“So the conversation sent you right back to that ominous place in which all relationships end in disasters of one sort or another,” she guessed.
He shrugged. “Something like that. Add in a depressing conversation with Laura’s ex-husband, and I’m in a foul mood. What about you? You’re not looking all that cheery this morning, either.”
“Troy called. He’s got an offer that trumps mine, a project that’s ready to move forward right after the first of the year and is too alluring to pass up. He says he regrets having to bail on me, but it doesn’t make sense to turn this offer down when there’s been no progress with Blue Heron Cove.”
Seth frowned. “I thought he gave you time to try to get that January council vote to go in your favor.”
“He promised to try,” she said. “I can’t blame him, though. If this opportunity were just some ordinary house or even a cookie-cutter housing development, I think he would wait. Apparently, though, it’s Blue Heron Cove on steroids, not just a half dozen homes the way I’m planning, but a couple of dozen on acre lots with every environmental precaution to be taken. The houses will be loaded with energy-saving everything, plus a ton of custom carpentry.”
“So, it’ll be as green as Blue Heron Cove, but bigger,” Seth concluded.
She nodded. “How can I blame him for choosing a sure thing that’s exactly the kind of project he loves? It’s not as if I could sign him to a binding contract at this point. We just had an agreement to work together if Blue Heron Cove happens. And because this other project is so big, it’ll keep him tied up way too long for me to wait around until he’s free.”
Seth couldn’t miss how the news had deflated her. “I’m sorry, Abby. I know you were counting on him. So, what now?” He held his breath, half expecting her to announce she’d be throwing in the towel.
“I keep fighting to get the approval I need from the council,” she said with surprising determination. “And, in the meantime, I look for another possible contractor. Troy had some suggestions. Of course, the truth is, no matter how good they are, they won’t be as good as he is.”
She met Seth’s gaze, her expression knowing. “You were expecting me to give up, weren’t you?”
“I was afraid you might.”
“Not in my nature,” she told him. “Not without a fight. Let that be a lesson to you, Seth. I won’t walk away from you without giving it my all, either.”
He smiled at the fierce declaration. “Good to know.” Especially when he’d spent the past couple of days filled with all these renewed doubts. If she could hang in there and ignore the odds against them, how could he possibly do any less?
* * *
To distract herself from Troy’s defection and from Seth’s uncertainties, Abby decided to plan a Christmas party. It had been a long time since she’d had a chance to throw a holiday event for herself. In recent years she’d organized dozens of private parties at the restaurant and a dozen or more in the church’s parish hall for the congregation, but Marshall had always said the Christmas season was too demanding to open their home to guests.
She wrote out a guest list and a menu, then called Seth.
“I need you,” she announced when he answered.
“Really?” he said, a smile in his voice. “Should I even ask about the hint of desperation I hear in your voice or should I just rush right over there?”
“No need to rush. I’ll meet you at the Christmas tree lot,” she said.
“Ah,” he said, not even trying to hide his disappointment. “It’s my brute strength you’re after.”
“Yes, but your charming company is quite a bonus.” She paused, then asked, “You are back to your charming self, right?”
“Mostly,” he told her. “And I’ll try to keep your priorities in mind while I nurse my wounded ego,” he said. “How soon do you need me and my muscles over there?”
“Fifteen minutes,” she suggested. “Will that work?”
“Sure. Shall I borrow Luke’s truck?”
“Probably a good idea.”
Abby drove her car to the tree lot, as well, even though it was within walking distance. For what she had in mind, she had a hunch they’d need the pickup and her trunk.
Walker Smith greeted her as she walked onto the lot. “Heard you were back in town,” he said. “I can still remember you coming here with your folks when you were just a girl. You always wanted the biggest tree on the lot.”
She laughed. “I still do,” she told the man who’d always borne a striking resemblance to Santa Claus with his white beard and oversize belly. Not that Walker exploited that. He determinedly refused to wear so much as a red hat, much less the rest of the costume. Today he was wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt with a startlingly bright pattern of pink hibiscus blooms.
Abby drew in a deep breath, loving the aroma of pine and Fraser fir that evoked Christmas in a way nothing else could. “It smells so wonderful I could stay right here all day,” she told him.
“Just got a delivery of fresh trees this morning,” Walker said. “There’s plenty of holly, too.”
“What about garlands? Or do I need to buy greens and make my own?”
“My wife’s been making garlands from the branches we’ve trimmed,” he told her and gestured toward a display. He gave her a wink. “And there’s plenty of mistletoe, too.”
Seth arrived just in time to overhear that. “Point me toward the mistletoe,” he said.
Walker shook his head, his expression sorrowful. “Now, I took you for a man who wouldn’t need help stealing a kiss from time to time. You’ve disappointed me.”
Abby laughed. “Next he’ll be telling you he’s shy,” she said. “Don’t believe him.”
Seth grinned at her. “Okay, fill me in.
