Abby sat at the kitchen table and watched closely as Jenny showed her what to do. “And wait until the cookies are cool before you start,” she warned. “Hannah’s too impatient.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Abby said dutifully.
As Jenny went back to putting another batch of cookies into the oven, she glanced at Abby. “I don’t imagine you showed up just to help out.”
“No, this is just an unexpected bonus for me,” Abby told her, then explained about the call she’d had. “Troy’s the best possible contractor for building these houses and I’m about to lose him. Is he right? Has the December meeting been canceled?”
Jenny and Hannah exchanged a look that told the story.
“It has been,” Abby guessed, sighing. “You warned me about possible delays.”
“I tried to,” Jenny agreed.
“The December meeting is almost always called off,” Hannah added, backing up Jenny’s earlier warning. “Everybody’s too busy to be bothered, and usually there’s nothing urgent on the agenda.”
“Well, Blue Heron Cove is urgent,” Abby protested.
“To you, not to Sandra,” Jenny said. “I imagine the official notice will be in the local paper when it comes out this week.”
“What am I supposed to do now?” Abby asked, trying not to give in to defeat. “Just wait till January? Is there any chance at all I could make sure this meeting happens on schedule?”
“Not unless you’re willing to risk having the vote not turn out in your favor. You don’t have enough people on your side yet,” Jenny said realistically. “My advice is to be patient.”
“I don’t see that you have any choice,” Hannah agreed. “Welcome to small-town life.”
“And if I lose my contractor?”
“Even if he takes another job, he’ll be free eventually, won’t he?” Jenny asked.
“Or you could find somebody else,” Hannah suggested. “He’s not the only contractor in the whole state of Florida, after all.”
“But he is the one who came to me highly recommended because he’s willing to work around environmental issues in a responsible way.” She shook her head. “Blast it! I just hadn’t counted on this.”
She looked at the other two women. “Am I beating my head against a brick wall if I keep fighting for this project? Tell me the truth.”
“Absolutely not!” Jenny insisted. “This is too important to Seaview Key for you to give up now.”
“She’s right,” Hannah said. “I think you’ll pull it off. You just have to be patient.”
“Do you recall that being among my virtues?” Abby asked in frustration.
Hannah chuckled. “Not exactly. Maybe this will be good practice for you.”
Abby sighed. Between this delay and Seth’s reluctance to get involved with her in a meaningful way, it seemed her patience was getting a real workout.
* * *
When Abby got back to her cottage, she threw a couple of pillows across the living room, but that did nothing to relieve the frustration she was feeling. She thought of the one remaining project that needed to be completed—the master bathroom. She’d intended to leave that renovation to a professional, but suddenly the idea of ripping out tiles and maybe even smashing up the old tub with a sledgehammer held a tremendous amount of appeal. She was pretty sure she’d seen one in the toolshed out back.
An hour later, she’d made a pretty impressive mess out of the bathroom and was feeling marginally better. Her muscles ached, her back hurt and perspiration was coating her skin. Still, she looked around at the debris with satisfaction.
“Taking out your frustration on the bathroom?” a voice inquired from behind her.
Abby turned to find Seth, a grin spreading across his face.
“You don’t want to mess with me in the mood I’m in,” she warned.
“Certainly not with that sledgehammer in your hands,” he agreed. “Can you take a break?”
She sighed. “I’m more than ready for one, to tell you the truth.” She set aside the heavy tool, took one last look at the mess and followed Seth into the kitchen. He immediately headed for the refrigerator and poured two glasses of iced tea.
“I assume this was brought on by your conversation with Jenny and Hannah earlier,” he said. “They told me about the possibility you could lose the services of the contractor you wanted.”
“I’m still not reconciled to that,” she said. “But I haven’t come up with a single way to get him to postpone making a decision to move on. I promised I’d get back to him before the end of the day tomorrow.”
“So, no chance of stalling for a little more time?”
She shook her head. “He was adamant. And I can’t blame him. He wants his guys on the job, not waiting around, especially with Christmas around the corner. They need to know they’ll be working and will have money to pay the holiday bills.”
“Okay, let’s think about this,” Seth suggested. “But let’s do it on the porch, where there’s a breeze.”
Abby joined him outside. She dropped into a rocker and sighed. She had to admit, it felt awfully good to be off her feet.
To her surprise, rather than sitting, Seth moved behind her and put his hands on her bare shoulders and began to massage the taut muscles there. She closed her eyes and sighed.
“Keep doing that and I will follow you anywhere,” she murmured, barely containing a moan of pure pleasure.
“Not going anywhere, but good to know,” he said, laughing. “I’m beginning to figure out all the paths that lead to your heart.”
His words caused a hitch in her breath. As a man who’d declared that they had no long-term future, he had to stop saying things like that. It left her hopeful, which was exactly opposite of what he’d claimed to want—a relationship with no expectations.
“Let’s focus on how you can make your contractor change his mind,” Seth said after several blissful minutes of his deft hands working out the kinks in her shoulders.
“If I’m being honest, I’m not sure it’s fair for me to even try,” Abby admitted. “I can’t guarantee that this project will ever happen.”
“It’s
