She had been surprised at the reception she had received from the town she’d been driven out of twenty years before. She had expected a cold reception from everyone but Christa and Mike. She had been pleasantly surprised to discover a portion of the town was happy to see her. She was something of a legend for her escapades with Adam Echols as a teen, but now the men and women of town laughed and told the stories with a smile for the recklessness of youth. When they talked about Adam, they spoke of youth cut down in his prime, but they didn’t blame Abby the way his family did. Abby remembered the fight she and Adam had before his accident. It had been loud and public. Adam had driven off, swearing they were over. Now it was hard to recall just what the fight had been about. It no longer mattered. Adam had gotten drunk and wrapped his car around a tree.
The citizens of Willow Fork who remembered Adam Echols remembered how wild he was. Some of her old classmates who came into the café on Sunday afternoons had even patted her hand and told her they were happy she hadn’t died with Adam. They had wondered what took her so long to return to town and asked politely after her daughter.
As for the older generation, they still looked at her with disdain. They let her serve them at the café because Christa had sent out the word that people who didn’t like Abigail working there shouldn’t bother to come in. They didn’t tip, though. Abby could handle it. Everything would have been fine, except the Echols family wouldn’t let it go. She had started getting phone calls a week after she’d hit town. Abby had learned not to answer unless she knew the number. Her old friends might be happy to see her, but the upper crust was firmly on Ruby Echols’s side, and they wouldn’t let her forget it.
Abby parked Jack’s truck and tried not to think about what he’d done to her to her last night. It was impossible. Her whole body hummed happily, reminding her how well the men had used her. She had needed it. She was single and no longer had an impressionable teenager under her roof. She was free to play around.
Except last night hadn’t felt like playing. It felt serious. The way they talked to her and held her made her think they were guys she could fall for.
Abby let her head fall forward and hit the steering wheel. She was not going there. She wasn’t seventeen and naïve. She was thirty-seven years old. Jack and Sam were younger than she was. She had a certain reputation, and those men required the good will of the community to do business here. If the Echols family chose to, they could probably cut off Sam and Jack from vital resources. They could stop their feed supply or screw with their financing at the bank. They would do it, too, just to spite her. Even if she was brave enough to have a crazy relationship with two men, it would hurt them in the end.
She opened the door and jumped down. She knew that Jack would just ease out of the seat, but Abby practically needed to pole vault out of the thing. She’d felt so petite when she stood between Jack and Sam. It was their fault. She was a perfectly normal-sized woman, but they were practically giants.
Giants who had taken such sweet care of her last night, she thought with a sigh.
She would have to resist them next time, though. It was for their own good. She owed it to them to protect them. They just didn’t understand how this town worked. Her friends could accept her all they liked, but without Ruby Echols’s support, she was a pariah.
“Damn it.” Abby looked at her car. She had been planning on leaving the keys to Jack’s truck in Christa’s garage so Mike could get it back to him. She would take her crappy, old Oldsmobile to work. That plan was blown to hell because someone had spray-painted WHORE across the hood and slashed her tires. Luckily, the car was in the carport, and no one could see the vandalism from the street. Abby took a deep breath and banished the tears that threatened. She had promised Christa she could have Sunday mornings to spend with her family, and she meant to keep that promise. She wouldn’t wilt away because some jerk thought it was funny to humiliate her.
She could go to the sheriff, but it wouldn’t do any good. He would make an obligatory report and then nothing would be done about it. She would ask Mike for advice later. In the meantime, she would be driving the tank. It served Jack right since he was the one who had insisted on leaving her car behind. If he’d let her drive her own car, it wouldn’t have been defaced.
Abby hopped back into Jack’s monster truck and tried to pull away from the street. She closed her eyes when she heard the door scrape against Mike’s trailer as she tried to make a too tight U-turn.
Jack was gonna kill her.
Maybe he’d just spank her. It might make her day.
Maybe, she thought as she pulled away from the scene of her crime, it wouldn’t hurt to see them one more time.
If they wanted to see her again. No one had to know.
She could remember her time with them for the rest of her life. It would be a shield against all the lonely nights to come.
Two hours later, she smoothed down the skirt of her uniform. It was a pale pink waitress uniform that Christa had all of her wait staff wear. It was a little unforgiving, but she wore it anyway. Luckily, Christa also kept a few around in case a waitress spilled something. Abby had been able to change into a fresh uniform.
The short-order cook shouted out that her order was up, and Abby grabbed the plates of scrambled eggs and pancakes and moved toward Kyle Morgan’s table. He sat with his two young boys. Abby had gone to school with Kyle and knew he’d gone through a divorce a couple of years back. He’d kept custody and seemed to have survived with very little bitterness. He was a regular customer, and she liked talking to him. He smiled at her as she set down his breakfast.
“Thank you, Abby,” he said, and both his kids thanked her as well.
“Do you need some more coffee? I think they made a fresh pot.”
“I would love some.” Kyle’s hand covered hers as she turned to grab the coffee pot from the counter. He was handsome, but she’d never thought of him in a man-woman way. He was just a friend she hadn’t seen in a very long time. “I was wondering. I thought maybe you could come by the house tonight for supper. I was going to grill some steaks. I thought it would be a good way to catch up.”
“I’m afraid Abby has plans for tonight,” a low voice growled behind her. Abby nearly jumped out of her skin. She pulled her hand quickly away from Kyle and wondered why she felt guilty. She hadn’t been doing anything wrong. Jack looked like she had, though. At least Sam looked happy to see her.
Kyle’s eyes widened. “Does she?”
Sam smiled and slapped Kyle on the back. He managed to make the gesture friendly. “She does, indeed.” Sam looked at the little boys. “How’s the team going?”
The boys smiled and chattered about their baseball games. Kyle looked a little rueful as his gaze switched between the men. “The team really appreciated the new uniforms, Sam. Jack, the lighting system is incredible. It’s really helped those kids. They love baseball. Now they can play night games since we have the lights. As their coach, I have to say thank you. You’ve made a huge difference in those kids’ lives.”
“Glad to help, Kyle.” Jack’s eyes were still dark.
Sam chatted with the kids, and Kyle leaned forward. “Is that the way it is, then?”
“It is,” Jack replied firmly.
“What is?” Abby didn’t understand the masculine byplay. She had the notion that this cryptic conversation was all about her, but neither man was actually looking at her.
Kyle’s head fell back, and he laughed. “Well, hell, I always did say it would take two men to tame Abigail Elizabeth Moore.”