The House on Blackberry Hill (Jewell Cove 1)
“Does anyone?” He stepped forward. “Does anyone really know Abigail Foster?”
Standing in the cemetery talking about love and Erin and Josh and Abby, Tom felt a surge of anger that had nothing to do with the past. He wanted to reach over and demand Abby let him in. Demand that she really trust him.
She met his gaze evenly. “No. No, they don’t. And that’s just how I plan to keep it.”
Tom gave a bitter laugh. “Well, honey, isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black. You talk about me ‘letting go’ of the past when you’re too afraid to even let anyone in at all.”
* * *
Silence filled the cemetery; even the dove halted its song. Now Abby knew she’d made the right choice by stopping whatever had been going to happen between them. She could never compete with Erin’s ghost. And at this point, making love was a big enough deal that she didn’t want to squander it on someone who would be thinking of someone else.
“So what now? You run away again?” Tom accused.
“There’s nothing to keep me here, is there?” Abby paused as the words sank in before saying quietly, “I’d like to go home now.”
“I promised you dinner.”
“I don’t think either one of us is in the mood for that right now. I have a frozen pizza. It’ll be fine.”
Tom made a move as if to protest further.
“Please, Tom. Just take me home.”
He brushed by her and went back to the truck, opened the door and stood next to it. Moments later they pulled into her driveway. Tom shut off the ignition and turned to face her. He was still annoyed, she could tell. And something more. Something deeper below the surface than simple anger.
“I believed you when you were sure no one would. I have been there for you, and maybe I should remind you that you were the one who put a stop to whatever it was that was happening between us in your bedroom. If you think I could do any of those things if I didn’t care about you in some way, you really haven’t bothered to know me at all.”
Abby was pissed off that Tom could manage to make her feel so small. To feel like she’d somehow wronged him, but more than that she was tired. Today had been too emotional, too stressful. She might have her own fears and misgivings but at least her heart wasn’t tangled up in someone else’s.
“It doesn’t matter, does it? You’re so far from over her. And that’s too big a risk for a girl like me. I’ve known it all along, okay? So let’s just call this what it is. A bit of a mess when all is said and done. And probably best to leave it all here since I’ll be putting the house up for sale before too long.”
Silence descended on the cab of the truck.
“Fair enough,” Tom finally said, his face stony with attempted indifference. “Truce, then? There’s not much point in arguing.”
Or anything else, Abby thought, disappointed. A truce between them seemed so … bland. Being with Tom might be messy, but she’d kind of gotten used to it. He challenged her but that wasn’t necessarily all bad. She’d started looking forward to it.
But it wasn’t all good, either. “Truce,” she replied, putting her hand on the door handle.
* * *
The kitchen was done, the cupboards and countertop and the new tile floor installed. With the last of the draperies on order and the painting complete, there was nothing holding Abby back. She’d gone to the Realtor in town and within twenty-four hours the house had been listed at a price tag that she personally thought was astronomical. She also knew it was worth every penny, especially considering all the renovations Tom had done. What had once been a landmark was now a showpiece unmatched on the mid-coast.
All that was left now was for Tom to put up the refurbished chandelier and there would be no reason to see him again. She didn’t need to stay in town to sell the house. That’s what Realtors and lawyers were for, after all.
She was in town the morning the FOR SALE sign went up and ran into Jess at Breezes. Jess was carrying an extra-large paper cup with a tea bag string hanging from beneath the lid. When she saw Abby a smile lit her face. “Hey, stranger,” she said, meeting Abby on the sidewalk. “Missed you at the last candle class.”
“Sorry. It got really busy at the house, getting it ready for the Realtor.”
“You’re still bent on selling?” Jess sounded disappointed, and her lips turned down in a small frown.
> Abby tried to make her voice light; after all, there was nothing sad in the news. It was what she’d intended to do all along. She was going to go back to Canada. She had a job waiting next fall. An apartment.
Maybe that would put enough distance between her and the feelings that seemed to crop up ever since she’d set foot in Jewell Cove. Feelings like warmth and belonging. They made returning to her life in Halifax sound supernaturally boring. “Sign’s going up this morning. I expect to be flooded with offers by two o’clock.”
Jess’s eyes clouded with worry. “So soon … I thought maybe with things between you and Tom…”
Abby swallowed. “There is no me and Tom, Jess. There never really was.” Why were the words so hard to say?