The House on Blackberry Hill (Jewell Cove 1)

Jess didn’t meet her eyes but instead fussed with a pile of fabric on the table. “Oh, he just doesn’t date much, that’s all.”

“But it wouldn’t be a date. Tom works for me.”

Jess looked up. “It would be the closest thing to a date he’s had for a few years, so we’ll take it.”

“A few years?” Abby stepped back. “But Tom’s—” She caught herself just in time. The word “gorgeous” had been sitting on the tip of her tongue. “What I mean is, look at him. He’s not exactly a troll.”

Jess’s musical laughter echoed through the rafters of the vaulted ceiling. “So you did notice.”

Abby grinned. “Well, duh. I may not be interested but I do have eyes.” Liar, a voice inside her taunted. She ignored it. “So why the dry spell?”

Jess’s voice softened. “He got his heart broken.”

Something twisted inside Abby. Big, burly Tom didn’t date because he had a broken heart? But he always seemed so sure of himself. So confident and … She remembered how he’d looked down at her once he’d pulled his foot from the veranda. His attitude had been bordering on cocky. And then she remembered the way his fingers had tightened on hers in the servant’s stairway.

Oh, dear. Knowing he’d been hurt shouldn’t change anything, but somehow it did.

“What happened?” Abby found herself asking.

After a pause, Jess sighed. “She married someone else.”

“Oh. Ouch.”

“Yeah. But what are you gonna do, right?”

“Right,” Abby replied.

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re coming. We’re all happy Josh is coming home. His wife was killed on deployment and he’s really been struggling. Now he’ll be around friends and family, you know? Make a new start right here at home.”

“I’m sorry,” Abby replied, feeling instantly sorry for Jess’s brother—Tom’s cousin. “How terrible. Were you all very close to his wife?”

Jess went still for a second, and Abby thought she looked not just sad but a bit annoyed. “Not particularly,” she admitted. “Erin was gone a lot, and then they lived in Hartford. They didn’t come home often.”

Abby got the sense there was more to the story, but she wasn’t about to pry.

“Listen,” Jess said, her face lighting up as she changed the topic. “I know it’s got to be lonely, being new in town and in that huge old house all alone. Tom and his workmen can’t be much company. If you can’t make the beading workshop, why don’t you come out tomorrow night to my candle-making class? I still have space and it’ll give you a chance to meet some local ladies and do something fun. You get to take home what you make and I always provide some snacks for when we finish. First lesson’s on me as a welcome to Jewell Cove.”

Abby nearly refused. After all, she wasn’t actually staying in Jewell Cove for long but she got the feeling her protest would fall on deaf ears. Besides, the temptation to actually get out and have a social evening that had nothing to do with the house or grabbing a meal on the run sounded fun. “I think I’d like that,” she found herself saying. “What time?”

“I close at six and we start at seven. Just take the stairs at the back and come up to the workshop entrance.”

“Thank you, Jess. For the welcome and the offer.”

“Anytime.” She smiled and put her hand lightly on Abby’s arm. “The cove’s a nice place,” she said, giving a squeeze. “Small town, of course, but I can’t imagine living anywhere else. You’ll see.”

Abby picked up a pair of earrings and paid for them, then skirted past Tom without saying anything. On the way to her car she stopped at Sally’s Dairy Shack and bought a chocolate dip cone, which she ate seated on a bench overlooking the marina. As she licked the drips from her fingers, she frowned.

If she wasn’t careful, this town could wrap its way around her heart. She’d just have to make sure that didn’t happen; to be ready to cut ties and move on. If she’d learned anything over the last ten years, it was that nothing good ever lasted.

She couldn’t imagine Jewell Cove would be any different.

CHAPTER 9

The next evening Abby dressed carefully in her favorite capri pants and a top in asymmetrical ruffles that was ultrafeminine and flattering. She wore her hair down, letting it fall over her shoulders in waves, and slipped on a pair of jeweled sandals. It was just as nerve-racking meeting a group of women for the first time as it was going on a first date and Abby couldn’t help but want to make a good impression. She was so anxious about it she nearly considered staying home, curled up with one of the books from the library.

But she needed to get out for a bit, and knew she’d regret not going.

So she put on some makeup, grabbed her purse, and made her way down the hill into town, parking a few doors away from Tr