Written in Stone (A Books by the Bay Mystery)

her.
    She then kicked off her shoes and hurried over the dunes, the salt-laden wind whipping her hair around her face. While Haviland danced in the sea foam, she’d taken the birth certificate from her pocket, struck a match, and set it on fire.
    Now, she waded into the water, the only place where she and a man named Willie Wade had always felt at home. The same could not be said about her biological father. He hated everything about Oyster Bay while Olivia loved her town and the people in it with all of her heart.
    The paper burned until it was nothing but a scattering of ashes. Olivia watched as the ocean pulled the pieces, and her secret, into the deep.

Chapter 20
    To go forward is to move toward perfection. March on, and fear not the thorns, or the sharp stones on life’s path.
    —K HALIL G IBRAN
    T hat following Friday, the Bayside Book Writers got together for an impromptu end-of-summer celebration at The Bayside Crab House. The men wore Hawaiian shirts in bold prints and the women wore flirty sundresses and strappy sandals. The hostess led them to a table on the deck laden with appetizers and pitchers of pomegranate margaritas.
    “I noticed that the ‘For Lease’ sign is missing from the storefront around the corner,” Laurel said as she and Olivia took their seats. “Does that mean Shelley Giusti is moving in?”
    “It does. She plans to have her desserterie open by Christmas.” Olivia offered Haviland a piece of shrimp. “Michel is beside himself with glee.”
    Laurel rubbed her hands together. “Me too. An entire shop filled with chocolate? There goes my paycheck. And my waistline.”
    Millay poured herself a margarita and lifted the glass in the air. “I’d rather drink my calories.”
    Olivia smiled at her friend. Millay was beginning to unwind and behave more like her old self. Olivia knew that the Locklear case had brought some of Millay’s most painful memories—the ones she’d hoped to bury forever—to the surface. She’d had to meet those memories head-on and she’d done so with boldness and courage. Now that Judson was in custody and Talley was being looked after by Annette Stevens, Millay could begin to let go of things from her own past that had haunted her for too long.
    Harris broke into Olivia’s reverie by describing the children’s cooking game he was designing. “I’m starting with food they don’t actually have to cook, like putting peanut butter and raisins on a piece of celery. Totally healthy stuff.”
    “Ants on a log,” Laurel said. “My boys love that snack.”
    Rawlings pretended to be confused. “Your kids eat ants?”
    They all laughed. Olivia sipped her margarita and gazed around the spacious deck. The overhead trellis was festooned with colorful paper lanterns and nautical flags. Potted plants wound with white lights separated the tables, and the ocean breeze stirred the centerpieces made of red carnations and pinwheels. Soon, the band would arrive and country western music would encourage the crowd to become a little louder and a little rowdier. But that was okay with everyone. It was a Friday night after all.
    “I told Steve he’d probably have to come get me,” Laurel said, handing her glass to Millay for a refill. “I always get tipsy after one of our adventures.”
    “It’s the relief,” Rawlings explained. “Cops feel this way all the time. When you’ve been on someone’s trail, especially someone as clever and evasive as Judson Ware, you put all your energy into tracking that person down. Once they’re finally caught, you’re utterly drained, but you also want to seize hold of everything that makes you feel alive.” He sent Olivia a warm glance. “You probably gave Steve and the boys some extra TLC this week, didn’t you?”
    Laurel grinned. “I sure did! I hugged and kissed them every chance I got and I also ate a whole pint of cappuccino fudge swirl ice cream. I
never
eat the whole pint.”
    “That’s what happens,” Rawlings said. “As a cop, you try to enjoy as much as you can because it’s only a matter of time before you catch a new case. Until then, you live large.”
    Millay raised an eyebrow. “So what did you do, Chief? Buy two gallons of chocolate milk instead of one?”
    He balled up his napkin and tossed it at her. “I started a new painting, stuffed my face with jumbo bags of sour cream and onion potato chips, and took long walks on the beach with my favorite dog.” He ruffled the fur on the back of