Sherryl Woods - Home to Seaview Key

“I worry about that, too,” Luke admitted. “As much as I love Seaview Key, it’s not right for everybody. Since I’m the one who encouraged Seth to stick around, I want to do what I can to make sure he made the right decision.”

“You really do think of him as a kid brother, don’t you?”

“Sure. The bond we formed in Iraq will last forever. I’ll always worry about him. Of course, he’d tell you I worry a little too much.”

Hannah chuckled. “Have you been butting into his personal life?”

“Maybe a little. That’s why I think this dinner is a good thing.”

“A win-win all around,” Hannah said.

Luke nodded.

But despite the cheery optimism they were both expressing, Hannah couldn’t help wondering if she wasn’t deluding herself about the wisdom of this dinner party. In her attempt to appear unaffected by Abby’s return, it was entirely possible she’d gone too far. She might well be opening up a can of worms that would have been better left locked tight. Too late now, she thought wearily, pressing forward.

“Will Saturday work for you?” she asked her husband.

“Sure.”

“And you’ll talk to Seth or would you prefer it if I invited him?”

“I’ll mention it to him tomorrow. Seven o’clock?”

“Perfect,” she said. “I’ll check in with Abby and make sure she’s available.”

It all sounded so ordinary, just another dinner with friends, something they did on a regular basis. Unfortunately, if Hannah’s already-jittery nerves were anything to go by, this gathering was going to be anything but ordinary.

* * *

The unexpected knock on her door startled Abby so badly she upended the pail of already-filthy, soapy water she’d been using to scrub windowsills throughout the house. When she opened the door and spotted Hannah, she was even more stunned.

“Hannah!” she said, delight warring with caution. “I should have known word would get around that I’m here.”

“Since my husband was one of the people who knew, it was almost a certainty,” Hannah said, an edge to her voice that belied the even expression she managed to keep on her face.

The barbed remark left Abby momentarily speechless. Was Luke’s visit the reason Hannah was here? Abby wondered. Had she come to protect her turf?

Hannah flushed, clearly embarrassed. “Sorry,” she apologized. “What I should have said is that it’s impossible to keep secrets in Seaview Key. Word spreads faster here than weeds.”

Abby accepted the attempt to smooth over the awkwardness. “I remember,” she said. “But I got through the better part of a week before anyone knew. If I hadn’t come close to drowning yesterday, I’m convinced my secret would have been safe a little longer.”

“Any particular reason you didn’t want anyone to know you were around?” Hannah asked.

Abby studied her old friend, regretting all the years they hadn’t been in touch, wishing there weren’t this huge wall between them because of Luke. Hannah had always been the best kind of friend, one who’d listen without passing judgment. It was too soon to test if she could be that kind of friend again.

“No, not really,” Abby said evasively, not wanting to get into all of the reasons she’d wanted privacy. “Come on in. Do you have some time? This place is a mess, but I’m making progress. We can sit in the kitchen. I finished cleaning in there this morning and I have iced tea.”

Hannah laughed then, easing the tension between them. “Of course you do. I’ll bet it’s in your mom’s old pitcher with fruit painted on it.”

“It is,” Abby confirmed. “That pitcher probably qualifies as some sort of antique by now.”

Hannah held up a bag that Abby hadn’t noticed before. She should have, since the aroma of freshly baked cookies was wafting from it. “Grandma Jenny’s chocolate chip cookies,” she guessed eagerly.

“Fresh from the oven not fifteen minutes ago,” Hannah told her.

“Now it does feel like old times,” Abby said, leading the way to the big oak table in the kitchen where they’d spent so many hours doing homework way back when, at least before she’d gotten involved with Luke and Hannah had started making excuses not to join them. The surface of the table gleamed and the wood smelled of lemon polish.

“So how are you?” Hannah asked when they were settled at the table with tea and cookies. “You look good.”

“If you can say that with a straight face when you’ve caught me in ancient cut-offs and a faded tank top with my hair a mess and my nails in desperate need of a manicure, you’re better at spin than anyone I know.”

Hannah laughed. “That’s exactly why they paid me big bucks in New York for a lot of years. But you do look good, Abby. A little tired, maybe, but otherwise not a gray hair or a wrinkle in sight. I wish I could say the same.”

“Don’t go fishing for compliments. You look wonderful, too. Must be that marriage agrees with you. I heard about you and Luke not long after the wedding. I meant to send a note, but I was clearing the decks to move back here myself and time got away from me. I’m so glad that worked out for you, Hannah.”

“Do you really mean that?” Hannah asked, an unmistakable hint of vulnerability in her voice.

“Of course I do,” Abby assured her. “Even though you kept your lips sealed about it, I knew you had a crush on him back in high school. I always felt a little guilty that he chose me.”

Hannah regarded her with a surprisingly direct look. “I tried not to hate you for it,” she said, her tone serious, but a glint of real humor in her eyes.

“Didn’t always succeed, though, did you? I know things weren’t really the same between us after Luke and I hooked up.” She gave Hannah a hesitant smile. “I’m hoping it will be different now. I’d like to have my old friend back in my life again, especially since we’re both living here.”

“Then you really are home to stay? Luke told me you were.”

Abby nodded. “That’s the plan.”

“He also mentioned you’re divorced.”

“For almost a year,” Abby confirmed. “I took some time to reevaluate my life before deciding to come back to Seaview Key. I could have stayed where I was. I had a thriving restaurant just outside of Pensacola.” She shrugged. “It wouldn’t have worked. My ex has a lot of influence in that community and I needed a clean break.”

“You were married to a minister, I heard,” Hannah said, then added dryly, “That was a surprise.”

“To me, too,” Abby acknowledged with a chuckle. “Marshall is a great guy, one of the best, but being married to a paragon of virtue wore me out.”

“Not compatible with your wild streak?” Hannah teased.

“Something like that,” Abby said, her own tone turning serious. “I’ve missed this, Hannah. You and me. Just having someone to talk to who knows everything about me, good and bad. We shared so much history. Back then I felt like we were sisters, not just best friends.”

“Me, too,” Hannah admitted. “But sisters would probably have made more of an effort to get past what happened, instead of drifting apart the way we did.”

“Maybe,” Abby said. “Maybe not. I’ve learned a lot about family dynamics these past couple of decades. Sometimes friends get along better than family, at least it looked that way to me. Sadly, I didn’t have a lot of experience with either one.”

Hannah frowned. “Surely there were friends. You were always so outgoing.”

Abby shook her head. “Not really. I had acquaintances, a ton of them, but I was discouraged from getting too close to the other women in the congregation. Marshall didn’t want anyone knowing our business. And at the restaurant, I was the boss. I had to be careful with everyone there, too. As for the customers, I had to turn on the charm, be immune to the complaints. Turning the other cheek was so not me.”