The House on Blackberry Hill: Jewell Cove #1 (Jewel Cove)

by Donna Alward

  Tom’s gaze fell on her. “If we left for Portland a little earlier, we could be back in time for supper.” He glanced at Jess. “Would that make everyone happy?”

  “As long as you show up. Abby, why don’t you come along, too? The more the merrier.”

  “Oh, I couldn’t intrude on a family thing. Tom can just drop me off at the house when we’re done.”

  “Don’t be silly. There’ll be a ton of food, and it’d give you a chance to meet a few more people. It must be lonely in that old house by yourself, especially on a Saturday night. Besides, it would be good for Tom to—”

  “Jess,” Tom said sharply, surprising Abby. Jess’s lips closed in surprise and Abby got the sense that there was a whole other conversation going on beneath what was actually being said.

  But then Tom’s hand touched the small of Abby’s back. “Why don’t you come,” he suggested, his voice rumbling in her ear. “I know I’m not the best company, but it’s better than spending a Saturday night by yourself, isn’t it? And like Jess said, you’ll get a chance to meet some people. For the most part…” He aimed a telling glare at Jess. “My family is quite nice.”

  The warmth of his hand soaked through her light shirt and tingles seemed to run down to her toes. “If I do come, what should I bring?” she found herself asking. Lord, she really was weak where he was concerned, wasn’t she? One little touch and she was ready to do whatever he asked.

  “Just yourself,” Jess insisted. “Trust me. There’ll be lots to eat. My sister always goes overboard with these things, thinking she’s feeding an army. We never complain because then we all get leftovers to last a week.”

  It was the first time Abby had been invited anywhere since arriving in town. There were always a few people who would say hello at the café or in line at the grocery store, but this was the first real overture of friendship. If the rest of Tom’s family was as nice as Jess seemed to be, it would be an enjoyable evening. Why shouldn’t she go?

  “I guess I could come along,” she replied, and Jess smiled.

  “Great. Now shoo, Tom. I’m not paying you to stand around, am I?”

  Tom raised one eyebrow at his cousin while she winked audaciously. Abby wondered if Jess was paying him anything at all.

  “I’m going,” he muttered, but before he went outside again he spoke to Abby. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Now that the exterminator’s been by, I’ll start with tightening up the doors and windows. The roofers are coming next Monday to replace the roof.” He smiled down at her then looked at Jess. “See ya, slave driver.”

  Jess linked her arm with Abby’s and drew her away. “Come on, let me show you around. Upstairs is my workshop, and that’s where I hold my classes. Down here is the main store, and I make most of the stuff myself. A few other local artisans sell on consignment, which helps me keep my stock up. And the quilts are done by a ladies’ group with the proceeds going to charity.”

  The door to the shop closed and moments later Abby heard the dull drone of the saw. Jess was in the middle of showing her a display of felted hats when Abby had to ask.

  “What were you going to say earlier? That it would be good for Tom to what?”

  Jess didn’t meet her eyes but instead fussed with a pile of fabric on the table. “Oh, he just doesn’t date much, that’s all.”

  “But it wouldn’t be a date. Tom works for me.”

  Jess looked up. “It would be the closest thing to a date he’s had for a few years, so we’ll take it.”

  “A few years?” Abby stepped back. “But Tom’s—” She caught herself just in time. The word “gorgeous” had been sitting on the tip of her tongue. “What I mean is, look at him. He’s not exactly a troll.”

  Jess’s musical laughter echoed through the rafters of the vaulted ceiling. “So you did notice.”

  Abby grinned. “Well, duh. I may not be interested but I do have eyes.” Liar, a voice inside her taunted. She ignored it. “So why the dry spell?”

  Jess’s voice softened. “He got his heart broken.”

  Something twisted inside Abby. Big, burly Tom didn’t date because he had a broken heart? But he always seemed so sure of himself. So confident and … She remembered how he’d looked down at her once he’d pulled his foot from the veranda. His attitude had been bordering on cocky. And then she remembered the way his fingers had tightened on hers in the servant’s stairway.

  Oh, dear. Knowing he’d been hurt shouldn’t change anything, but somehow it did.

  “What happened?” Abby found herself asking.

  After a pause, Jess sighed. “She married someone else.”

  “Oh. Ouch.”

  “Yeah. But what are you gonna do, right?”

  “Right,” Abby replied.

  “Anyway, I’m glad you’re coming. We’re all happy Josh is coming home. His wife was killed on deployment and he’s really been struggling. Now he’ll be around friends and family, you know? Make a new start right here at home.”

  “I’m sorry,” Abby replied, feeling instantly sorry for Jess’s brother—Tom’s cousin. “How terrible. Were you all very close to his wife?”

  Jess went still for a second, and Abby thought she looked not just sad but a bit annoyed. “Not particularly,” she admitted. “Erin was gone a lot, and then they lived in Hartford. They didn’t come home often.”

  Abby got the sense there was more to the story, but she wasn’t about to pry.

  “Listen,” Jess said, her face lighting up as she changed the topic. “I know it’s got to be lonely, being new in town and in that huge old house all alone. Tom and his workmen can’t be much company. If you can’t make the beading workshop, why don’t you come out tomorrow night to my candle-making class? I still have space and it’ll give you a chance to meet some local ladies and do something fun. You get to take home what you make and I always provide some snacks for when we finish. First lesson’s on me as a welcome to Jewell Cove.”

  Abby nearly refused. After all, she wasn’t actually staying in Jewell Cove for long but she got the feeling her protest would fall on deaf ears. Besides, the temptation to actually get out and have a social evening that had nothing to do with the house or grabbing a meal on the run sounded fun. “I think I’d like that,” she found herself saying. “What time?”

  “I close at six and we start at seven. Just take the stairs at the back and come up to the workshop entrance.”

  “Thank you, Jess. For the welcome and the offer.”

  “Anytime.” She smiled and put her hand lightly on Abby’s arm. “The cove’s a nice place,” she said, giving a squeeze. “Small town, of course, but I can’t imagine living anywhere else. You’ll see.”

  Abby picked up a pair of earrings and paid for them, then skirted past Tom without saying anything. On the way to her car she stopped at Sally’s Dairy Shack and bought a chocolate dip cone, which she ate seated on a bench overlooking the marina. As she licked the drips from her fingers, she frowned.

  If she wasn’t careful, this town could wrap its way around her heart. She’d just have to make sure that didn’t happen; to be ready to cut ties and move on. If she’d learned anything over the last ten years, it was that nothing good ever lasted.

  She couldn’t imagine Jewell Cove would be any different.

  CHAPTER 9

  The next evening Abby dressed carefully in her favorite capri pants and a top in asymmetrical ruffles that was ultrafeminine and flattering. She wore her hair down, letting it fall over her shoulders in waves, and slipped on a pair of jeweled sandals. It was just as nerve-racking meeting a group of women for the first time as it was going on a first date and Abby couldn’t help but want to make a good impression. She was so anxious about it she nearly considered staying home, curled up with one of the books from the library.

  But she needed to get out for a bit, and knew she’d regret not going.

  So she put on some makeup, grabbed her purse, and made her way down the hill into town, parking a few doors away from Tr
easures.

  When she entered the back door, the noise was already at a fever pitch. Half a dozen women were in the room, chatting animatedly. The only familiar face was Jess, who was currently laying out supplies on a table. A long counter ran along one side of the room, with a series of hot plates plugged in along its surface. Abby clutched her handbag and paused in the doorway, unsure. But just then Jess looked up and a broad smile lit up her face.

  Her dark eyes were warm and full of good humor and Abby thought for a moment that the family resemblance really did run through the cousins. Jess’s eyes reminded Abby remarkably of Tom’s when he was teasing.

  “You’re here!” Jess came over, giving her a quick hug.

  Abby had no chance to guard against the contact, and let herself be hugged briefly before giving a light laugh and extricating herself from Jess’s embrace. “I did.”

  “I’m glad. Come meet the other ladies before we get started.”

  Under Jess’s guidance, Abby met Cindy White, mother of twins and wife of a local fisherman who considered Jess’s classes her night away from the craziness at home. There was middle-aged Gloria Henderson, who played the organ at the Baptist church and kept her hair in a precise bob just below her ears. Abby also met Summer Arnold, who looked like she was in her early twenties and had a nose ring and a streak of hot pink through her blond hair, and Lisa Goodwin, another young mom, who worked at the bank and whose husband worked at the fish plant just outside of town. All of them gave her a warm welcome, but it was Gloria who gave her an assessing look, raised one eyebrow, and said, “Heard you hired Tom Arseneault to fix up the house.”

  “I did, yes. He started sealing my windows yesterday.”

  Gloria’s smile widened. “Sealing windows.” Her tone inferred a different job altogether. “Not hard on the eyes, our Tom.”

  What could Abby say? She’d be a liar to say she didn’t notice, and they’d all know it. The room had quieted a bit and she realized a few pairs of ears were waiting for her answer. She smiled. “No, he’s not,” she confessed. “But that’s not why I hired him.”

  “Of course not.” Gloria winked at her. “Nice perk, though. His father was always a looker, especially when he used to mow the grass with his shirt off—”

  “Gloria!” Cindy’s shocked voice interrupted, but Gloria shrugged.

  “Shoot, Cindy. Whole town knows I dated Pete Arseneault when I was eighteen. Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and I don’t need glasses yet.”

  Abby laughed. “Anything I say is going to sound so wrong right about now. I think I’ll just keep quiet.”

  “Smart girl here, Jess. She’ll do.” Gloria nodded as she issued her seal of approval.

  “Should we get started, then?” Jess asked. “Tonight we’re going to be making Mason jar candles using soy wax. If everyone will pick a workstation, we’ll begin.”

  * * *

  The glass jars were still hot and Abby could see she had a few bubbles in her wax, but she didn’t worry about it. The room had warmed with all the hot plates going and the aroma of wax and scenting oils hung in the air. She was pleased. It had been fun, melting the wax and then using Jess’s “recipe” to add the proper combinations of scents and dye. She had two candles to take home later, one a creamy white scented with warm vanilla and the other a spicy red cinnamon. She’d learned more about Jewell Cove in this one hour than she had all the rest of the time she’d been in town. It was a close-knit community, a little prone to gossip as most small towns were, and not without its troubles, but also supportive of one another when times were tough.

  Now Jess had laid out snacks and wine and Abby found herself with a glass of pinot noir in her hand, dipping a cracker in a delicious red pepper dip.

  “Having a good time?” Jess stopped by, her glass containing something clear and fizzy. Abby supposed as the hostess she was abstaining from the wine.

  “Wonderful. It was really fun. And everyone is just so nice.”

  “They like you, too. Though everyone was fairly restrained. They don’t want to scare you off. Lips might get looser as the wine flows.”

  Abby grinned. This had been restrained? “Thanks for the warning.”

  She answered numerous questions about the house, though she learned as much as she revealed as even the younger women knew of Marian and the home she’d run for years. Lisa Goodwin, the young mom from the bank, topped up Abby’s glass and smiled sadly at her. “Your great-aunt was a special lady, Abby.”

  “You knew her?” Everyone in Jewell Cove seemed to think a lot of Marian. Abby found it slightly odd that a woman reputed to be so kind and giving could have shut out the only family she had left. Why had she never contacted Iris, or had the tables been turned? Lately Abby had started to think it might have something to do with the secrets that seemed locked up in the house. Maybe, in the end, Marian hadn’t had a choice.

  “I was one of the last babies born there. She took my mother in, you know.”

  Abby’s heart took a jolt. “You? You were born at Foster House?”

  Lisa laughed lightly. “I was, but it’s not like I remember it,” she said, and Abby laughed, too.

  “Of course not.”

  “My birth mom couldn’t stay at home once she found out she was pregnant. With Marian’s help she put me up for adoption. I grew up right here in the Cove with two wonderful parents. I guess not long after that Marian closed it up. She was getting older and looking after the girls was a lot of work. And, well, society changed. It’s a lot less taboo now to be a single mom.”

  “Still hard, though,” Abby mused.

  “Cheers to that,” Lisa said, touching the rim of her glass to Abby’s. “Honestly, I don’t know how single moms do it. I can barely handle my son and my husband.”

  The hour wore on and Abby felt herself getting fuzzy around the edges. She really should have eaten dinner beforehand, she thought. The laughter was coming a little more readily when Summer, who’d been mostly quiet, treated the group to a sideways smile as she twirled one pink strand of hair around her finger. “I just wanted to give a toast to Jess for expanding her deck,” Summer said, lifting her glass to their host. “Tom was working with his shirt off the other afternoon. It was quite the visual treat.”

  “Amen,” Abby said clearly, then put her fingers over her lips. “Did I say that out loud?”

  After a second of stunned silence everyone burst out laughing. Why on earth had she said that?

  Cindy snickered. “I’ll second that. Must be all that manual labor. A man like that must be good with his hands…” She looked up and flushed a little. “Sorry, Jess. Know he’s your cousin and all, but damn, you know?”

  Gloria tut-tutted. “And you’re a married woman.”

  “Hey, just because I’m on a diet doesn’t mean I can’t look at the menu.”

  More laughs. “You have a boyfriend, Abby? Someone special back in Nova Scotia?”

  Her throat tightened. “Not really.”

  “Well, then.” Cindy sat back in her chair with satisfaction. “You should give our Tom a tumble.”

  “Cindy!” This time from Lisa. She looked at Abby. “Don’t mind her. She’s off the market so she spends far too much time setting other people up.”

  “Worked for you and Jason now, didn’t it?”

  Lisa grinned. “Indeed.”

  Abby took another long sip of wine.

  Summer patted Abby’s knee. “You’ve been initiated now, Abby. Don’t take it personally. There’s not a single woman in Jewell Cove who hasn’t thought about Tom just a little bit.”

  And yet, according to Jess, Tom didn’t date. Not since he’d had his heart trampled on. It must have been a doozy. It’d take a special woman to get him out of that dry spell.

  She drained her glass and looked around. Someone like Summer, tall and pretty with a kind of quiet confidence and innate sexuality, perhaps. There was no ring on her finger after all. But definitely not someone like Abby. She was far too ordinary
. And far too timid despite her occasional sharp tongue. A man like Tom needed someone more adventurous.

  “Come on, Abby, what do you really think of Tom? And don’t worry about Jess. She won’t say a word, will you, Jess?”

  Jess made a motion like sealing her lips and throwing away the key. Abby giggled, the sound oddly strange to her ears. She never giggled. “Oh, no. You’re not going to sucker me into that.” She recalled briefly how close the air had felt in the confined space of the stairway, and wondered what it would be like to be pressed up against the cool wall, pinned there by Tom’s strong body. The very idea was quite exhilarating.

  “And … we’ve lost her,” Cindy mourned. “Earth to Abby.”

  She looked up, a little slow on the draw.

  “That’s okay,” someone said. “Tom tends to have that effect on the female population of this town.”

  Abby really shouldn’t have let anyone top up her wine. Jess rose and excused herself for a moment, and like some unspoken signal, the ladies got up and began cleaning up the remains of the snacks. Abby bit down on her lip. Did Jewell Cove even have a cab service? All the other women tonight had been smart and walked to Treasures. Abby couldn’t possibly get behind the wheel now.

  “It wouldn’t matter anyway,” she confessed to the room at large as she made herself busy, putting vegetable sticks in a plastic container. “I’m only in town until the house is straightened away and I can put it on the market.”

  “You’re not staying?”

  Abby shook her head. “I wasn’t planning on it. What would a woman like me do with a place that big?”

  Cindy grinned. “Marry Tom and fill it with babies.”

  There was loud laughter then and the chatter dissipated, covering Abby’s hot blush. The evening seemed to be ending, so she kept her hands busy by tidying the rest of the food table until the last woman was gone and then she turned to Jess in the quiet of the workroom.

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

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