“They’re five. They don’t read newspapers or watch the financial networks.” She had to bite back her disgust. “And shame on you for trying to use them to get me to back off.”
“What will it take, then?”
She hadn’t anticipated his capitulation coming so easily, but she was ready just the same. “Drop your plans to try to change our custody arrangement,” she said at once. “I want it in writing that you’re foregoing all future rights to even try for full custody, and that neither you nor Gabrielle will ever discuss this with the twins again.”
“And if I give you those things, you won’t try to make things worse for Gabrielle?”
“Wes, don’t you get it? That horse is so far out of the barn, it would take a miracle to corral it. The SEC is all over this. The internal investigators at the firm are looking at every transaction she ever handled. The media’s already caught wind of it. They might have had only enough for a very brief item so far, but trust me, they’re on top of the story. It’s all going to come out, with or without any prodding from me.”
“But if you give them another angle, a personal angle, it’ll make it worse,” he said. “Please, I’m begging you, don’t add to the publicity.”
She was stunned by the genuine concern in his voice. “You really are in love with her, aren’t you? This wasn’t just some crazy fling that wound up costing you a fortune.”
“Of course I love her. Why do you think I’m so desperate to help her fix this? It’s not about the money I lost. I can live with that. I can always make more. I just can’t bear the thought of watching Gabrielle being taken down like this. She made a stupid mistake, and she regrets it.”
“What about all the other people she hurt, the ones who lost their life savings and unlike you don’t have the time or the means to make it back?”
“We’ll make restitution to every one of them. I’m already working on it.”
Abby was impressed by how hard he was willing to fight for his fiancée. Gabrielle was giving him a chance to be her knight in shining armor, something Abby had never needed him to be.
“Good luck with fixing this,” she told him sincerely. “I hope it works out.”
“Look, I’ll see Stella today. I’ll explain there was a misunderstanding and I’ll sign whatever you want me to sign.”
“I’ll let her know everything we’ve discussed,” Abby said.
“When…”
She knew what he wanted to ask. She could have let him squirm, but what would be the point? She’d won not only the battle, but the war. “The girls and I should be back in New York right after the Fourth of July. You can see them then. If you’d rather not wait another three weeks, you’re welcome to come down here again. I just don’t have time right now to bring them up there.”
“I’ll wait. Tell them I’ll be calling every couple of days to check on them.”
“They’ll love that,” she told him. “They miss you as much as you miss them.”
“Bye, Abby.”
“Goodbye, Wes.” She’d been pacing the kitchen as they talked, but now she sank down onto a chair, shaking. Could it really be over? Did he really no longer pose a threat? Tears of relief were streaking down her cheeks when Gram walked into the kitchen.
“What on earth?” she murmured, gathering Abby into her arms. “What’s happened? Is it bad news?”
Abby shook her head and managed a wobbly smile. “Good news, actually. I won.”
Gram looked confused. “Won what?”
“It’s a long story, but the bottom line is that I stood up to Wes and I won.”
“Well, good for you. It’s about time you stopped letting that man bully you.”
She regarded her grandmother with surprise. “You think Wes bullied me?”
“I most certainly do. Oh, he did it with a lot of charm and sweet talk, but there was more than one occasion when I wanted to sit him down and tell him how a real man should treat a woman he loves.”
Abby grinned at the thought of such a confrontation. “I’m surprised you didn’t do it, and a little sorry.”
“Meddling in another person’s marriage never leads to anything good,” Gram said, then gave her a pointed look. “Which is something you might want to remember when your father and Megan get here.”
“Mom’s not due for a couple of weeks. Have you heard from Dad? When will he be here?”
“Later today, in fact. He’s dropping the San Francisco project, so he’ll be underfoot for a while, apparently.”
“He dropped it?” Abby repeated, stunned. “Any idea why?”
“He didn’t say, but I’m sure he’ll be happy to satisfy your curiosity once he gets here.”
“Do you think it might have something to do with the fact that Mom is coming home?”
“I’m not going to start speculating about that and did I not suggest to you less than two minutes ago that you should stay out of their relationship?”
Abby smiled sheepishly. “You can’t blame me for wondering at least.”
Gram chuckled. “No, I suppose I can’t. Now let’s talk about your love life. How are things with you and Trace?”
“Now who’s meddling?” Abby teased.
“Just asking an innocent question,” Gram insisted. “He was here late last night. I heard the two of you on the porch talking long after I’d gone to bed.”
“We have a lot of things to figure out,” Abby told her.
“I just hope you do that together this time,” Gram said.
Abby sighed. “Trace said the same thing.”
Gram gave a nod of satisfaction. “Good. That gives me hope.”
“Hope for what?”
“The future,” she said. “And that is all I have to say about that.”
Abby laughed. “For today,” she retorted.
“Nope. That’s it. The rest is up to the two of you.” She winked. “See, not meddling. That’s how it’s done. Take a lesson.”
“I’ll work on it,” Abby promised. “And now I’m going to the inn to check on Jess and the progress she made while I was away. I was so caught up with my own issues yesterday, I never got over there. Do you mind getting the girls up and watching them this morning?”
“Of course not. I think today I’ll teach them a bit about gardening. If nothing else, they seem to like playing in the dirt. None of the rest of you were interested, except for Bree.” She gave a rueful smile. “Of course, she liked picking the flowers a whole lot better than she liked planting them.”
“I remember,” Abby said, smiling at the memory. “She’d yank them from the ground, then bring them in and stick them in a glass, roots and all.”
“Hopefully your sister’s past that stage now. Otherwise, I’m assigning you to keep her out of my garden when she gets here for the inn’s grand opening.”
“I can’t wait to see her and hear about all her success in Chicago.”
Gram’s expression sobered. “I’m not sure that last play of hers did that well.”
Abby frowned at the comment. “What makes you think that? She was so excited about it.”
“She usually sends the reviews, but this time she didn’t. And she hasn’t brought it up once when we’ve talked. Those aren’t good signs.”
“Well, it’s a good sign that she’s coming home.”
“It is indeed,” Gram said. “I just wish
Kevin were coming home from Iraq, so we’d have everybody here.”
Abby gave her a hug. “He’ll be home soon, Gram. I know it.”
Her grandmother touched her mouth. “From your lips to God’s ear.”
Amen, Abby thought.
19
I t was midmorning on Wednesday, and Abby was paying bills on her first day back at the inn when she heard some kind of heavy truck lumbering up the driveway. Walking to the window, she spotted a delivery van from a high-end appliance company. Instantly, her pulse kicked up a notch. What had Jess done? Since it involved that particular store, it couldn’t be good.
She headed for the door, shouting upstairs to her sister as she went. “Jess, get down here, now!”
She was already across the yard and standing behind the van by the time the driver emerged.
“Mind if I take a look at your delivery instructions before you take anything off the truck?” she asked, trying to keep her voice calm. After all, the driver and his helper were just doing their job.
The driver handed over his clipboard and she skimmed through the paperwork. When she saw they were delivering a top-of-the-line range for the kitchen and glanced at the cost, she saw red.
“Sorry,” she said flatly. “There’s been some mistake. I didn’t order this.”
Jess came flying out of the inn just then. “I did, Abby. It’s okay.”
Abby whirled on her and dragged her a few steps until they were out of earshot from the drivers. “It is not okay,” she said tightly. “It’s going back. It was an unauthorized purchase.”
Jess faced her down, hands on hips. “ I authorized it. It stays.”
The driver, who’d easily picked up on the tension, looked from Abby to Jess and back again. “Look, ladies, is it going or staying? We don’t have all day while you all settle your turf war. And this is our second delivery attempt. The next one will cost you.”
“What do you mean it’s the second delivery attempt?” Abby asked.
“No one was around when we came by on Monday.”
So, she thought, fuming, Jess had intended for this outrageously expensive range to be delivered and put in place while she was away, making it that much harder to send it back. Obviously, though, she’d gotten distracted by something and missed the delivery. For once, Abby was relieved by her sister’s lack of attention to detail. In this instance it had probably saved them from an expense they couldn’t afford.
She gave Jess a look that told her she knew exactly what she’d been up to. Jess’s determined expression didn’t waver. There wasn’t so much as a hint of guilt or remorse.
“The range is staying,” Jess said stubbornly.
“Take it away,” Abby said just as determinedly. “Jess, there is no way the inn can afford a range like this one, not now, anyway. The kitchen appliances we have are just fine. They’re all in working order. I’ve had them checked.”
“But I went through the kitchen with Gail to analyze what we’d need to do the kind of events I want to host here,” Jess argued. “She says this range is the best for that. She went with me to pick it out. She’s the professional. She knows what she’s talking about.”
“I don’t doubt it, but you weren’t spending her money. It’s unfortunate you didn’t invite me along. I would have told you no on the spot and saved these men a trip.”
“Come on, Abby, even you have to see that it’s a smart, long-term investment.”
“I’m sure it is. And it is a chef’s dream range, no question about that, either. Unfortunately, we can’t afford it. Period.” She turned to the driver. “Take it now, please.”
Jess got between her and the truck, her cheeks flaming with color, though whether that was due to fury or embarrassment was hard to say. “If you send it back, I will never speak to you again,” Jess declared in a fierce undertone. “I mean it, Abby. We’re through. I’ve kept my mouth shut while you’ve taken over around here, even though it’s my business, but I’m drawing the line now. I know there’s enough money in the account for this. I checked before I ordered it.”
“And once we write a check of this size, exactly what do you intend to use to pay your staff?” Abby asked quietly. She managed to keep her tone reasonable, even though she was tempted to shake her sister. “Every penny of that cash is committed for the foreseeable future unless you’re planning to do all the work around here on your own and for no pay, and that includes covering for your new chef, whom you’ll no longer be able to afford.”
Jess faltered slightly at that, but she didn’t back down. “We’ll have cash flow in another couple of weeks.”
“Not enough,” Abby said flatly. “And I’m not pouring one more dime into this place unless you show some evidence of fiscal responsibility. I’m done. Do you get that? And if I pull out, the bank may pull out right behind me.”
Jess’s eyes grew round, but her fighting spirit didn’t diminish. “You wouldn’t do that to me.”
“Watch me,” Abby said, refusing to relent. This was the last straw. For once she intended to stick to her guns, no matter how upset Jess got with her. Her sister couldn’t get a free pass on this. If she did, she’d never understand that there were consequences for acting imprudently.
Jess blinked back tears, but with her chin held high, she turned to the driver. “Take it away,” she said quietly. Then she turned to Abby. “And from here on out you stay the hell out of my way. Whatever work you need to do that’s related to the inn, you can do at Gram’s. I don’t care how much of your money you invested, this place is still mine and I don’t want you near the inn when I’m here. Since I live here, that means you don’t set foot on the premises again, ever. I swear I’ll have you arrested for trespassing if you do.”
After uttering the mostly empty threat, she took off across the lawn, climbed into her car and tore away from the inn, gravel flying in her wake.
Abby stared after her and sighed, then faced the bewildered deliverymen. “I’m sorry.”
“No problem,” the driver said. “Looks to me like you got your hands full. You change your mind, just call that number on the invoice and we’ll bring it back out here.”
“I won’t change my mind.”
Unfortunately, she knew with absolute certainty that Jess wouldn’t, either. It was going to be a tense couple of weeks leading up to the inn’s opening. After that, who knew?
Jess was barreling down the shore road when her cell phone rang. She ignored it. She wasn’t about to talk to anyone when she was in her current mood. For the first time in her life she actually hated her sister. She hated her for humiliating her the way she had in front of those drivers. She hated her for the position she was now in with Gail, forced to explain that they wouldn’t have the new stove. She hated her most of all for being right.
Once again she hadn’t thought things through. She’d gotten caught up in the moment, in the dream, and completely ignored reality. She should have realized that money was earmarked for salaries. She should have paid more attention when Abby tried to talk to her about the budget, but frankly all that talk of numbers bored her to tears.
Which was exactly why she needed a business partner, she conceded with a sigh. It couldn’t be Abby, though, not for the long haul. She didn’t want to be at odds with the one person in her life who’d always been there for her, the person who’d believed in her even when she’d been screwing up. And despite Abby’s threat today that she would walk away from Jess and the inn, Jess
knew without a doubt that her big sister would never abandon her.
There was a drawback to all that devotion. Jess had never had a success she could really call her own. Abby or one of her other siblings had always been eager to jump in and help her out. They’d fought her battles, coached her through tests. They’d all thought they were doing her a favor, protecting her from humiliation, but they’d kept her from succeeding on her own, too. She loved them for caring so much, but she hated the way she wound up feeling, as if not one single accomplishment was truly her own.
And here it was happening again, she thought with a sigh.
With the top on her car down and the wind blowing through her hair, she was calmer now. By the time she got into town, she could actually see Abby’s point of view, as much as it grated. Not that she intended to tell her sister that. Abby needed to understand something, too, that she couldn’t snatch every decision out of Jess’s hands. They had to work things out together.
Of course, even as that thought came to her, she realized that she was the one who’d carefully avoided just such a conversation about the stove, precisely because she’d anticipated exactly this outcome. Worse, she thought with a wince, the new rugs were yet to come. At least those hadn’t cost a fortune, but they had cost more than the budget could probably afford.
“I should probably call and cancel them,” she murmured to herself. It would forestall another showdown with Abby.
At the same time, though, she wanted those rugs, needed to have her own way about something. She’d have to think about that.
Pulling into an open space on Main Street, she decided to take a walk along the water, maybe stop in someplace and have lunch, give herself—and Abby—time to cool down before she returned to the inn. Because even though she’d told Abby to get out, she had a hunch she’d find her sister still there and ready to have this out. Unlike her, Abby didn’t run from confrontations.
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