Page 15 (1/2)

“Which is no surprise,” she said She adht h she was starting to feel ambushed at every turn

Then again, if Mayor Pratt looked like Toone very differently She couldn’t ignore the fact that last night their banter had felt the tiniest bit like flirting

“I just arrived in town, Mr Pratt, and I don’t even knohat needs to be done to the house It would be pre to do because there are too ured selling it was the best idea “But I’ll keep your proposal in mind”

He nodded “That’s all I can ask,” he said kindly “I hope I didn’t overstep by approaching you so soon…”

“Don’t apologize You were clear and to the point That’s refreshing”

Pratt slid out of the booth and held out his

hand Abby got up too and shook it He gave her fingers a friendly squeeze “You’re quite like your Aunt Marian, you know Not so ot her backbone”

The way Abby was feeling about Marian’s lack of contact with Iris’s side of the family, she wasn’t sure if she should take that as a compliment or an insult She decided compliment, because it had clearly been meant that way

“Thank you, Mr Pratt I’ain”

He nodded and waved at a few locals as he left the coffee shop Abby sat back down as the waitress came back to warm up her coffee She wondered how Pratt had known to find her here She could sense several pairs of eyes on her and tried to ignore the conspicuous feeling that crawled over her skin No doubt someone had tipped him off and he’d hustled over here from the town hall or wherever the mayor’s office was

She looked back at the website she’d been browsing—Tom’s—and knew she really didn’t have a choice Keep it, sell it, rent it to Jewell Cove—it had to be renovated before any option was viable

With a sinking heart, she realized she was going to have to call Tom Arseneault

To the quiet cove as he waited for his burger to finish grilling Other than the occasional car passing, there was no sound except the quiet lapping of water on the pebbled beach below On a soft spring night like tonight, he was one hundred percent satisfied that he’d e was nestled in the trees and a grassy slope led down to the calm waters of Fiddler’s Rock

Josh was coood deal since hearing the news He didn’t have a good feeling about this picnic his reed that he and Josh had to find a way to coexist Jewell Cove was not a big town They had the saether at soht just blow up in everyone’s faces

He’d skip the whole thing if he could, except he knew so hi to do was show up for a little while and try to stay out of Josh’s way Keep on the do