The Inn at Eagle Point (17 page)

*
* *

Trace followed Jess and Abby into the café, deliberately
keeping one hand on Abby's shoulder as he guided them toward the empty booth.
He wanted that weasel ex-husband of hers to know she had backup, in case he was
thinking about doing something stupid.
Of course, if Wes also got the idea there was something going on between Trace
and Abby, that was okay, too. Trace had no problem with publicly staking his
claim. If things had gone the way he'd wanted them to, Abby would have been his
years ago.
"Mommy!" Carrie shouted, scrambling from the booth and drawing Wes's
attention to the new arrivals. A scowl spread across his face as both of his
daughters immediately abandoned him.
Abby knelt down to hug Carrie and then Caitlyn, who'd followed on her heels.
"Good morning. Are you having a nice breakfast with your dad?" she
asked, giving Wes a pointed look.
"Yes," Caitlyn said. "Daddy said you didn't want breakfast, so
how come you're here?"
"I got hungry after all," Abby said.
Trace saw the struggle it took for her not to say more. Just then he felt a tug
on his hand and looked down into Carrie's upturned face. "Can we have our
ice cream now?" she pleaded.
He glanced toward the plates of half-eaten pancakes and bacon on their table.
"Looks to me like you didn't even finish your breakfasts. I think ice
cream will have to wait for another day."
"Tomorrow?" Carrie persisted.
He glanced at Abby, who gave him a nod. "Tomorrow it is," he
confirmed.
Wes rose up, his face clouded over with barely concealed anger. "Hold
on," he said. "Abby, we need to discuss this. I think it would be
best—"
"I'm not discussing this with you now," she said tightly. "There
are far more important things you and I need to work out. We'll do that when we
get back to the house."
Caitlyn and Carrie looked from one parent to another, clearly sensing the
sudden tension. Thankfully, Jess stepped in, sliding back out of the booth
they'd just claimed.
"Hey, girls, have you seen the cool coloring books down at Ethel's
Emporium? They have crabs and seahorses and all sorts of birds that you might
see around the bay. Maybe we can find one or two that you'd each like."
Caitlyn's eyes lit up. "Yes, please. Can we go with Aunt Jess,
Mommy?"
"Absolutely," Abby said, clearly relieved.
"I'll have them back in a few minutes, Wes, or they can wait and ride home
with us, if you don't want to hang around," Jess told him.
"I'll wait," he said tersely. He yanked a chair from a neighboring
table and sat at the end of their booth. Ignoring Trace, he asked Abby,
"What are you doing here? Did you deliberately follow me just to spoil my
morning with the girls?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Abby snapped. "When have I ever
deliberately tried to spoil your time with them?"
Wes looked shaken by her heated response. It was evident he didn't know what to
make of her mood. "Okay, it doesn't matter, but we do need to discuss them
coming back to New York with me today."
"It's not going to happen," she said flatly. "They're staying
right here with me. It's the first time they've visited Chesapeake Shores for
longer than a weekend, and I want them to take advantage of spending some real
quality time with their great-grandmother, Jess and Mick, when he gets back
from California."
"How long do you expect this family reunion to last?" he said.
"As long as it takes," she said, leveling a look straight at him.
Trace had to admire her gumption. She wasn't letting Wes bully her. At the same
time, though, he felt guilty knowing that he was the one who'd put her in this
position in the first place. If he hadn't insisted she stay here to help Jess,
she and Wes wouldn't be engaged in this tug-of-war over their daughters.
"Abby, maybe we can work something out," Trace said quietly, his gaze
on her.
Wes frowned. "You have no say in this," he said.
"Actually he does," Abby said. "It's okay, Trace. We made a
bargain and I intend to keep it."
"What bargain?" Wes demanded.
"That's none of your concern," Trace said. He turned to Abby.
"Are you sure?"
She nodded. "A hundred percent."
He leaned back, feeling more optimistic than he had in a very long time. Maybe
she was just rebelling against her ex-husband, but it was also possible that in
her own way, she was choosing him and the possibilities that had hung in the
air the night before. He'd have to wait to find out for sure which it was.
In the meantime, though, he had to admit that he was enjoying watching Abby get
under Wes's skin. The woman was no shrinking violet, that's for sure. If he
hadn't seen her outside a few minutes earlier, if she hadn't nearly collapsed
with relief in his arms, he would have thought her a hundred percent calm and
in control. That kind of strength in the face of her own fears was just one
more thing to add to the long list of reasons why he was falling in love with
her all over again.

13

T
o
Abby's surprise and relief, Jess had insisted on hitching a ride back to Gram's
with Wes and the girls. She glanced over at Trace, who was regarding the sour
expression on Wes's face with unmistakable amusement. When they were gone, he turned
to Abby.
"That must make you feel better."
She didn't pretend not to understand. "It does. He won't even think about
taking off with the girls with Jess watching his every move."
"Would you rather be doing that yourself?"
She shook her head. "No, I'm still so furious with him, it's best if we
don't spend too much time together until I cool down. With any luck, he'll have
left for New York by the time I get back to the house."
"I hope you're not counting on that," Trace said.
Abby sighed. "No, of course not. He wants to talk to me, so he's not going
anywhere until that happens." She poked her fork into the scrambled eggs
on her plate, eyed them with distaste and then pushed the plate aside.
"I'm not hungry."
"How about a waffle instead? With fresh strawberries?" Trace cajoled.
"They're in season, and that's the special this morning."
"I don't think so."
"Blueberry pancakes?"
She grinned at his persistence. "Are you trying to fatten me up?"
"No, just trying to make sure you have enough stamina for whatever fight
awaits you when you get home."
"Oh, believe me, I can work up a good head of steam without eggs, waffles
or pancakes," she said, jabbing her fork into her eggs and envisioning Wes
in their place. She met Trace's gaze. "When I thought he'd taken the girls
this morning, I really do think I could have strangled him with my bare
hands."
"Well, thankfully, it didn't come to that," Trace said, though he
seemed to find her display of temper reassuring. "Abby, I am sorry if all
my warnings yesterday added to your panic."
She waved off the apology. "No, you were right that I need to be alert. In
the past few days I've started to see Wes in a whole new light. It's not that
he's not the same man I married or that he's undergone some dramatic change. I
must have romanticized him during the years we were together, and now my
blinders are finally off. I don't believe he's a truly bad man. And I know he's
a good father, but…" Her voice trailed off.
"But what?" Trace prodded.
She tried to put her finger on why she was suddenly so distrustful of a man
she'd once loved and respected. It had a lot to do with the things Jess had
said about him, forcing her to see his passive-aggressive behavior for what it
was. It also had a lot to do with the way he'd been behaving since he'd found
out she was in Chesapeake Shores. It would be different if her taking the kids
out of state posed a genuine hardship in terms of his visiting rights, but that
wasn't actually the case. He reminded her of a spoiled kid who couldn't cope
with not getting his own way even for a minute. It wasn't an attractive
quality. Had he always been so inflexible and incapable of bending? Or, as
Trace suspected, did he have some kind of plan where the girls were concerned,
a plan she'd inadvertently given him the perfect excuse to implement?
"He scares me a little," she admitted finally, then shook her head at
the absurdity of it. "That sounds ridiculous when I say it aloud."
Trace didn't look as if he thought it was ridiculous, and that scared her even
more. "You're not disagreeing with me," she said with a frown.
"Because I can't. Look, I don't even know the man, so I'm probably not
being at all fair. I certainly have my own agenda where he's concerned."
"Agenda?"
"In my twisted logic, he took you away from me." He held up a hand
before she could speak. "I know that's not precisely what happened, but it
feels like that. So, bottom line, I don't like him. Still, I like to think I'm
a pretty good judge of people, and that I'm capable of viewing them with an
unbiased perspective, even under circumstances like these."
"And?"
"Something feels off to me," he said. "I can't put my finger on
it, but first thing tomorrow I'm going to do a little digging. You'd be
surprised how much I can discover under the guise of doing a routine credit
check on a bank's prospective loan customer."
"You're going to investigate him?" Abby asked incredulously, feeling
a little queasy at the thought of it. "I don't know, Trace, that seems
extreme." And Wes would be outraged if he ever found out.
"I'm not going to hire a private investigator," he soothed.
"I'll just look into a few things. It probably won't turn up anything, and
then we can both rest easier."
"I suppose that makes sense," she said reluctantly. It felt a little
underhanded and sleazy. Still, this was the father of her girls, a man who
wanted to take them away from her, if not for good, then at least for several
weeks. She owed it to them, if not herself, to make sure there was nothing
going on in Wes's life that might put them in danger. Not that she could
imagine him allowing the girls to be in any kind of physical danger, but what
if he was about to start legal proceedings to gain full custody? The battle
would traumatize them. She had to know if that was even a remote possibility.
She stood up abruptly. "I need to go home."
To her relief, Trace didn't argue. He stood up at once, put money on the table
for the bill and tip, then followed her outside.
"You feeling okay to drive? I can take you and have Jess or someone give
me a ride back later."
"I'll be fine. The drive will clear my head," she assured him.
"Thanks for not making me out to be a nut this morning when I freaked
out."
"You could never be a nut," he said, brushing her hair away from her cheeks
and tucking it behind her ears. He grinned. "Of course, even if you were a
little flaky, I'd still be crazy about you."
He pressed a quick kiss to her lips, then said, "Call me if you need me
for anything, okay?"
She couldn't seem to stop herself from testing him. "You'll pick up a
bottle of milk and bring it to the house?" she teased, feeling a bit more
lighthearted.
He regarded her with amusement. "No problem."
"Feminine hygiene products?"
He blanched. "I can do that," he said firmly.
"A hug?"
A smile spread slowly across his face. "That would be my pleasure."
She reached up and touched his unshaven cheek, liking the way the sandpapery
texture felt against her fingers. It was a testament to the fact that he'd
rushed right out the second she'd asked for his help this morning. She felt
somehow reassured that he always would.
"Thank you," she said softly.
"For?"
"Being around when I needed you."
"You didn't really need me. You had it all under control. I was just
backup."
She stood on tiptoe and kissed him. "It's been a while since I've had
backup, Trace." A long time, in fact, since she'd felt the need for it.
"It feels good."
"Anytime, darlin'. Anytime."
His words were lightly spoken, but she knew with everything in her that she
could trust them. That she could trust him. It made going back to the house to
face down Wes a thousand times easier.

*
* *

When Abby walked around the house, she found Wes sitting
alone on the porch. There was no sign of the girls, Jess or Gram. She eyed him warily.
"Where is everyone?"
"They've gone for a walk on the beach," he said.
"You didn't want to go along?"
He shook his head. "No, I wanted to wait for you. We need to talk."
Bracing herself, Abby perched on the edge of an Adirondack chair. "What's on
your mind?"
"I want the girls back in New York with me," he said flatly.
She gave him an incredulous look. "Is there some reason you think I might
have changed my mind in the past hour? The answer's still no," she said.
"This chance to spend time here might have come about unexpectedly, but
it's good for them. I won't let you deny them the opportunity to get to know
their extended family. Once we're back in New York, they can stay with you
longer, if you want them to."
"How am I supposed to see them in the meantime, Abby?" he demanded,
trying to stare her down. "You're here for God knows how long. Does that
mean I won't even get my regular visits with them? Or am I supposed to turn my
life upside down to fly to Maryland every other weekend? You know that's
unreasonable."
"Not for you, but never mind, I can be flexible," she said, then made
an impulsive decision. "Which is why I'll bring them up to New York in two
weeks. They can stay with you for four days, while I deal with a few things at
the office, then I'll bring them back here."
"And after that?"
"Hopefully it won't be much longer before we're all back in New York and
this will no longer be an issue, but if it comes to that, I'll bring them up
again. You'll have your time with them, Wes. I'm never going to try to keep
them from you."
He still didn't look satisfied. "What about school? They're missing school
now. If they stayed with me, they could finish out the school year."
"They're in kindergarten, not going for an advanced degree in physics,"
she said impatiently. "Missing the last couple of weeks of school is not
that big a deal. I called the school before I came down here to let them know
they'd be out for a couple of days, then spoke to their teacher again as soon
as I knew we'd be here for an extended visit. Gram and I are reading with them
every day. They were already ahead of everyone else with counting and even with
some basic math." She met his gaze. "Any other issues?"
His expression remained disgruntled. "I don't like this, Abby. I don't
like it at all."
"Yes, I gathered that. What I don't understand is why. You've gone two
weeks, sometimes longer, without seeing them when you're off on a business trip
or a vacation. Why is it such a big deal that they're down here with me
now?"
"At least I don't flaunt my relationships in front of them," he said
sourly.
Abby very nearly laughed, but she could see that he was perfectly serious.
"I'm not having a relationship with Trace," she said emphatically.
"I don't know how many different ways I can say that."
"Don't bother, because I wouldn't believe you, anyway. There's something
between you." His gaze narrowed. "I'm guessing there always has been.
He was the other man all along, wasn't he, Abby? I always knew there was
someone you hadn't gotten out of your system."
"You're being absurd," she snapped.
He regarded her evenly. "Am I?"
She faltered then, wondering if it was possible that somehow she'd held
something back from Wes. Was it possible she'd never gotten over Trace after
all? Or was this just another of Wes's attempts to make her feel inadequate, as
if she were in the wrong yet again?
"Look, Trace and I were young when we were together," she said
candidly. "It was over by the time you and I met. I hadn't seen him in
years until we both turned up back here a few weeks ago."
"You expect me to believe that? He lives in New York, Abby. Are you trying
to tell me you haven't seen him even once up there?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying, because it's the truth. I didn't even
know he'd been living in New York until the other day. That's how out of touch
we've been." She shook her head. "Why are we even having this
conversation? Whom I date is none of your business. We're divorced. And up
until now, I thought we'd been handling that really well for the sake of the
girls."
She leveled a look into his eyes. "Don't start stirring up all sorts of
ugliness now, Wes. I've never brought up the women in your life since we
divorced, but I do know all about them because the twins have mentioned a whole
long list of Daddy's
friends.
Don't try telling me you don't flaunt your
relationships in front of them, because I know better."
He turned pale at that. "You make it sound as if I'm trotting a whole
parade of women in and out of their lives. It's not like that, especially
lately. Actually, there's just one woman."
"Really? You're getting serious about her?" She waited for even a
tiny twinge of jealousy to strike, but there was nothing.
He nodded, then said, "You should probably know that it's Gabrielle."
Abby knew at once exactly whom he meant. "Gabrielle Mitchell? From the
bond department at
my
company?" So much for Wes's supposed
objections to Abby's long hours. Gabrielle's career was equally demanding. No,
that objection had no doubt been voiced merely to let Wes take the position of
aggrieved husband.
He nodded again, a guilty flush in his cheeks. "I've asked her to marry
me."
She could have called him on it, asked exactly how long the affair had been
going on right under her nose, but she was determined to take the high road.
"Congratulations! Does she get along well with Carrie and Caitlyn?"
"She adores them," he said, a smile lighting up his face. "You
should see her with them. It's as if they're her own children."
Abby frowned at that. "As long as she remembers that I'm their
mother," she warned quietly.
"Well, of course, Gabrielle wouldn't step over that line. I'm just saying
that you don't have a thing to worry about when they're with her. I won't be
bringing some evil stepmother into their lives."
"Good to know," she said wryly. "And just so you know, Trace
wouldn't be any kind of evil stepdad, either. Not that he's going to be in
their lives permanently."
"Okay then," he said. "I guess we understand each other."
"I hope so."
"And you'll bring them up in two weeks?"
"I said I would."
He regarded her with satisfaction. "That's good then. I'll go inside and
finish packing. As soon as they're back, I'll say goodbye and head for the
airport to catch my flight back to New York."
He was almost to the front door when he turned back. "One last bit of
advice, Abby. Don't let Jess drag you into her drama, whatever it is. You know
in the end it'll backfire on you."
"You have no idea what you're talking about," she said stiffly.
"Actually I do. I've watched your sister take advantage of you time and
time again. At some point you have to stop trying to make up for the fact that
Megan left. Your mother needs to make that right, not you."
Abby felt the truth of his words, but hearing him point it out grated. Taking
care of Jess was an obligation she'd assigned herself the minute their mother
had taken off. Bree had been too young herself to care about a devastated
younger sister, and Connor and Kevin had been totally self-absorbed teenagers.
None of them had noticed that Jess was floundering. Mick was gone, so that left
Abby and Gram to deal with all of Jess's struggles in school and her heartache
at being left behind by her mother.
"You've made your opinion known more than once," she told Wes.
"Your lack of understanding and compassion don't speak well of you, so
perhaps you should keep your opinion to yourself from now on, at least around
me and my family."
He looked as if he might say more, but then he simply shook his head and went
inside. Only when he was gone did Abby realize she'd been holding her breath.
She released it slowly.
Wes had been right about one thing—it was past time for her mother and Jess to
make peace. Maybe they would never be close, but at least if Jess understood
why Megan had left them, perhaps she could forgive her mother and move on.
The opening of the inn might be the perfect occasion, Abby concluded. There
would be so much to do that Jess wouldn't be able to fret too much over her
mother's presence. And the show of support from Megan might start the healing
process. Abby vowed to make a call to New York later on this afternoon.
Of course, there was the very strong possibility that Mick would be furious
with her for bringing Megan to town for a family occasion, but he'd just have
to get over it. In fact, it was about time those two started communicating
again, as well. Heck, if she really started dreaming, she could envision her
parents patching things up, too.
Abby knew in her heart that neither of her parents had really wanted the
divorce. She'd been old enough to understand exactly what was going on. Her
mother had said a few things, expressing her displeasure over the amount of
time Mick was away. Her father had reacted heatedly, accusing Megan of not
appreciating the importance of his work. The next thing anyone knew Megan had
called a lawyer. Once the wheels for the divorce had been set in motion,
neither had been willing to stop the process. It was evidence of the O'Brien
pride at its very worst.
And she was going to thrust herself into the middle of that, Abby thought
wryly. Maybe she was the glutton for punishment that Wes had said she was.