Home to Seaview Key (A Seaview Key Novel) (6 page)

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.

6

D
uring the off-season when things were quieter, having Sunday lunch at The Fish Tale after church had gotten to be a habit for Luke, Hannah, Grandma Jenny and Seth. When Kelsey and Jeff were around, they came along with the baby. This week, with the three of them still on vacation, Seth escorted Grandma Jenny to the restaurant.

He’d deliberately skipped his run that morning, though he couldn’t say for sure why. Had he wanted to avoid Abby or had he wanted to see her a little too much? The latter was scary under the circumstances, scary enough to disrupt his routine.

Unfortunately, the first person he saw when he walked into The Fish Tale was Abby, all alone in a booth again. She was making notes on a legal pad, but gave him a distracted smile when she looked up. Beside him, Grandma Jenny frowned.

“We should say hello,” Seth said.

“Probably,” she conceded grudgingly.

“And maybe ask her to join us.”

The suggestion was greeted with a scowl. “Why would we do that?” Jenny asked, then met his gaze. Something she saw there must have given away his feelings, because she gave a curt nod. “Never mind. Ask her, if it’s what you want.”

He thought about why issuing the invitation mattered to him. Was it about the undeniable attraction? Or was it about everything Abby had told him the night before about wanting to be accepted? That was the safe reasoning. Leaving her at that table all alone would be cruel, or at least that’s what he told himself as they walked over to greet her.

Even with the decision made, he kept right on arguing with himself. Avoiding the beach had been one thing, he reasoned. Avoiding her in public would send an entirely different message, one he didn’t intend. Of course he could have left the decision up to Luke and Hannah, but that would have been the cowardly way out.

He led the way to her table, fully aware of his companion’s reluctance. Yet it was Jenny who spoke first, surprisingly without any hint of awkwardness. Whatever her reservations about Abby’s return, she was innately gracious.

“Abby, it’s been a long time,” she said, her tone friendly enough.

Abby’s expression brightened with unmistakable delight. “Grandma Jenny!” She looked hesitant. “Is it still okay if I call you that?”

“Of course,” Jenny said, her expression softening.

“It’s wonderful to see you. I’ve been wanting to drop by, but...” She faltered. “Well, I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about that. There was the situation with Luke and me, and then Hannah and I lost touch.” She shrugged. “You know what I’m talking about.”

Seth noted that Jenny flushed with guilt, clearly aware that she hadn’t hidden her displeasure over Abby’s return well enough from everyone. Word had apparently gotten around. She straightened her shoulders and managed a smile.

“You’d have been welcome, of course,” she told Abby, her good manners saving the day. “Are you expecting someone? If not, why don’t you join us? Hannah and Luke will be along any minute. Jack holds one of the big tables for us.”

The invitation, coming from her rather than left to him, surprised Seth almost as much as it evidently surprised Abby.

“I’d love to, if you’re sure it would be okay,” she said at once, looking from Jenny to Seth and back again.

“No reason it wouldn’t be,” Jenny said. “I want to hear more about these plans of yours for Blue Heron Cove. I like getting information straight from the horse’s mouth. It’s easier to make up my own mind that way, though I’ll tell you straight out, I think it’s just what Seaview Key needs.”

Abby grinned. “And I’m always eager to talk about Blue Heron Cove, especially to a supporter,” she said, then winked at Seth. “And I’m even more eager to get you involved in this project that Seth and I have been given.”

Jenny looked startled. “What project is that?”

“The rescue boat Luke and I have been talking about,” Seth reminded her. “We need to raise the money for it, and we need to do it quickly. Last night Luke coerced Abby and me into chairing a committee to make it happen.”

Jenny rolled her eyes. “I imagine what you know about raising money would fit on the head of a pin,” she said to Seth.

“Exactly, which is why Abby needs your help,” he said. “You game?”

“I’m always willing to get involved in a good cause,” Jenny said, regarding Abby with a more favorable expression as they made their way to the table Jack always reserved for them. “Any thoughts about what you want to do?”

“A few,” Abby told her.

Seth sat back and listened with amazement as Abby rattled off half a dozen ideas that she’d apparently come up with overnight. It seemed to him she probably hadn’t slept any better than he had if she’d been busy making all those notes. Even Jenny looked pleasantly surprised.

“You’ve given this some thought,” she said approvingly. “And you were just given this assignment last night? I’m impressed.”

Abby shrugged. “Sometimes I do my best thinking in the middle of the night when I can’t sleep,” she said, casting a pointed look in Seth’s direction.

Jenny’s gaze narrowed suspiciously as she looked between the two of them, but just then Luke and Hannah arrived. If Hannah was taken aback by Abby’s presence, it didn’t show. And once she heard about Abby’s ideas for raising money for the boat, she joined in eagerly, offering to take charge of the press conference on Monday to kick things off. Luke sat back, looking satisfied with himself.

Seth regarded him with amusement. He leaned close and whispered, “Mission accomplished?”

Luke looked startled. “What?”

“Seems like peace and cooperation reign. Wasn’t that your intention?”

Luke laughed. “One of them, anyway. Getting the money for that boat trumps everything, though. It sounds as if Abby has that under control already.”

“You heard her ideas. She’s like some kind of fund-raising dynamo. And she says she’ll make a contribution on Monday at that press conference to kick off the drive.”

“That makes sense to me. Creating a big public hoopla will get people involved and excited.”

Seth shook his head at Luke’s seeming naïveté. “It will also help her when she goes to the council for those permits.”

Luke must have heard the note of disapproval in his voice because he merely lifted a brow. “That’s the way of the world, Seth. Nothing wrong with a win-win for everybody. You said that yourself, so why the cynical reaction now?”

“Double standard,” Seth suggested, hoping Luke would leave it at that since he hadn’t figured out his reaction. “Then again, you’ve made a sizable contribution and you’re not looking to be in the limelight.”

“Entirely different,” Luke replied. “I don’t need to build community support for me or the clinic. Plus, my backing for a rescue boat is expected.”

Seth still struggled to make peace with Abby’s public approach. Or maybe he was struggling to make peace with the fact that she was in a position to make such a magnanimous gesture in the first place. Her obviously healthy bank account nagged at him like a particularly aggravating gnat. He had a hunch that was the real issue—and one that wouldn’t go away.

* * *

Abby’s hand instinctively settled on top of Seth’s as she leaned in to make a point to Luke and Hannah. She wasn’t even aware of the gesture until she noted three pairs of eyes—Luke’s, Hannah’s and Grandma Jenny’s—focused on her hand atop Seth’s, rather than paying attention to what she was saying. She glanced at Seth and saw that he looked equally startled.

Embarrassed, she withdrew her hand, and tried to cover the awkward moment with a rapid-fire list of suggestions for their fund-raising efforts beyond the already agreed-to kick-off press conference on Monday.

“I’m leaning toward a big fish fry in January, at the height of tourist season, if we can get Jack to cooperate and maybe donate his time,” she said. “We should consider doing it in the park to accommodate more people, but we could move it here if the weather’s bad.”

Lesley Ann overheard her. “I know Dad will want to help, no matter where you hold it,” she said at once. “And I think all the fishermen who supply us will want to pitch in, too, especially Dave Hawkins. Ever since his heart attack when Luke kept him alive while one of his buddies raced them over to the mainland in his speedboat, Dave has been trying to figure out a way to help get a rescue boat. He’ll rally all the other fishermen.”

Abby regarded her with gratitude. “That would be fantastic. Would you be willing to work on that, getting all those guys on board?”

“Absolutely,” Lesley Ann said.

Abby turned to find Seth regarding her with amusement. “What?”

“Neatly done,” he said approvingly.

“Hey, when somebody’s eager to help, you seize the opportunity to put them in charge of something,” she told him. “That’s lesson one.”

“Exactly right,” Jenny said. “Now tell me what I can do.”

“How about rallying a group of people who can sell tickets in advance and take the money when we have the event?” Abby said at once. “The more people we get involved, the better. Not only will that guarantee a crowd of volunteers, but they’ll all be sure their friends and neighbors show up.”

“And I know someone you should ask,” Seth said, recalling his visit to Ella Mae Monroe and his resolve to get her more active in the community.

“Who’s that?” Jenny asked.

“Ella Mae.”

Jenny regarded him with surprise. “Ella Mae’s never been one to get involved with community activities, not since she retired from teaching,” she argued. “She stays mostly to herself.”

“Which is exactly why she needs someone to reach out to her,” Seth argued. “She’s lonely.”

“I’m not trying to be contrary, but is she physically up to helping out?” Jenny asked worriedly. “The doctor used to be over there at least once a week. Luke, I know you’ve seen her a few times, as well. What do you think? Is she up to this?”

Abby noted that Seth was watching Luke closely to see if his reaction would kill the idea. Interesting that a man as confident and as experienced as Seth would be seeking Luke’s approval in such an obvious way. It reminded her that Seth looked up to Luke, that whatever bond had formed between them in Iraq was strong and lasting.

Luke nodded slowly, his expression thoughtful. “I think she could use the distraction,” he said. “If you keep in mind her age and don’t assign her anything too demanding, I think it would be good for her to be involved. Seth’s right. With no family that I’m aware of, she has too much time on her hands for sitting around worrying.”

“So those spells of hers are mostly in her head?” Jenny asked.

“You didn’t hear that from me,” Luke said at once.

“Me, either,” Seth said.

Abby grinned at the quick denials. So, they were writing a prescription for a patient that had nothing to do with medicine. It was just more proof of how much they cared. She hoped the residents of Seaview Key appreciated that. It would make this fund-raising drive even more successful.

She was especially impressed that Seth had picked up on what was really going on with Ella Mae so quickly. Another man might have dismissed her as being a hypochondriac, rather than realizing she was simply lonely and had too much time on her hands. And he’d picked the perfect person to reach out to her, too—Jenny.

As they all left The Fish Tale and headed for their cars, once more Seth fell into step beside Abby. She felt the way she had back in high school when Luke had walked her home every afternoon.

“If I had books, would you offer to carry them?” she teased Seth.

He stared at her blankly for a second, then chuckled. “I do seem to have developed the habit of walking you home,” he said.

“It was sweet what you did back there for Ella Mae,” she told him.

He frowned. “There it is again,” he muttered irritably.

“What?”

“Sweet.”

Abby laughed. “Too much of a sissy word for you?”

“Not a sissy word,” he said. “But no man likes to be called sweet.”

She resisted laughing again at his obvious discomfort. “How about thoughtful? Or generous? Or observant?”

“Better,” he confirmed. “I just saw a need and thought of a way to address it. I’m relieved that Luke agreed and that Grandma Jenny’s going along with it.”

“What struck me was that Luke hadn’t noticed what Ella Mae really needed or at least hadn’t pinpointed a solution for it. Neither had Doc, and he’d been dealing with her crises for years. You took the time to assess what was really going on with her and found a way to make a difference.”

He seemed uncomfortable with her praise. “Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Grandma Jenny was right and Ella Mae will want no part of helping with the fish fry or anything else going on in town. She can be pretty cantankerous.”

“And maybe she just needs to be asked,” Abby said quietly, thinking of how many older people she’d known at the church who had sat on the sidelines desperately in need of a project, of a way to feel useful again. “Did you know that she taught school here for thirty-five years? She’d retired by the time I was in high school, but my parents both took her history class.”

“No wonder she talks about the past with such enthusiasm,” Seth said. “She made a career of making history come alive.”

“That’s certainly what my folks thought. Our house is filled with books about the Seminole Wars here in Florida and biographies of people important to the state’s history. They had a lifelong interest in that because of Ella Mae.”

“I’d like to borrow some of those books sometime,” Seth said. “It’ll give me something to discuss the next time I see her. I know she thinks my education is severely lacking because I was raised in the Midwest.”

Abby regarded him with surprise. “You enjoy visiting her, don’t you?”

“Sure. She reminds me of my grandmother, rest her soul. She could tell stories like no one else.”

“Sounds as if you were close.”

“She took care of me a lot. My mom and dad both worked by the time I came along. My sisters were already in high school and too obsessed with boys to be trusted to look after me.”

“That explains why you get along so well with Grandma Jenny, too,” Abby guessed. “You’re comfortable with seniors. Too many people shy away from them, as if age were contagious or something.”