by Phoebe Mills
Hilde chuckled softly as she lifted a single brow. “Well, my dear, I certainly wasn’t the one who put that baby in you…I merely said it was so.”
“Wait,” Gia cut in, her hands outstretched as if to pause time, her voice slightly higher pitched than usual, piquing Ollie’s interest. “Hilde predicted this?”
When Hilde only offered a shrug in response, Norah said, “I’m not sure if predicted is the right word. You know how she is. When I was trying to offload our old baby clothes, she mentioned I shouldn’t get rid of them just yet.”
Gia spun on Hilde, her eyes narrowed. “Hold on…You told me I should rethink setting up my paint studio in our extra bedroom because we might need it for something else. Is this what you meant?”
“Eh.” Hilde waved a hand through the air as if brushing aside Gia’s concern. “Whoever really knows what I mean?” Then she stood and strolled out of the room without a backward glance, rocking the baby she held as she went.
With her mouth agape, Gia turned back to them. “Do you think…I mean, why would she…Does that mean—”
“Whoa, sister, calm down.” Savannah rested her hands on Gia’s shoulders, smoothing them back and forth in a calming gesture. “Hilde makes comments like that all the time. I wouldn’t get too worked up about it.”
Savannah glanced in Abby’s direction, their eyes connecting over Gia’s head, both silently saying the same thing. It seemed like their little trio was about to become a foursome.
* * *
A couple days later, after dropping Sofia off at the Sunshine Corner and narrowly avoiding another encounter with Abby, Carter made his way to his friend Marco Alvarez’s office. It wasn’t that he was avoiding Abby so much as…intentionally staggering Sofia’s drop-off and pickup times to when history had proven that Abby would be busy with other things.
So yeah, okay, maybe he was avoiding her.
But, hell, a man could only take so much. And the upcoming dinner tomorrow was about all he could handle for one week. It was bad enough to run into Abby while out and about in public. Public was good. Safe. He wasn’t going to forget himself and kiss her breathless when there were dozens of townsfolk to bear witness. But in the place he was calling home for several more weeks? When he’d bet his collection of Montblanc pens that Becca would make some excuse to run off, thus leaving him and Abby alone? He wasn’t so sure he could trust himself to be on his best behavior then.
Not when he’d been dreaming about Abby nonstop since he’d been home. And his subconscious showed no signs of stopping anytime soon, the bastard.
He cut off that line of thinking as he strode up the front walk to Alvarez Architecture, not needing to greet one of his oldest friends while fantasizing about Abby. The bell over the front door chimed as he pulled it open and stepped inside the quaint space.
Instead of being set in a commercial building, Alvarez Architecture had made its home in an older Craftsman just a block east of downtown. Historic restoration wasn’t their specialty, but they’d done a fantastic job renovating this space to showcase the talents they could offer their clients. And if there were things Carter would’ve done differently…well, he’d keep that to himself. He knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth, and today, that gift horse was Marco and his scanner.
“Be right out!” Marco yelled from down the hall just as the phone rang, and Carter could barely make out the grumbled cursing of his friend before he answered the call.
A sign propped up on the front reception desk read Be right back, and the office chair behind it sat empty with nothing but a white cardigan draped over the back, the workspace scattered with stacks of project folders.
This section of the home had obviously, at one time, been the living room, but they’d done well reworking it into the receiving area of the business. They’d opened it up without sacrificing the character found in homes from the early 1900s, the pale blue wall color making the built-ins pop. Two archways led to different areas of the business, though it’d been too long since Carter had been here to remember where they went.
Through one of those arches came a frazzled-looking man, his black hair askew. His sleeves were rolled up, showcasing bronze forearms, his tie loosened and dress shirt already unbuttoned at the top despite it being barely noon.
“What can I—Oh, hey, man!” Marco extended his hand before pulling Carter into a back-slapping hug. “How the hell are you?”
Carter grinned at his friend’s exuberance and returned the embrace. “I’m doing okay. How about you? It’s been a while.”
“No shit. And I can’t complain.” Marco leaned back against the reception desk and crossed his arms over his chest. “Sorry we haven’t been able to get together since you’ve been back. Things are crazy around here.” No more had the words left his mouth than the phone rang again, and this time Carter could make out each and every one of the swear words Marco mumbled. He held up a finger before walking around the reception desk. “One sec.”
As Marco snatched up the phone to take the call, Carter made himself busy, walking around the space and taking in the before and after photos of previous jobs they had framed on the walls. Marco’s family’s business did a wide range of projects—or they had, anyway. Last the two of them had talked, it was just Marco and his brother trying to hold down the shop after their dad had retired the year before, thus minimizing the jobs they’d been able to take on.
“Sorry about that.” Marco hung up and gestured for Carter to follow him down the hall. “Come on back. You can fill me in on everything while you use me for my equipment.” He glanced back at Carter, a smirk on his face. “Not the first time I’ve been used in that way. Gia can attest to that.”
Carter snorted but followed, shaking his head. “As much as I’m sure your wife is thrilled with your equipment,” Carter said dryly, “it’s not anything I want to discuss, so let’s leave that out of all convos between us.”
Marco laughed outright, boisterous and contagious—the same as it’d been back in high school—and Carter found his own lips lifting at the sound. “Well, if you want any tips, you know where to find me.”
Yeah, Carter wasn’t touching that one with a ten-foot pole.
“I appreciate you letting me borrow this,” Carter said as he scanned in the drawings he’d created for the Redmond project. He still needed to organize them into a presentation in InDesign with labels and arranged imagery this week before his video chat with the client on Monday, but this, at least, was one item off his to do list.
“No problem. What’s mine is yours.” Marco leaned back in his chair, his hands folded across his stomach as he swiveled from side to side. “Could quite literally be yours if you’d finally take me up on my offer.”
Carter laughed, shaking his head. Ever since the two of them had graduated college, Marco had been trying to lure Carter back home, dangling a job at Alvarez Architecture in front of his nose as bait. Reminding him that he wouldn’t have even looked into this career if it hadn’t been for Marco’s family’s business piquing his interest. Unfortunately for Marco, Carter’s endgame wasn’t working for another firm—family owned or not. Also unfortunately for Marco, his family’s firm was located in the one place in the world Carter never wanted to permanently return to.
“When are you going to let up on that?”
“When you finally come and work with me.” Marco lifted a hand as if to encompass the entire house. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re drowning over here.”
“I did notice, actually. Where is everyone?”
“If by everyone you mean Carlos and Dotty, they’re out. My brother’s on a job site all day, and our lovely receptionist is at lunch—also known as visiting her grandkids. If she’s back before three, I’ll eat my tie. We’ve got so many projects, we’re going to be busy for the next two years even without taking on another soul.”
“Sounds to me like you need to hire some more people.”
Just then the phone rang, and Ma
rco hung his head, swearing under his breath. Before picking up the receiver, he said, “What the hell do you think I’ve been trying to do? Pay attention, man.”
Carter breathed out a laugh and turned back to the scanner. He couldn’t lie and say he wouldn’t have a blast working with one of his oldest and closest friends. They’d been inseparable as teens, and though they’d gone their separate ways after high school, they’d stayed in touch as best they could over the years. But as fun as it would be—not to mention how perfect considering their skill sets complemented each other—it wasn’t what Carter had dreamed of. Wasn’t what he’d been working his ass off for the entirety of his career. He wanted a firm of his own. Something with his name on it. Something he could call his and his alone.
Something that would prove to his dad once and for all that he’d amounted to something.
Besides that, he was in Heart’s Hope Bay only as long as Becca and Sofia needed him, and then he was gone. Back to his life in Vegas where he was working steadily toward his dreams, where he didn’t run into his ex-girlfriend every day, and where things in his life actually made sense.
Chapter Six
Abby couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this nervous, and she’d been out on dozens of first dates over the past several years. She knew her nerves were ridiculous and one hundred percent unwarranted. But that didn’t stop the butterflies from fluttering around in her stomach as if they were in a hurry to get somewhere important and were already late.
After pulling up to the curb in front of Becca’s cute Cape Cod for their dinner, Abby put her car in park, gripped the steering wheel, and took three deep, calming breaths, slowly blowing out each exhalation.
“You’re being ridiculous,” she muttered to her empty car. “He didn’t ask you over. This isn’t a date. This is barely a hangout. Chill out.”
All of those things might’ve been true, but with as often as she and Carter had been running into each other since he’d been home, she couldn’t help but be hit over the head with what-could’ve-beens day in and day out.
How different could her life have been if he’d come back to Heart’s Hope Bay after college? If they’d stayed together through the distance? If anyone could’ve made it work, it was them.
She tried to pretend it didn’t, but the fact that he hadn’t even wanted to try to keep their relationship intact through college still ate at her.
A sharp knock at the driver’s side window startled a scream out of her, and she snapped her head in that direction only to find an amused-looking Carter peering in. Because of course. Think of the annoyingly perfect ex-boyfriend, and he shall appear…Hoping he hadn’t borne witness to her not-so-silent pep talk, she pressed the button to roll down her window.
“Hi.” She smiled up at him, ignoring the chiseled cut of his scruffy jaw and how his piercing green eyes managed to get under her skin every time she was in his presence. Okay, so she tried to ignore those things. Trouble was, Carter and all his attributes were pretty damn hard to ignore.
“Hey,” he said, resting his forearms on her open window. He cocked his head and studied her, his eyes raking over every part of her he could see like an actual caress. Clearing his throat, he lifted his gaze to meet hers. “You about ready to come in, or did you still have more to discuss with yourself?”
Abby could feel the blush creeping up her neck, her embarrassment sure to flood her face at any moment. So she did the only thing she could think of—she scowled at him. Fortunately, red cheeks on her meant any number of things, including irritation and anger. And, okay, arousal, too, but she wasn’t going there.
“A gentleman wouldn’t have pointed that out, you jerk.”
He grinned, just one side of his mouth tipping up, before stepping back and opening the door for her. “Never was very good at being one around you, was I?”
Flashes of heated memories they’d shared whipped through her mind before she shut them down. Not. Going. There. Not tonight, and not with him.
She busied herself with gathering her things, slinging her purse over her shoulder and grabbing the salad and bottle of wine she’d brought. “I don’t know if I’d go that far. But you’ve definitely gotten worse.”
She stepped out of her car, not realizing until it was too late just how close Carter was. His scent wafted over her—how was it possible that he still smelled the same and yet deliciously different?—as they stood near enough that his breath fanned over her parted lips, making her hungry for something more than just dinner.
The puffs of air he expelled in the chilly February evening drew her eyes to his mouth. It had always been a work of art—his lips soft and full without being pouty. The perpetual cast of scruff on his jaw, however, was altogether new. New and intriguing and daydream-inducing. But who could blame her for wondering what it’d feel like against her own lips…her neck…her—
“I better make up for my ungentlemanly behavior where I can, then,” he said, pulling her out of her head. Without a word, he grabbed the salad and wine from her hands, stepped back as if she hadn’t nearly face-planted straight into his mouth, and led them toward the house.
With his back turned, she shook her head of the thoughts that had no business invading her mind and gave herself a—this time silent—pep talk to tone it down a notch or twelve.
She caught up with him as he stepped onto the driveway along the side of the house, keeping pace with him. “Thanks for carrying those.”
“No problem. Thanks for bringing them.”
“Of course. What were you doing out here anyway? Besides spying on me.”
He shot her a quick grin, the curve of his lips gone so fast she might’ve imagined it, and lifted a reusable bag. “Last-minute grocery store run. Apparently spaghetti isn’t spaghetti without garlic bread, and I should’ve read Becca’s mind that she wanted that, too, when I picked up the groceries this week.”
Abby blew out a laugh and shook her head. “I see living together is going great for you guys.”
Carter shrugged. “It’s actually not that bad. Better than I’d been anticipating. We haven’t spent this much time together since we both still lived at home, so I was a little worried. But it hasn’t been awful.”
“I heard that!” Becca called as Carter opened the back door.
He met Abby’s stare and rolled his eyes, gesturing for her to enter ahead of him. “I wasn’t whispering, so, yeah, I imagine so. Plus, I said it wasn’t awful. I already spilled everything really bad out by Abby’s car.”
“I will kick you out on the street,” Becca said without any heat, gliding toward them on her crutches. “Don’t think I won’t.”
“Yeah, we’ll see how long that lasts. Good luck,” he said with a snort.
While Abby watched the verbal volley between the two siblings—which seemed to be as easy as breathing, Carter managing to unload his arms and hang up both their coats without missing a beat—she found herself smiling, a deep happiness and…yearning settling in her chest. They were giving each other grief, yes—had always as long as she’d been in their lives—but there was an undeniable affection between them, even in their teasing.
When Carter and Becca put down their verbal swords long enough for her to cut in, she said, “Well, even though the circumstances could’ve been better, I’m glad you guys have had this time together.”
Even Abby could hear the wistfulness in her tone, and if the look Carter and Becca shot her was any indication, they did, too. She couldn’t help it, though. She’d longed for a big family—or, hell, even a medium-sized one—for as long as she could remember, and she hadn’t kept that desire a secret. Definitely not one she’d kept from Carter.
Instead of the large family she’d craved, it’d been just her and her grandma most of her life. She hadn’t even known her dad, and yeah, her mom had been present, but not present. And that had only solidified more as soon as Abby had turned eighteen and her mom had moved across the country to Florida. Being a teen mom, she�
��d harbored resentment toward Abby that she hadn’t tried very hard to hide. Or at all, really. So, growing up, Abby had spent as much time as possible with her grandmother. With no siblings…no aunts, uncles, or cousins…no one else around but the two of them, was it any wonder she’d been called an old soul?
“Yeah, me too,” Carter said. “We’re lucky to have each other, even if I want to strangle her some days. And I’m glad I was able to get approval to work remotely so she didn’t have to rely on our father to help her through.” Gone was the lighthearted tone he’d used with his sister, and in its place was one that spoke of frustration and a whole lot of repressed—or maybe not so repressed—anger.
Abby didn’t know what to do with the jarring change or the sudden tension in the room, so she filled the silence with small talk. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen him in town. How’s he doing?”
“Wouldn’t know,” Carter said at the same time Becca replied with, “He’s okay.”
Abby split a look between them, then focused her attention on Carter. “You haven’t seen him since you’ve been back?”
“Nope,” he said with zero remorse. “Don’t plan to, either. I already know exactly how little he thinks of me. I don’t need a refresher.”
“Carter…” Becca said, her tone a mix of warning and placation.
“Why don’t you guys catch up in the living room?” he said, turning his back to them to unpack the grocery bag he’d brought in. “I’ll finish up in here and call when it’s ready.”
Abby stepped toward him, ready to help. “Oh, I can—”
Carter cut her off. “Nope, I got this.”
“Come on.” Becca tugged on Abby’s sleeve and tipped her head toward the living room. “And grab that bottle of wine, will you? Maybe a couple glasses if you want some, too.”
Abby chuckled, sparing Carter a quick glance as Becca left the room. His head was down as he stared intently at the pot of water on the stove, too much focus for what the task called for. She figured he needed some time to himself, so she did as Becca asked, grabbing the open bottle of wine sitting on the counter and two glasses from the under-counter rack, and followed her.