in front of the hall closet, reaching for a new box of tissues.

"what's going on?"

"she wouldn't tell me. i was right there. i saw it, roy. i saw it and she could barely look me in the eye. i tried to talk to her and she..." the rest was muffled as corrie tore open the box and pressed a large wad of tissues to her face.

"what did you see?" roy asked gently. he was growing concerned. this behavior of hers wasn't like any he'd seen in more than thirty years of marriage.

corrie lowered her hand, crumpling the tissues. "i didn't tell you earlier, but i saw what was in gloria's cart," she whispered.

roy couldn't imagine what their daughter might have purchased to cause this kind of reaction. had gloria taken to eating weird food? like what? or-

"roy," corrie said, grabbing his sleeve. "gloria had a pregnancy test kit in her cart."

"she's pregnant?"

corrie started weeping again. "i think she must be."

twenty-six

christie patted little christopher's back in the hopes of coaxing a burp from the squirming infant. teri sat across from her holding robbie. thankfully jimmy was sound asleep in the nursery. bobby was busy elsewhere, doing whatever it was bobby did.

although christie continued to come over on wednesdays to help her sister with the babies, she hadn't seen james yet. their disagreement had gone on far longer than she'd ever expected. he hadn't budged, nor had she. christie hated to think their relationship was over, but maybe it was, since obviously neither one was willing to make the first move.

"i haven't seen james around lately," she told her sister cautiously. christie didn't want to ask and didn't want to put up with an inquisition from teri, but curiosity had gotten the better of her. always before, james had sought her out. not this time. she had the distinct impression he was away-traveling or perhaps simply gone.

or...another possibility. maybe he was keeping out of sight, waiting for her to apologize. perhaps she should; she didn't know anymore. pride and stubbornness had carried her this far, but they'd worn thin.

"james has been doing a lot of traveling lately," teri said.

"oh." christie remembered one occasion, back in may, when bobby and james had gone on some kind of business trip. other than that, bobby hadn't been gone much; when he did travel, james accompanied him. he was more than bobby's driver, he was his confidant, best friend and-although no one had ever said as much-his bodyguard.

"'oh'?" teri echoed. "is that all you have to say?"

christie considered the question. "all right, if you must know, james and i had a falling-out."

her sister laughed, startling christopher. "you think i don't know this? you've been in a bad mood for weeks."

"that is a gross exaggeration." christie had done her utmost to be bright and cheerful whenever she spent time with teri, pretending nothing was amiss. to all outward appearances, she was doing just fine, busy with work and school.

given that she was at the house every wednesday, james could easily have spoken to her, if he had any interest. however, he hadn't taken advantage of the opportunity, and now she was wondering if he planned to end the relationship. that possibility was a painful one, but she had to admit it was what she'd started to believe.

christie stared down her sister. "i have made every effort to be as congenial as possible." apparently teri had little appreciation of how difficult that had been.