Sadly, with A.J. present, it wasn’t going to be tonight.
9
Abby felt a little guilty as she watched the emotions playing across Seth’s face. She’d been using A.J. as a shield, knowing that she could taunt Seth about his confusing behavior without any risk that he’d call her on it. She discovered it was fun rattling him so easily.
Just when she thought he might take off, though, he stepped onto the porch and settled into the chair beside her, an odd expression on his face.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling your bluff,” he said, a smile tugging at his lips.
“What?” she said, suddenly nervous.
“A.J. won’t be here forever.” He glanced at his watch. “Lesley Ann should be picking him up anytime now.”
“And then what?”
He grinned. “I guess we’ll see.”
Her pulse took a hop, skip and jump. “Seth,” she said, but the protest died on her lips as his grin spread. “What?”
“Just trying to see how brave you really are,” he said. “Now who’s all talk?”
She stared at him for a heartbeat, then chuckled. “We really are a pair, aren’t we?”
“Mind telling me why you decided to get into this tonight?”
“Because you’re here, because you confuse me and I don’t like being confused,” she admitted.
“You prefer being in control,” he guessed.
She nodded readily. “Always, but especially these days.”
“Why especially now?”
“Because for way too long I ceded control over much of my life to my husband. I want to reclaim what I lost.”
“Then this thing with us is going to get interesting,” he said. “I’m pretty unmanageable, or so I’m told.”
“There you go again,” she said in frustration.
“What?”
“Talking as if it’s a foregone conclusion that there will be something between us,” she said. “Your actions don’t go along with your words.”
“Because I keeping having second thoughts, then third thoughts,” he said. “Much as it pains me to admit it, I’m probably every bit as confused about this as you are.”
“Then maybe you should get back to me once you’ve decided whether you want to pursue this or not,” she said.
He seemed amused by her exasperation. “You really, really don’t like uncertainty, do you? Or letting someone else have the upper hand. I guess that’s understandable given what you’ve told me about your marriage.”
Abby scowled at him. “You certainly don’t have the upper hand,” she protested, not even attempting to keep a hint of indignation from her voice.
“I think I do,” he countered.
“Now you really are being arrogant.”
“Okay, how about we make a deal?” he suggested. “We’ll work on this fish fry thing and the whole fund-raising effort, hang out together with no pressure, and see what happens. The way I hear it, really solid relationships are always founded on friendship. We could give that a try.”
Abby fought to hide her disappointment. Agreeing to that really would give him the upper hand. He’d be setting the pace, if not predetermining the outcome.
“That’s what you want, just to hang out?” she pressed, hoping he’d see the disadvantages to that. “Be friends?”
“Yep, no games. No expectations.” He grinned. “No more talk of sex.”
“So, you’re not talking friends with benefits?”
“Afraid not. We’ll be buddies. Pals.”
She frowned at him. “And you can do that?”
“I guess we’ll see.”
To Abby’s frustration, what he was proposing made sense, even if it did sound incredibly boring. “If that’s what you want,” she agreed, though she had a hunch it was going to be impossible. In fact, she couldn’t help wondering which one of them would be the first to break the rules.
* * *
Seth sat in the back of the meeting room listening to Abby make her presentation about Blue Heron Cove to the town council. He couldn’t help being impressed with how prepared she was, how passionate her arguments were. He didn’t doubt for a second that she’d convince the council to give her everything she wanted.
When the discussion ensued, though, it was evident that the project still had its detractors, including the mayor. Sandra Whittier clearly didn’t want Seaview Key to grow, even in the modest way that Abby was proposing. Two other members of the council backed her. With a three-three tie among the members present, there was no way to move forward, only to stall a final vote until next month’s meeting.
Seth could read the disappointment in Abby’s face. He waited at the back of the room until the crowd dispersed, then went to join her. She seemed to be fighting tears.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I know you were counting on this going your way tonight.”
She looked up at him. “I don’t know why I was so surprised,” she admitted. “Sandra’s never been reticent about her anti-growth view. This is such a modest proposal, though. I was sure she’d see that it’s a responsible way to improve the economy out here. And the other two votes to delay? I didn’t see those coming, either. How did I misjudge things so badly?”
Jack Ferguson joined them then. “Those two follow Sandra’s lead,” he said disparagingly. “They haven’t had an independent thought in ten years. I should have warned you.”
“What am I going to do to convince them?” Abby asked in frustration. “I’ve already laid out all of my best arguments in favor of this.”
“Come on back to the restaurant and have a drink on me,” Jack suggested. “We’ll talk about it.”
Seth nodded, ignoring Abby’s obvious reluctance. “Come on. You’ll feel better once you have a plan. This is a setback, not the end of the road.”
She gave him a grateful look, then nodded. “Okay, lead the way.”
She gathered up all of her papers, but Seth took them from her. “Let’s put these in your car, then walk to The Fish Tale. The fresh air will clear your head.” He glanced at Jack. “We’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Jack nodded. “I’ll have the drinks ready for you. Beer okay?”
“Sure,” Abby said.
“Works for me,” Seth agreed.
Once they’d deposited all of Abby’s presentation materials in the car, he reached for her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.
