Written in Stone (A Books by the Bay Mystery)

woo her. Unfortunately, she’s still married.”
    Olivia’s eyebrows shot up. “You haven’t asked her about that? Get in the kitchen, you fool. She’s more available than you think. God help her.”
    * * *
    An hour later, Olivia and Haviland entered The Bayside Crab House and were greeted at the hostess station by a smiling kindergartner. Caitlyn, Olivia’s niece, was a quiet child with molasses-colored eyes and hair. She was very fond of Haviland and hugged him fiercely. Then she shyly held out a piece of paper for her aunt.
    “It’s you, me, and Haviland,” she said in her high, little-girl voice. “At the beach.”
    Olivia examined the drawing. In front of a sea made of green, blue, and grey waves, Olivia and Caitlyn held hands while Haviland sniffed at a bright red crab. Bubbly hearts floated around the frame and a rainbow stretched across a sky filled with fat purple clouds. Most children Caitlyn’s age would have created a very two-dimensional scene, but Caitlyn was already demonstrating advanced skills as an artist and she’d infused her drawing with light, shadow, and depth.
    “I love it.” Olivia smiled at her. “May I keep it?”
    Caitlyn nodded, pleased.
    “Is your mom here with Anders?” she asked, hoping to catch a glimpse of her nephew, the only baby Olivia had ever wanted to hold.
    “She’s outside, talking to your friend. The man with the pineapple shirt.” Caitlyn waved her arm. “I’ll show you.”
    Rawlings was at a table on the spacious deck overlooking the harbor. He had a frosted pint glass of beer in front of him and was bouncing Anders on his knee. Kim, Olivia’s sister-in-law, was gazing at Rawlings indulgently. Seeing Olivia, she stood and gave her a quick hug and said, “Hudson is in a state over something that happened at the food festival today. Would you go back and talk to him when you have a sec?”
    Olivia’s half brother would be setting up a Bayside Crab House tent at the Coastal Carolina Food Festival the following morning, and Olivia assumed he had an issue with the tent’s location or another irksome detail. “Sure. Let me say hello to my handsome nephew first.”
    Olivia eased Anders from Rawlings’ arms. The baby focused his dolphin grey eyes on her and produced a wide, gummy smile. As she drew him close to her chest, he cooed and gurgled. She drank him in, enchanted by his hair, which smelled like sunshine, and his cheeks, which were smooth as peach skin.
    Pressing a kiss on her nephew’s forehead, Olivia could feel a loosening inside. The solid warmth of her nephew’s body lessened the weight of sadness she felt over Willis’s death. When Anders reached out to grasp her starfish necklace and, finding his aunt’s neck bare, went for her shiny earring instead, she kissed his plump wrist, laughing in delight as he kicked his bare feet into space.
    “Aren’t they a picture?” Kim said to Rawlings.
    “Beautiful,” the chief replied, his eyes filled with tenderness.
    Olivia looked at him, momentarily wondering if Rawlings regretted not having a child of his own, but she pushed the thought aside and smiled at him. “Nice threads,” she said, ogling his Hawaiian shirt with amusement.
    He glanced down at the yellow and green pineapple print. “Anders likes it.”
    “Well, that’s all that matters,” she said and everyone laughed.
    The ocean breeze wafted over the tables and rippled the furled sails and mast flags of the boats anchored in the harbor. Olivia watched them gently bob and sway as shallow waves rolled under their hulls. Gulls perched atop wooden pylons and the sun sank into the water, leaking a wash of orange across the horizon. Diners talked and ate heartily while bluegrass music danced from the speakers. Olivia soaked in the sights and sounds and scents and took strength from them.
    Eventually, Anders shoved his fist in his mouth and grew fussy.
    “He’s hungry,” Kim said.
    Olivia passed the baby to his mother. “I’ll be back to check on Hudson in a minute,” she said.
    “I’m going to the office to draw.” Caitlyn collected her Shirley Temple and then looked at Haviland. “Wanna come?”
    Haviland wagged his tail and Olivia knew the poodle would do anything to get closer to the kitchen. She told him to follow Caitlyn and Kim inside and he trotted off, flashing the other diners a toothy smile.
    Rawlings and Olivia sat in companionable silence, soaking in the tranquility while it lasted.
    And it didn’t last long.