Debbie Macomber - 50 Harbor Street

Some of the Residents of Cedar Cove, Washington

Olivia Lockhart Griffin: Family court judge in Cedar Cove. Mother of Justine and James. Married to Jack Griffin. Lives at 16 Lighthouse Road.

Jack Griffin: Newspaper reporter and editor of The Cedar Cove Chronicle. Recovering alcoholic. Married to Olivia. Father of Eric, who lives in Nevada with his wife, Shelly, and their twin boys.

Charlotte Jefferson: Mother of Olivia. Now married to widower Ben Rhodes.

Justine (Lockhart) Gunderson: Daughter of Olivia. Married to Seth Gunderson. Mother of Leif. The Gundersons live at 6 Rainier Drive.

Seth Gunderson: Justines husband. Co-owner, with Justine, of The Lighthouse restaurant.

James Lockhart: Olivias son and Justines younger brother. In the Navy. Lives in San Diego with his wife, Selina, and daughter, Isabella.

Stanley Lockhart: Olivias ex-husband and father of James and Justine. Now lives in Seattle.

Will Jefferson: Olivias brother, Charlottes son. Married and lives in Atlanta.

Grace Sherman: Olivias best friend. Librarian. Widow of Dan Sherman. Mother of Maryellen Bowman and Kelly Jordan. Involved in an on-again, off-again relationship with Cliff Harding. Lives at 204 Rosewood Lane.

Cliff Harding: Retired engineer and now horse breeder living near Cedar Cove. Divorced father of Lisa, who lives in Maryland.

Cal Washburn: Horse trainer, employed by Cliff Harding.

Maryellen Bowman: Oldest daughter of Grace and Dan Sherman. Mother of Katie. Married to Jon Bowman.

Jon Bowman: Photographer, married to Maryellen. Father of Katie.

Zachary Cox: Accountant, married to Rosie. Father of Allison and Eddie Cox, aged seventeen and eleven. Lives at 311 Pelican Court.

Anson Butler: Boyfriend of Allison Cox.

Cecilia Randall: Navy wife, living in Cedar Cove. Accountant, working for Zach Cox. Married to Ian Randall, submariner. Lost a baby (Allison). Is now pregnant.

Rachel Pendergast: Works at the Get Nailed salon. Friends with Bruce Peyton and his daughter, Jolene. Romantically involved with sailor Nate Olsen.

Bob and Peggy Beldon: Retired. Own the Thyme and Tide Bed and Breakfast at 44 Cranberry Point.

Roy McAfee: Private investigator, retired from Seattle police force. Two adult children, Mack and Linnette. Married to Corrie.

Corrie McAfee: Roys wife and office manager. The McAfees live at 50 Harbor Street.

Linnette McAfee: Daughter of Roy and Corrie. Moves to Cedar Cove to work as a nurse practitioner in the new medical clinic.

Gloria Ashton: Police officer for Bremerton force. Linnettes friend and neighbor.

Troy Davis: Cedar Cove sheriff.

Pastor Flemming: Local Methodist minister.

C orrie McAfee was worried. And she knew that her husband, Roy, was too.

Who wouldnt be? Starting in July, Roya private investigatorhad received a series of anonymous postcards, and while the messages werent overtly threatening, they were certainly distressing.

The first communication, which had been mailed to the office, spoke of regrets. During the intervening weeks, thered been several others. Corrie had read each postcard so often shed memorized them all. The first one stated: EVERYONE HAS REGRETS. IS THERE ANYTHING YOUVE DONE YOU WISH YOU COULD DO OVER? THINK ABOUT IT. There hadnt been a signature then, or on any of the other cards. Theyd arrived at infrequent intervals and been mailed from different locations. The cryptic messages kept playing in her mind. The passing of time hadnt helped; she was as much in the dark now, in October, as when shed seen that first postcard.

There was a final gasping, gurgling sound as the coffee drained into the glass pot. The noise distracted Corrie from her worries for a momentlong enough to glance out the wide office window that overlooked downtown Cedar Cove, Washington. Serving as Roys secretary and assistant had its advantages, and in this instance, disadvantages. Sometimes ignorance truly was bliss; the current situation was definitely one of those cases. Shed sleep better if shed never learned about the mysterious postcards.

And yeteven if Roy had managed to keep them hidden from her, she would still have knownbecause the last message had been hand-delivered, at night, to their front door. Not to the office like the others, but to their home. Late one evening, someone had walked up the sidewalk and onto the porch of their house. As it happened, Roy and Corrie were entertaining dinner guests that nightand had opened the door to discover that an unknown person had left a fruit basket and an accompanying note. Chills raced up Corries spine at the thought that this person knew their home address.

Is that coffee ready yet? Roy called from inside his office. Apparently she hadnt delivered it fast enough.

Hold your horsesits coming. Corrie didnt mean to snap at her husband. Normally she wasnt short-tempered. This uncharacteristic outburst revealed how upset she was by everything that was happening to them. Sighing, she filled a clean mug for Roy and carried it, steam rising, into his office.