6 Rainier Drive by Debbie Macomber (Cedar Cove # 6) Character Follow Along (Spoilers Included)

Justine and Seth Gunderson went from having a very small part in the last novel to having a big part in this novel. Their restaurant, The Lighthouse burned down at the very end of 50 Harbor Street. Anson Butler, the dishwasher they just fired was a suspect of arson. As to be expected this crisis was detrimental to their marriage. They couldn't agree on anything especially when it came to the restaurant. Seth wanted to find out who burned down The Lighthouse so they could rebuild. Justine for the first time since they had owned The Lighthouse was finally taking time to relax and spend time with her son Leif, who is already 4 and attending preschool and Seth. Justine did not want to go back to the life they had where she would get to spend one hour a day with Leif and spent all her time at The Lighthouse. So as you could guess their differences in opinion about The Lighthouse created problems. Justine ended up making it worse by turning to her ex-boyfriend Warren Saget as a shoulder to lean on. Justine took a joy at the bank and Warren made every excuse to come to the bank to visit Justine. Seth took a job at the boatyard and discovered he liked it more than he thought he would. Once Seth was ready to listen to Justine about her new idea for the restaurant. He discovered it was quite a good idea and she would go forth with his support. Justine wanted to build a victorian teahouse that serves breakfast and lunch. This way all the women in Cedar Cove would have a place to visit and she would always be home at night with Seth and Leif. This way they weren't giving up their dream of the restaurant, but they wouldn't be going back to the life they had either. I'm sure by now you are wondering Who Burned down the Lighthouse? Throughout the novel all the evidence pointed to Anson. They even found a pewter cross that belonged to Anson. Anson was a witness to Warren Saget's license plate and every piece of evidence ended up confirming Warren as guilty. He even confessed to it on tape over lunch with Justine. He didn't want to hurt Justine, just Seth, but ended up hurting everybody. Warren has always made his feelings for Justine clear that he wants to be more than a friend. Justine's marriage with Seth is strong and will last thanks to this mystery being solved.

Allison Cox graduates from high school in this novel. Allison is unhappy most of the novel because she is worried about Anson. She knows in her heart that Anson is not guilty of setting the fire to The Lighthouse, but doesn't understand why he won't come back and clear his name. Allison hears from Anson twice in the novel and each time she is super excited to get the call. She holds on to every word that he says. Then she has to tell Sherriff Troy Davis everything. Anson is instrumental to solving the mystery. He was at the scene of the crime trying to put the fire out. He recognized the person who set the fire from around time and saw the first three letters of his license plate SUL. Anson comes back to Cedar Cove after completing basic training to clear his name. Allison can not believe how much the man she loves has changed. She still doesn't understand why he wouldn't tell her where he went. Anson wanted to prove to Allison that he could do this.

Cecila Randall had a very small part in the novel. She continued to be a source of support for Allison Cox. Cecila is the person who gets to rent out Grace Sherman Harding's old home on 204 Rosewood Lane. She is so excited to finally have a house to raise her son Aaron in when Ian announces that he is being transferred to San Deigo. The boxes aren't even unpacked and already they are going to be forced to move again.

Maryellen and Jon Bowman continue to have a difficult time. Maryellen is on bedrest during a difficult pregnancy. Maryellen's mother Grace and her stepfather Cliff stop by to help out with their three year old daughter Katie as much as possible and Jon takes Katie with him on this photo shoots. Maryellen realizes that they can't do this alone. She is stressed out about Katie's care which is not making her pregnancy any easier. It is fate that she gets a call from Jon's estranged Step-mother, Ellen. She tells Ellen everything that is wrong and Ellen tells her that Joseph and herself are coming no argument to take care of Katie so Maryellen can take it easy. Jon agrees as long as his parents are gone before he comes home. Ellen and Joseph abide by Jon's wishes. Maryellen's stress melts away and it is all thanks to Jon's parents. She is able to finally relax because she knows they have everything taken care of. Katie flourishes under their care and Ellen and Joseph eyes shine with the joy their granddaughter has brought them. Jon continues to be harsh towards his parents until one day they accidentally stayed late and Jon came home to see them playing in the yard with Katie. Jon and his father exchange a few words. Jon allows his parents to be at his house when he is there also as long as he doesn't have to see them. He stays downstairs in the darkroom. It was a good thing he was home one day because he saved Katie's life. Katie has a scary moment towards the end of the novel. She was playing hide and seek with Joseph when she fell into the creek. Joe chased after her and fell in also. Jon found them both on a log Joe gasping for breathe. Katie is save in Maryellen's arms when he rescues Joe. He demands Ellen take Joseph to the hospital. He checks out just fine. Maryellen also goes to the hospital that night and spends 20 hours in labor before giving birth to their beautiful baby boy, Drake Joseph Bowman. Jon has a revelation that now that he has two kids and he loves them both equally which one would he choose to send to jail and although he believes his father is still guilty for playing God as he did. He begins to forgive his father and names the baby after him. This does not mean that his relationship with his father and step-mother is going to be perfect, but it is a step in the right direction.

Rachel Pendergast continues to be difficult with her relationship with Nate. She tells everybody that they are just casually dating now and that she is not in love with Nate. She spends more time with Bruce Peyton's daughter Jolene as an excuse not to see Nate or meet his snooty parents. She had one conversation with Patrice Olsen and she knows that Patrice believes Rachel is not good enough for Nate. After an awkward dinner with Nate's parents Nate announces that he is being transferred to San Diego with the George Washington. Rachel does not want to leave Cedar Cove or her friends, but in order to be Nate's wife she has to move. Nate asks Rachel to be his wife and gives her three months to decide if she can handle being away from him. I do so hope that Rachel will decide to stay with Nate.

In other interest news I have to talk about the scandal that Justine hinted about in the summary of this novel. Cal Washburn has been dating Linnette Macafee when he decides to head to Wyoming to rescue wild mustangs. Cliff hints to Linnette that although one of the reasons Cal was going there was for the mustangs another part of him was almost too excited to leave. No other, but Vicki, the vet, from Cliff's ranch follows him to Wyoming. That is where they both confess their love for each other. Linnette's brother Mac hinted to Linnette that she was smothering Cal and she would eventually lose him, but this heartbreak is almost too much to bear. Cal comes back from Wyoming and his stutter has improved so much. He apologizes to Linnette and tells her that he plans to marry Vicki. Linnette makes a decision of her own. She is going to pack up and leave Cedar Cove. No other than Dr. Chad Timmons. He is interested in Linnette's sister Gloria, but he begs Linnette to stay. We will see what happens to Linnette in the next novel.

Charlotte (Olivia's mother) continues to be the town's biggest gossiper. She is worried about her husband Ben. He isn't acting like himself. He admits that after his son David Rhodes goes to jail for insurance fraud that he believes he might have set the fire to The Lighthouse. He would repay Seth every penny if his son committed the crime. David does try to make amends in this novel by giving his father checks that bounce every time. No debt has been repaid so far. Charlotte's son Will announces that he is moving back to Cedar Cove after his marriage to Georgia ends. Charlotte is afraid he is going to interfere with Grace's marriage to Cliff. She realizes her son is no angel, but tries to continue to believe in him.

Olivia Griffin and Grace Harding didn't have a very big part in this novel. It seems that married life is going great for both of them. Grace is a shoulder to lean on for Linnette with her difficult time with Cal and we see glismps of Grace's character through Maryellen, but otherwise she wasn't in this novel. Jack is eating healther now thanks to his heart attack and is running circles around Olivia. Olivia is seen briefly in Justine's chapters when they have lunch together, but otherwise she is also a minor character in this novel. I would have loved to see more of both of these characters.

Terri Miller is the character I enjoyed least of this novel. I thought she was a fine character on her own, but a bit implusive. She flies to Seattle, Washington to cut Bobby Polgar's hair. He shows up in Cedar Cove and is immediately in love with Terri despite hardly knowing her and he asks her to marry him. Terri is resistant at first, but Bobby isn't ready to give up on her. After meeting all of three times and barely knowing each other Terri marries Bobby in a shotgun wedding in Vegas. After they are married Bobby continues to go to his chess tournaments and spends very little time with Terri as her husband. They see each other for two or three days at a time. Terri has all the money she could ever need and buys a house for them on 74 Seaside Avenue. She begins to receive death threats from some stranger which is the mystery to be solved in the next novel.

As I admitted in my review I do not really enjoy Terri as a character. Her marriage is too good to be true and will never last. Bobby just believes because he has all the money he will ever need he can get whatever he wants including Terri and Terri is just foolishly in love blind that this marriage will never last. They might prove me wrong in the novels, but in real life this marriage would be over within a couple of years. They never spend any time together. I will read the next novel soon and maybe I will soften to this character.