Resisting Her Rival (14 page)

Chapter Seventeen

Close to midnight, Nick surveyed his handiwork. He’d lead Abby to the building first thing tomorrow and show her what he’d done. She’d be thrilled. He could hardly wait to see the happiness on her beautiful face. More than anything in his life, he wanted a future with Abby, and he was willing to chance getting hurt again. Funny how love could change a man.

He drove home, drained but satisfied. Once he walked inside his home, he looked around. He imagined sharing it with Abby. Making love with her. Raising a family.

He went over to the small dorm-sized refrigerator he’d been using until his new one was delivered and took out a beer. From the open window, he could hear the water from the lake lapping against the dock. He’d take Abby out on the boat, maybe when he asked her to marry him, which he planned to do after he surprised her.

Or should his proposal be at a fancy restaurant? He wanted to do it the right way. The where didn’t matter to him as long as she said yes, but he wanted it to be special for her.

Carrying his beer, he walked out onto the porch and settled against the wall where he had a good view of the lake. He was finally home. A sound down the road made him lean forward a second before he saw headlights.

He stood at the same time the car came to a stop. The door thrust open, and a figure stepped out. Before he could guess who it was, he heard Abby’s voice.

“Hey.” He walked down the stairs to greet her.

“I was right. You are a cheat and a liar. You couldn’t even wait to change the locks.”

He smiled. “You mean the building?”

“You think this is funny?”

“No, Abby.” He started to explain but then decided that seeing it for herself would be all the explanation she’d need. “Let me show you something. I’ve had a couple of beers so if you don’t mind driving?”

Without a word, she got back into the driver’s side of the rental, and he climbed into the passenger side. On the ride to town, she didn’t say anything. He wasn’t surprised. Word had probably gotten back to her that he’d bought the building, and she’d assumed the worst about him. He didn’t mind that. Assuming the worst was how she protected herself. Eventually, she’d see that she didn’t have to protect herself because the whole damn world would have to go through him before he’d let another soul hurt her.

“Stop at the diner,” he instructed.

“Back at the scene of the crime?” she said as she parked.

Nick got out. “This way.” He waited until she was beside him at the door of the building. “I know that we’ll have to switch out the door. I understand that you prefer a glass one to this old wooden one, but I’d planned to replace that last to keep the surprise until then.”

With that, he stuck the key in the lock and gave the door a push. He waited for her walk in and heard her gasp the second he switched on the lights.

“Nick, what have you done?”

His smile faltered. She didn’t sound happy. More like shocked and not in a good way. “I did this for you.” When she didn’t respond, he hurried behind the counter and pulled out a manila envelope. “Since I wanted it to be a surprise, I had to put everything in my name for the contract with Oscar. But I had Eric draw up the paperwork adding you as a joint owner.” He spread the paperwork out and pushed it forward. “All it needs is your signature.”

Still, she didn’t speak. She put her hand over her mouth, and her eyes swam with unshed tears.

Feeling desperate and unsure why, Nick said, “I left the space at the back unfinished. I can have my office there, and it’ll be closed off from the portion you use as the diner.”

When the silence continued, Nick said, “Abby, say something.”

She lowered her hand, and with her voice cracking, she said, “What do you want from me?”

“What do I…” He swallowed. “I want you to love me back.”

Her tears spilled over.

“I want a future with us. I want to marry you and—” He stopped when she took a step back. Then another.

“Abby, don’t. Don’t do this.”

“I
can’t
. I’m sorry.”

She took another step back until she was at the door.

“Abby!”

The door swung open and she was gone.

…

Abby drove to her house, scarcely able to see through the tears. The diner…all that hard work he’d put into it. The old-fashioned jukebox she’d wanted, he’d found. The splashy red tiles…the little touches like the pictures of cars from the 50s that she’d mentioned getting around to adding someday, he’d gone ahead and made them happen. Like what mattered to her mattered to him. Why did he have to go and do something so nice? Why did he have to be so handsome, so sexy, so
everything
?

She parked the car in the garage and walked into the house from the side door. To her surprise, her granddaddy was sitting up at the kitchen table. He got up and without a word crossed the floor to envelop her into a hug.

“What’s wrong, Abby?”

“It’s Nick.” She poured the story out and then leaned away to look up at Noah’s weathered face. “So you see, this is for the best.”

“Oh, I agree.”

“You do?” Abby was surprised.

“Absolutely. Why, anyone can see how happy you are right now with the decision you made. Here.” He pulled out a kitchen chair. “Sit.”

When Abby sat, Noah resumed his seat. “What a ratty, selfish thing of Nick to do, buying that building.”

“No, it wasn’t like that. He bought it, and then he worked so hard. You should see the red tiles. They were hard to find, and I was a few boxes short. I don’t know where he found the extras, but he did. He fixed that. He fixed the diner just like I wanted it for the expansion. Just like I dreamed. I’d written it all out.” Abby pressed a hand to her quivering lips. “For once I wasn’t practical when I wrote out what I wanted for the diner. I let myself dream that I could have anything. I didn’t think it would come true, but Nick, he did that.”

“Oh, I see.” Noah rubbed his chin. “Well, with him being the owner, he could yank it away from you at any time.”

“No, he had Eric draw up paperwork making us joint owners.”

“Of course. He must have asked you for a ton of money.”

Abby frowned. “He didn’t ask me for a dime. When I asked what he wanted, he said he wanted me to love him back.”

“What a terrible thing for a man to say. You’ve had a very lucky escape.”

“Oh my God.” Abby slapped a hand to her forehead. “I’ve been so foolish. Nick, he loves me. He really does love me. All those things, he’s always been kind, loving, he’s sexy and—”

“You can stop there,” Noah said drily.

Feeling as if a veil had been torn from her eyes, Abby said with shock and wonder, “I love him. I’m in love with Nick, but I’ve been so afraid.” He’d come clean to her when they were at the inn, and what had she done? What she always did. Close herself off.

“So what are you going to do?” Noah asked.

“I’m going to make this right. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before. That damn building doesn’t matter a bit. It won’t make me happy, it certainly won’t keep me warm in bed, and—” Her eyes widened. “Oh my God. I hurt him. I was so… I’ve got to go.” She jumped up and ran around the table to kiss Noah’s forehead. “Thanks for the advice.”

“Any time.”

She started for the door, then stopped. “What if I hurt him too badly and he doesn’t want anything to do with me? What if he decided… No.” She shook her head. “He’s worth the risk.”

Darting from the kitchen, she ran up the stairs to her room and grabbed her iPod, then ran back down. “Okay, I’m good. Get some sleep.”

She started the rental car and backed from the driveway. She’d always had such a high IQ. How could she have been so stupid when it came to Nick? The past hurts had blinded her, and she’d retreated. But in retreating, she’d almost messed up the best relationship of her life. She hoped it was an almost and that it wasn’t already too late. It couldn’t be too late.

…

What the hell is that noise?
Nick rose on one elbow in his sleeping bag. Outside the living room window of the lake house, he could see headlights. Music. Recognizing the words from the song Abby had sung to him at the bar on the Fourth of July, Nick opened the window and stuck his head out.

Abby was on top of the car, the music blaring from within it as she lip-synced the words. As soon as she saw him, she stopped and silenced the music.

“Abby, what are you doing? What do you want?” His mouth went dry.
Please, let her say it’s me she wants.

“I want,” she started in a soft voice and then said louder, stronger, “I want you to love me back.”

The hope he’d thought he’d never feel again sprang to life. “I’ll be right out.” He slammed the window and without taking the time to pull his pants on, ran out of the house and down the steps. By the time he reached the car, Abby had climbed down and waited beside it. His heart pounded . He wanted to reach for her, to draw her close to him, but the hope was too new, too fragile to risk doing so.

“I’m sorry, Nick. I don’t care about that stupid building.” She laughed and looked up at the night sky. Throwing her hands wide, she said, “Can you believe that? I don’t care. I know I sound crazy or drunk, but I promise I’m not. Maybe drunk on love and that all sounds so lame, so inept to describe how I feel about you, but it’s true. I love you. And”—she took a deep breath—“I think we should be together.”

He crossed his arms and sighed. “You show up at my house in the middle of the night, disturb the peace, and tell me you want to be with me.” He shook his head. “I don’t think you’re being sincere.”

Her mouth dropped open. “I am, of course I am,” she sputtered.

He looked around her. “I don’t see any cows.”

She blinked for a second and then started laughing before she launched herself into his arms and started kissing him. “I love you, Nick. I love you so very much.”

“I love you, too, Abby.” He swept her up into his arms and headed for the house. “Welcome home.”

Inside the house, he lowered her slowly to her feet. Pushing the hair away from her eyes, he kissed her gently and said, “You know what this means, don’t you?”

“What?”

“I win the bet.”

Abby laughed. “Actually, we both win.”

Epilogue

On a crisp afternoon in late September, Abby slipped her wedding dress over her head and turned so that Ann could do up the buttons. When she finished, Abby turned around.

“I can’t believe you’re getting married,” Amelia said. “It’s so wonderful.”

“I can’t believe I’m the last holdout,” Ann said.

“You and Eric are next,” Abby said.

“I don’t think so. He even brought someone else to the wedding. Which means they had to drive to the bed and breakfast together.” Ann sighed and looked around. “Beautiful place for a wedding, though.”

“I know. This is where Nick and I stayed when my car broke down.”

“Convenient,” Amelia said.

Abby laughed. “Feels like a lifetime ago.”

“And now you’re ready for a new lifetime to begin,” Amelia said.

“Stop with the Hallmark moment before we all start bawling and ruin our makeup.” Ann crossed the room and picked up one of the small bouquets she and Amelia would carry as the bridesmaids.

“We’ll see you outside,” Amelia added and picked up her own flowers.

When they left, a soft knock sounded on the door, and Noah stepped in, looking dashing in his black tuxedo. “Ah, Abby. You make an amazing bride, but I sure am going to miss you at the house.”

“Look at the bright side. You’ll be able to meddle and matchmake unimpeded now.”

“That’s true, and Ann’s going to need a lot of meddling.”

Abby took her grandfather’s arm. “I’m sure she’ll enjoy that.”

Noah patted her arm. “Let’s get you off my hands.”

Smiling, Abby allowed Noah to lead her from the small room into the large backyard of the bed and breakfast. Flowers and tiny, twinkling lights dangled from the trees. Each of the rows of chairs was decorated with white ribbons. But Abby saw none of that. She only had eyes for Nick.

When she reached his side, he took her hand in his, giving her a reassuring smile.

After the minister pronounced them married, Nick and Abby shared their first kiss as husband and wife. When they pulled apart, cheers erupted from their friends and family. Eunice, leaning on Noah’s arm, made her way slowly to Nick’s side. Raising her hand, she patted the side of his face. “You’re a good man, Nick, and I’m so happy for you.”

As soon as Eunice finished hugging Nick, Abby hugged the older woman. “I’m so glad he’s found you.”

Noah shook Nick’s hand, hugged Abby, and said in a low voice, “So you think Ann really does like Eric?”

“You never give up, Granddaddy.”

“Nope. I believe in love.”

As soon as Noah walked away, Nick pulled Abby into his arms and said, “I’m a believer, too. I’m going to love you forever.”

“And I’m going to love you back. I’ll show you all the ways as soon as our guests leave.”

“That’s it. I’m telling them the celebration’s over.”

Abby laughed. “There’s no rush.”

“I guess that depends on which side of the shower you’re on.”

Abby gave him a lingering kiss and rested her head on his shoulder as they danced. It was funny how things had turned out. She’d thought Nick was stealing her building, but instead, he’d stolen her heart. She knew without any doubts that it would always be safe with him.

…

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Acknowledgements

Alycia Tornetta—fantastic editor. You are a rock star.

Entangled team—those of you behind the scenes that work so hard on every book. Thank you!

Alison Bliss—thanks for all the street team advice and the sweet friendship.