Book 8 Waiting for Love #8
Over the next few weeks, she throws herself into getting the store open in time for the start of the season.
She helps Maddie and Laura plan a baby shower for Janey and Joe and spends time with her parents, who have plenty to say about her new tattoo.
Her parents seem to recognize that Abby is going through a difficult time, and they refrain from asking about her plans.
They think she’s mourning her breakup with Cal, and she doesn’t bother to set them straight.
She gets a text from Adam. You said I couldn’t call, but you never said I couldn’t text.
I want you to know I miss you, and there isn’t any other way to tell you.
I hope you’re behaving and staying out of the bars.
Don’t you dare write back to me, do you hear?
If you do, that might mean we’re having some sort of long-distance relationship, and you don’t do those anymore, so I’ll say good night, sleep tight, and did I mention I miss you?
His text makes her laugh, cry and smile. She’s absolutely dying to write back. She wants to know everything that’s happened since the last time she saw him, but she doesn’t reply. She set the rules, and she has to stick with them or risk losing more than her heart this time.
After a few weeks, she finally asks Laura if she’s heard anything about whether Adam was able to regain control of his company.
Laura is surprised to hear they haven’t been in touch.
Adam got the company back, Laura says, and Abby is thrilled for him even though her heart is breaking at the thought of him staying in New York to run his business.
Adam continues to text her regularly, saying he’s thinking about her, dreaming about her and devastated not to be with her, and tells her not to write back unless she means never to stop writing back.
Now that she knows he plans to stay in the city, she simply can’t get any more involved with him than she already is.
He continues to text her, tempting her with his romantic words and detailed descriptions of the time they spent together. Her resolve is weakening.
Her new store opens to much fanfare. Everyone is happy to have Abby’s Attic back in business.
She helps out at Janey and Joe’s baby shower two Saturdays after the store opens and is amused that the guys are annoyed at having to attend.
Abby is shocked when Adam strolls into Mac’s house through the sliding door from the deck, wearing a sharp navy blue suit.
Slim has flown him over for the shower. Abby’s entire body feels like it’s on fire the second he trains his intense gaze on her.
She’s missed everything about him, the sound of his voice, the scent of his cologne, the brush of his whiskers against her cheek…
After Janey finishes opening her gifts, Adam asks Abby to go outside with him.
She’s annoyed with him for driving her crazy with the texts.
He made her want things she said she was done with.
He made her wish she hadn’t already been through the same thing twice before, so she could say to hell with it and do what she really wants to do.
He asks what she would’ve said if she’d written back.
She would’ve said she’s happy he got his company back.
Adam saw Sasha. She apologized and said she screwed up royally. He didn’t care about seeing her when he was so busy thinking about Abby all the time. She admits she thought about him all the time, too. She’s glad it worked out for him.
“It hasn’t worked out for me,” he says. “Not yet.”
He went back to regain control of the company that was rightfully his, but also to take care of the employees who made the company successful.
After he was restored as CEO, his first order of business was to recommend to the board that they entertain one of the many offers they had received when the shake-up hit the news.
It took a while to find the right buyer because Adam wanted them to retain his staff.
He sold the company and signed the papers earlier that day. That’s why he’s wearing a suit.
She can’t believe he sold the company. It’s not what he wants anymore. He wants other things now.
“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.
” He describes the fantasy she’d built around him.
“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 is sure she is dreaming. Is he really saying these things to her? Is he really in love with her? Is his life in New York really over, and is he home to stay?
“Say something, will you?” he says.
“I love you, too.”
A roar erupts from Mac and Maddie’s deck as they kiss, with everyone cheering them on.
The only reason Adam went back to New York was to get rid of the company so he could come home to her.
“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.
Your fantasy was so much better than any reality I’ve ever known, and when faced with running the company again or being here with you, it was a no-brainer.
It’s about time you finally got your happy ending, sweetheart. ”
“It’s about time you got yours, too,” she says.
“You’re my happy ending,” Adam says.
With everyone they know watching them, they’ve officially gone public.
Back at her house in town, she finds out he dropped his stuff there on the way to Mac’s house.
“You were taking an awful lot for granted, mister.”
“I was hopeful.”
He’s brought her a black leather jacket with matching pants and gloves.
If she wants to learn to ride a motorcycle, she needs protective gear.
He also brought her a sleek silver helmet.
That he understands her so well, better than anyone ever has, is the greatest gift.
He can’t wait to see her ass in those pants.
They make love, and it’s effortless for her, as if she were born to love this man and this man only.
She’s traveled a long and winding road to get to where she belongs.
It turns out the third time is really the charm.
With her heart and soul filled to overflowing with Adam’s love, she’s finally gotten it just right.