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Jack shook his head. “No, it’s her deal, start to finish. She brought the plans by today for me to take a look. It’s nothing like the disaster some folks were painting it to be, myself included, I have to admit.”
“You’re backing it now?” Luke said, his surprise plain. “I thought you were dead set against it. You’ve been grumbling to anyone who’d listen since the word first leaked out that the land was going to be developed.”
“Well, I’m over it now,” Jack replied defensively. “I’ve seen for myself what she has in mind. Only a few houses, all high-end. She intends to keep most of the trees, wherever she can.”
“What happens if the builder points out it’s going to cost more to do it that way?” Luke asked. In his experience watching developments take a turn for the worse, money trumped ideals at every turn.
“She’ll stand her ground,” Jack said confidently. “If you’d heard her, you’d believe that.”
“Does Abby have any experience as a developer?” Luke asked, trying to imagine her in that role.
Jack shrugged. “Not that I know of, but I trust her to keep her word. I told her I’d back her up at the council meeting when she goes in for the final approvals.”
Seth was impressed. If she’d convinced Jack, a die-hard opponent of the island being overdeveloped, then Abby must have done quite a sales job. Her involvement might also make it easier for him and Luke to ask for a little backing for that rescue boat, too.
Nate Wilson looked at the three of them impatiently. “Are we here to play poker or are you guys going to chatter like a bunch of women all night?”
Jack gave him an amused look. “Forgive me. I thought you might be interested in the future of our community.”
Nate merely growled. “I’m more interested in winning back that money you stole from me in last week’s game.”
“Then you’ll have to play a whole lot better than you did last week. I’m feeling lucky again,” Jack told him, just as Tom Jenkins, their fifth regular, finally showed up. Jack pushed a beer in Tom’s direction, then nodded toward Seth. “Deal the cards.”
From that point on, they stayed focused on poker, beer and the snacks Jack had put out for them. Seth had the feeling there was something on Luke’s mind, but he kept silent until they were outside at midnight, both of them a little poorer. Jack had had a good night, just as he’d predicted.
“I was hoping to see you today,” Luke told him as they walked toward their cars.
“Something on your mind?”
“Hannah’s planning a dinner party for tomorrow night. She’d like you to be there. Are you free?”
“Sure, I can be there.” His suspicions kicked in. “If you don’t mind me asking, who else is on the guest list?”
“Just one other person, as far as I know,” Luke said. “Abby.”
Seth’s mouth gaped. “Seriously?”
Luke nodded. “Frankly, I thought it was a bad idea, but Hannah insisted. I think she’s trying to prove something.”
“To you?”
“Maybe. More likely, to herself. She wants to believe she’s not the least bit threatened by Abby’s return. I think your presence will help with that. Thanks for agreeing to come, especially after all the things I said to you yesterday.”
Seth considered his assigned role as buffer in a very tricky situation, then shrugged off whatever discomfort he was feeling. “If nothing else, it will give us a chance to talk to Abby about the rescue boat. It sounded to me back at Jack’s as if you didn’t have any idea that she was developing that property herself.”
“Not a clue,” Luke confirmed. “I’m shocked, frankly. Her folks were always the first to speak out against development on the island. They liked that it still felt like a small fishing village. She swears she’ll see that this is done responsibly and Jack’s backing her up, but I’m skeptical.”
“Abby’s been living in a bigger community,” Seth suggested. “She may need this place to change so she can feel better about being back. You certainly seemed to think she wouldn’t be satisfied living here as it is.”
Luke chuckled. “If Jack was right and she’s only planning on a dozen or fewer new houses, Seaview Key still won’t resemble that area around Pensacola. We’d have to grow a lot before we could support a mall or movie theaters or one of those big box stores.”
“Maybe she just needs a project, then,” Seth suggested. “She told me she gave up a business. She’s clearly not used to being idle.”
“And that’s why I have trouble believing she’s back to stay,” Luke responded.
There was no mistaking the hint of warning in his voice. Seth smiled. “Still looking out for me?”
Luke sighed. “I just don’t want you to get blindsided if she ups and leaves in a few months. She told me herself what her intentions were about staying, but that doesn’t mean I buy that she’ll be here for the long haul. What’s she going to do once she’s developed Blue Heron Cove?”
Seth gave him a long look. Luke held up his hands.
“Okay, backing off now. You’re a big boy.”
“Thank you. And thanks for the dinner invitation. I’m looking forward to it.”
“I wish I were,” Luke said.
“Are you thinking you could wind up skewered right along with the kabobs?”
“Something like that,” Luke said.
Seth laughed. “Maybe you’re the one who needs protection here, not me.”
“Entirely possible, my friend. Entirely possible.”
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.”
