Debbie Macomber - 311 Pelican Court

Olivia Lockhart: Divorced, family court judge in Cedar Cove. Mother of Justine and James. Lives at 16 Lighthouse Road.

Charlotte Jefferson: Mother of Olivia, widow, lifelong resident of Cedar Cove.

Justine (Lockhart) Gunderson: Daughter of Olivia, married to Seth, mother of Leif.

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. Mother of Maryellen and Kelly. Lives at 204 Rosewood Lane.

Dan Sherman: Graces dead husband.

Maryellen Sherman: Oldest daughter of Grace and Dan. Mother of Katie.

Kelly Jordan: Maryellens sister, married to Paul, mother of Tyler.

Jon Bowman: photographer, chef and father of Katie.

Jack Griffin: Newspaper reporter and editor of the Cedar Cove Chronicle. Recovering alcoholic. Involved in a relationship with Olivia Lockhart. Father of Eric, who lives in Nevada with his wife, Shelly, and their twin boys.

Zachary Cox: Accountant, divorced from Rosie. Father of Allison and Eddie Cox, aged fifteen and nine, respectively. Lives at 311 Pelican Court.

Rosie Cox: Zachs ex-wife. Now working as a teacher. She and Zach share custody of their children.

Janice Lamond: Zachs assistant at his accounting firm.

Cliff Harding: Retired engineer and now horse breeder living near Cedar Cove. Divorced father of Lisa, who lives in Maryland. He has an on-and-off relationship with Grace Sherman. Grandson of Tom Houston (Harding), cowboy film star of the 1930s.

Cecilia Randall: Navy wife, living in Cedar Cove. Accountant. Married to Ian Randall, submariner. Lost a baby, Allison.

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

Roy McAfee: Private detective, retired from Seattle police force. Two adult children.

Corrie McAfee: Roys wife and office manager.

Troy Davis: Cedar Cove sheriff.

Louie Benson: Cedar Cove mayor and brother of Otto Benson, lawyer.

Pastor Dave Flemming: Local Methodist minister.

F rom the moment Rosie Cox entered Cedar Coves divorce court, shed felt a renewed sense of failurenot to mention betrayal. Who wouldnt feel that way? After seventeen years of what shed believed to be a reasonably good marriage, Zachs infidelity was the last thing shed expected.

Hed never openly admitted to the affair. She hadnt found her husband in a compromising situation, hadnt found any concrete evidenceno matchbooks from expensive restaurants, no jewelry receipts or motel billsbut in her heart she knew. A wife always does.

Rosie owned up to the truthshe was angry and shed expressed that anger by making this divorce as complicated and difficult as she possibly could. Why should she go easy on Zach or walk away from their marriage without one hell of a fight? And fight she had, with both fists raised.

As she turned away from the judge, the final decree in her hand, she realized shed made another mistake. Rosie had assumed that once the divorce was granted, the anger and bitterness of these dreadful months would be lifted. Wrong again. An even heavier burden had been added. When the joint custody agreement she and Zach had so carefully worked out, point by point, was presented to Judge Olivia Lockhart, the judge had rejected it.

Instead, Judge Lockhart had stated that it was emotionally detrimental to kids to shuffle them between residences every few days. Allison and Eddie needed stable lives, according to Judge Lockhart, and they hadnt asked for the divorce. Some people considered the judge innovative, Rosie thought, disgruntled. How about interfering? Or out of her mind? Becauseof all the crazy settlementsshed awarded the children their house. That meant Rosie and Zach would be the ones moving in and out.

Talk about ridiculous! Talk about impossible.

Now that the divorce was final, Rosie and Zach would have to figure out some kind of living arrangements. The ramifications of what theyd agreed to were starting to hit Rosie and she hadnt even left the courtroom.

Rosie, Sharon Castor, her attorney, said as soon as they were in the silent hallway outside the courtroom. We have to meet with your ex-husband.