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Abby stood in the doorway to the kitchen Tom had come by to replace the door on one of the kitchen cupboards that had co on the floor holding a screwdriver in his hand, his jeans curved beautifully over his bottom His T-shirt rode up just a bit, stretched across the muscles of his back

He was easily the eous man she’d ever known

Unfortunately, he was also the ed since the day of the stors had been resolved She’d shared the deepest parts of herself with Torown closer because of it It was true that Sarah and Mark’s tragedy had cast a pall of sadness over the family, but it was tempered by To healed

So why did she feel farther removed from Tom instead of closer? Ever since they’d been interrupted on their way to kissing—and that was definitely where they’d been headed—he’d been distant He’d brought her hoht and left her at the door She’d offered to go to his place to pick up her clothing but he dropped it off one day when she was in townwith the lawyer

That night had given Abby a clarity about herself, her past, and what she wanted from her future … or in this case their future She’d been running away her whole life, afraid of getting hurt, and she was tired of it Abby wanted a place to call ho closer, Tom had backed off

“Fire away,” he answered, not looking up from his work

She stepped inside “Jewell Cove has a historical society, right?”

The ratcheting screwdrivernoises in the otherwise silent kitchen He chuckled “Sure, but you could start up your own historical society hat’s up in that attic”

“I’ve already sorted out a lot of things that ht be of interest to collectors”

He picked up another screw and set it in place “Getting their hands on some of the old Foster relics would be a major coup,” he confir the house for a museum”

She ran her hand over the cool granite countertop He’d done a fabulous job in the kitchen,the stately grandeur of the rest of the house “Oh, I did run into the ht have mentioned it”

The screwdriver stopped turning Tom finally looked up at her, but she found it impossible

to read his expression

“Has the town put in an offer?”

“Not that I’ht be a little hefty”