Husbands, Husbands...Everywhere!. Sharon Swan

      “But not charming enough to win over the folks, huh?”

      “No.” Her eyes took on a twinkle. “They had someone far more conservative in mind, a corporate type complete with three-piece suit. Which you definitely were not. You won me over, however, if that’s any consolation. It wasn’t the easy charm that did it, though. It was the way you and Abby looked at each other when you called her…”

      “When I called her what?” Ryan prompted at the hesitation, his curiosity stirred.

      She shook her head. “It’s not important—and not strictly my place to tell you, when you come right down to it. The main thing is, there was the kind of spark between you two that not every couple experiences, not by any means. I felt it once when I was a much younger woman, but I married someone else, because my parents begged me to be sensible, and I listened. I’m not saying I wasn’t content with my late husband. He was a good person. But contentment is no substitute for love.” A soft smile curved her mouth. “Luckily the man I gave up came back into my life recently and swept me off my feet.”

      “That would be the cowboy Ethel mentioned.”

      “Yes. His name is Bill.” Gail’s expression sobered. “Bill and I planned to work full-time fixing up the place he bought on the outskirts of the city. Right up to the day before the wedding, that was our intention. And then everything changed.”

      “Mind expanding on that?” Ryan asked when she halted.

      She ran her tongue over her lips, as if debating whether to say more before she shrugged and went on. “My goddaughter, having already resigned from her job in Phoenix, had agreed to come up for the wedding in late April, help look after things in my absence, and then spend the rest of May here in order to give herself time to decide on becoming partners with me and managing the bed and breakfast. It would have been perfect for her. For all of us, in fact. Bill and I would be free to live out at his place, while Ethel, who needs a job, since her late husband didn’t leave her much, stayed on here. And Abby would have an ideal spot in a friendly family neighborhood to raise Cara.”

      Ryan nodded to himself, thinking that he now had a good hunch what had scuttled the whole thing. “And then a certain doctor entered the picture.”

      Gail’s gaze sharpened. “So she told you about—”

      “The new fiancé? Uh-huh.” She had, in fact, Ryan thought, relished telling him about it.

      “Well, that’s what happened the day before the wedding,” Gail continued. “Abby phoned and asked if she could bring a guest, and then broke the news that she had just become engaged.”

      “Which put a huge damper on your plans,” Ryan summed up.

      She sighed a long sigh. “Lord, I wish it were that simple. I’d give up whatever plans I had in a heartbeat if they stood in the way of her happiness, believe me. The problem is that this man is all wrong for her.”

      Ryan felt his brows make a fast climb. “You mean the good doctor isn’t so good?” For some reason it pleased him, more than a little, to think that the guy was a jerk.

      Gail squashed that notion in the next breath. “I mean that he’s as handsome as sin and has a list of virtues an angel might well envy. Abby’s parents gushed all over him at my wedding. But, as far as I’m concerned, he’s still not right for her. There’s no…spark.”

      As there had been with him. At least he had that satisfaction, Ryan told himself, aiming his gaze past the window to look out at bright sunlight. Not that it should make any difference to him. And not that it apparently did to Abby. Whether she was engaged to the right guy or not, husband number one no longer seemed to be striking any sparks.

      Or she’d gone out of her way to give that impression.

      “Do you still care about her?” Gail asked quietly, regaining his attention.

      “I don’t know.” It was all he could say. “Hell, I don’t even know who I am, not really.”

      But he wanted her. That much he recognized full well, especially after spending the last half of the night in a room only steps from hers and wondering how it had felt to have her stretched out under him. His body wouldn’t have objected to finding out, that was certain. His brain, on the other hand, wasn’t flat-out sure of anything. “Right now, I only know who other people tell me I am—or was. Can you understand that?”

      Gail shook her head. “I don’t suppose anyone could who hasn’t been in your situation. I do understand, though, that I care deeply about my goddaughter. I am thankful that she’s agreed to spend the rest of the month here, as planned. I can only hope she’ll think long and hard about this engagement, because I would hate to see her make another mistake.” She released another sigh. “I was once so sure you were the right man for her.”

      His sudden smile was wry. “Someone told me coming here would make a new man of me.”

      Gail rose to her feet and studied him for a long moment. “Maybe it will,” she said at last with a thoughtful frown.