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“Abby, what do you really have to lose?”
Colin went on. “I don’t know for sure how this last week felt to you, but for me, it hurts like hell to feel like I’m on the outside of your life, looking in.”
“I’m just trying to – ”
“To protect yourself,” he finished before she could. “We have so much history, Abby. To ignore what we feel…it’s just impossible. I’m not asking you to go to bed with me – not until we’re both sure of our feelings.”
Abby hesitated.
“I’d be good to you, Abby,” Colin whispered. “Come on. Give us a chance.”
Abby focused on Colin as he watched his daughter. He wore the open, loving smile reserved for Jessie. And she had to wonder where she’d ever find a man more worthy of a second chance…
KATE WELSH
is a two-time winner of Romance Writers of America’s coveted Golden Heart Award and was a finalist for the RITA® Award in 1999. Kate lives in Havertown, Pennsylvania, with her husband of over thirty years. When not at work in her home office, creating stories and the characters that populate them, Kate fills her time in other creative outlets. There are few crafts she hasn’t tried at least once or a sewing project that hasn’t been a delicious temptation. Those ideas she can’t resist grace her home or those of friends and family.
As a child she often lost herself in creating make- believe worlds and happily-ever-after tales. Kate turned back to creating happy endings when her husband challenged her to write down the stories in her head. Her goal is to entertain her readers with wholesome stories of romantic love.
Kate Welsh
www.millsandboon.co.uk
Dedication
Daddy,
You lived your final days as I wrote this book, ever unselfish, always gracious. You showed me so much just by the way you lived your life. You are my first hero and some of you lives in every hero I create. You taught me what a man should be, how a husband should love, how a father should protect, teach and nurture. You showed me that a legacy happens only by a life well lived. You told everyone who visited in those last years that you were the happiest man in the world – and you meant it. You always told us if you stood on the top of a mountain and looked back at your life, at every fork in the road, you’d know you’d made the right choice. I don’t know if I’ll be able to say that at the end of my life, but I do know I started on my road from the best place anyone could – from your loving arms. You will be forever missed. There will never be another like you because the Lord broke the mould the day you were born. I will be forever grateful that you were here for me and with me for so long.
Tatter
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank everyone
at Sand Castle Winery, especially Joseph,
for their invaluable information and
lovely winery and vineyard. Without your vision,
mine would never have been born.
Chapter One
Colin McCarthy had returned to Hopetown, and Abby Hopewell’s world had tilted off its axis.
Life as she’d known it—as she’d carefully recreated it—had just ended in a flash of thunder and lightning.
He stood in Cliff Walk’s gleaming foyer, dripping on her carefully restored hardwood floors. Worse, he still looked every bit as gorgeous as the last time she’d seen him.
Same thick mane of mahogany-colored hair. Same stormy blue eyes. She still felt the same electricity just being in his presence, the overwhelming need to feel his arms around her.
She clenched a fist under her desk. He was still the same man who’d become her first and only lover, then turned into a coldhearted stranger within minutes.
“Abby,” Colin said, and stared, clearly as shocked to see her as she was to see him. For a moment, his expression was gentle and loving, then hot and hungry the way it had been that one time…but then his lips tightened, his jaw hardened. His eyes went glacial. “What’s an illustrious Hopewell doing working as a desk clerk in a backwater bed-and-breakfast?”
The change puzzled her now as much as it had then. She’d done nothing but admit to loving him. Nothing but give him all she was—all she had to give. He was the one who’d changed. Who’d hurt her.
Nevertheless, hearing the tone in his voice tore her heart in two all over again, reminding her of the most painful moments of her life.
She’d stepped out of Colin’s bedroom that long-ago night they’d made love, still feeling cherished yet prepared for a bit of awkwardness. That would have made sense. What she hadn’t been ready for was Colin’s harsh dismissal of her and the feelings she’d thought they shared.
Abby had spent years rehearsing for this moment but, by showing up on her doorstep out of the blue, he’d taken her by surprise. She reached inside herself, searching for the calm she desperately needed, clearing her senses of the longing he’d always made her feel.
She wasn’t less nervous but she was in control, her tone cool and collected. She said in her frostiest tone, “Cliff Walk is actually a very successful and highly acclaimed establishment. And since I happen to be part owner and manager here,” she went on, her voice managing somehow to chill even further, “I have the right to ask you to remove yourself from the premises. Good night.”
The Hopewells didn’t have the money they’d had before her father’s death and the subsequent lawsuit that had all but bankrupted his estate. But they were no longer so badly off financially that she had to put up with having someone so detestable under her roof.
She looked back down at the receipts she’d carefully sorted. They’d been stirred like leaves in a hurricane when Colin had opened the door. With an annoyed huff Abby began resorting her piles, pretending his presence was of little consequence. She hoped he didn’t notice the way her hands shook.
Then a small voice brightened the stormy night while making Abby’s heart ache. “Oh, Daddy! I was right. It is a palace. And you bringed me to meet Snow White!”
Abby looked up to see a tiny cherub about four years old clinging to Colin’s leg under his dripping slicker. Without warning, the child broke away and zipped across the foyer to the Victorian desk where Abby sat rooted to her chair.
The little girl wore an expression of complete and total awe. Like Abby, she had pitch-black shoulder- length hair, but hers looked as if it hadn’t seen a comb in a week. Unlike Abby, who’d often cursed her fair skin, the child had a soft olive complexion that happened to be smeared with some undeterminated food. She had big, deep brown, nearly-black eyes—the left sporting a genuine black eye. Right then they were wide and adoring as she stared at Abby. The child’s clothes were rumpled, spotted with raindrops and more suited to a boy than a girl.
She was adorable.
And had her father not turned out to be the scum of the earth, she might have been Abby’s child. The night of Abby’s high school graduation had caused her so much grief that nine years later she still loathed the entire month of June.
And, of course, Colin McCarthy.
“Do you live in this palace?” Colin’s daughter asked, still apparently confusing Abby with a fairy- tale character.
Colin advanced and put his hands protectively on the child’s shoulders. “The lady just runs this bed-and- breakfast, Jessie. She lives in a big fancy house by the river.”
“Actually, I do live here,” Abby told the child, only too happy to contradict her father. “That way if a guest needs me for something in the middle of the night, I’m available. The house your daddy was talking about is Hopewell Manor. It’s where I grew up and it’s about half a mile up the road from Torthúil. That makes us neighbors.”
The little cherub crossed her arms. “Daddy says Torhool,” she pronounced carefully, “is a Irish word. Right, Daddy?”
Colin nodded, still hovering.
Jessie McCarthy was simply darling. Abby fought a grin as a new pain stabbed her heart. If there was a child, there was a mother? A wife.
Abby glanced at the door, but no one had followed them inside. So where was she?
“Torthúil mean fruitful,” Jessie said, grabbing Abby’s attention again.
“And when it was a farm it certainly was fruitful,” Abby agreed. “I used to walk down the road to buy pints of strawberries from your grandparents. Blackberries, too. Sometimes I’d get a nice crisp apple or peach to eat on my way home.” Memories flowed from her tongue, and she hoped Colin hadn’t noticed. In those days catching even a glimpse of him had been half the reason for the long walks.
And she’d told him so that fateful June night.
“I don’t like it there,” Jessie declared. “It’s a creepy house. I want to stay here. Then I can be a princess, like you.”
“I’m not really a princess,” Abby protested.
“That’s not the way I remember it,” Colin muttered.
Abby glared at him. Honestly, you’d think she was the one who’d hurt him and not the other way around. Not only had he cruelly dismissed her after she’d given him her body—and her love—he’d cost Abby her friendship, with his sister, Tracy.
Colin’s parents must have found out about that night—they’d probably overheard him talking to his friend, Harley Bryant, lying about how she’d offered herself to him and he’d turned her down. Whatever had happened, his parents had forbidden Tracy to be in Abby’s company ever again. Losing her closest friend had been devastating enough, but the rift had also set Tracy on a downward spiral that had killed her within months. Colin hadn’t been able to come home for Tracy’s funeral and so had robbed Abby of the opportunity to tell him his sister’s death was his fault.
Abby wanted badly to tell Colin what she thought of him right then and there, but didn’t want to upset his sweet child. Besides, she was no longer sure she wanted him to know how much past events still haunted her. She didn’t want him to have the satisfaction.
Colin stooped down to eye level with Jessie. “Kitten, why don’t you go explore that room in there,” he said, pointing toward the parlor. “But don’t touch anything. Okay?”
“Okay,” she sang out as she went to explore.
Colin watched her go, then turned to Abby. “I didn’t know the house had fallen into such disrepair or I would have made other arrangements.”
She’d liked his father and felt it only right to acknowledge his passing. “Before you go further, I was sorry to hear about your father. He was a good man.”
He nodded. “I’m sorry for your loss, too. My father’s death is part of why I came back to take possession of Torthùil. But it’s not safe to stay there with Jessie. We could go into town but—” A loud clap of thunder and a bright flash of lightning lit up the foyer, Jessie shrieked in fear as she ran back to her father’s waiting arms. Colin scooped her up and held her tight. “It’s okay, Jess. I’ve got you.”
Abby stared at them for a long moment, remembering how it felt to be held in those arms in a very different type of embrace. Then Colin’s gaze returned to her and Abby snapped out of it, looking away.
As angry as she was, Abby couldn’t send a child back out into the storm. There were bed-and-breakfasts along the road leading to Hopetown, but her brother-in- law had already called to warn her how dangerous the road was tonight. The look in Colin’s eyes said he was well aware of the deteriorating conditions.
Abby sighed in defeat. “I wouldn’t send a dog out into this weather and certainly not a couple with a child. Is your wife in the car?”
Abby’s question took Colin by surprise. All his friends in L.A. and, of course, his family knew the story of his inconvenient marriage. He and Jessie had been on their own for so long that he’d forgotten most people would assume Jessie had a mother in her life.
“It’s just Jessie and me. We’re McCarthy and Daughter, right, partner?” he said and gave the child a short, affectionate squeeze.
Jessie, fright forgotten for the moment, pulled her head off his shoulder to kiss him on the cheek. Her smile stretched from ear to ear when she looked back at Abby and nodded vigorously. “Daddy and me am partners. We do everyfing togever.”
Abby stared for a long moment then nodded. “I have a room with twin beds.” She smiled at Jessie. “I don’t imagine Jessie wants to be far from her partner on a night like this.”
Colin frowned. “If you could show us to the room, I’ll get Jessie settled, then go back out to the truck for our things.”
“And leave her all alone in your room?” She shook her head. “Go now. I can keep an eye on her here.”
Colin hesitated. Even though Jessie was squirming to get down again so she could talk to “Snow,” he wasn’t sure he was comfortable leaving Abby with his child.
Abby sighed. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, she’ll be perfectly safe here with me.”
He thought about it then gave her a quick nod. “Fine. I won’t be more than a minute or two.” He set Jessie down and rushed back out into the deluge. As he reached the edge of the perfectly restored Victorian’s porch, the sky lit up once again. He blinked. In the distance he would swear he’d seen what looked like a Tuscan village. On the next flash, row after row of grapevines blinked into view before the dark of night returned to hide them.
What on earth had this place become?
A deafening clap of thunder reminded him of his mission. Without further delay, Colin ducked his head and ran out into the torrential rain. He jumped into the cab of the truck in an effort to stay just a bit drier while gathering up their things. He reached back and pulled the overnight luggage from the backseat then noticed Jessie’s toys and her precious stuffed dog abandoned on the floor. He grinned as he picked it up. Can’t leave you behind, Dog-dog.
Jessie had been just shy of eleven months old when one of his sisters sent the stuffed animal for Christmas. Jessie had seen it under the tree and said “Dog-dog”— her first words after “Da-da.” The toy had been her constant companion since. Colin didn’t know if that was because Angelina had walked out of their lives for good around the time the toy arrived. Because of her attachment to Dog-dog, Colin worried constantly that there was a void in Jessie’s life that he’d failed to fill.
He’d married Angelina when she’d learned she was pregnant. The condom had failed and she’d been bitter about her pregnancy and the disruption of her acting career. Luckily he’d been able to appeal to her strict Catholic upbringing to convince her to carry the baby to term.
Angelina had married him for legal and insurance purposes only. They’d never lived together as man and wife. She had visited Jess sporadically for nearly a year, but then she’d decided to cut all ties to them and return to her native Brazil where stardom and a television series awaited.
Jessie had been his and his alone from the day she’d gone home from the hospital with Colin, and they’d been inseparable since. He chuckled as he stuffed her other toys into his bag and thought back to the looks he’d gotten when he’d shown up on the construction site the next workday after he brought her home. He’d had Jessie and a young nanny in the pickup’s cab and had parked a dilapidated construction trailer out front where they’d spend their days. The trailer had looked pretty bad, but he’d renovated and sanitized the inside within an inch of its remaining lifespan and had turned it into a traveling nursery.
The guys had all stood staring at him as if he’d lost his mind, but he’d taken Jess and that trailer to every house he’d renovated or flipped since. It had been her home away from home until just last week. She really was his partner. And she had more than fifty honorary aunts and uncles from his crews.
But she’d never really had a mother.
Lightning struck again, reminding him that she did have a father and she was probably missing him. Tucking Dog-dog inside his raincoat, Colin gathered up the luggage—one old UCLA gym bag and one brandnew Snow White rolling suitcase.
Snow White, he thought with gritted teeth as he ran for the front porch again. He’d had the same reaction to Abby the first day he’d become aware of the little girl growing up on the property next to Torthúil. She’d been farther upstream with her family on a picnic. The current had caught her inner tube and carried her away from them. She’d been unconcerned and laughing happily when he’d fished her out of the river near Torthúil’s levee. And the resemblance to the fairy-tale princess had only strengthened as she’d grown.
She’d truly looked the part by the time she’d hit her teenage years. It was about then that he’d realized his affection for his sister’s friend had grown into something more. Much more. He’d known she was too young for him and had enlisted in the army as soon as he graduated high school that next summer, hoping to put distance between them.
But as predicted by an old saying of his mother’s, absence had really made his heart grow fonder or he’d never have weakened four years later when he’d come home for his sister Tracy’s graduation. It had been Abby’s graduation, too. He’d thought Abby was still as innocent as her fairy-tale alter ego that day. But he’d been wrong. She had turned into a seductress in his absence.
Colin entered the lobby and froze in place. Jessie sat on the step below Abby happily having her hair combed, which was nothing short of a miracle since that really meant having it untangled. It was one of the few bones of contention between them. She didn’t want it cut short, but she didn’t want the tangles combed out, either.
“When we get this done, we’ll braid it,” Abby told Jessie. “If you wear it to bed braided, it won’t tangle as much. A satin pillowcase usually helps, too. I’ll give your daddy one to put on your pillow tonight. And there’s a rinse in your bathroom to help keep it silky so it tangles less to begin with. There. Now we braid it,” she said, drawing out the syllables as her fingers flew through Jessie’s hair, deftly doing as she’d promised. In seconds she was tying off a smooth sleek braid that hung down his daughter’s back.
“And now it’s done,” Abby went on. “Okay, hair combed and braided, hands and face washed. Looks like all you have left is to get your pj’s on and brush your teeth, and have your bedtime snack!”
“I even get a snack?” Jessie said with dreamy wonder. “Are you sure this isn’t a palace? What kind of cookies you have?”
After his thoughts in the car, seeing Abigail Hopewell attending his child so lovingly nearly took him to his knees. Jessie’s own mother had never shown her the easy kind of affection Abby seemed to dole out so naturally. Then he remembered what she’d done to him and he realized he shouldn’t let her within a country mile of his child. If it weren’t for his worry for Jessie at Torthúil, he’d whisk her out of here so fast Abby would barely see his dust.
“Well, let’s see. I think Genevieve made shortbread. And we always have lots of milk, of course,” she was saying to Jessie.
“Jessie’s allergic to milk,” he growled.
Jessie frowned, clearly wondering what was wrong with him since she rarely heard that tone of voice. At the same time Abby’s gaze snapped from him to Jessie with alarm. “I’m so sorry, sweetie, I had no idea but it’s okay, I have soy milk, too. Do you like that?”
“Uh-huh. Can I have some, Daddy?”
It was small of him, but Jessie looked so hopeful about having a treat—and if he wasn’t wrong, some more time with Abby—that he felt left out. He was Jessie’s hero and he wanted it to stay that way. “Sure, partner,” he said as cheerfully as he could manage. “But there’s someone here who was pretty scared out in the car. I’ll bet she’d like to have some hugs from her person.” He pulled out her stuffed companion.
“Dog-dog!” Jessie shrieked and ran to him, warming Colin’s heart with her grateful smile.
Abby stood, too, her face blank. Her tone became chilly. “I’ll bring her snack to your room. If you wouldn’t mind finding it on your own, it’s at the top of the stairs to the left. Number Ten.” She handed him the key and when their hands brushed he felt the familiar traitorous surge of raw need rush through him, something he remembered from all those years ago. And unless Colin missed his guess when Abby’s eyes flew to his, she’d felt it, too.
Colin snatched his hand back and frowned. This wouldn’t do. He had reasons for returning and Abby had nothing to do with them. “We can find it on our own,” he assured her. And once there he’d bolt the door against all she was still able to make him feel. “About the snack, we wouldn’t want to put you out. Jessie doesn’t need one. I’m sure you aren’t in the habit of playing waitress.”
Abby arched one of her finely shaped eyebrows. Her emerald eyes had gone as hard as stone, telling him that though she felt the same attraction she once had she didn’t want feelings for him, either. “Actually, I often cater to my guests. It’s my job. And I love it. I’ll be up with Jessie’s snack in a few minutes. Oh, and there’s an en suite bathroom in your room so you won’t need to worry that Jessie will wander in the middle of the night.”
Colin watched her go, childishly tempted to stick his tongue out at her retreating back. He raked a hand through his hair. Dear God, he’d lost at least five hundred points off the maturity scale since walking in the front door. Why was he letting her do this to him?
Because she’s always done things to you. That’s what caused all the trouble in the first place. She’s never even needed to try.
“She isn’t Snow White, you know,” Jessie said, her voice full of awe. “But isn’t she won’erful?”
Colin could think of plenty of other words, but he tried to keep his tone calm for Jessie. “Let’s get you upstairs and ready for bed,” he all but growled.
And then he’d figure out a way to rid himself of the still-powerful attraction he apparently felt for Abby. Once and for all.
Chapter Two
Abby set the glass of vanilla-flavored soy milk and a plate of cookies on the tray, then added the crystal bud vase and the rose she’d picked earlier to save it from the approaching storm. She surveyed her work and nodded in approval. She wanted the evening to be special for Jessie since Torthúil had been such a disappointment to her. Besides, she thought every little girl should feel like a princess at least once in her life.
She smiled, remembering when she and her sisters were that age. All those magical bedtime rituals— snacks and stories, kisses and special toys. They always had their mother and Hannah Canton, their ever-faithful and affectionate housekeeper, fussing over them. Apparently Jessie had no one but a father who clearly didn’t even know how to avoid tangles in her hair.
With that thought fresh in her mind, Abby stopped as she passed the linen closet. She pulled down the satin pillowcase she’d mentioned and tucked it under her arm before moving like a rusted tin soldier toward the end of the hall.
She stood frozen at the door to Number Ten, afraid to face Colin again. What was the matter with her? This nervousness was a far cry from the righteous anger she wanted to feel. Should feel. In spite of what he’d done, this was attraction. Dangerous attraction. Her unwavering love for him hadn’t faded even after he’d rejected her so cruelly in front of his friend. Abby had held out hope that he’d arrive at Hopewell Manor to tell her he’d been trying to protect her reputation from Harley’s wagging tongue. But when she’d learned he’d left town ahead of schedule, Abby had buried her foolish, passionate dreams.