Seth studied her with a surprisingly concerned expression. “Are you envious?”
“Of course not,” she insisted, then sighed. “Okay, maybe a little.”
“One of these days we probably need to talk about that,” he said.
Unsettled by the offhand remark, Abby was about to reply, when he squeezed her shoulder. “Not today.” He nodded toward Luke who was watching them a little too intently, worry etched on his face.
“I’ll talk to him,” Abby offered. “I’ll get him to back off.”
“But not today,” Seth said again. “The show’s about to begin.”
Jeff set Isabella down amid a sea of packages. He and Kelsey sat beside her.
“Which one first, baby girl?” Kelsey asked. She picked up a large box wrapped in bright red paper with Santa figures all over it. “How about this one?”
She put Isabella’s tiny hand on an edge of the paper and showed her how to tear it. One good rip exposed the doll inside. “Baby?” Isabella said excitedly, getting into the spirit of it and ripping at the paper with more determination. Kelsey helped her to get the doll from the box and put it in her arms.
“That doll is almost as big as she is,” Jenny said, laughing.
“It’s the one she wanted,” Kelsey said defensively.
“No, it’s the one you wanted,” Jeff corrected, chuckling. “I was with you at the store, remember? You couldn’t take your eyes off of it. Isabella wasn’t even with us.”
“Oh, so what if it is?” Kelsey grumbled. “I didn’t have dolls when I was little.”
Hannah regarded her with amusement. “And why was that?”
Kelsey shrugged. “I had a thing for fire engines,” she admitted.
“And?” Hannah coached.
“I shoved the one doll Mom gave me down the stairwell in our apartment building in her baby carriage. Mom concluded I wasn’t interested.”
“Fortunately you’ve turned into a much better mother these days,” Hannah teased her.
With her new doll in her arms, Isabella lost interest in the rest of her presents, so Kelsey and Jeff passed out packages to everyone else in the room.
Ignoring her own presents, Abby waited expectantly as the others opened the gifts she’d chosen for them. She’d tried so hard to get it exactly right. She’d found a soft cashmere throw for Jenny to use on the porch on cool nights, a first-edition copy of Little Women for Hannah, fishing tackle for Luke who’d been claiming that he wanted to spend more time out on the water in his old rowboat, and for Seth a fancy waterproof watch.
“Do you like it?” she asked worriedly when he didn’t say anything.
“It’s incredible,” he said slowly. He lifted a troubled gaze to meet hers. “But I can’t accept this, Abby. It’s too much.”
Everyone in the room had fallen silent at the comment. Luke looked on, his expression concerned, as they all sat silently awaiting her response.
“Seth, you’ve done so much for me,” she said quietly, her heart in her throat. “I just wanted to get you something special.”
If anything, his expression seemed even more miserable. “And you did. The watch is amazing.”
“Then please, keep it,” she said.
He shook his head, closed the box and handed it back. “I can’t.”
He stood up and left the room, leaving her feeling humiliated in front of their friends. She looked to Hannah.
“I don’t understand. What did I do wrong?”
It was Jenny who came to sit beside her. She gave her hand a squeeze. “You didn’t do anything wrong,” she said firmly. “It’s his pride.”
“What does his pride have to do with me giving him something special for Christmas?”
“Admittedly, I have no idea what a watch like that costs,” Jenny began.
“A couple of thousand,” Jeff chimed in, oblivious to the glare Kelsey directed his way.
Abby winced at the accuracy of the statement. “So what? It’s a watch. It’s practical.”
“So is a fifty-dollar watch,” Luke said. “You know how sensitive Seth is about money, Abby. You were throwing yours in his face.”
“Which is not at all what she intended to do,” Jenny said with certainty, frowning at Luke.
Abby finally began to see that what she’d meant as a special gesture had just reminded Seth of the financial differences between them, differences she thought they’d put behind them. What on earth had she been thinking?
“I need to talk to him,” she said. “I’m sorry for ruining the morning.”
“Nonsense,” Jenny said. “Nothing is ruined. You and Seth have your talk, then come back in here for breakfast. Hannah, Kelsey and I will have it on the table in a half hour.”
“I should help with that,” Abby protested.
“Three of us in the kitchen is more than enough,” Hannah said. “Talk to Seth and get this settled, so you can enjoy the rest of the day.”
Abby nodded. She picked up her cup and Seth’s, freshened them with hot coffee, then headed outside. When she didn’t find him on the porch, she crossed the street to the water. She found him standing down at the edge of the beach.
“It’s cool out here. I thought you might like something hot,” she said, handing him the coffee.
He accepted it, then met her gaze. “I don’t deserve it, you know.”
“What, me being nice to you?”
He nodded. “I was rude back there.”
“A little,” she acknowledged. “But I think I finally understand why. I didn’t mean to upset you or to throw my money in your face. I just knew you didn’t have a waterproof watch, so I found one I liked and bought it.”
“And then I behaved like a fool.” He regarded her with genuine regret. “I know you’re not like my sister. I do. But something like this, coming right in the middle of that ongoing battle, scares me.”
She touched a hand to his cheek. “I get why you reacted the way you did. It’s okay if you want me to take the watch back, but I hope you’ll change your mind.”
“Why is it so important to you that I keep it?”
She forced a grin.
