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5

“Please tell me I did not hear this right,” Grandma Jenny said to Hannah when she marched into the house on Saturday morning. “You’ve invited Abby here for dinner?”

Hannah regarded her with amusement. “Since you obviously heard this from Seth, then you know I have.”

“What happened to keeping some distance between the two of you?”

“It didn’t seem practical,” Hannah said.

Her grandmother regarded her with dismay. “Have you seen her? Is this fiasco a done deal?”

“I went by yesterday to ask her to dinner, if that’s what you’re asking,” Hannah said. “She accepted. So has Seth.” She felt compelled to add, “Abby looks fantastic, by the way.”

“Do you think I give two figs about how she looks?” Grandma Jenny grumbled. “What’s she up to? That’s what I want to know.”

“She came back for a fresh start,” Hannah said, finding herself in the odd position of trying to defend Abby, when she had her own doubts about her motives running through her head. “You were supportive enough of Luke doing that. Me, too, as I recall. In fact, you were downright eager to get me to move back here.”

“That was different,” her grandmother declared.

“How so?”

“I was being selfish. I wanted you close by and I knew Luke would keep you here and make you happy. Abby’s just going to stir up trouble.”

“Not if I don’t let her,” Hannah insisted. “I honestly don’t believe Luke has anything to do with her coming back. I really don’t. And let’s not forget about Seth. You were the first to say there was something there. Luke seems to think so, too. I’m counting on that. A hot and heavy romance between those two is the answer for everyone.”

Grandma Jenny sighed. “I’m a big believer in romance, but I still don’t like this.”

Hannah leaned down and gave her a fierce hug. “Be glad that I’m making the best of the situation. Isn’t that what you wanted? Not a panic attack yet.”

“Okay, then,” her grandmother said, looking relieved. “But I have half a mind to go to the council meeting next week and speak out against that whole Blue Heron Cove thing just to get Abby out of town. If she doesn’t get those permits, trust me, she’ll be gone soon enough.”

“And that would be selfish and spiteful,” Hannah scolded. “The Seaview Key economy needs that development. You’ve said so yourself. There were plenty of people who were skeptical, but you were all for it when you first heard about it.”

“I might have been wrong.”

Hannah laughed. “When were you ever wrong?”

Her grandmother gave her a triumphant look. “Never, and that’s something you might want to remember. I’m probably not wrong about Abby, either.”

Hannah’s expression sobered. “I’m hoping that’s the exception that proves the rule. I want this to be okay,” she said softly. “For all of us. I’ve only had one other friend as close as Abby and I once were. Unfortunately, Susie’s in New York and phone calls aren’t nearly enough. I realized when she came for the wedding just how much I miss that closeness. It would be nice to have a best friend here again.”

Though her grandmother continued to look skeptical, she nodded slowly. “Then I’ll hope it works out that way, but I’m going to keep my eyes wide open. You should, too.”

“Will do,” Hannah promised.

After she’d gone, Hannah spent an hour planning the menu for tonight’s dinner. She wanted everything to be perfect, especially now that she knew Abby had run a successful restaurant. While entertaining on Seaview Key was usually casual, she’d put together her share of fancy dinner parties in New York. Of course, then she’d had the food catered. This dinner was going to be all on her.

After crossing off half a dozen options, none of which seemed appetizing or sophisticated enough, she put her head down and moaned. “What have I done?” she muttered. “This is going to be a disaster.”

Luke walked in just in time to overhear her. He knelt down and put his arms around her. “I figured reality was going to set in sooner or later,” he said, stroking her back. “Grab your purse.”

“Why?”

“We’re going food shopping on the mainland. The way I hear it, there’s a place that sells everything from hors d’oeuvres to decadent desserts already prepared. You can go wild.”

“But it won’t be the same as if I fixed everything myself,” she protested.

He laughed, then sobered. “No, sweetheart, but it will be edible.”

She frowned at him. “I think you just insulted my cooking.”

“Your cooking hasn’t killed me yet, but you told me yourself the night before last that it’s not your strong suit. Since tonight seems to be all about impressing at least one of our guests, I recommend we give this a try.”

She looked into his eyes. A grin spread across her face. “Thank you.”

“For offering to spend a fortune on gourmet food?”

“No, for understanding why this dinner party being perfect matters to me.”

“I’ll always do anything in my power to make you happy,” he promised her.

“I believe that,” Hannah said. And at that moment, with nothing and no one around to challenge her faith in Luke’s love, she believed it with absolute certainty.

* * *

Whether he was merely to serve as a buffer to keep the gathering on an even keel or whether dinner was a setup for him and Abby, Seth was surprisingly eager for Luke and Hannah’s dinner party. It had been a long time since he’d taken such care getting ready for an evening out. Apparently his time had been well spent.

“You look great,” Hannah said, grinning when she greeted him at the door. “I love your aftershave.”

Seth flinched, fighting a desire to run home for a shower. “Too much?”

“Not at all. Come on in. Abby’s already here. She and Luke are on the porch out back. You can grab a beer before you join them. Or would you rather have wine? I opened a bottle of red for Abby.”

“A beer’s good,” he said, following her through the house.

So far, Hannah seemed surprisingly at ease. He hoped that boded well for the evening. He accepted the beer she offered, then went outside with her.

His gaze immediately went to Abby. He was pretty sure his eyes glazed over the instant he saw her. She looked drop-dead gorgeous, nothing at all like the bedraggled woman he’d dragged to shore or even the casually attired woman he’d joined for lunch at The Fish Tale. This woman looked as if she’d just returned from a shopping trip in some exclusive mall in Naples, over on the mainland. She was put together with elegance and care, though he suspected her linen slacks and silk blouse were meant to be beach casual. Every highlighted hair was in place, too. She was a jaw-dropping sight, that’s for sure, just like those images his sisters had envied in their piles of fashion magazines.

Truthfully, though, he’d liked her better half-naked and soaking wet. She’d seemed approachable then.

He felt Hannah nudge him in the side.

“Say hello,” she encouraged, grinning.

“Nice to see you again,” he said, then took a chair as far from Abby as he could get. This Abby was not only intimidating, she was evidently way, way out of his league. Whatever fantasies he’d been spinning suddenly seemed wildly out of reach, the differences between them emphasized by salon styling and designer duds.

Judging by his expression, Luke was almost as amused as Hannah by Seth’s dumbfounded reaction.

“Abby was just telling me about how she ended up starting a restaurant,” Luke said. “She got tired of eating fried fish all the time.”

“You have no idea,” she confirmed, her gaze on Seth. “I mean, I love seafood. How could I not, growing up here? But The Fish Tale doesn’t cook every single thing in a deep fryer.”

“So you went into the restaurant business out of desperation?” Hannah asked.

“Something like that,” Abby said. “I worked in a couple of very nice places in Pensacola to learn how to run a restaurant, took some cooking classes so I’d know more about what really good food could be, then found an inventive chef who was interested in the same sort of restaurant I’d been envisioning. Seemed to us there was no reason a small town couldn’t have excellent food.”

“Were you equal partners?” Seth asked.

She shook her head. “I was able to scrape together the start-up money,” she said modestly. “He had the ideas. We made it a sixty-forty arrangement. We were one of the lucky ones. The restaurant caught on. By the time I left, we were so successful he was able to buy me out.”

“Did you start the restaurant before or after you met your husband?” Hannah asked.

“Before,” Abby said, a frown passing across her face. “Marshall wouldn’t have approved of me opening it after, but he could hardly complain since I was already in business when we met. In fact, we met right there when one of the members of his vestry at the church brought him in for dinner.”

Seth nearly choked on his beer. “You were married to a minister?”

She nodded, clearly amused by his reaction. “That’s been a shocker to a lot of people, me included.”

“Since I have a hunch there’s a long story behind that courtship, maybe we should have dinner before we get into it,” Hannah suggested.

“Great idea,” Abby agreed a little too eagerly. “Let me help get everything on the table.”

As the two women went inside, Luke gestured for Seth to remain behind. “You okay? You look a little dazed.”

“She’s not exactly the woman I thought she was,” he admitted.

“Meaning?”

“Remember she was in a bathing suit when we met. Her house is a mess. Then I find out she’s developing Blue Heron Cove herself and that she was a successful businesswoman, who was married to a minister, for heaven’s sake. Does that sound like anybody who’d ever look twice at a guy like me?”

“Seemed to me she was looking at you with interest,” Luke said. “She directed just about everything she said toward you. Hannah and I might as well not have been here.”

“You’re crazy.”

“I don’t think so,” Luke said. “Settle down. This is just about dinner. Nobody, least of all Abby, is looking for anything more tonight.”

Seth gave him a wry look. “You sure about that? I think there are at least a couple of people around hoping this will turn into something else. Are you denying that you and Hannah have an agenda?”

“Not me. I’ve already told you I have reservations about you jumping into a relationship with Abby. It doesn’t really matter what Hannah or anyone else might be after,” Luke insisted. “You and Abby are the only ones who get to decide what, if anything, comes next.”

“I suppose,” Seth conceded. The problem was, as intimidated as he’d been feeling for the past half hour or so, he was still attracted. And that, given the obstacles he saw ahead, was more disconcerting than all the other expectations combined.

* * *

Over a delicious dinner that Hannah sheepishly admitted she’d bought at a specialty store on the mainland, Seth finally relaxed, especially once the conversation turned to old memories. Shared right along with laughter and plentiful wine—beer for him—the evening ended on an upbeat note.

As things were winding down, he and Abby agreed that neither of them had any business driving home. Once again, he found himself walking her back to her house in Blue Heron Cove.

“You do know those two just hoodwinked us,” Abby said as they strolled along the beachfront.

“You mean naming us co-chairs to raise the money for that rescue boat?” Seth asked, laughing at the very neat trap that had been laid, some of it his own doing since he’d suggested getting Abby involved in the first place.

“Exactly.”

“Well, I hope you know something about fund-raising because it’s a long way out of my area of expertise.”

“But you know why the boat’s a critical necessity for the community,” she countered. “And I can plan bingo nights and bake sales with the best of them. A minister’s wife excels at creative ways to raise money.”

“You do know how much that boat costs, right? It’ll take a lot of bingo and baked goods to raise that much,” he said, his skepticism plain.

She winked at him. “Not the way I do it,” she said.

They walked along in silence for a few minutes before she turned to him again. “Were you the one who came up with the idea for asking the developer of Blue Heron Cove for a major donation?”

He nodded. “At the time I had no idea that might be you.”

“But isn’t it lucky that it is me?” she said. “And all your arguments were completely valid. The people who buy those houses are going to expect reliable access to medical care on the mainland. Plus it will be wonderful PR for me to support this. I’ll need that going for me when those permits come up for review.”

Seth wasn’t sure how he felt about her pragmatic thinking. It seemed a little sneaky to him. At the same time, a donation might mean the difference between getting that boat and not. He had to remember the goal. And he’d been well aware of those benefits to the developer when he’d first suggested the idea to Luke. It hadn’t bothered him until that person turned out to be Abby. Why was that? It was something he needed to think about.

“So you’re in?” he asked now.

“I’ll get you a check by the beginning of the week to kick off the drive to raise the money,” she promised, then held his gaze. “Will it offend you if I do it in a very public way? Maybe hold a little press conference?”

“That is the way the game is played, isn’t it?” he said.

She studied him. “But you don’t like it, do you?”

He sighed. “Actually I totally get it. The community needs that boat. I’m not going to do or say anything that might undermine the prospects for that happening.”

They reached her front porch then.

“Would you like some coffee or a glass of tea before you head home?” she asked.

Seth told himself he ought to leave, ought to avoid anything that might lead to the two of them getting any more involved. Despite the stern mental lecture, though, he said, “I wouldn’t mind a cup of coffee, if you’re sure you’re not anxious to get to sleep.”

“I’m a night owl,” she assured him. “That’s what it takes to run a restaurant and I’m still not out of the habit. But I’ll make the coffee decaf, in case you’re not.”

“Decaf’s probably a good idea,” he said, following her inside.

Though she’d made good progress in airing out the house and cleaning it up, there were still enough signs of the years of neglect for him to guess that the task had been monumental. That she’d been tackling it on her own didn’t seem to fit with the woman wearing those expensive linen slacks, a silk blouse and diamond stud earrings, and shoes that no doubt cost as much as his weekly take-home pay.

“Can I ask you something?” he said when they had their coffee and were back on the porch with a light breeze coming in off the water.

“Sure.”

“Why didn’t you hire a cleaning crew to tackle this place? It would have been finished in a day.”

“I needed a project,” she said simply. “More important, I think maybe I needed to remember who I used to be.”

“Since I doubt you were ever a maid, you need to explain that one.”

“You asking for a history lesson?” she quipped.

He nodded. “I’m trying to figure you out,” he admitted.

“Okay, here’s the short version. When I was a kid, my parents owned this land, but we didn’t have a lot of money. My grandfather had settled on Seaview Key when it was still just a mostly inaccessible fishing village. He fished, but he also invested in land, which my parents inherited. They were determined to keep it, to keep the island as unspoiled as it had been. Back then I didn’t fully appreciate that, especially since I had to get a job in high school to help out and needed scholarships for college.”

“If that’s true, where’d you get the money to start that restaurant? Did you sell off an acre or two back then?”

“No way. The land wasn’t mine then and my parents would never have agreed to sell. I’d worked hard and saved every extra penny. It turned out I had a head for business. I made a few investments with my savings and they paid off. It gave me enough of a nest egg to start the restaurant.”

“How old were you then?”

“Twenty-four.”

“Holy mackerel!” he said, impressed.

She smiled at his reaction. “Step one in the evolution of Abby Dawson,” she agreed. “Then I got married. My husband was pastor to a very wealthy congregation. I told you earlier that my restaurant caught on. It catered to a very upscale clientele. I got used to keeping up appearances. That completed the evolution to Abby Miller.” She wrinkled her nose as if she found that Abby distasteful.

“What was so terrible about her?” he asked. He knew that having money could change people and not always for the better, but she still seemed pretty down-to-earth to him. In fact, that’s why he remained so intrigued. If she’d been a rich snob sporting a moneyed, entitled attitude, it would be easier to ignore these sparks that kept flaring between them.

“I don’t want to come off trying to sound like some poor little rich girl, but that wasn’t who I am,” she explained simply. “I had a lot of time on my hands after the divorce to think about that. I realized I’d truly been happier back here with a family that didn’t have much except the land around us.”

“In that case, I’m surprised you want to develop it,” Seth told her.

“Believe me, I gave it a lot of thought. Seaview Key needs something if it’s going to thrive. I’m in a position to make that something happen in a responsible way.” She regarded him earnestly. “I’m going to do this right, Seth. There wouldn’t be much point in coming back for the serenity I remembered and then seeing it ruined.”

“So, scrubbing floors has gotten you back to basics,” he suggested, trying to put what she’d said in perspective.

She nodded. “And I’m hoping that raising the money for this rescue boat will be one way to be part of this community again. A donation might be great public relations, but putting in an effort will probably do more for me in the long haul. I want to be accepted, Seth, not as some benevolent outsider, but as a local who cares about what happens around here.”

He was surprised by the hint of yearning in her voice. “Being accepted really matters to you, then?”

“Sure. Doesn’t it matter to everybody, when you get right down to it? Don’t you care about being a part of the community?”

Seth honestly hadn’t thought about it. He’d come for a visit. Luke had persuaded him to stay. The town had been eager to hire someone with his background as a medic. He’d felt accepted from the beginning.

“I guess I thought if I did my job, that would be enough,” he said.

“That’s because you didn’t burn a lot of bridges when you left,” she said, a rueful expression on her face. “I need to make up for some of the things I said about this town. I couldn’t wait to get away. Other than Luke and my friendship with Hannah, this place held nothing but bad memories for me.”

“And yet you came back.”

“Perspective,” she said. “Maturity. I’m the first to admit I didn’t see the big picture back then.”

He admired her honesty, but he wondered if she wasn’t deluding herself, just as Luke had warned. Had she really changed so much?

“Are you sure Seaview Key is what you’re looking for?” he asked, trying to reconcile it with the sophisticated woman sitting beside him. Was it possible for her to forego the lifestyle she’d obviously had in the Florida Panhandle?

“Can I say it with absolute certainty?” she asked. “No, but I’m hoping I’ve gotten it right this time. I liked the person I was back then a whole lot more than the person I’ve become.”

“You seem just fine to me now,” he told her in all honesty.

She smiled at that. “You’re sweet to say that.”

Sweet? Seth nearly groaned at that. Women didn’t call men they were interested in sweet. Recognizing that made this desire he had to seduce her about as wildly inappropriate as anything that had ever occurred to him before. He really, really needed another one of those annoying lectures from Luke before he did something incredibly stupid.

* * *

Abby saw the expression in Seth’s eyes and immediately regretted her candor. She could practically see the distance growing between them. Maybe it had been a mistake to admit the truth to him. She’d gotten used to having money. Marshall had had oodles of it, thanks to family investments, and she’d made more when she’d sold the successful restaurant she’d started before she’d met him, enough to invest in developing Blue Heron Cove.

In her opinion, money was nice, but she’d realized very recently that other things mattered more. Not everyone saw it that way, though, especially men whose pride kicked in and wouldn’t let them see past the dollar signs that separated them. She’d really hoped that Seth wouldn’t be one of those men. Based on his shocked expression, though, it seemed that he was.

Of course, the alternative, which she’d experienced a time or two, was worse. She’d known men who were interested in her only because of her money. Right after the divorce, a few had hovered, hoping to get her attention. Some had even been audacious enough to mention investment schemes on the first or second date, pretty much giving away the reason for their interest.

“I should be going,” Seth said, getting to his feet.

“Already?” she said, disappointed and not doing a very good job of hiding it.

“I’m on call first thing in the morning.” He gave her a grin that emphasized an appealing dimple. “Never know when someone might take an early morning dip in the water and find herself in over her head.”

“It won’t be me,” Abby assured him. “Lesson learned. Two near drownings in one lifetime have convinced me that my swimming should be confined to a pool.”

“Still, maybe I will see you on the beach. I usually run about the same time every morning. Of course, now that I know the owner’s around, maybe I ought to be avoiding this area. It is posted with No Trespassing signs.”

“Those are meant to keep the kids away, though I doubt they pay much attention. I certainly wouldn’t have, back in the day,” Abby said. “You’re welcome anytime.”

He nodded. “Okay, then. I enjoyed tonight, Abby. Welcome back to Seaview Key.”

She watched him take off, his pace slower than the jog a few days before, but the view every bit as excellent. He was a man who looked as sexy in khakis as he did in swim trunks, a claim too few men could make, in her opinion. She sighed as he disappeared from sight.

“Stop it,” she ordered herself as she went inside to wash their cups and shut off the coffeemaker.

Working with him was going to be incredibly uncomfortable if she kept thinking about hauling him off to her bed. And if there was one thing she knew with absolute certainty about Seaview Key, it was that it was no place to have a careless fling. Gossip was plentiful and the ramifications could last for years.

* * *

“Abby looks great, don’t you think so?” Hannah asked Luke as they cleaned up the kitchen after their dinner party.

“I suppose,” Luke replied distractedly.

“I don’t think she’s aged a bit,” Hannah persisted, determined to press the point, though she wasn’t certain why she felt compelled to get an honest reaction from her husband.

He put the last of the leftovers into the refrigerator, then turned slowly. “Hannah, what’s going on? Are you thinking I’ll say something and give away some secret lust that Abby’s stirred in me?”

She winced at the direct hit. He’d voiced the fear that nagged at her. “Well, it’s always possible,” she said defensively.

Luke stepped closer, put his hands on her shoulders and gazed directly into her eyes. “No, it’s not. You’re the woman I love. Abby’s an old memory.”

“Who’s very much back in our lives.”

“As a friend,” Luke said. “But if even that’s going to worry you, we can keep some distance between us. You’ve done your duty. You’ve had her over. We can let it go at that.”

She frowned at his reasonable, accommodating tone. “And have everyone think I’m an insecure, mean-spirited shrew?”

He had the audacity to laugh at that. “Name one single person who’d ever think that about you. Everyone in this town loves you.”

“I’d think it,” she admitted. “That’s exactly what I’d think of me if I cut Abby out of our lives.” She sighed. “I’m such a mess.”

“But you’re my beautiful mess,” he said, pulling her close. “We’re solid, Hannah. What we’ve found is real and good and lasting, okay?”

She rested her forehead against his chest. “Okay,” she murmured softly, relieved to have it all out in the open, even if her insecurities didn’t speak well of her. “I love you, Luke. And though at times like this I can’t imagine why, I do know you love me.”

“Just hang on to that.”

She really intended to try. She pictured Abby with her perfect body, her stylish clothes and gorgeous hair and regretted that God had given her quite such a test of faith.