The House on Blackberry Hill (Jewell Cove 1)

“I feel stupid,” she admitted, “but I think I might need a cab.”

Jess’s lips twitched. “We don’t have one in town.”

“Oh.” It was too long of a walk to Blackberry Hill, especially in the dark. “Jess, do you think…”

How humiliating. She was having to ask Jess for a ride home. Next time she’d just say no to the wine and stick with something fizzy, like Jess had.

Next time? She wouldn’t be here long enough to make this a habit.

“I’ve arranged for a drive for you, don’t worry.”

“You did?”

There was a knock on the back door and Jess smiled. “Looks like your ride’s here.”

She opened the door.

Perfect. Just wonderful.

She’d called Tom.

* * *

Tom couldn’t keep the smile from forming the moment he saw Abby. She looked adorable in jeans and some sort of ruffled top. Her hair was down, and in the soft light of Jess’s shop it looked like butterscotch. But it was her eyes that made him smile. Wide and blue but slightly unfocused from her indulgence in whatever Jess had served tonight.

“Someone call for a cab?” he asked.

“I can’t believe you did this,” Abby accused Jess.

Jess merely shrugged.

“You ready?” Tom asked, his hand on the doorknob.

He saw her pause. Was accepting a drive home with him so bad? She set her lips and lifted her chin. “Just let me get my candles.”

She carried a still-warm Mason jar in each hand, her purse slung over her shoulder. At the door she turned to Jess and said, “You set me up. Regardless, thank you for a lovely evening.”

Jess laughed, and when her gaze met Tom’s her eyes were sparkling. “Come back soon, Abby.”

Tom followed behind Abby, impressed by the calculated precision with which she took the stairs. Once at the truck, he opened her door, breathing in the aroma of vanilla and cinnamon, some sort of flowery scent coming from her hair, and the tang of red wine left on her lips. It was a heady combination and he felt the uncomfortable stir of attraction once more. He took one of the candles from her hand as she got up into the cab, their fingers brushing on the warm glass of the jar.

He swallowed, thinking Jess had been far too conniving tonight by asking him to play chauffeur. No matter how often he’d told himself that there was nothing between him and Abby, his simple physical reaction told him otherwise. Whether they’d acted on it or not, the spark was there. The little sizzle between them when their eyes met or fingers touched. He had no idea what to do about it. Ignoring it was probably the best course of action.

He started the truck and kept the radio on, making sure there was sound in the vehicle so that they wouldn’t have to talk. But he should have known he couldn’t avoid conversation. Abby turned to him as soon as they hit Lilac Lane and apologized.

“I’m so sorry she called you, Tom. I didn’t ask her to, I swear.”

“It’s no big deal. I wasn’t busy.” Nope, he’d been sitting at home, staring at the television without really watching. Worrying about seeing Josh on Saturday. Wondering what he would say to his cousin. Wondering why the pain in his heart, the bit that had belonged to Erin for so long, suddenly felt awkward and strange, like it didn’t fit anymore.

“It was totally stupid of me to say yes to wine. And what kind of town doesn’t even have a cab company, anyway?”

Tom turned to look at her. Her eyebrows were pulled together in consternation, her hands clenched around the white and red candles. Damn that Jess, he thought. First the picnic on Saturday, now tonight. Honest to God, he loved his cousin but this was enough meddling already.

“Is that what she told you?”

Abby nodded gravely.

He stared at the road again. “We do have taxis. It’s a small outfit, but we have them.”