“Ah,” he said, recognizing the baby then. “You were drafted into duty. Lesley Ann’s very clever. Be careful. If you’re good at keeping A.J. calm, you’ll have him for hours.”
She laughed. “Voice of experience?”
“I’ve put in my share of time as impromptu babysitter,” he admitted. “A.J. and I have a deal, though, a pact between guys, so to speak. Twenty minutes and he lets out a scream of disapproval that has his mama flying across the restaurant. He looks pretty content with you. You could be in for a long haul.”
He studied her intently. “You don’t look as if you’d mind that.”
“Not entirely,” she admitted.
“You have kids of your own?”
She shook her head and there was no mistaking the hint of sorrow in her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he said at once.
“So am I,” she said quietly. “How about you? Do you have children?”
“Never married,” he said, then realized that wasn’t necessarily an answer. “And no children out there, either.”
A smile played on her lips. “I’m glad you clarified.”
“Well, it’s not always the case,” he admitted. “I’ve known plenty of men who are a lot more reckless and casual than I am. By the way, I didn’t get your name this morning.”
“Abby,” she told him.
Despite his certainty that Grandma Jenny had gotten it right, he had to admit he was a little disappointed. Abby Dawson obviously brought a lot of baggage with her. “Dawson?” he asked to be sure.
She regarded him with puzzlement. “Actually it’s Miller now, but yes. How did you know that?”
“I’m staying at Seaview Inn. When I mentioned to the owner that I’d run into a woman on the beach, she thought it might have been you.”
Her expression brightened. “Grandma Jenny’s still alive?”
“And going strong,” he confirmed.
“I thought I’d heard something about her great-granddaughter running the inn these days.”
“Kelsey and her husband have taken over the day-to-day operation, but make no mistake, Grandma Jenny is still in charge of the place,” he told her.
She smiled. “I’m so glad. I must have eaten about a million of her cookies over the years.”
“I’m closing in on that many and I’ve only been here a couple of months,” Seth confided. “That’s why I swim and run and go to the gym every day.”
“You told me this morning that you ended up here because of Luke. So you must know Hannah, too.”
“I do. She’s incredible.” Recalling his earlier conversation with Grandma Jenny, he felt compelled to add, “Luke and Hannah are amazing together.”
“I can imagine,” Abby said. “Nobody is more deserving of happiness than those two.” Her expression turned nostalgic. “We were all good friends once. Did you know that?”
“I’d heard.”
“I hope we can be again,” she said, a wistful note in her voice.
“Really?” he asked, unable to hide his skepticism.
Her gaze narrowed. “Did you hear that Luke and I were involved at one time? Is that why you felt the need to tell me how good they are together? And why you sounded just now as if us being friends would be impossible?”
“Grandma Jenny mentioned something about you and Luke being a couple,” he said. “As for me, I was just making conversation.”
“Really?” she replied doubtfully, then added, “It was a long time ago, Seth. Believe me, I didn’t come back to town with ulterior motives where Luke’s concerned.”
“Glad to hear it,” he said solemnly.
“I meant what I said, though. I do hope we can all be friends again. Seaview Key is a small town. I certainly don’t want things to be awkward for any of us.”
Since that decision certainly wasn’t up to him, Seth changed the subject. “You mentioned your name is Miller now. You’re married?”
“Divorced, actually. For about a year now, so well past the stage of crying myself to sleep.”
He was startled by her candor. “But earlier I got the sense that you were running away from the past.”
The baby whimpered in her arms. She instinctively rocked A.J. until he fell back to sleep, then met Seth’s gaze. “I prefer to think that I’m running toward something,” she countered. “Without boring you with the details, my marriage changed me. I came back here to see if there was any of the old me left.” She gave him a wry look. “It’s ironic, really, since I couldn’t wait to get away from Seaview Key and the old me and become a totally new person.”
“That didn’t turn out as well as you’d expected?”
“In many ways it did,” she contradicted. “In others, not so much.”
Just then Lesley Ann rushed over to the table with a glass of iced tea and a large soda for Seth.
“Sorry about the wait,” she apologized to Abby. “We had a tiny crisis in the kitchen.” She grinned at Seth. “I saw you come in and brought your usual. You work fast. How do you know Abby already? I know for a fact she just got back to town.”
He winked at Abby. “We met on the beach this morning. I was trespassing.”
“But I imagine you sweet-talked her into not calling the cops,” Lesley Ann said. She grinned at Abby. “Watch him. He’s a very smooth talker.”
Abby laughed. “I’ve already figured out that much.”
“So, two fish sandwiches?” Lesley Ann asked.
“Sure,” Seth said, then met Abby’s gaze. “If you don’t mind the company.”
“I’d love it,” Abby said.
“And I’ll take A.J. now, so you can relax,” Lesley Ann said, sweeping the baby into her arms. “Back in a flash with your food.”
“Did she always have that kind of energy?” Seth asked when she was gone.
“Head cheerleader, student council president and homecoming queen,” Abby said. “Lesley Ann was always a dynamo. Of course, I would have predicted she’d take on running the entire state of Florida, not become a mother of four.”
Seth laughed. “Who knows? Maybe one of these days she’ll do both. How about you? What did you do after you left Seaview Key?”
“College, then marriage,” she said. “I had a business in a small town outside of Pensacola.”
“What kind of business?”
“A restaurant,” she said, “which is why I know just how talented Lesley Ann and her father are. A lot of the things that made my restaurant successful I learned from watching them. It takes more than good food to become an indispensable part of the community the way this place is.”
“Do you still have the restaurant?”
She shook her head. “I sold it a few months ago, right after the divorce.”
“Wow! That’s a lot of life changes all at once.”
She shrugged. “It was time. I needed a clean break. What about you, though? Seaview Key must be quite a change from being on the front lines in Iraq.”
“And