Seth’s evident astonishment pleased her. “I can’t be a hundred percent sure, but it looks that way.” She grinned at him. “Told you I knew what I was doing.”
He shook his head. “I can’t believe it.”
“Well, it’s possible we might need one more event in February,” she cautioned. “But I really doubt it.”
“And then our job will be done,” he said, holding her gaze.
Abby almost thought she heard regret in his voice. “I thought you’d be happier.”
“I’m thrilled about the boat,” he said at once.
“But?”
“I thought there’d be more to do.”
She finally thought she understood what was bothering him. “You do know that finishing up this project doesn’t have to mean the end of us spending time together,” she said carefully. “At least not if we don’t want it to. How much time have we really spent working together on the fund-raisers, anyway?”
He seemed taken aback that she was being so direct. “We agreed,” he began, but Abby cut him off.
“What we agreed was that we’d play it casual while we were working on the fund-raisers and see where things led.” She looked him in the eye. “I like where things have been leading. What about you?”
“I like where we are, too,” he admitted.
“Then is there some reason we need to quit spending time together just because the excuse Luke gave us has come to an end? Or are you worried that you’ll fall for whoever wins you in the auction?”
“Not likely,” he said, dismissing the possibility.
She held his gaze. “Of course, if we do keep seeing each other, we might be forced to admit that all these get-togethers of ours have actually been personal all along,” she said.
Seth looked momentarily startled, then chuckled. “I think that ship pretty much sailed a while back.”
A grin spread across Abby’s face at his acknowledgment of the truth. “I’m relieved you saw that, too.”
“There are still a lot of reasons we should probably be cautious,” he warned.
“Small-town gossip?” she suggested.
“And the fact that I have a lot of emotional baggage,” he admitted.
She laughed at that. “Don’t we all? Come on, Seth. Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. The one-day-at-a-time philosophy we adopted from the get-go can still apply. I’m not so ancient that I see time slipping away. I’m in no rush.”
He looked momentarily relieved by her words, but then an unsettled expression crossed his face.
“What?” she asked.
“Where do you see this going, Abby? All joking aside.”
“I haven’t asked myself that,” she claimed.
“To bed or down the aisle?” he pressed.
“Either. Both. I have no idea. What about you? Have you given the future any consideration?”
“The ending I see scares me to death,” he admitted.
“Why?”
He hesitated for a long time. “Because the last time I felt this way about anyone, it didn’t end well,” he revealed eventually.
“You broke up?”
He shook his head. “She was a nurse in a combat zone. She was killed by a suicide bomber.”
Shocked, Abby immediately reached for his hand. “Seth, I am so, so sorry. I can’t imagine the kind of pain that caused you.”
“That’s what I meant about baggage, Abby.” He held her gaze. “Can you understand why I might not want to risk ever feeling anything like that again? Falling in love is great. Being in love is fantastic. Having your heart ripped out? Not so much.”
She swallowed hard against the tide of dismay that washed over her, but nodded. There were a lot of complications for which there might be easy solutions. This wasn’t one of them. In fact, there might be no solution for this sort of fear at all and she understood now that it was at the root of all those other excuses he’d been throwing out there to keep distance between them.
* * *
Abby stayed awake most of the night debating whether she had any right at all to speak to Luke about what Seth had revealed to her earlier in the day. He knew Seth better than anyone. He would have some idea if Seth was ever likely to be capable of putting that tragic past behind him.
In the end she counted on her old friendship with Luke to get him to open up with her. Hadn’t he been the one to give her and Seth a shove toward each other by making them co-chairs of these fund-raising efforts? He owed her some answers.
It was late on a chilly, rainy morning when she stopped by the clinic. She was relieved to find the waiting room deserted.
“Is Dr. Stevens available?” she asked the receptionist.
“You’re Abby Miller, right?” the young woman asked, her expression guarded.
Abby nodded, wondering about the reaction. She studied the young woman, but though she looked vaguely familiar, Abby was certain they’d never crossed paths before.
“Is this a medical emergency of some kind?”
Abby shook her head. “No, it’s personal.”
The woman frowned at her response, but she pressed a button on the intercom and announced to Luke that Abby was waiting. There was an edge to her voice that made no sense to Abby.
The door to the treatment area opened almost at once and Luke waved her back, scowling at the receptionist as he did so. Abby watched the exchange with confusion.
“What did I miss out there?” she asked him.
“My regular receptionist is off sick today. That’s Hannah’s daughter, Kelsey. She clearly knows our history and her suspicions are on high alert.”
Abby was immediately filled with regret. “I am so sorry. I had no idea. I’m sure it didn’t help that I told her I was here for personal reasons.”
Luke frowned. “Probably not.” He sat down behind his desk. “So, what does bring you by?”
“Seth, as a matter of fact.” She gave Luke a rueful look. “He filled me in on what happened with his last girlfriend.”
“Then you know that Cara was killed,” Luke said. “What is it you’re trying to find out?”
“I’m asking you as his friend and mine, if you think that’s
