The Inn on Harmony Island (Sweet Tea and a Southern Gentleman #1)(9)

I snapped out of my trance a little too late as I dove for the food, but it hit the floor before I could stop it. I growled as I picked it up and searched for a garbage, reality hitting me in the face.

This was why I didn’t date. This was why I avoided the opposite sex. My life was too complicated. There was no way a woman would want to walk into this mess. If I didn’t even know how to sort my own crap out, how was I going to bring someone else into it?

The business card felt like a brick in my back pocket as I finished up my shopping and headed for the checkout lane. Thankfully, I didn’t run into Laura while Betty rang up my items. I focused my attention on bagging them as she pushed them down the conveyor to me. When I was all rung up, I took the receipt and bid her farewell.

Once Belle and the groceries were safely packed into my truck, I returned the cart and climbed into the driver’s seat. I slammed the door and gripped the steering wheel in front of me, vowing that when I got home, I was going to toss Laura’s business card.

Dating and I had never mixed in the past, and I was fairly certain we wouldn’t mix well now.

I was never going to find love again.





3





ABIGAIL





The soft morning breeze played with the hem of my skirt as I stood in front of the bookstore, rifling through my purse for my keys. I felt a yawn coming on, so I paused and allowed it to happen.

Baby Samuel had been up all night, and I was exhausted.

Sabrina had come into my room the night before, begging me to take my nephew. She needed one night of sleep, and she was ready to pay me a million dollars if I granted it to her. It wasn’t hard to say yes. I loved my nephew with all my heart. He was two months old and cuter than ever—but he was loud and cranky. And he kept me up half the night.

“Coffee,” I cheered as I pulled my keys triumphantly from my purse and held them up in the air. A random passerby startled and moved closer to the road, obviously avoiding me.

I shot him a sheepish smile as I slipped the key into the lock and turned.

The bookstore was quiet—which it always was. The smell of old paper mingled with the cinnamon wax melt that I had plugged in an outlet in the back room and filled my nose as I took in a deep breath.

“This is heaven,” I said to myself as I let the door shut behind me and flicked on the lights. They blinked a few times before relenting and finally turning on all the way.

I clicked the lock back into place and then headed to the back room. After stuffing my purse into the drawer of my desk, I shook my mouse to make my computer wake up. As the old machine creaked to life, I grabbed a scrunchie I’d slipped onto my George Washington bust and pulled my hair back into a low ponytail. I had a few hours before the store would open, and I was determined to get my tax documents together.

“Death and taxes,” I said, glancing over at George Washington. He had eyes that looked like he was staring at you no matter where you were in the room. I sighed. Without Sabrina here, I was lonely.

Dad was married and living in Magnolia with Penny. Sabrina had baby Samuel. And I? Well, I had George. But he was only three inches high and made of marble.

“I’m a loser,” I said as I plopped down on my desk chair and pushed back and forth a few times, the wheels creaking as I moved.

I grabbed my phone and stared at my home screen. It was a newborn picture of Samuel wearing a 1920’s newspaper boy outfit. He looked so dapper, and for a moment, I missed that screaming little devil. Until another yawn came on. I clicked the side button, and the screen went dark.

“Time to focus, Abigail,” I said as I pulled myself up to my computer and brought my fingers to the keyboard.

Two hours later, I was pulling a dozen chocolate chip cookies out of the oven when there was a soft knock on the door. I glanced up to see that it was Missy Hodges, the owner of Apple Blossom B&B and the town’s gossip. I groaned but forced a smile, thankful that she couldn’t hear my reaction. Her eyes were flitting all over the place, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for that kind of energy this early on a Friday morning.

She looked like she was sitting on a golden egg of gossip and I was going to be the first to hear about it.

Wanting to prolong the inevitable, I lifted the cookie sheet into the air so she could see what I was doing—to which she nodded—and I proceeded to take my time moving them to a cooling rack with a spatula. Once they were settled, I started the coffee machine, wiped my hands on my apron, and then headed to the front door and unlocked it.

Missy didn’t wait for me to open it all the way. She hurried inside while I changed the sign to Open, and then I turned to see her standing inches from me. Her blue eyes were wide.

“Good morning, Missy,” I said as I tucked the few loose hairs that had fallen from my ponytail behind my ear and took a step back.

“Good? Is it really good?”

The panic in her voice startled me. “Isn’t it?” I asked.

She took in a deep breath. “Well, I don’t know, I just heard that Charlotte Cane indicated that she wanted her granddaughter at the will reading on Monday.” Missy was heading toward the cafe counter, so I had to quicken my pace to catch up with her.

She was muttering under her breath, and I was already confused about what she’d just spouted off. I didn’t want to miss any clues to why she was so worked up.