Resisting Her Rival

by Sonya Weiss

  “That’s fine.”

  Nick drove several more miles and then exited the interstate. As soon as he parked, Abby thrust open her door and got out, then disappeared inside the shop before he was even around the hood of the car. He’d known that asking her about past hurts might cause her to retreat. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a bigger reason for the two of them taking this trip besides just getting items for her diner. Almost as if something was meant to happen. A sense of foreboding troubled Nick.

  Chapter Twelve

  Abby paid for her cup of coffee and took a second to collect herself. She didn’t like Nick prying, even if he was being kind about it. He was poking into areas of her heart that still felt too raw. It wasn’t like she hadn’t dealt with the situations she’d experienced. She’d handled everything and come out on top. Everything was fine. As soon as she bought the building, life would get even better.

  When she walked outside, Nick was sitting on the hood of the car finishing a doughnut. He licked his fingers, and Abby’s stomach went on lockdown. “Ready to continue?”

  “Yep.” He slid off the hood. “If you don’t mind, I’ll stay behind the wheel.”

  She looked away from his gaze. He always saw too much. “Fine by me. Now that I finally have some decent coffee, I’ll enjoy a doughnut.” Abby got into the car and fastened the seat belt.

  Nick backed out and got them back on the interstate again. “You did a good job of changing the subject, but you didn’t answer my last question.”

  “You know what? I think I’m tired.” She settled the coffee into the cup holder and leaned back, closing her eyes. She should have known that Nick wouldn’t give up that easily. What was she thinking, believing that the two of them could take a trip together? She’d dated a few times, but none of those guys had wanted to do anything other than have surface conversations. She huffed out a breath. She preferred that over Nick’s prying.

  “You sound restless. Want me to sing to you?”

  She opened one eye. “Can you sing?”

  “Not a lick.”

  Reluctantly, Abby laughed.

  Over the next three hours, she noticed that Nick kept the conversation carefully light, and Abby felt more comfortable as they moved back onto familiar ground.

  “We’re about forty miles away,” Nick announced.

  “The trip hasn’t been too bad. In fact—” Whatever Abby was going to say was abruptly cut off when the engine revved but the car didn’t go anywhere.

  Nick let out a curse. “I think something just went wrong with your transmission.” He pulled right on the steering wheel as hard as he could and managed to coast the vehicle onto the side of the road.

  Once it was stopped, Nick tried to put it in gear, but the car wouldn’t go. “It’s gone.” He lifted up on one leg and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. After staring at the screen for a moment, he looked at Abby. “No service. You?”

  “Oh no. The mountains are famous for blocking the cell phone tower signals.” She rummaged through her purse and took out her phone. “Sorry, no service.”

  “All right. Let’s go.” Nick opened the door and got out, careful to stay away from the traffic rushing by.

  Abby joined him and slung her purse over her shoulder. “We can’t walk forty miles.”

  “We’re not going to. I saw a sign for a bed and breakfast for the upcoming exit. It’s a little over a mile ahead. We’ll go there and call for someone to pick up your gem of a car.” He glanced down at her shoes. “Bet you’re glad you didn’t wear heels.”

  “All right already. We should have brought your truck.”

  “Why didn’t we?”

  “Because I wanted to bring my car.”

  “You know damn well my truck is in better shape. Your car is an expensive garage invoice on four wheels, yet you couldn’t leave it behind. You wanna tell me why?”

  “Because I got left once on the side of the road when I traveled with someone, and it wasn’t my car we took on the trip, okay? Satisfied?” Abby marched ahead of him.

  He caught up to her. “Whoa, whoa. Who would do that to someone?”

  “My former mother-in-law. The day I told her I was divorcing her son, she pulled over to the side of the road and told me to get out. I was in the middle of nowhere without a cell phone. It was dark and raining and miserable.”

  “Abby…”

  “So I don’t depend on anyone but me. That includes anything to do with my car, my business, and my life.” She looked at him. “Go ahead, tell me you think I’m wrong, right? That I should open myself up.”

  “I’m not judging you.” He took her elbow and pushed against her body with his to get them farther away from the road when a semi roared past them.

  By the time they made it onto the road leading up to the colonial-style bed and breakfast, Abby’s stomach was growling. She was used to eating a filling, healthy breakfast. “Do you smell that?”

  Nick breathed in. “Sausage. Maybe we’re in time to sit in for breakfast.”

  Flowers in a variety of sizes and colors spilled out across the front of the house, and a flag snapped in the wind.

  Abby smoothed down her hair and walked up the wide steps leading to the bright red front door. Beside the door, a small wooden bench held an assortment of small flowerpots waiting to be planted. All along the length of the porch, rocking chairs waited. Overhead, wide ceiling fans slowly turned.

  Swinging the door open, Abby stepped into a room decorated in country style with large, stuffed chairs and multicolored handwoven oval rugs. Shelves behind the chairs held knickknacks and books.

  While she admired the autumn-orange wall color and decorations, Nick went up to a small desk in one corner and hit the little chrome bell to announce their presence.

  A young woman Abby guessed to be in her midthirties came from the direction of the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel.

  “Hi, we’re sorry to trouble you. Our car broke down about a mile down the road, and we need to use your phone.”

  “Sure, come on in. It’s in the kitchen.” She led the way.

  Passing a doorway, Abby glanced in to see a long wooden table filled with breakfast dishes and several adults eating.

  The woman caught Abby’s look and said, “Would you like something to eat? I’ve got plenty left over. Grab a plate.”

  Abby didn’t have to be told twice. She fixed herself a plate of sweet potato pancakes, some sausage, and fresh fruit.

  “Beautiful place you’ve got here,” Abby said as the woman poured two cups of coffee and handed one over. She took a bite of the pancake.

  “Thanks. I’m Kate, by the way. Will you and your husband be needing a room?”

  “Oh no, and he’s not my husband. He’s a friend.” She tapped the pancake. “These are some of the best sweet potato pancakes I’ve ever had.”

  “I use pecan flavoring.”

  “I’ll have to try that,” Abby said.

  “Don’t be too sure about us not needing a room,” Nick said.

  Abby knew by his expression that something was wrong. “What is it?”

  “Keith can’t come with a tow truck until tomorrow. Eric’s in court all day today and again tomorrow, so he’s out. Your grandfather is off fishing somewhere with Henry.”

  “My sisters?”

  “Chad’s butler said that Amelia and Ann went to Charleston to do some maternity shopping. They were planning to make a day of it. Chad is running the diner. I didn’t get through to him when I tried his cell.”

  “I don’t even want to know why Amelia isn’t at the diner like she promised.” Not wanting to spend the night, Abby thought for a moment. “We could call a tow truck here to pick up the car and take us back home.”

  Kate shook her head. “We have one tow truck service, and I know for a fact that he won’t drive that distance.”

  “So we’re stuck here until tomorrow,” Nick said.

  “It’s not that bad.” Kate smiled. “I
do happen to have one room available, and it’s the best in the house. It’s the honeymoon room.”

  Nick looked at Abby, and she lifted a shoulder, doing her best to hide her dismay. Look where being alone in a room with Nick had gotten her last time. “As long as it has a bed.”

  “Come back to the desk, and I’ll get you entered into the computer. There are toiletries in all the rooms. If you want a change of clothes, there are a few stores nearby that are reasonably priced.”

  Abby took out her wallet and handed over her credit card before Nick had his wallet cleared from his pocket. “My trip, my responsibility,” she said.

  “This room comes with a complimentary bottle of champagne and chocolate-dipped strawberries. There’s also a horse-drawn carriage ride through the town, but I can take that off.”

  “No, leave it. It’ll give us something to do,” Nick said. “But I’ll pay for that one.”

  Kate nodded and made some notations in the computer. “When would you like to schedule that ride? Most of the customers do it early evening.”

  “Sounds fine.”

  After they paid, Kate instructed them to eat their fill, and then she left to attend her other guests.

  Abby drained her coffee and then rinsed the cup and set it in the sink. “I’m assuming the honeymoon suite has one bed, so you know what that means.”

  Nick wiped his mouth with a napkin and winked. “Yep. Florida, the sequel.”

  “It means that you’ll be sleeping on the floor.”

  Setting his plate aside, Nick took his time answering her sharp retort. “No can do. I’m not sure Kate would appreciate her blankets on the floor.”

  “So we’ll buy a sleeping bag when we go to the store.” Abby gave him a sweet smile.

  “I’m allergic to the material used in the making of sleeping bags,” he managed to say with a straight face.

  “All of them?”

  Nick yawned and stretched. “Uh-huh.”

  “And what allergy would that be?” Abby asked.

  “Hard to pinpoint exactly, but I do know the material causes me to miss out on a chance to sleep next to a beautiful woman.”

  “I’ll get you some Benadryl.”

  “Are you sure you weren’t a Marine drill sergeant in a former life?”

  “I’m going to check out the room,” Abby said and left the kitchen.

  “Right behind you.”

  She walked up the wide staircase with the winding, dark wood banister. The upstairs had a short hallway leading to three rooms. The one Abby stopped in front of had a double door leading into the room.

  “The wider doors are handy for carrying a bride across the threshold,” Nick said. “We shouldn’t break the tradition of the room.”

  “I’ll pass.”

  Nick walked in behind her and stopped. The room was easily three times the size of a normal bedroom. The light oak hardwood floors were polished to a high sheen, and off to the right, just beyond a love seat, he could see the private bath.

  He and Abby looked at the bed at the same time. Like the room, it was oversize, and everything about it was white, even down to the sheer drapes suspended from the ceiling to form a sensuous canopy over the bed.

  “Wow,” Abby said after she picked up a note off the pillow instructing guests that the champagne and strawberries would be delivered when requested. “That bed looks comfortable.” She looked over her shoulder. “Too bad you’ll miss out.”

  “I wouldn’t be too sure about that if I were you. If I had to guess, I’d say you’re already thinking naughty thoughts about me.”

  “I’ve had a few thoughts, that’s for sure.” Abby opened her purse and took out her checkbook. She looked through it for a second. “I want to find those shops and go ahead and get a change of clothing.”

  “After you.” Nick swept his hand toward the door.

  …

  Abby expected their time at the bed and breakfast to drag, but to her surprise, the day seemed to fly by. After she and Nick visited a clothing shop, they’d stopped at one of the quaint stores that sold tourist items and then went on a walking tour of the town.

  “I’m ready to head back,” Nick said, lifting the bags he carried as if to prove a point.

  “The town is beautiful. It’s peaceful here.”

  “It’s the stillness that contributes to the peace you feel. There’s not a lot of traffic. At the most five cars have passed us since we’ve been out.”

  “I imagine that’s why you built your house up by the lake?”

  He nodded. “Just me and the sounds of nature.”

  “I love that area.” Abby smiled up at him and then felt her smile falter. She’d seen that look in his eyes in Florida. That promise.

  Once again, she was so damn tempted. She faced her gaze forward again as they continued along the sidewalk. A thought that had nagged at her repeatedly the last few months after she’d returned from Florida wouldn’t leave her alone. What she’d thought was a simple one-night stand was far more powerful than that. It answered a need she hadn’t even known she’d had.

  That caused a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach, but not when she thought about the intimacy. When she thought about being with Nick period. Like there was no other place she’d rather be, as if her entire life had been part of a larger puzzle meant to fit together with his. And she didn’t like that one bit. Obviously, she was feeling the pull of the simple pleasure of the day, of spending time with a handsome man.

  She couldn’t—she wouldn’t—give her heart to him. Not that it was a prize anyway, as scarred as it was with all the ugly parts. A guy like Nick deserved someone who could love him without holding back. She was not and never would be a woman who could love a man without reserve.

  Once they dropped their purchases off in the room, Nick said, “I noticed there was an option that we could have a picnic lunch. Why don’t we do that?”

  Tired of mentally arguing with herself, Abby agreed. “I’ll ask Kate if there’s a blanket we can borrow.”

  When Nick rejoined her twenty minutes later, he said, “The cook said there’s a field with wildflowers about six blocks from here. She said it has a nice clearing that other couples have visited as picnic site.”

  They set off toward the field. Abby drank in the sound of the birds, the freshness of the mountain air. “I think maybe I needed a mini vacation from work, even if it is a forced vacation.”

  “That’s one of the things I like about you, Abby. Always making lemonade out of lemons.” He stopped in the clearing and spread the blanket out, then set the picnic basket on one edge. His gaze met hers. “One of the many things I like about you.”

  Abby quickly sat and opened the basket. “Looks like you brought a feast.” She pulled out the sandwiches and passed him one before opening hers and taking a bite. “Homemade chicken salad. It’s good.” The sandwich was good, the day great, the man across from her even better than she could have imagined. I can’t help but like him. Can’t help wanting to spend time with him. I’m in so much trouble.

  “Hey.” The delight in Nick’s tone pulled her from her thoughts, and Abby looked at him.

  In his hand, Nick held a dandelion. He blew on the seeds and then captured them in his palm . “What your mom said was true. I found you.” Taking her hand, he passed her the seeds. A breeze stirred, lifting the seeds up into the air. His smile slowly faded, and he eased forward across the blanket to put his hand at the back of her neck. With gentle pressure, he pulled her toward him until their lips met.

  Abby kissed him back. Forget the building. Forget the fear. I just want this one moment in time. This one kiss, this one embrace.

  “Abby, I think I’m—”

  She put her hand on his lips. “No. Let’s finish our lunch and just enjoy this time, okay?” Her foolish, traitor heart was racing toward Nick, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The sense of foreboding Nick had experienced at the be
ginning of their trip returned that evening when he helped Abby step up into the horse-drawn carriage. She’d acted different ever since their picnic.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said as she trailed her hand across the curved design.

  The top of the carriage was down, revealing the burgundy velvet seat against the whiteness of the carriage body. When he first saw the driver clad in formalwear and sporting a black top hat, Nick thought it was a little much. But then he remembered the carriage was used mainly for honeymooners. Will I end up in that position? On a honeymoon? He couldn’t picture ever— He glanced at Abby. Swallowed hard.

  “There’s a beautiful route I usually take the honeymooners along through the center of town. We’ll circle around and come to an old wooden bridge with a creek running under it. Most of the people I drive stop there and take some photographs,” the driver announced.

  Before Abby could explain they weren’t honeymooners, Nick said, “That sounds like a great idea. Pictures on the bridge, don’t you think so, honey?”

  “Of course, dear,” she said drily.

  The horses slowly led the way toward town. When they crossed into the main road, the driver said, “Ah, they’ve turned on the lights.”

  Nick watched Abby’s gaze turn toward the light poles on either side of the street. Each pole had a double circle light globe with tiny Christmas lights twined around the bases. These were lit and cast a glow over the street.

  The driver led the carriage over several streets until they came to one with trees that joined together over the road. He slowed and looked over his shoulder. “Bridge is just up ahead.”

  Nick looked out Abby’s side of the carriage. From their vantage point, he could see the shallow creek as it gurgled over rocks in various shapes and sizes. When the carriage came to a stop, Nick jumped out first and then reached up for Abby. He closed his hands around her waist and swung her easily to the ground.

  She stayed still for a second, her hands on his forearms, her cheeks flushed from the ride. Abby Snyder. The woman he was falling in love with. The thought rocked Nick to the core. He didn’t know when him liking her had leaked into this stronger turn-hell-inside-out-if-she-needed-him-to feeling.