Saved by Love (Willow Valley Book 3)(36)

“You have any better ideas?”

This time she did let the wicked gleam show in her eyes. “I can think of a thing or two.”

They only just managed to make it to the plane on time.





CHAPTER TWELVE





“I can’t believe you’re keeping all the good details to yourself,” Lissa hissed as she chopped vegetables with Abby in the Kincade kitchen. It was Sunday afternoon, and Lissa, Jesse and Abby were over helping prepare lunch for what looked like was becoming a family tradition.

Abby just smiled. “I’m not sure what exactly you want to know.”

Lissa groaned. “You are no fun at all.”

Suddenly a siren sounded on the street outside as an emergency vehicle flew past the house. The knife Abby had been holding clattered to the floor as she stared out the window.

“Are you okay? You look as white a sheet,” Lissa said, her eyes full of concern.

Pulling herself together, Abby picked up the knife and took it to the sink to wash it off, but her hands were shaking so badly she cut herself. Cursing, she stuck her finger under the running water.

“Can you grab me a Band-Aid?”

Lissa started rummaging through one of the cabinets and pulled out a box of multi-sized bandages. “Abby, what is going on with you? I swear, you’ve been distracted all day.”

She sighed. “Ethan is working a double shift this weekend. I don’t know what my problem is. Every time I hear a siren I jump out of my skin.” She grabbed a paper towel and pressed it against her finger until the bleeding eased up.

Lissa unwrapped the bandage and wrapped it around her finger, then didn’t let go of her hand until Abby met her eyes. “Does this have something to do with the bomb you dropped on me before you left?”

Obviously she meant Derek. “Yes.” What else was she supposed to say? And before she knew it, she was spilling the whole story to Lissa. The day they went surfing, the revelation about Derek’s death, and—much to Lissa’s satisfaction—the fact that Ethan and Abby had more than made the most of their time away.

“I don’t know what to say.”

Abby rolled her eyes. “That’s got to be a first.”

“Oh, I have plenty to say about you doing the deed—good for you—but I mean about your…Derek.” She gave her a look that wasn’t quite pity, thank goodness, but it wasn’t too far off.

“Here’s the thing, Liss.” She looked around the room, making sure what she said would remain private, but Denise and Jesse were in the other room catching up. “I care about Ethan. Like, a lot. And not like with Derek.” She squeezed her eyes shut, then peeked through at Lissa. “It’s different, and somehow…more.”

“Oh my God, Abby, that’s awesome! And I know he feels the same way.”

“That’s just the problem. It would be a lot easier if this were one-sided.”

“What would be easier?” She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “And don’t say you’re thinking of breaking it off.”

When Abby remained silent, Lissa turned an unnatural shade of red and seriously looked as if smoke were about to come spouting out of her ears.

“Abigail Stewart. You have got to be kidding me. Nope. I won’t let you do it.”

“It’s not like you have a say. Lissa, I don’t know if I can do it. You don’t understand. It’s like every time I think about him going to work I can’t think about anything but the possibility of him not coming back. It’s no way to live!”

“No, it’s not. But the man loves you. You’re just going to walk away from that because you can’t deal with his job? That’s crazy.”

“You don’t know what it’s like. You haven’t lost someone that was your whole world. It nearly killed me. I can’t go through that again.”

Lissa looked like she wanted to whack her over the head with a frying pan. “You are being ridiculous. I won’t listen to any more of this nonsense. You aren’t breaking up with him, and that’s final.”

Abby rolled her eyes. It wasn’t like she had already decided to or anything. She was just having a really hard time accepting that she would always be living in fear. She was done with that part of her life. She thought she’d made a breakthrough and was moving forward. She didn’t want to be that woman anymore. But it was almost worse now that she knew she was head-over-heels in love with Ethan.

It would only get harder the longer she stayed with him, the closer they got. Sighing, she went back to work chopping vegetables. She either had to find a way to get over it and deal with the risks he took or she had to call it off. The problem was she didn’t know which would be the hardest choice to live with.

***

Ethan came home Monday morning completely exhausted and dropped into bed, hoping he could get enough sleep to be able to see Abby when she got off work. It had been a hard weekend and he’d worked more than back-to-back twenty-four hour shifts because there had been more brush fires. It was so dry this time of year and people didn’t seem to get that their fires could rapidly get out of control if they didn’t stay right on top of them and take proper precautions.

He hadn’t seen Abby since Thursday, and he missed her like crazy. It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep, and he woke up to the sound of his phone buzzing. It was Abby texting to see if he still wanted to hang out. He opened the message app and texted her back.