by Marie Force
…and you don’t do those anymore. So I will say goodnight. Sleep tight.
And did I mention I miss you?
By the time the flurry of texts stopped coming, Abby was laughing and crying and smiling—and absolutely dying to write back. She wanted to ask how things were going with his business. She wanted to know if he’d been reinstated or if he was still fighting. She wanted to know everything that had happened since she last saw him and to tell him everything that had happened to her.
But she didn’t write back. She’d set the rules and she had to stick with them or risk losing more than her heart this time around. At times, it felt as if her very sanity was at stake. So she didn’t write back. Rather, she read and reread the texts he’d sent at least a hundred times before she finally fell asleep.
Abby worked long hours at the store getting ready for the opening and took on a part-time job helping Laura at the registration desk. She went out of her way to stay busy so she wouldn’t have time to think about Adam, except for late at night when the day was done and she had nothing but time to think about every minute they’d spent together and indulge in yet another reread of the texts he’d sent more than a week ago now.
Laura came down the stairs to relieve Abby after a three-hour shift at the front desk. “Here I come. Sorry I’m late. Holden was fussy and didn’t feel like eating on my schedule.”
“No problem,” Abby said. “I have nowhere to be tonight.”
“Thanks for rolling with my crazy schedule.”
“It’s been fun helping out.” Abby gathered up her purse and backpack full of paperwork related to the store. She was about to leave when the need to ask the burning question that kept her awake at night stopped her from moving forward.
“Is everything okay?” Laura asked, tuning into Abby’s hesitation.
“Could I ask you something?”
“Sure. Anything you want.”
“Have you heard whether Adam was able to regain control of his company?”
Laura’s eyes went wide. “You haven’t heard?”
Abby shook her head. “I haven’t spoken to him since he left.”
“I thought you two…”
“We were. Past tense. I can’t do the long-distance thing again. I just can’t.”
“I can see why you feel that way. From what I heard from my Aunt Linda, the ex-girlfriend is out, and the board of directors reinstated Adam. He got the company back.”
“That’s wonderful,” Abby said sincerely, even though her heart was breaking. He’d be staying in the city where he belonged. It was a good thing she’d ended things with him when he left. In light of this development, that had been the right thing to do.
“If you think it’s wonderful, why do you look so sad?”
Abby forced a smile as she shrugged. “It was fun while it lasted.”
“Aww, honey.” Laura hugged her. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”
Abby returned the embrace. “You’d think I’d be used to things not working out by now.” Nothing that came before had hurt as much as this did. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Will you be okay?” Laura asked.
“I’m like a cat. I always land on my feet.”
The analogy made Laura laugh as she waved to Abby. Outside, the soft spring night seemed to almost mock her misery with its fragrance and beauty and the promise of lovely warm days to come.
She took her time walking home, grilled some salmon for dinner and ate in front of the TV. After dinner, she took a bath and was immersed in bubbles when her phone chimed with a text. As she lunged for it, water sloshed over the sides of the tub. She had the forethought to at least dry her hand before she grabbed the phone.
I’m thinking about how you looked floating naked in the moonlight, and I’m hard as a rock.
I dream about you every night. I can smell you and taste you and then I wake up alone, and I’m crushed. Devastated. Demolished.
Don’t do it. Don’t write back. Not unless you mean to never stop writing back. Do. Not. Do. It.
By the time Abby absorbed his words, a puddle had formed around her feet and it took every ounce of willpower she could muster not to write back. Maybe if she hadn’t known he got back his company she could take the risk. But now that she knew he planned to stay in the city, she couldn’t. She just couldn’t get any more involved with him than she already was.
She grabbed a towel, her movements jerky as she wrapped it around herself. Torn by what she wanted more than the next breath and what she knew was best for her, Abby sat on her bed and stared at the phone for a long time, hoping to find the wherewithal to protect her battered heart from more agony.
And then it chimed again, making her startle with surprise and elation.
I forgot to tell you. In my dreams, your dark hair is spread out on the pillow and we’re making love like we did that last night. I’ve relived that night over and over and over again.
I’ll never forget that night. I’ll never forget any of it. I have a tattoo to remind me of you every time I look at it. Mine is starting to heal. I hope yours are, too.
Don’t write back. Unless, of course, you think about me as much as I think about you… Unless you might have the fortitude for one more long-distance relationship… I’ll understand if you don’t. But I’ll always wish you did.
Abby never slept that night. As the hours wore on, her resolve began to weaken and the need to write back became nearly desperate. When her alarm went off at seven, she hit snooze four times before she dragged herself out of bed and into the bathroom where she was confronted with the mess she’d made the night before.
Her heart was heavy as she went through the motions of showering, telling herself over and over again that she was doing the right thing. Her life was here. His was there. And as much as she loved him, she couldn’t do the long-distance dance again. Not even for him.
Emerging from the shower, she pushed through the hair drying and straightening ritual, even though exhaustion clung to her every movement. In the time it took to dry her hair, she decided that if he texted again, she’d either have to write back or change her phone number.
The store opened with much fanfare the first Saturday in June. It had come together exactly as Abby had hoped, part practical, part whimsical and very much in keeping with the tradition of Abby’s Attic. Practically everyone she’d ever known on the island came in that first day to welcome her back, including Grant and Stephanie.
They greeted her with warm hugs.
“Congratulations,” he said while Stephanie poked around the store. “It’s even better than the original.”
Abby thought so, too, but he was the first to say it out loud, which she appreciated. “Thank you. It’s nice to be back in business. How’ve you been?”
“Better.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“I’m sorry things didn’t work out with Cal, but it’s nice to have you back on the island.”
“There’s no place like home.”
His smile reminded her of old times, many of them good times. “Ain’t it the truth?”
A customer in need of assistance interrupted them. “Excuse me,” Abby said. “Duty calls.”
He left with Stephanie a few minutes later, giving her a wave and a thumbs-up on the way out. It had been nice to see him and to feel nothing more than warm friendship toward him.
Abby spent the rest of the day on her feet with no time to think of anything other than work and customers and inventory. It was just like old times, and it was exactly what she needed.
She hired a high school girl to work some weekend afternoons in the store, which was how she was able to break free for Janey and Joe’s shower at Mac and Maddie’s house two Saturdays after the store opened.
The guys had apparently done some significant grumbling about having to attend a baby shower, but Maddie had made the case that the baby was Joe’s, too, so why should he be left out? And if he had to be there, he neede
d reinforcements.
Abby suspected Joe would’ve been happy to leave the shower to Janey and the women, but he knew better than to say so. As one of the hostesses, Abby helped Maddie and Laura with the food and drinks, and then sat next to Janey to record who each gift was from so Janey could write thank-you notes.
With the exception of Joe, who sat dutifully next to his wife as she opened their gifts, the guys retreated to the kitchen, where Mac had stashed a case of cold beer. They occasionally shouted ball-busting words of encouragement to Joe, who replied with a raised middle finger each time.
“Joseph,” his mother said sternly after the third such incident sent the guys into hysterics, “you need to set a better example for your child.”
The comment earned her a middle finger from her son, which made everyone laugh—no one more so than Carolina.
Abby’s laughter died on her lips when Adam strolled in through the sliding door from the deck, wearing a sharp navy pinstripe suit with a light blue dress shirt that was open at his throat.
His mother jumped up to greet him with a hug. “Adam! I thought you weren’t going to make it.”
He returned his mother’s hug, but over her shoulder, he sought out Abby. “I was able to get free sooner than expected. Slim flew me over.”
“We’re so happy you could make it,” Janey said, waddling over to hug her brother.
He kissed her cheek. “Wouldn’t have missed it, brat.”
Since it was a complete surprise to her that he was due home, Abby’s entire body felt like it was on fire as he trained his intense gaze on her. It was all she could do to keep track of the gifts as Janey opened them when she wanted to run to him and hug him and kiss him and tell him how much she’d missed him.
And she’d missed everything about him. The sound of his voice, the scent of his cologne, the brush of his whiskers against her cheek, the soft slide of his lips, the rippled muscles on his belly—
“Abby?” Maddie’s voice jolted her out of her thoughts about Adam. “Did you get that one? The tub and bath products from Francine and Ned?”
“Yes, right.” Her face flamed with embarrassment when she realized all eyes were on her, including Adam’s. His small smile told her he knew he’d rattled her by showing up unexpectedly.
“Need a break?” Laura asked.
“Of course not. I’ve got this.”
An hour had never passed more slowly. Janey oohed and aahed over every tiny article of clothing and each piece of equipment. How one baby could need so much stuff was beyond Abby. The whole time, she wanted to urge Janey to hurry up.
Adam was in the kitchen with his brothers and the other guys, laughing and talking and seeming completely at ease as he leaned against the counter with a beer in his hand and a smile on his face.
How could he be so calm when she was coming out of her skin?
“That’s it,” Laura said, relieving Abby of the notebook. “You’re fired.”
“Sorry. I’m distracted today.”
“No kidding.” Laura followed Abby’s gaze directly to Adam. “And you said it was over… Doesn’t look over to me.”
“Hush. It is over.” Abby’s words rang hollow to her own ears. All her resolve to resist him had fled the second he walked through the door looking better than any man had a right to look.
Laura snorted in disbelief. “Whatever you say.”
After what seemed like hours, Janey finally finished opening the mountain of presents. With Joe’s help, she got up and made a beeline directly for the bathroom.
Abby knelt on the floor stuffing wrapping paper into a trash bag, wondering how to go about getting a minute alone with Adam with his family all around them. A shadow fell over her as black leather wing tips appeared before her eyes.
“Come outside with me.”
Startled by his voice and his nearness, she looked up at his outstretched hand as a million thoughts spiraled through her mind, including all the reasons why she’d be better off declining his gruffly spoken invitation. But then she made the mistake of looking at his face and at the dazzling blue eyes that were gazing down at her with blatant affection and desire.
“Please?”
As if there’d ever been a choice. She took his hand and let him help her up. The conversation around them died out as they headed for the door, where Grant stopped them with a hand to Adam’s chest.
Grant looked at Abby. “Everything okay?”
“Yes,” she said, amused and touched by his protectiveness. “Everything’s fine.”
Grant gave his brother a long look before he lowered his hand and stepped out of their way.
“Sheesh,” Adam said when they were outside. “My brothers are the biggest jack asses.”
“You love them.” Abby followed him down the stairs from the deck to the yard where Mac and Maddie had exchanged vows two summers ago.
“I thought Janey was never going to finish opening her presents,” he said as they walked hand-in-hand away from the house toward the meadow that abutted the yard.
“Me, too. I was dying.”
“How come?”
She bumped against him. “Like you don’t know that you’ve been driving me crazy!”
“I did exactly what you told me to do.”
“You did much more than that, and you’re fully aware of what it did to me.”
“What did it do? Tell me.”
“It made me want things I said I was done with. It made me wish I hadn’t already been through this same thing twice before so I could say to hell with it and do what I really wanted to do.”
“Which was what?”
“Write back, to start with.”
His smile unfolded slowly across his gorgeous face, making his eyes light up with mirth. He stopped walking and turned to her, the late afternoon sunlight bringing out red highlights in his hair that she hadn’t noticed before. The light blue shirt made his eyes even more vivid than usual. She’d never been so happy to see anyone in her life. “What would you have said, if you’d written back?”
“That I’m happy you got your company back.”
“Are you?”
“Of course I am. That company was yours, and what happened was wrong.”
“Yes, it was.”
“Did you see Sasha?”
“Once, briefly, when I was packing up my stuff in the apartment. She apologized, I said thank you, and that was the end of it. She knows she screwed up royally.”
“Were you…happy to see her?”
He shook his head. “Not one bit. I couldn’t be happy to see her when I was so busy thinking about you all the time.”
Only with him standing right next to her, with his expensive cologne filling her senses, was she finally able to fully acknowledge how desperately she’d missed him. “You did?”
Nodding, he said, “Did you think about me?”
“All the time.”
His smile warmed the places inside her that had gone cold when he left.
“I’m glad it worked out for you, Adam.”
“It hasn’t worked out for me. Not yet.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you know why I went back in the first place?”
“To get back the company that was rightfully yours?”
“Primarily, but it was also to take care of the employees who’d made the company successful. After I was restored as CEO, my first order of business was to recommend to the board that we entertain one of the many offers we received when word of the shakeup in our ranks hit the news. It took a while to find the right buyer. I wanted someone who’d retain my staff.”
Abby was still trying to wrap her head around what he was saying when he added, “I sold the company. We signed the papers this morning. Thus the suit.”
“You…you sold the company.”
“I sold the company.”
She looked up at him, daring to hope… “Why?”
“It’s not what I want anymore. I want other things now.”<
br />
“What other things?”
“For one thing, I thought it might be fun to be the island’s resident computer geek. Things are a mess around here. They need me.”
It wasn’t lost on her that he’d used the same words she’d used to describe the fantasy she’d built around him.
He put his arms around her, drew her in close to him and pressed his lips to her forehead. “And then there’s this girl I can’t seem to stop thinking about. She looks a lot like you, actually. She’s sweet and funny and thinks she needs to become someone else entirely before she’ll be worthy of the kind of love she deserves. But, you see, she’s managed to make this guy fall madly in love with her just by being her perfectly perfect self.”
Abby had to be dreaming. Was he really saying these things to her? Was he really in love with her? Was his life in New York really over, and was he home to stay?
“Say something, will you? Please?”
“I love you, too.”
And then he was kissing her, and it was all very real and very, very perfect.
A loud cheer erupted from Mac and Maddie’s deck.
Adam laughed against her lips and held her tighter so she couldn’t get away. Not that there was anywhere she’d rather be, even with his entire family watching them.
“I missed you so much,” she said, her eyes closed as he held her against his chest.
“I wanted to call you every day, even though I promised I wouldn’t. I finally couldn’t take it anymore and had to send the texts, even though I was worried they’d make it worse for you.”
“They didn’t make it worse. They were like a lifeline. It meant so much to know you were suffering, too.”
“I was suffering. Big-time. The only reason I went back was to get rid of the company so I could come home to you. I didn’t think it would be fair to tell you what was going on until it was a done deal. I was afraid it would drag on for months, but then one of our rivals came forward and made an offer we couldn’t refuse. Since they’re retaining my entire staff, I didn’t even have to stick around to deal with transition issues. I’m done as of ten o’clock this morning. I had Slim waiting for me at the airport, and here I am.”
“Is this really happening, or is it just another fantasy?” It had never occurred to her that he’d sell the company and come home.