Abbey considered arguing with him, but he was right and he knew it. “Don’t you remember how badly Scott wanted us to get married?” she asked, the years rolling away with the memory. Sawyer had originally proposed for what Abbey believed to be all the wrong reasons. It’d nearly broken her heart to turn him down, but with one failed marriage behind her, she couldn’t afford to make a second mistake. She’d already fallen in love with him, but his proposal had been motivated more by his fear that someone else might ask her first. Or so it had seemed to her. Loving him the way she did, afraid he didn’t really love her, she’d believed that the only sensible option was to protect her family—and her vulnerable emotions. She’d decided to leave Hard Luck. Then Scott and Susan had disappeared. Abbey had never known such panic as she’d felt that night.
Her husband reached for her hand, gently squeezing her fingers. “If not for Scott and Susan running away, I might have lost you. I was crazy about you then and I’m even crazier about you now.”
Abbey pressed her head to his shoulder, savoring the feel of his arms around her.
“Only, back then I didn’t know how to tell you,” Sawyer said, the frustration and anguish of that night evident even after all these years. “I didn’t know how to persuade you to stay.”
Abbey kept her head against her husband’s shoulder. “Now Scott needs our help,” she whispered.
“With Chrissie?”
Abbey nodded. “I’m afraid he’s more like you than you realize. He loves Chrissie, but he’s not sure how to proceed.”
“Are you suggesting I give him advice?” Sawyer asked, looking aghast at the prospect.
Abbey giggled. “Hardly. The situation calls for diplomacy.”
Her husband’s frown cut deep grooves in his forehead. “Like what?” he asked warily. “And please note that I’m ignoring the slur on my diplomatic abilities.”
Abbey smiled. “I think we should hold a welcome-home party for him. We have a lot to celebrate, don’t you think?”
“We do indeed.” Sawyer’s face relaxed. “And there’s someone you’re going to invite, isn’t there?”
“Shh.” Abbey brought her index finger to her lips.
“I don’t want to be obvious about it.”
“Right,” Sawyer said, sounding amused. “We wouldn’t want to be obvious.”
“We’ll make it a surprise party.”
“A surprise party?” Sawyer echoed. “But who do you intend to surprise? Scott or Chrissie?”
IT WAS ALMOST FOUR-THIRTY when Scott walked into the Hard Luck Café—too early for the dinner crowd. The restaurant hadn’t changed much over the years, and neither had Ben. To Scott’s eyes, Ben Hamilton had aged barely a year in the past ten. He was in his sixties now, his hair a little thinner on top but his welcoming smile as warm and wide as always.
“Scott!” Ben greeted him with unconcealed delight. “Hey, boy, you’re a sight for sore eyes.”
The two men exchanged hearty handshakes and then impulsively hugged.
“So you’re moving back to Hard Luck?” Ben asked.
“I am,” Scott confirmed, and slid onto a stool at the counter. He picked up a menu, although he wasn’t planning to order a meal. The menu was a lot more professional-looking than it used to be with its smudged type and cracked plastic coating. But fancy menus or not, the Hard Luck Café had been his favorite restaurant for years, and in his time away he hadn’t found any better.
“We got salmon on special. Mary poaches it in a lemon sauce that’s out of this world.” Ben extravagantly kissed his fingertips as he spoke.
In the old days, Ben had served everything loaded down with fat and extra calories. No more; his wife, Mary, had seen to that. Healthy food choices had started appearing on the menu when Ben married her, although the changes had been fairly subtle.
“Salmon sounds good, but Mom’s cooking me a feast. I’d better not disappoint her.” He closed the menu and tucked it behind the sugar canister. Ben automatically poured him a mug of coffee.
“So I hear you’re going to be flying with your dad and Christian.”
“I am.” His hands cupped the mug. Scott had earned his pilot’s license when he was sixteen. Whereas most teens hungered for their driver’s license, Scott had been far more interested in learning to fly. After his stint in the army, he’d worked for a flight service out of Utah, flying tourists over the Canyonlands. He’d been content during those years, enjoying his freedom and earning decent money. He’d had friends, lots of them, and a number of women he saw on a regular basis—but these relationships were all casual, without depth or commitment. He’d also been engaged once, but that had turned into a spectacular mess, and he hadn’t repeated the experience. Then, a month ago, he’d suddenly realized he’d been running away from what he wanted most, and that was his home and his family. He missed Alaska, regretted the anger of his youth and the pain he’d brought his parents. It was time to make amends. In fact, it was long past time.
And then there was Chrissie.
He smiled just thinking about their encounter that morning. When he announced that he’d merely come for legal advice, she’d looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole and die. He’d managed not to laugh then but he couldn’t restrain his amusement now. He chuckled, replaying the scene in his mind.
“Did I miss something funny?” Ben asked, sidling up to the counter and leaning against it just as he had for more years than Scott could remember.
“Not really,” Scott told him, suppressing his mirth. “Just something that happened this morning, soon after I got here.”