44 Cranberry Point Read Free

reservations.”
    “No guests,” Peggy said.
    “No guests,” he confirmed, “until this matter is settled once and for all.”
    This was going to hurt financially, but it didn’t matter. What did matter was having the reassurance that her husband was safe.
    “I’ll do what I can to solve this quickly,” Troy promised them.
    Peggy could only wonder how long that would take.

Chapter Two
    C ecilia Randall stood on the Navy pier and watched the aircraft carrier George Washington sail into Sinclair Inlet. After six months serving in the Persian Gulf, her husband, Ian, was finally home. Cecilia had often heard people talk about hearts swelling and dismissed the expression as exaggerated, sentimental. Now she knew what it meant, how it felt. Her heart swelled with love, pride and patriotism as the massive ship headed toward Bremerton.
    The other Navy wives and hordes of friends and family crowded the pier. Colorful banners waved in the wind, along with Welcome Home signs. News helicopters from the Seattle television stations circled the area, taping the event for the five-o’clock broadcast. The joy and excitement around her was infectious, despite the dreary, cloudy day. Even the lead-gray skies and the threat of imminent rain didn’t dampen Cecilia’s mood. A band played in the background, and the American flag rippled in the breeze. It could have been a Norman Rockwell painting.
    Cecilia’s dearest friends, two other Navy wives, Cathy Lackey and Carol Greendale, stood with her, each holdinga toddler against her hip while madly waving. Cecilia hoped that before long she’d be a mother again herself.
    “I think I see Andrew,” Cathy cried. She screeched with happiness and waved one arm wildly above her head. Then she pointed his daddy out to her young son.
    Three thousand sailors, dressed in white Navy uniforms, stood along the rail, feet apart, hands behind their backs, as they lined the perimeter of the flight deck. At this distance it was impossible for Cecilia to find Ian. The wind whipped at her face and she shouted and waved. Perhaps Ian would see her.
    “Take Amanda,” Carol said, heaving her three-year-old daughter toward Cecilia.
    She gladly held the toddler. There’d been a time when even looking at this little girl brought her pain. Allison, Ian’s and her baby daughter, was born the same week as Amanda. Had she lived, Allison, too, would’ve been three years old. But she’d died after clinging to life for only a few days. Her death had ripped the marriage apart. If not for a wise family court judge who ignored convention and denied their divorce, they might have ended up like so many other sad marriage statistics.
    “Ian, over here,” Cecilia shouted, as she thrust one arm high above her head. “Do you see your daddy?” she asked Amanda.
    The little girl’s arms were tight around Cecilia’s neck, and she buried her face in Cecilia’s shoulder.
    “There’s Daddy, there’s Daddy,” Carol said, pointing to the aircraft carrier.
    Amanda looked up then, smiling, and Carol reached for her daughter again.
    An eternity passed before the gangplank was lowered and the sailors disembarked, carrying their duffel bags. Soon therewere reunions everywhere. Cathy spotted Andrew and ran toward her husband, weeping with happiness.
    Cecilia searched frantically for Ian. Then she saw him, tall and fit and tan, his dark hair visible beneath his white Navy cap. The breath left her lungs at the sight of him and she burst into tears of joy.
    Not a minute later, Cecilia was caught up in her husband’s arms. They clung to each other, tears still clouding her eyes as Ian brought his mouth to hers.
    Their kiss was slow, sensual and filled with six months of longing and need. By the time they’d finished, Cecilia was weak and breathless. Ian was home; her world was complete once again. The universe could have dissolved around her and she wouldn’t have cared.
    “I’ve missed you like crazy,” she whispered,