"You're bringing him that?" Teri asked, pointing at the object in her right hand.

"Yes-even though he doesn't want me here."

"You're sure?"

"He asked me to go, so I did. I'll just leave this upstairs."

"Come over when you're finished."

Christie nodded. It was well after midnight now, but she wouldn't be able to sleep for a long, long time.

Teri left her and Christie climbed up the stairs and, as silently as possible, let herself into James's apartment. Guided by the moonlight and walking on the tips of her toes, she made her way into his bedroom.

Then, very carefully, she placed the long-stemmed red rose across the empty pillow beside him.

Thirty-Six.

Olivia's illness affected Grace's mood, leaving her depressed and enervated, although she tried hard to conceal that from her friend. But now that Olivia had met with the surgeon and the oncologist, she seemed more at ease with what was happening. She'd have surgery, followed by radiation and several months of chemotherapy. With her characteristic optimism and fighting spirit, Olivia had made her peace with the diagnosis and the coming treatment. Everyone knew about Olivia's cancer now. Charlotte was badly shaken, as Grace had been. The one who remained strong and positive, the one who held the family together, was-as always-Olivia. She said she was ready for whatever the future might bring.

Like Jack, like Charlotte and Ben, like Justine and Seth, Grace was determined to stand by her side.

As for the problems with her renters, Grace had a fatalistic outlook. She'd agreed to rent the house to Darryl and Pamela Smith, and her decision had been a costly one.

The cost continued to escalate now that there were attorneys involved. That wasn't the end of it, either. Even her former neighbors were upset with her. These were people Grace had known and been friends with for decades. Mrs. Vessey was convinced that the Smiths were selling drugs. Grace didn't know if that was true, but she didn't doubt it was possible.

"What am I going to do?" Grace moaned on Wednesday morning as she sat at the kitchen table prior to leaving for work. She glanced down at her coffee and toast and realized her appet.i.te was gone. The problem had weighed on her ever since another call from Mrs. Vessey informed her that the police had been called, yet again, about an all-night party.

"You spoke to Olivia, didn't you?" Cliff asked, joining her in the kitchen.

"Yes." In spite of her own far more important concerns, Olivia had discussed the situation with Grace, offering advice on how to get the Smiths evicted. The legal process was emotionally, not to mention financially, draining. First, she had to obtain what was known as an Unlawful Retainer, and if the Smiths didn't pay the outstanding rent within three days, the matter would be brought up for a court hearing. That could take two weeks, but depending on the court schedule, it might be longer.

The Smiths were pros at prolonging the process, according to what Judy had learned. They'd managed to live in their last place rent-free for eight months.

"Olivia said it could take months to evict this couple. Judy tried to warn me." Grace sighed. "The Smiths are something else," she said, shaking her head.

"Yeah, they're experts at working the system."

"That isn't the worst of it," she murmured. She hadn't wanted to say anything to Cliff because he'd get upset and she was distressed enough for both of them.

Cliff poured himself a cup of coffee and leaned against the counter. "Okay, out with it. What else is going on?"

She shrugged, trying to make light of it, although she was sick about the whole mess. And sick of it. "How," she asked Cliff, "can one snap decision cause me all this anguish?"

"Okay-tell me."

She took a sip of her coffee, hardly noticing that it was cold. "I drove past the house, and, Cliff, it looks just terrible. I don't think the lawn's been mowed in months. There's a broken-down car sitting in the front yard." Grace bit her lip. "There's junk everywhere, Cliff, and there's damage to the exterior paint. If that's how the outside looks, can you imagine what it's like inside?"

She remembered 204 Rosewood Lane a year ago, with its pristine lawn, thriving flower garden and new paint job. The previous tenants, Ian and Cecilia Randall, had maintained the house beautifully during their brief stay. But now...

She wished she'd sold the place, regardless of her emotional attachment to it. But in its present condition, that was no longer an option. She wondered what the house would be like six months from now.

"Oh, Grace," Cliff said. Walking over to her, he put his hands on her shoulders. "Surely there's something that can be done."

"If so, I don't know what it is." She forced a smile.

"Did that phone call Sunday morning have anything to do with your drive-by?"

Grace nodded. "Mrs. Vessey said everyone in the neighborhood's angry. The police were by on Sat.u.r.day night about a noise complaint. Plus Mr. and Mrs. Wicks are building a new house and they have to sell their current one. They're afraid their property value will be affected. I can't blame them for being worried, can you?"

"No." Cliff pinched his lips together. "You're already doing everything you can. No point in worrying about it."

"I don't see how it can't worry me, and the thing is, Cliff, if they find out I'm trying to get them evicted, they might do even more damage."

"Will you let me help you?" he asked.

"How?" What could Cliff possibly do? The law was the law, and as far as Grace could see, they had no alternative but to play this out.

"I'll think about it." He kissed her cheek and headed out to the barn, while Grace went into the bedroom to finish getting ready for work. Her aerobics cla.s.s was that evening and Olivia still insisted on attending.

The day was, fortunately, a busy one, and Grace had little opportunity to brood on her own problems. She had two kindergarten cla.s.ses in for story hour, probably her all-time favorite activity. Reading a Beverly Cleary book entertained her as much as it did the kids. She also had a training session with a new a.s.sistant, a couple of meetings, publishers' catalogs to study....

Only at lunchtime did she think about the house. As soon as the mess with these renters was cleared up, she'd take care of the necessary repairs and put it on the market. Being a landlord was more trouble than it was worth.

The workout that evening exhausted her, although Olivia seemed energized and ready to take on the world. Breathing hard, Grace muttered, "I'm getting too old for this."

"Nonsense!"

"I'm not joking." She bent forward, hands on her knees as she drew in deep breaths. "I'm sure it's not supposed to hurt this much."

"No pain, no gain," her friend said with a laugh.

If Grace had been a different kind of person, she might have envied Olivia's svelte figure and the effortless way she danced through the aerobic exercises.

"It might help if I lost weight," Grace mumbled. In her own opinion, she could easily stand to take off fifteen pounds. However, as Olivia had pointed out, this was what she'd weighed for years. Her body was obviously comfortable at her present weight and whenever she made an effort to diet, she struggled to pry off every single ounce. It was a losing battle, and unfortunately the losing part didn't apply to her weight.

"I'm telling you right now," Olivia said. "I'm not giving up my coconut cream pie." For an instant, her face grew solemn. "Unless I have to."

Grace touched her arm. "Being the good friend I am, I'll eat it for you."

Olivia laughed and jabbed her in the ribs. Soon afterward they were on their way to the Pancake Palace where Goldie, as usual, awaited their arrival. She had the coffee poured and the pie dished up even before they were inside.

Grace had taken the first creamy, luscious forkful when she saw Cliff pull into the parking lot. "Cliff's here," she said in surprise. If there was a problem at home-or with the house on Rosewood-he could reach her on her cell.

Cliff didn't walk into the Pancake Palace alone. Jack Griffin was with him.

"Jack," Olivia exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, we just thought we'd drop in on our wives."

"Yeah. Hey, Jack," Cliff said with a grin, "I don't think they want us here." He slid into the booth next to Grace, and Jack joined his wife.

"You going to share that?" Cliff asked, nodding at her pie.

"Get your own." She lifted the plate and turned so Cliff couldn't steal a bite.

Cliff took her at her word and waved his arm to get Goldie's attention. She lit up like a starburst when she saw the two men.

Bringing the coffeepot, Goldie bustled over. "So, gentlemen, to what do I owe the pleasure?" she asked, filling the beige mugs.

"We're pie inspectors," Cliff announced. "We're here to see if your product pa.s.ses our quality test."

"Hmmph." Goldie's frown was as transparent as her gruff manner. "I'll bring you anything but coconut cream," she said, eyeing Olivia and Grace. "I can't get either of them to order anything else. We have the best apple-raisin pie in the county and you'd think they could at least give it a try."

"You can bring me a piece of that," Cliff said. "What about you, Jack? I'm buying."

"I'll take a slice of pear pie if you have it."

"We do," Goldie said, beaming with approval. She left and returned a couple of minutes later with two extra-big slices, which she set on the table.

"Well," Cliff said, after cutting into his apple-raisin pie. "Want to know why we're here?"

"You mean it wasn't for the pie?" Grace teased.

"As a matter of fact, no, excellent though it is."

The two men seemed very pleased with themselves, and Grace figured they'd explain this unexpected visit soon enough.

Five minutes later, they did-but not until every crumb of pie was gone.

Leaning back, Cliff gave her a satisfied grin. "You might be interested to know that at this very minute, the renters on Rosewood Lane are in the process of moving."

"Now? Tonight?" Grace gasped. "What happened?"

Jack chuckled. "Cliff called me this afternoon with an idea for persuading these creeps to leave town."

Olivia looked concerned. "Did you threaten them? Because if you did, I don't want to hear it."

Jack shook his head.

Cliff shrugged. "The two of us, you mean? We weren't anywhere near them."

Olivia didn't seem convinced of their innocence. "You'd better tell us exactly what you did."

Jack gestured to Cliff. "You tell. It was your idea, and a mighty fine one if I do say so myself."

"I'll be happy to." Cliff took a last swig of coffee. "After seeing how upset Grace was this morning, I decided there had to be a way to get those people to leave."

Grace nodded uncertainly. She couldn't even guess what he'd come up with. "And?" she said.

"And that's when I talked to Jack," Cliff continued. "I had an idea I wanted to run by him."

"I was so impressed with Cliff's plan that I asked to be part of it."

"Okay, Cliff, you're brilliant," Olivia said. "What did you do?"

"You know the biker bar off Heron Avenue?" Cliff asked.

"Well, yes." Grace had never been inside. It was a wooden structure that resembled a saloon out of an old western. With its sagging roof, the place seemed about to cave in. The Horse with No Name had become a popular watering hole for a rough biker crowd from miles around.

"Jack and I paid the bar a visit," Cliff went on to say. "I stood in the middle of the room and said I was having trouble with some deadbeat renters who didn't seem inclined to move."

"You didn't!" Grace burst out.

"I most certainly did."

"He promised a keg of beer to anyone who'd be willing to ride to the house and convince the renters it was time they looked for housing elsewhere."

"But...but-"

"Don't worry," Cliff said and raised his hands as if antic.i.p.ating Grace's objections. "I explained that they were to do no bodily harm, although they could threaten all they liked."

"Then what?" Olivia asked.

"I can't rightly say," Jack said virtuously, then dipped his finger in Olivia's remaining coconut cream pie and brought it to his lips. "All we know is that about ten of them hopped on their motorbikes. Big, loud bikes."

"Big, loud guys, too," Cliff added. "Lots of tattoos and leather. Mean-looking bunch. If they showed up at my place, I wouldn't want to argue with 'em."

"They were back about twenty minutes later," Jack finished.

"What did they say?"

"Not much," Cliff said. "Just that there shouldn't be a problem anymore and that they wanted their keg of beer."

"That keg cost Cliff less than a hundred bucks."

"They're leaving?" Grace asked in astonishment. "The Smiths are leaving?"

"Leaving?" Jack repeated, his grin so big it must've hurt his face. "Cliff and I drove past and they'd already loaded up their car. My guess is they'll be gone by morning."

"Oh, my goodness." Grace could hardly believe it. "You're not making this up, are you?"