by Nan Dixon
“I let them know I’ll be checking on them, but I also showed them how to call down here.” She grabbed a glass of water, wishing it could give her courage.
Abby nodded. “If I’m not here, just leave me a note on how many additional bottles you take up.”
“Will do.”
Abby started to turn back to the dishwasher, but stopped. Her face was so serious that it made Cheryl nervous. “Cheryl?” Abby asked.
“Yes?” Oh, please don’t be a problem with her working here. She’d thought she’d been doing okay.
“I just want you to know how much we appreciate all the hard work you put in.”
“Really?” she squeaked.
“Really.” Abby grinned. “When we were upstairs, I was thinking that it felt as if you’ve been here for years. In a good way.”
Cheryl swallowed, releasing a shaky breath. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you.”
Now or never. “Abby, is there any chance... Could I use a washer and dryer at the B and B?”
Abby blinked. “Of course.”
“I won’t interfere with the B and B’s laundry. It’s just, the Laundromat near our place isn’t safe. I got so scared a couple of nights ago.” Her words rushed out. A man had been selling drugs right in front of her and Josh. It had been low-key, but she’d felt rattled and threatened all at the same time. Now she didn’t think she could ever go back. “I’ll bring my own soap.”
“Don’t worry.” Abby came closer and touched her arm. “You use whatever you need to.”
“Thank you. You and Marion have been so good to us. I don’t know what I would do without your help.”
“I want you and Josh to stay safe.”
That was what she was trying to do. Her life had come down to one theme. Keep her son safe. That meant making sure her brother-in-law, Levi, never found them.
She just hadn’t realized how hard surviving would be and how much she would miss her husband.
* * *
GRAY HEADED SOUTH to Oglethorpe Plaza and an electronics store he’d seen near the FedEx Office he’d used. He needed a phone charger for the warehouse. He was doing so much business on his phone that the darn thing wouldn’t stay charged and he kept forgetting to grab the charger from his room. Too bad he couldn’t use the surge he got from kissing Abby to charge his phone.
When he’d left her in the business center, she’d looked stunned. Off balance. Abby was rarely off balance.
He grinned. He liked her that way.
Abby wanted to keep this thing between them a secret. He rolled his shoulders, trying to relieve the tension between his shoulder blades. No one had ever asked him to do that before. It didn’t feel right.
At the store, the clerk suggested, “You might want to invest in a portable battery charger.”
“Maybe.” He’d heard about them. “Will it get me through the day?”
“Absolutely.”
They looked at options, and he picked one out.
As the clerk walked him to the register, they passed a printer display. “Let’s look at these,” Gray said.
The clerk’s eyes lit up. Guy must be on commission. “What are you interested in?”
Normally he would buy jewelry for a woman he was dating. But Abby wasn’t just any woman.
She’d love a new printer. Wi-Fi enabled and with all the bells and whistles. “Show me what you’ve got.”
He couldn’t stop smiling. He couldn’t wait to see Abby’s face.
He was still smiling as he pulled back into Fitzgerald House’s parking lot. The wine tasting should have started by now. Dolley was scheduled for tonight, which meant Abby would be in the kitchen. He wanted to get everything configured.
He hauled the boxes into the business center and closed the door. Grinning, he set up the new machine. The extra ink cartridges went into the supply cabinet. The piece-of-crap printer went into the empty box.
In the library he grabbed a glass of wine before greeting any of the other guests, toasting his own efforts.
“Gray,” Dolley called out from the other side of the room. “Come meet Mamma.”
The woman standing next to one of the Moon couples waved. She was stunning. He could see all three of her daughters in her. Abby had her hair. Dolley had her eyes. And Bess had her height.
Mrs. Fitzgerald glided toward Gray, holding out her hand. Abby moved like that, too.
“Mrs. Fitzgerald, it’s very nice to meet you.”
“Mamma,” Dolley said, “this is Gray Smythe, our long-term guest.”
“Ah, the man from Boston. Please call me Mamie, since I was really Mrs. Oliver.”
He frowned.
“We have what people might consider strange covenants in the transfer of Fitzgerald House.” Mamie grinned. “One caveat is that if there isn’t a male heir, the woman keeps her maiden name and passes it along to her daughters.”
Dolley leaned her head against Mamie’s shoulder. “There will always be a Fitzgerald in Fitzgerald House. That’s what our great-great-grandpappy wanted.”
“You sure do things differently down here,” Gray said.
“We like our eccentricities.” Mamie’s vowels seemed to drip with Spanish moss and kudzu.
“How are your condominiums coming along?”
He talked freely. Maybe it was the fact that he’d spent so much time with her daughters, but Mamie made him feel comfortable. As if he was a cherished guest. The Fitzgeralds had the gift of hospitality.
“I should mingle,” Mamie said after several minutes of conversation. She moved over to talk to one of the Repeater couples.
Gray turned to Dolley. “Do you have a moment?”
Dolley set down the bottle she’d just opened. “Sure.”
“Follow me.”
He led her to the business center and showed her the new machine.
“Abby bought a new printer?” Dolley hurried over to it. “Wow, she went all out. Fax, scanning and wireless. I thought she wanted me to look at the old one tonight.”
“I...picked this one up.”
“You bought this?” She was already looking through the small manual. She frowned. “Why?”
Because the women he dated expected him to buy them gifts.
He couldn’t say that to Dolley. Abby wanted to keep their relationship secret. That spot between his shoulders prickled again.
“I need a better printer while I’m here.” He rolled his shoulders, but the itchy feeling didn’t go away. “But I thought you’d like to set up the passwords.”
“Would I ever.” She looked at the directions and then got to work. She was already punching in numbers on the control pad. “Mmm-hmm.”
“Don’t tell Abby yet,” he said, closing the door behind him as he left. He wanted to reap the benefits of his surprise.
* * *
ABBY SLID THE chile relleno and vegetarian stratas she’d pulled together for breakfast into the fridge. The chile relleno strata was a new recipe. She hoped her guests would like it.
Her wine supplier had found some nice Mexican wines. Tonight her guests were sampling quesadillas, cheese-stuffed jalapenos, dips and salsas, and taquitos. Since she’d been roasting chilies, she’d made enchiladas for dinner.
With Mamma home it would be a family dinner. Abby grinned. She loved having the whole family around the table.
She just needed to make sure Gray didn’t expose their relationship. She’d ignored Mamma’s warnings about not getting involved with guests. Now she worried she would disappoint her mother. If it came down to a choice between a relationship and her family, she would always choose her family.
Gray pushed through the door. “It smells great in here.”
Her heart beat a little faste
r, and the kitchen seemed to warm up. “You say that every time you come in.”
“Because it’s true.”
“My whole family is here for dinner tonight.”
“Oh.” His smile faltered. “Do you want me to eat someplace else?”
“No!” She shook her head. “I’m just warning you.”
He grinned. “So it will be me and four beautiful Fitzgerald women. I like it.”
She waited for him to come closer, but he stayed where he was by the door.
“I’ve got something to show you.” He was smiling like a Cheshire cat. “Come with me.”
She checked the oven and turned down the heat. “Sure. What’s up?”
“I’ve got a surprise for you.”
She pulled off her apron and hung it on the hook next to the door. “Surprise?”
“Yup.”
What was he up to? “What did you think of the wines tonight?”
“Interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever had Mexican wines before.” He rested a hand on her back, guiding her down the hall. “They were good, but your guacamole was fantastic. And I may have eaten most of the chorizo-cheese quesadillas.”
He stopped in front of the business center. The door was closed. Strange. They always left it open.
He pushed the door open. “Ta-da.”
Boxes were scattered on the floor. She frowned. Why would Gray want to show her boxes? And why were they in here?
“Not the floor,” he said, pointing. “There.”
A mammoth printer filled the table. She gaped. They couldn’t possibly afford this. “I’m going to kill Dolley.”
Maybe they could take it back. She moved over to the machine and started to disconnect it.
“What are you doing?” Gray caught her hand and laced their fingers together.
“I’m returning it. Dolley better still have the receipt. She was supposed to fix the old printer. Not replace it.” She tried to shake his hand away. But he didn’t let go.
“Dolley didn’t buy it.” He grinned. “I did.”
Gray wasn’t making sense. “What?”
“Surprise.” He pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “I bought you a gift.”
She shook his hand away. “You what?”
“I bought you a printer.” His grin faded a little. “Dolley’s already set up the Wi-Fi.”
“What? Why?”
“Because...” His smile dropped away entirely. “I didn’t think you’d want jewelry.”
Jewelry? He was talking gibberish. “No, I wouldn’t.”
“We’re...involved.” He shrugged. “You needed a new printer.”
“I don’t want you buying—gifts—for me, for Fitzgerald House.” Her skin prickled as if ants were crawling inside her shirt. “It’s not appropriate.”
“But...” He waved his hand.
“Take it back.”
“No.” He crossed his arms. “I want a dependable printer to use while I’m here. You need one. Don’t be so stubborn.”
Stubborn? “Don’t fling your money around to solve my problems,” she snapped. “We can handle them ourselves.”
He exhaled. Stepping closer, he touched her cheek. “I wanted to buy you something. Let’s just leave it here for now. If you don’t like it, I’ll take it with me when I head back to Boston. Okay?”
He leaned in as though he were going to kiss her but stopped.
She should have pushed him away. Her stomach churned. Keeping the printer made her skin crawl.
He’d been trying to help. But his methods rubbed her the wrong way.
“Thank you,” she said quietly. “I...I guess it’s okay. For now. Just don’t do it again.”
He set his forehead to hers. “Do what?”
“Buy me gifts.”
“Okay,” he said, frowning.
He grabbed the boxes as they headed to the kitchen. This frustrating man could be so thoughtful.
She’d have Dolley fix the old printer before Gray went back to Boston.
But she wished he hadn’t bought her something so expensive—much less something she needed.
* * *
GRAY PULLED THE contract off the printer and slipped it in a folder. He’d review the agreement after dinner. It was a week after he’d bought the printer, and Abby’s reaction still irked him. Any other woman he’d dated would have been incensed if he’d bought them something so—mundane.
And she hadn’t said a word to her family about them dating. Not even to Mamie before she’d left. He didn’t mean to be egotistical, but back in Boston, women bragged about dating him.
Not Abby.
What did she really expect from him?
Shaking his head, he headed to the library for appetizers.
“You must lead a charmed life,” Dolley said, pulling a cork from a bottle of wine.
“Why? What’s going on?”
“Two rooms freed up for St. Patrick’s Day. If your family’s still interested in visiting, I’ve held the rooms.” Dolley handed him a glass of wine. “As Fitzgerald House’s favorite guest, you get priority.”
“We’ll take them.”
His mother had liked the idea of experiencing St. Paddy’s Day in Savannah. And it would be great to see his family.
He shoved his hair off his forehead. He didn’t know what to tell his family about Abby. If his mother knew he was dating, she might start more marriage manipulations. He didn’t need his mother interfering with whatever this was between them.
And Abby wanted to keep their relationship secret. Apparently, he wasn’t important enough to her to acknowledge to her family. That grated. But he would keep Abby’s secret and not tell his family.
“Use my credit card to reserve the room,” he said. “I appreciate you holding them. Let me know if there’s some way I can repay you.”
“What for?” She frowned.
“For...helping.”
“Don’t be silly.” She shook her head at him.
Everyone expected something from him, money or influence. He rubbed at the ache in his neck. What was the Fitzgerald family’s game?
He sipped his wine and wandered over to the three women who’d stayed at Fitzgerald House for the past two nights. “How was your day down on Tybee Island?”
The ladies rambled on about their tour of Fort Pulaski, Tybee lighthouse and shopping. This was what Fitzgerald House had given him. The conversation didn’t involve his money or his family. It was a relief, right? He’d always wanted to be more than his wealth. He could be just Gray here.
His fingers rattled on the side of his wineglass. It was more unsettling than he’d anticipated. What did it mean to be “just Gray”? Who was he without his money?
* * *
THE KITCHEN DOOR OPENED, and Abby turned. “Hey, Dolley.”
Her smile fell away. She’d hoped it was Gray. She checked the rice, not wanting her sister to see her disappointment.
She enjoyed every minute she spent with Gray. Being with him made her believe she could achieve her goals. He really listened when she talked about the B and B or her dreams. She hadn’t had that from anyone other than her sisters in so long.
There were so many reasons to stay away from him. Every man in her life had let her down. His visit was only that—a visit. Short-term.
But she couldn’t stop thinking about him.
“Who’s minding our guests?” Abby asked her sister.
“Gray’s keeping the wine flowing. Amy’s waiting on some Moons to check in. She’ll clean up at seven.” Dolley plucked a mushroom out of the salad. “I’m hoping to mooch dinner.”
Abby smiled. Gray was taking his role as “senior guest” seriously. When he’d arrived, she would never have guesse
d that he’d be interested in mingling so much and making small talk. “There’s enough for three.”
Dolley set another bowl on the table. “I’ve got a couple of things to tell you. Our bank meeting is confirmed for ten tomorrow.”
“Good.” Abby made a note on her to-do list.
“Second item. A group canceled during St. Paddy’s Day, and I saved the rooms for Gray’s family. They’re coming for the holiday.”
“Really?” The Smythes were coming to Savannah? Her stomach flip-flopped. How would Gray describe their relationship to his parents? She hadn’t said anything to her sisters. She didn’t know how to explain why she’d ignored Mamma’s advice.
The man in question walked into the kitchen. “How was your day?” she asked with a smile.
“Great. Daniel’s crew is making progress. We’re already tearing down walls.”
“Tell me about it while we eat.” She set out chicken-and-sausage jambalaya.
Throughout dinner, she and Dolley plied Gray with questions about the condominiums. Though Dolley seemed genuinely interested, Abby was distracted by the feel of Gray’s foot stroking her ankle.
Dolley pushed away from the table. “I’ve still got work to do, so I’m going to head out. Thanks for dinner.”
Abby tucked leftovers into a container and handed them to Dolley as she left.
“You take care of your sisters,” Gray commented, clearing his dishes.
“Dolley hates to cook.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her toward him. “I missed something earlier.”
Her heartbeat accelerated. The kiss started out gentle but quickly became greedy.
He caged her between his body and the table. “When are you going to let me make love to you, Abs? You’re killing me.”
“My body wants to say yes.” She arched her neck, and Gray ran his lips down to her collarbone. She dug her fingers into his arms.
“Then say yes.” Their next kiss seared any thought but him from her mind. His tongue mated and dueled with hers. She wanted to agree more than she wanted to breathe.
His cell phone rang. “I’m ignoring that,” he murmured against her lips.
Gray hoisted her onto the table. The phone rang again, and he pressed Ignore to send the call to his voice mail. He tossed the phone on the counter.