Chapter 18
Abby dashed across the street to the Sand & Surf a little after seven.
Inside Stephanie’s Bistro, she spotted the table full of women across the big dining room and headed over to join them, relieved that Janey had saved a seat for her.
She was the one Abby knew best and felt most comfortable with.
Since she planned to stay put on the island from now on, she was looking forward to getting to know the other women better.
In addition to Janey, the group consisted of Maddie, Tiffany, Sydney, Grace and Laura, as well as a blonde woman Abby hadn’t met before.
“Do you know everyone?” Janey asked after greeting Abby with a hug and kiss.
“Almost everyone,” Abby said glancing at the blonde.
“Jenny, I don’t think you’ve met my friend Abby Callahan. Abby, Jenny Wilks, our esteemed lighthouse keeper. We’ve got her to thank for organizing this girls’ night out.”
“Nice to meet you,” Abby said as she shook Jenny’s hand across the table. “Any excuse for a night out with the girls is fine by me.” When the waitress approached the table, Abby ordered a glass of chardonnay. She was eager to see if she liked it better than the pinot grigio.
“It’s nice to meet you, too, Abby. I’ve heard great things about the store you used to have.”
“She’s opening a new store right here in the Surf,” Laura said proudly.
“That’s great,” Maddie said. “Thomas misses the Attic something awful. Will the new store be like the old one?”
“Laura and I are still working out the details.”
“I told you to do whatever you want with the space,” Laura said.
“In that case,” Abby said, “it’ll be Abby’s Attic at The Surf, only a little smaller than its predecessor.”
“I love that!” Laura said.
“Thomas won’t care if it’s smaller, as long as there’re toys,” Maddie.
“I’ll be sure to consult with him before I place the order,” Abby said.
“So there was a method to my madness in organizing a girls’ night,” Jenny said, “and I’m afraid if I don’t put it out there right away, I’ll chicken out. And I promised myself I wouldn’t chicken out.”
Jenny had the full attention of every woman at the table.
“What is it, Jenny?” Sydney asked. “Is everything all right?”
“Everything is better,” Jenny said tentatively. To Abby, she said, “I lost my fiancé in the World Trade Center on 9-11.”
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry.” Abby felt like she’d been punched. And she thought she had problems?
“Thank you. It was a long time ago, but I’ve been kind of… stuck ever since. Then I came here last year, met some lovely new friends and began a wonderful new chapter in my life. And now… This is the part I don’t want to chicken out of, so don’t let me, okay?”
“You got it,” Grace said. “We’re all behind you one hundred percent.”
Sydney slipped an arm around Jenny’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze.
“I’m counting on that,” Jenny continued as she leaned into Syd’s embrace, “because I’ve decided I might be ready to date again.
I’m not looking for anything serious, but I’m getting tired of my own company and…
And, well, that’s it. If you all know of anyone who might be fun to go out with, keep me in mind. ”
Laura whipped out a notebook and pen.
“Hold on a minute…” Jenny said, gazing at the notebook with trepidation.
“We’ve been waiting a long time for this moment,” Sydney said. “If you think we won’t take this job seriously, you don’t know us at all.”
Jenny moaned and dropped her head into her hands as the others laughed at her dismay.
“How about Mason, the fire chief?” Tiffany asked. “He’s very cute if you like the big, burly type.”
“Excellent,” Laura said, making a note. “Who knows him well enough to feel him up?”
Maddie choked on a mouthful of wine. “I think you mean feel him out.”
“What did I say?” Laura asked.
They spoke as one, loudly, “Feel him up.”
Their hysterical laughter had heads turning in the dining room.
“Pipe down, you guys, or Stephanie will have us tossed out of here,” Janey said.
“Where is she anyway?” Grace asked. “I thought we’d see her if we came here.”
“Apparently,” Maddie said, “Grant had a really rough day. I…I don’t think it’s my place to say what happened.”
“Is he okay?” Janey asked the question that Abby was dying to ask, but she didn’t dare.
“He will be. Eventually. Stephanie is with him.”
Abby wanted to know more about what’d happened, but the question couldn’t come from her. Maybe Adam would know. She’d have to think of some way to ask him without seeming too interested in Grant.
“So who knows Mason?”
“Blaine does,” Tiffany said. “He’s also friends with the Coast Guard officer who runs the Gansett Island installation. Linc Mercier.”
“Putting him on the list,” Laura said.
“You really think Blaine will be willing to play matchmaker on behalf of someone he barely knows?” Jenny asked.
Tiffany smiled sweetly. “He’ll do it if I ask him to.”
Maddie let out a low whistle that inspired cat calling among the other women.
Tiffany’s smile only widened. “What can I say? I’ve got the power.”
“And she knows how to use it,” Maddie added.
“You said it, sis.”
“What about your brother, Laura?” Sydney said. “He’s not seeing anyone, is he?”
Laura chewed on the end of her pen. “No, but I’m not sure he wants to. I’ll feel that situation out myself. Let’s put him in the maybe column.”
“We’re all relieved that you’re not planning to feel up your own brother,” Janey said.
“Har-har,” Laura replied. “Speaking of brothers, how about yours?”
“Which one?”
“The single one.”
“Adam? Hmm.” Janey seemed to think it over while Abby held back the urge to tell them he wasn’t available. He was hers.
The instant she had the thought, she wanted to hit rewind and un-have it.
He wasn’t hers. They were hanging out, having fun.
It would be foolish of her to put her eggs in his basket when things were so unsettled for both of them.
He lived and worked in New York. While his business might be lost to him, all his contacts were there.
Even though she knew his departure was probably inevitable, the thought of him leaving filled her with irrational sadness.
Laura looked directly at Abby. “I heard Adam might be seeing someone.”
Abby squirmed as all eyes landed on her.
Janey’s mouth dropped open. “Shut. The. Front. Door. You and Adam?”
“Maybe. A little.”
“Oh my God! You said I might know the guy you’ve been seeing, but you never said it was my brother!”
“I’m sorry.” The other women hung on her every word. “We’ve spent some time together. It’s no big deal, so don’t make it into one.”
“So you’d be okay if we fixed him up with Jenny then, right?” Laura asked with a conniving smile.
“Well, um…”
“Don’t answer that, Abby,” Jenny said. “He’s all yours.”
“He’s not mine. I never said he was.”
“Mac said he’s going back to the city,” Maddie said. “Something to do with his business.”
Maddie’s words struck Abby like a punch to the belly.
She’d been living a fantasy with him, picturing a life on the island with her running the shop and him working as the island’s resident computer guru, solving everyone’s problems. All along he’d been planning to go back to the city, while she’d been putting down new roots that she couldn’t pull up a third time. Not even for him.
She’d come back to the island determined to move forward with her life, and that was what she was going to do.
The interlude with Adam was never meant to be more than just that—an interlude.
If she was determined to learn from her past mistakes, she needed to keep in mind that there was a world of difference between a pleasurable fling and a bona fide relationship.
“We’ll strike Adam from the list for now since he seems to be otherwise occupied,” Laura said. “Tiffany and I have our assignments. The rest of you keep your eyes open for other possibilities.”
“What about David?” Janey said of her ex-fiancé.
“I hear he might be seeing someone, too,” Maddie said with a mysterious smile.
“Who?” Janey asked.
“My friend Daisy from the hotel.”
“That’s an odd pairing,” Tiffany said.
“Why?” Maddie asked, instantly on the defensive. “Because he’s a doctor and she’s a hotel maid?”
“I wasn’t even thinking of their professions,” Tiffany said.
“How did you find out they were seeing each other?” Grace asked.
“Daisy is babysitting for us tonight,” Maddie said. “She asked if it was okay to have a friend over after the kids go to bed. I told her she’s not fifteen. Of course it’s fine. Then I had to know who…”
“Naturally,” Tiffany said with a grin for her sister.
“She told me she and David have gotten to know each other since the latest episode with her nasty ex-boyfriend. Apparently, they came here for dinner last night, so they’ve gone public.”
“I really like the idea of them together,” Janey said. “She’s so sweet and kind. He needs someone like that.”
“I just hope…” Maddie shook her head, seeming to think twice about what she’d planned to say.
“What do you hope?” Janey asked.
“That he doesn’t do to her what he did to you,” Maddie said softly. “I don’t think she’s as strong as you are.”
“I can’t say for sure,” Janey said, “but if I had to guess, I’d bet he’s learned his lesson about fidelity. He’s not a bad guy. He made a mistake.” She shrugged. “Who among us hasn’t?”
“You’re awfully forgiving,” Tiffany said.
“What’s the point of holding a grudge? I’m happy with Joe, and what happened with David is ancient history. Besides, if David hadn’t done what he did, I never would’ve ended up with Joe, and that would’ve been truly tragic.”
“You won’t hear me say a bad word about him after he saved my daughter’s life,” Maddie said. “Mac and I are eternally grateful to him.”
“We all are,” Janey said.
“So first there was a Mac and Maddie, then a Joe and Janey and now a David and Daisy,” Tiffany said. “How cute are we?”
Very cute, Abby thought, not mentioning the possibility of an Adam and Abby.
“So I have some news,” Grace said with a big smile.
All eyes turned to her.