Written in Stone (A Books by the Bay Mystery)

a table at the far end of the deck and Olivia sensed that a dissatisfied customer had asked to speak with the manager. “I’ve got Anders,” she told Kim with a smile. “Go work your magic.”
    Laurel passed the unhappy infant over to Olivia. She cupped her palm around the back of his head and turned him to face her. She gazed into his dolphin gray eyes. “Hello, handsome,” she whispered, planting a featherlight kiss on his forehead.
    Anders stopped crying and returned her stare. He reached out a chubby hand and closed it around a lock of her hair. He gurgled and drooled, his toothless mouth curving into a cherub’s smile.
    “I’ll be right back,” she said and stood up, holding the baby tighter in her arms. She hadn’t told Hudson about her encounter with Charles and she knew it was time to put the subject to rest. Her brother had been bringing up “the ghost” for the past few days.
    My brother,
she thought.
Not by blood. I know the truth and the truth doesn’t matter. We belong to each other.
She kissed Anders again.
We all belong to each other.
    “Olivia!” Rawlings called out from behind her.
    She stopped and turned, surprised to see that he’d followed her inside.
    “I wanted to give this to you earlier but I haven’t had the chance.” He handed her a small jewelry box.
    She eyed the box nervously. “What is it?”
    “Nothing scary,” he said with a secretive grin. “Just open it.”
    Shifting Anders to her hip, Olivia popped the lid back and gasped. Resting on a square of black velvet was her starfish necklace. “How . . . ?” She frowned, unable to hide her displeasure. “I told you that I wanted Munin to have this.”
    “She has yours,” Rawlings assured her gently. “This is the one from the memory jug. It was your mother’s.” He removed the necklace from the box and turned the starfish over. “Look. Her initials are engraved on the back. CL.” He undid the clasp and moved behind Olivia, deftly fastening the necklace around her neck. “I had to get a new chain. There was no way to get the other one out of the clay without it breaking, but the pendant came free like it knew where it was going.”
    Olivia felt the starfish settle in the hollow of her neck. She reached up to brush it with her fingertips, too moved to speak.
    “I know you always felt like your mother was near when you wore the necklace she’d given you. Now you can feel that way again.” Holding her by the shoulders, he slowly spun Olivia around to face him.
    With the baby in between, Olivia leaned over and gave Rawlings a deep, lingering kiss. She tried to infuse the kiss with all the love and gratitude welling up inside her, sweeping over her like a great wave. “There’ll be more of that later,” she promised, touching the starfish again.
    “Then I’d better go load up on protein,” he said with a laugh and headed back to the table.
    Olivia watched him until he disappeared outside. Her heart felt like it was too large to fit inside her chest. What had she done to deserve such a man?
    Don’t ever let him go,
she told herself and walked into the kitchen.
    Hudson was busy mincing garlic, but he heard the coo of his son over the hiss of steaming pots and the chatter of the kitchen staff. He glanced up from his task and smiled at Anders and Olivia.
    She jerked her head in the direction of the side door and Hudson understood. Laying the knife down, he rinsed his hands in the sink and dried them on his apron before joining her.
    “Hey, my man,” he said to his son, squeezing a rosy cheek. Anders squealed and wriggled in Olivia’s arms. Hudson led Olivia outside to a narrow deck on the side of the building where The Bayside Crab House employees took their breaks. Hudson waited for Olivia to take a seat at the lone picnic table and then sat down across from her, smiling widely for Anders’ benefit.
    “I wanted to tell you that I found the guy who looked like our father,” she said without further preamble. “I spoke with him.”
    Hudson’s smile vanished. “Who is he?”
    “Our father’s twin brother. His name is Charles. He was in the area for the food festival. Apparently, he’s some bigwig from New York and his TV network sponsored the whole thing.”
    “Our dad had a twin? How come we’ve never heard of him before?” Hudson asked suspiciously.
    “He and Willie never got along. And I can see why. The guy’s a jerk.”
    This made Hudson laugh. “Sounds just like Dad.”
    Olivia