Sherryl Woods - Home to Seaview Key

#1 New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods reveals that the most delightful surprises may await right in your own backyard!

Falling for a handsome stranger on the very morning they meet is hardly what recently divorced Abby Miller planned for her return to Seaview Key. Hoping to mend an old friendship and to give back to the community she loves, Abby’s definitely not looking for love.

For ex-soldier Seth Landry, Seaview Key seems like the perfect place to heal a broken heart...eventually. And when he rescues a beautiful woman on the beach, his nightmares about the past are eclipsed by daydreams about the future. Neither Abby nor Seth is looking for forever, but powerful love has its own timetable. And taking a chance on the future will test their courage in ways neither of them could possibly have anticipated.

Praise for the novels of

#1 New York Times bestselling author

SHERRYL

WOODS

“Sherryl Woods writes emotionally satisfying novels about family, friendship and home. Truly feel-great reads!”

—#1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber

“Woods is a master heartstring puller…”

—Publishers Weekly on Seaview Inn

“Woods…is noted for appealing character-driven stories that are often infused with the flavor and fragrance of the South.”

—Library Journal

“A reunion story punctuated by family drama, Woods’ first novel in her new Ocean Breeze series is touching, tense and tantalizing.”

—RT Book Reviews on Sand Castle Bay

“A whimsical, sweet scenario…the digressions have their own charm, and Woods never fails to come back to the romantic point.”

—Publishers Weekly on Sweet Tea at Sunrise

“Woods’ readers will eagerly anticipate her trademark small-town setting, loyal friendships, and honorable mentors as they meet new characters and reconnect with familiar ones in this heartwarming tale.”

—Booklist on Home in Carolina

Home to Seaview Key

Sherryl Woods

www.mirabooks.co.uk

Dear Friends,

Though I have written many series and connected books over the years, when I wrote Seaview Inn, I never intended to go back to Seaview Key and that cast of characters. Once again, though, readers had other ideas and made some convincing arguments for a sequel. So, for all of you who begged for more about Hannah, Luke and their families, welcome Home to Seaview Key.

This story focuses on Abby, once Hannah’s best friend and Luke’s teen love. Her return to Seaview Key just as Luke and Hannah are starting their life together and during a time when Hannah continues to be filled with doubts related to her breast cancer recovery is bound to cause complications. Add in Abby’s plan to develop family property on the small island and you can be sure not everyone is ready to greet her with open arms.

Abby, however, is a very determined woman, one who is eager to make a difference in her old hometown and to make peace with her childhood friend. And after a marriage that sapped the life out of her, she’s also hoping to rediscover the joyful woman she once was. Falling for Luke’s friend, Seth, promises to put both laughter and passion back into her life.

I hope you’ll be able to relate to Abby’s desire to recapture all that she’s lost over the years—friendship, respect, joy and, of course, love. And I wish you all of those things for your life.

All best,

Sherryl

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Epilogue

Excerpt

1

Abby stirred at the unmistakable pressure of a man’s mouth on hers, coaxing, tantalizing. The kind of yearning she’d buried for years awakened with a vengeance. Whether this was a dream or reality hardly seemed to matter as her breath caught and her pulse raced. It had been so long since she’d felt like this.

She sighed when the man drew back, then slowly opened her eyes to find a soaking wet, bare-chested, incredibly gorgeous stranger kneeling in the sand beside her, his expression every bit as startled as her own must have been.

“Looks like you’re going to be okay,” he said, a hitch in his voice and a surprising hint of color in his sexily stubbled cheeks.

“Okay?” she echoed, bemused. There had been nothing wrong about the past couple of minutes. They’d been enchanted, in fact. Spectacular, even. Definitely well beyond okay.

“I pulled you out of the water just now,” he reminded her, worry darkening his blue eyes. “You don’t remember going under? Calling out for help?”

Suddenly the panic came rushing back, the sensation of water closing over her head, her feet unable to touch the sandy bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. One second she’d been standing in waist-deep water, the next a wave had caught her and the floor of the Gulf had fallen away.

Memories of another near drowning right here in these waters years ago had arisen, right along with a bubble of hysteria. Then the memories had faded and a harsh present-day reality had set in. She’d been fighting her way to the surface, gasping for air, screaming for help. She’d choked on water before going under again and again.

“I was drowning, just like before,” she whispered, shaking, the potent effect of what she’d thought to be a kiss vanishing. He’d been doing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, she realized, embarrassed that she’d thought otherwise, wondering if she had, in fact, tried to kiss him. She had an awful feeling that she had. A very powerful memory of tongues tangling in a shockingly sensual way tugged at her. Humiliated, she knew her cheeks must be flaming.

Years ago in a similar situation, Luke Stevens had been close by. He’d saved her, become her hero. They’d been inseparable after that along with her best friend, Hannah, but she and Luke had been a couple, right up until the day they’d left for college and gone their separate ways. Though they’d both claimed to be brokenhearted, they’d been resolute about not standing in the way of each other’s hopes and dreams—his to be a doctor, hers to be something. She’d wanted to excel at anything that would get her away from this dead-end island life.

As immature as they’d been, somehow they’d known they weren’t meant to last forever. And while she and Luke had deliberately separated, she and Hannah had simply drifted apart.

It was ironic really that now, after so much time had passed, all three of them were back on Seaview Key. Now, though, Luke and Hannah were married and Abby was the third wheel...or would be if she reached out to them. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be cast in the role that she’d forced Hannah into back then. Life had taught her that being witness to someone else’s happiness could be incredibly painful.

Besides, for the moment she was content just to be on her own, getting her feet back under her. Not that this morning had turned out to be a very good start on that front, she thought with a touch of the wry humor she counted on to get her through tough times. For a woman who’d been swimming since before she could walk, she was surprisingly inept in the water, apparently.

The man kneeling next to her was still studying her with concern. “Maybe we should get you over to the clinic, have you checked out,” he said. “You seem to be a little fuzzy about what happened.”