LITMIR.BIZ

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ago and introduced him, Grandma Jenny had made him a part of the family, the same way she did all of their guests. For a man with little family of his own remaining, it had been a wonder to find himself surrounded by people who treated him as if he belonged. Given the contentious nature of his relationship with his siblings, who’d been battling over their inheritance ever since their parents had died, it was a welcome and eye-opening change.

      “You were even later than usual this morning,” Grandma Jenny said, regarding him curiously. “Something come up while you were on your run?”

      Since he knew she was always eager for news, he filled her in. “As a matter of fact, I ran into a woman on the beach.”

      Her eyes lit up. “Is that so? Sounds like just what you need.”

      “It wasn’t like that,” he insisted, though the way her mouth had felt under his had been exactly like that. The unprofessional thought and the memory of her sensual responsiveness had his face flaming.

      “Don’t try telling me that,” she scolded. “That blush says otherwise.”

      “The woman was floundering in the water, in real trouble,” he corrected. “She’d lost her footing and was going under. I just got her back to shore. That’s it. A routine rescue.”

      Worry immediately replaced the teasing glint in her eyes. “She was okay?”

      “Seemed to be. She refused to let me take her to the clinic and didn’t want me to check her out. Looked embarrassed, to tell you the truth. I walked her home. She seemed fine by then.”

      “Who was she?”

      “I didn’t get her name.”

      Grandma Jenny regarded him with feigned disgust. “You let an attractive woman get away without getting her name? What am I going to do with you?”

      Seth laughed. “I never said she was attractive.”

      “You might not have said the words, but I know better. Where does she live?”

      “Back in that Blue Heron Cove gated community, though her house doesn’t look like any of those big new places they’re supposed to be putting up in there in the next few months. Looks as if it’s been around for years.”

      “Abby Dawson,” Grandma Jenny said at once, looking startled. “Dark hair? Green eyes?”

      “As a matter of fact, yes,” Seth said, recalling the way her eyes had sparkled like bits of jade-colored sea glass.

      “What’s she doing back, I wonder? Last I heard she was living up in Pensacola or some small town thereabouts. I’ve forgotten her married name. Miller, perhaps.”

      “Maybe she’s just in town for a visit,” Seth suggested, surprised by her reaction and even more startled by the mention of marriage. He hadn’t noticed a ring, but then he hadn’t been looking. He’d been a little too focused on her lips. All in the line of duty, he assured himself, even though the scrambling of his pulse said otherwise.

      “Is there something upsetting about her being back?” he asked, finishing the last of the muffin and pushing aside his plate to concentrate on what Grandma Jenny had to say.

      “No, I suppose not,” she said, though the worry didn’t fade from her expression.

      “You’re not a very good liar,” he said. “You listen to me go on and on about my troubles. It’s my turn to return the favor. What worries you about Abby Dawson being back?”

      “It’s just that once upon a time she and Luke, well, they were like two peas in a pod. That girl had a real hold on him.” She met his gaze. “Luke saved her from drowning. Did she mention that?”

      “No, but she did say something about it not being the first time she’d gotten in trouble in the water,” he recalled. “Luke rescued her?”

      “He did, and fell for her on the spot,” Grandma Jenny confirmed.

      “I thought he hung out with Hannah back then,” Seth said, beginning to understand her concern.

      “He did. It was the three of them, day and night, but there was no question that Hannah was just tagging along. To give Abby credit, she wasn’t one of those girls who ditched her best friend when she got involved with a boy, though it might have been easier on Hannah if she had been.”

      “Because?”

      “Hannah had had a crush on that boy for years.”

      Oh, brother, Seth thought, envisioning a bitter teen rivalry. “Did Abby know that?” he asked, his attraction to the woman he’d met dimming just a little at the thought that she’d deliberately set out to steal the affections of Hannah’s guy.

      “I can’t say for sure, but they were best friends. Don’t girls that age tell each other everything?”

      Seth shook his head. “I have a couple of sisters, but the workings of their minds are way beyond my pay grade.”

      “Well, it was a difficult time around here watching Hannah on the sidelines, her heart obviously aching, but trying so hard to act like it didn’t matter that Luke was dating Abby. As bad as I felt for Hannah, it was hard to blame Abby and Luke. They were good kids and it wasn’t as if Luke and Hannah had been a couple. I doubt he’d noticed she was alive before he got involved with Abby. Then the three of them were underfoot around here all the time. I sometimes wondered if Abby didn’t even go a little overboard to be extra nice out of guilt because she knew Hannah was hurting.”

      “In that case, surely you don’t think that after all this time, Abby might want to rekindle things with Luke,” Seth said. “Would she come back just to stir up trouble for them?”

      “I have no idea why she’s come back,” Grandma Jenny said with a touch of impatience, then sighed. “Hopefully it’s just for a visit, but if not...” Her voice trailed off.

      “Come on,” Seth protested. “Luke and Hannah are solid. I’ve never seen two people more in love. And you said this Abby is married.”

      “That’s what I’d heard. I’m just saying her being back could stir up some old memories, good and bad.” Her jaw set with determination as she stood up. “I’d better warn Hannah.”

      “Or maybe you should leave it alone,” Seth suggested mildly, even though he was out of his depth when it came to marital relationships. His one serious relationship had ended tragically. Before that it had been all heat and intensity. There hadn’t been a lot of complex issues to resolve.

      “For all we know this woman could be gone by morning,” he said. “You’d have upset Hannah for no reason.”

      “Spoken exactly like a man,” she muttered.

      “Which I am,” Seth replied, amused.

      “Which just means you don’t know how women’s minds work. You admitted that yourself, not more than a minute ago,” she reminded him. “Wash up those dishes when you’re done. I’m going to see my granddaughter.”

      “But we don’t even know for sure if Abby Dawson was the woman I met this morning,” he argued, hating that he seemed to have set off alarms.

      “Oh, it was Abby,” Grandma Jenny said with conviction. “I can feel it in my bones. Trouble’s coming.”

      Before he could think of a thing to keep her from leaving, she was gone, and Seth was left to wonder whether Seaview Key was quite the tranquil, boring little town he’d thought it to be. It sounded almost as if the return of Abby Dawson—if that’s who she was—could stir up a whole boatload of pain for his friends. Which, come to think of it, was too darn bad given the feelings she’d stirred up in him.

      2

      Hannah finished the latest draft of the story about a puppy named Jasper who’d befriended a lonely little boy, typed

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