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The creed up with materials, and then Tom sent them out on a rush repair job in town It left hi of the kitchen with his paintbrush, he knew this s for Erin It had been all Abby It was her independent streak ue tempered by sweetness She wasn’t like any woman he’d ever known It had been her wide eyes and soft lips and the way her scent curled around hi a match to paper

The big question as he going to do about it?

A younger, rasher Toht twice about it But there was soreater care It was in her eyes thiswhen she’d asked hih with it It occurred to hi secrets of her own, and why shouldn’t she? Everyone had a right to their own secrets

With the edges painted, Tom refilled the paint tray and went to ith the roller, applying the paint in an even white layer over the ceiling There was also the s about his she didn’t know Things that no one knew When he’d met Erin he’d been a simple carpenter on a crehile she came from old money The summer they’d met, Tom had fallen hard, and by the tiainst controlling parents, it was too late He’d already fallen in love with her And what had started as a way to thumb her nose at her parents had become more for her, too

She’d gone sluer her folks, who had kept the leash pulled just a little too tight In the end, though, the pressure had been too otten the parental stamp of approval Josh, the doctor Josh, more polished and worldly and abut the best for their little girl They hadn’t been crazy about her joining the aro because in a few years she’d be the respectable wife of a doctor as in practice with her daddy, rather than scraping by with an ordinary carpenter living in a two-bedrooe on the beach

As ry that she hadn’t fought harder for theiven theh to take it

That bitterness had lasted far too long Toe between himself and his cousin Erin had at least been honest when she came to see him just before she left that Septeh she cared for Josh and he looked better on paper, she loved Tom more

It had been torture Knowing came with a heavy price—years of loneliness, a half-life—all for nothing Because the sordid truth was that Erin had co him to be with her, and Tom had turned her away

It was the last time he ever saw her

Hisfro sound that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end He put the paint roller down as alarain … and he was certain he heard the word “no”

He crossed the kitchen in long strides, heading for the hall, panicat the top of the landing, weaving unsteadily Her body gave a strange jerk, her hand slipped on the banister, and she leaned forward almost drunkenly Heart in his throat, he raced up the steps two at a tiht of her limp in his arh his head If he hadn’t been there, she would have tuht down the hard wooden stairs clear to the bottom A fall down those hardwood steps could kill a woman …

The blood drained from his face Just like Edith

Abby opened her eyes, staring at hih his li her close, the adrenaline rushing fro that a split second later and she could have been badly hurt “It’s okay I’ve got you, Abby You’re safe”

After wasting fifteento the sounds of To downstairs, Abby knew she couldn’t avoid him forever This was her house, he was her contractor What was she going to do, stay upstairs all day? She laughed Yeah, like that would work No, what she needed to do was just get it over with, Abby thought as she gathered her resolve and left her roo to say to Toure it out as she went

As she reached the open hallway overlooking the foyer, Abby stu Theinto her nighto but never finished