"Then you've been in the same spot?"

I nodded, remembering what it was like when I was on my own for the first time. "I've been there myself." After getting my first credit card, despite warnings from my family, I'd charged more than I could afford to spend. When the bill arrived I'd been shocked by exactly how much I'd managed to run up in a single month.

It got much worse before I came to my senses and destroyed the card. For a while I could ill afford to pay the interest on the debt, let alone make headway toward the princ.i.p.al. Then my hours were cut and all I earned went toward rent, groceries, and utilities. I didn't sleep. I fretted and worried. It was the most awful feeling not to be able to pay those bills. I never wanted to endure that again.

"Then you might reconsider ... if you've been where I'm at, you must understand how humiliating this is."

"I-"

I wasn't allowed to finish my thought.

All at once the front door burst open and Mark Taylor walked in unannounced. He paused in the foyer and took one look at Spenser and me. His eyes darkened as he headed directly for Spenser.

Spenser stood.

The two men stood nose to nose. "I believe we need to talk," Mark said gruffly and then added. "Outside. Now."

Spenser looked at me for an explanation, but I had none to give him. "Ah ... Mark," I started.

He ignored me. "Now," he repeated in a tone that didn't leave room for argument.

Spenser shrugged his shoulders and walked toward the door.

Mark followed, grabbing Spenser's coat off the peg on the way out.

I stood and looked out the window. I couldn't see either man, but I could distinguish raised voices. Hard as I tried, I couldn't make out what was being said.

After only a few minutes, I heard footsteps, followed a minute later by the sound of a car engine.

Spenser was leaving. Without a single word of farewell.

The next thing I heard was the sound of gravel crunching as he backed out of the driveway and drove away.

I hurried toward the front door to confront Mark and find out why he'd rushed into the inn like an angry mother bear protecting her cub.

Only he had left, too, his retreating figure moving quickly.

Chapter 15.

Abby had been worried about meeting Roger's fiancee, but Victoria had been sincere and gracious and so clearly in love with Roger that Abby couldn't help but like her. How fortunate her brother was to have found someone he was willing to commit to for the rest of his life.

The afternoon was speeding by and Abby wanted to change clothes before the rehearsal and the dinner that was scheduled to immediately follow it. Before leaving her brother, she'd learned that their cousin, Lonny, was serving as Roger's best man and his parents were staying at the same hotel as Abby's parents. With every detail she realized how much distance she'd put between her and her family. In retrospect, she couldn't believe she'd been so caught up in her own worries about the wedding that she hadn't even asked whom he'd chosen as his best man.

As she pulled into the driveway of the Rose Harbor Inn, Abby was struck again by what a lovely place this had turned out to be. The structure itself was amazing, overlooking the cove. However, it was far more than the beauty of the place that drew her to it. Abby felt like she was coming home each time she returned. Just being in the house seemed to affect her in a positive way. It was as if she was shucking off the burdens of the past right along with her wool coat when she walked in the door.

As Abby entered the foyer, Jo Marie stepped out of the kitchen to greet her. "Oh hi, I wondered when you'd be back," she said. "Did you have a good afternoon? When's the rehearsal?"

"I did." It was true. Abby had enjoyed herself. Running into Patty had been unexpected. Her onetime friend's reaction had gone a long way toward boosting Abby's spirits and her confidence. She was beginning to tentatively feel that coming home had been the right thing to do. As much as Abby had dreaded this wedding, she now found herself flirting with a sense of hope, of antic.i.p.ation that putting the accident behind her just might be a possibility.

When Abby looked up, she realized Jo Marie was looking at her. "I'm sorry, did you say something? I zoned out for a moment."

"Please, don't worry. I'm a little zoned out myself," Jo Marie said and then shook her head. "You'll have to forgive me. The oddest thing just happened. A ... former acquaintance stopped by and then someone else, someone I barely know, popped in. Then they both stepped outside and before I knew it they were gone. As far as I know they'd never met each other before and ... I ... I hardly know what to think."

Abby was grateful to have the subject shift away from her. "That is rather strange, isn't it?" she said, sympathetically.

"Really weird," Jo Marie said, shaking her head as though she was utterly perplexed by the entire event. Still seeming distracted, Jo Marie returned to the kitchen.

Glad to avoid any further delay, Abby headed up the stairs. In an effort to bolster her self-confidence, she'd splurged on two new outfits-one for the rehearsal and dinner and another for the actual wedding. She'd chosen a pink and white pant suit for the rehearsal. It had cost more money than she felt comfortable spending, but the salesclerk had raved about how good it looked on her, so Abby had succ.u.mbed.

If ever there was a time to feel positive about herself, it was now, facing her family and friends. The mental preparation was as important, if not more so, than the physical one.

Abby quickly changed clothes, refreshed her hair and makeup, and then sat on the edge of the bed, hands folded in her lap as she struggled to calm her pounding heart. It was all about to begin now. Within the next hour she'd be with her parents, visiting with relatives she hadn't seen in years.

After several minutes, Abby felt she was as ready as she was ever going to be. For good measure she squirted on her favorite perfume and headed out the door, amused by the thought that a squirt of expensive perfume would give her an edge.

"Have a wonderful time," Jo Marie called after Abby as she left the inn.

"Thank you." Abby's response was automatic, yet she wondered if enjoying these festivities would be possible. Her nerves were already on high alert, and she could feel the muscles along the back of her shoulders tightening with tension.

Abby arrived at the address Roger had given her, although she already knew where the Catholic church was located. It was the same church they'd attended when they lived in the area. The sanctuary, however, was new. A large cross dominated the front of the sprawling structure, centered on the roof above the double-wide doors leading into the building.

The church lot was almost deserted. Abby parked close to the entrance and heard laughter and good-natured banter floating down the hall from the sanctuary. Abby recognized Victoria's voice and realized that part of the wedding party had gathered in a room off the vestibule. Abby knew that Tamara, Victoria's younger sister, was the maid of honor, and that Victoria had chosen several close friends as her bridesmaids.

As soon as Abby entered the room, Victoria broke away from the wedding party and came to greet her. With her arm around Abby's waist, she brought her close and introduced her. "Everyone, this is Abby Kincaid, Roger's sister."

She was greeted with a chorus of welcomes and was instantly subjected to a number of questions.

"What was Roger like as a kid?" Tamara asked. "I mean, Victoria and I fought something terrible. Did you and Roger get along?"

Abby grinned, remembering how grateful she'd been to have a way to meet boys, all thanks to her brother. "We did in our own way ... he was the source of most of my early dates." Immediately Steve came to mind, her brother's college roommate. Like Patty and other friends, he'd made a number of efforts to connect after Angela's death but she'd ignored him, the same as she had everyone else.

"Roger and I argued a lot as kids, but it wasn't so bad when we got older."

"No, because he needed you in order to meet girls," her future sister-in-law joked. "That street goes two ways."

Abby tilted her head to one side and smiled again. How right Victoria was. "Exactly."

Abby found a chair in the corner and sat. She felt more comfortable sitting back and observing than she did being the center of attention. Watching Victoria with her friends was an endless source of entertainment. While Abby didn't know these women, she liked the way they fussed over Victoria, teasing and laughing together. Abby laughed, too, drawn in by their happiness.

Her parents were due to arrive any minute. By now they must have had time to drive to their hotel, check in, and change their clothes.

Briefly Abby wondered if her father still had the same double-breasted suit he'd worn to every formal occasion she could remember. One suit, he claimed, was all he would ever need. Abby's mother had talked up a storm in order to convince him to invest in another, but Tom Kincaid had insisted that wasn't necessary.

After a few minutes, Abby made an excuse and left Victoria and the other women in the wedding party. Without conscious thought she wandered into the church, drawn in by the sanctuary.

Standing in the middle of the center aisle, she looked around, taking in the modern features. Gone was the statue of the Virgin Mother holding the baby Jesus, her eyes gentle with a look of complete serenity. Jesus hanging on the cross, blood dripping from his pierced hands, was nowhere in sight either, although a large crucifix dominated the area behind the altar. The Stations of the Cross had a more modern look than she remembered. A lot had changed in the years she'd been away.

The altar was completely different, too. The elaborate marble top had been replaced with a wooden structure.

Abby tried to remember the last time she'd been to ma.s.s, and couldn't. After the accident she'd drifted away from the church, and from G.o.d.

She slipped into a pew in the back of the church and sat, soaking in the calming silence. Abby closed her eyes. The exhaustion she'd experienced that morning was gone and in its place had come a sense of antic.i.p.ation.

Antic.i.p.ation, not dread.

The realization struck her and once more she experienced a feeling of hope, a thin seedling of optimism, of ... healing. The tension she'd felt across her shoulder blades gradually eased.

She thought about praying the memorized prayers of her youth, but wasn't sure she would remember all the words. Praying, talking to G.o.d, felt foreign, awkward. She wasn't sure what to say or how to say it. Wasn't sure she even could.

When she'd first heard that Angela hadn't survived the car crash, Abby had cursed G.o.d. If anyone had to die, it should have been her. She'd been the one behind the wheel ... the one responsible. Anger had gripped her. A holy anger. A righteous anger. G.o.d had failed her. He'd failed Angela, too. It wasn't fair that her friend should have been killed and that two families had been torn apart.

Funny how time scrubs away such agony, weathering it through the years, like water rushing over rocks gradually smooths away the sharp, painful edges. What they said about time being the great healer was true, Abby realized. She had a long way to go, she knew, but she had made progress. This one small step, returning to Cedar Cove, had taken courage even if she'd been forced into it by this wedding. It felt as if G.o.d was telling her it was time to use the momentum of this visit to continue to pick up the pieces of her life.

The door to the sanctuary opened and Abby turned to see her mother peeking her head inside the door.

"Mom," she whispered. As a child she'd been taught never to speak out loud inside a church.

"Abby." Her mother walked inside and met Abby with open arms.

The two women hugged, their embrace tight as if they'd been lost and then found.

"I didn't know what to think when I couldn't find you," her mother whispered. "Victoria didn't know where you'd gone ... the sanctuary was the last place I thought to look."

"I've only been here a few minutes," Abby said, amused by her mother's reaction. A quick look at her watch told her she'd been in the sanctuary far longer than she realized. Almost half an hour.

"Oh look at you," Linda Kincaid whispered, leaning back to get a better view of her. "Oh, honey, you look just wonderful."

"Thank you." That salesclerk had been right. The pink and white outfit complemented her dark hair and eyes.

"It's just so good to see you," her mother continued, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"It hasn't been that long."

"Two years," her mother contradicted. "Two very long years."

Had it really? Abby found it incredible that the months had come and gone so quickly. It seemed like only a few weeks ago that her parents had flown to Florida for a visit.

"Christmas two years ago."

"I'm here now," Abby countered.

Again her mother hugged her. "It means so much to Roger and me that you agreed to attend the wedding. I ... I know how hard this is for you."

"It's better, Mom, much better," she said. "I ran into Patty."

"Patty Morris?"

"She's Patty Jefferies now and she's a pharmacist."

"Oh that's just wonderful. I'm surprised. I can remember you and Patty pouring over your biology books and her claiming she just didn't get it. And now she's a pharmacist?"

Abby nodded. "She and her husband, Pete, own the pharmacy."

"That's amazing." Her mother's smile was wide and approving. "Who would have believed it?"

"She seemed genuinely pleased to see me."

"Of course she was. You two were close all the way through school."

"Oh, Mom," Abby said, struggling to hide her amus.e.m.e.nt. Her mother was her constant support, her anchor. How could she have kept her at arm's length for so long?

"How is Patty?" her mother asked. "She's fabulous and she has twins."

"Twins. I'm telling you, Abby, if you or Roger don't make me a grandmother soon, I don't know what I'll do. I need grandchildren to spoil." Her laughter died away and she grew serious. "Are you dating anyone?" Within a matter of seconds, Linda pinned Abby with her laser look.

"Mother! No, I'm not dating, and if I was, I wouldn't tell you."

Linda shook her head as though thoroughly disgusted. "I don't know what it is with you kids," she lamented. "By the time your father and I were your age we had two children and a mortgage. When are you going to meet a nice man and settle down?"

Good question, and if Abby knew the answer she would have enjoyed sharing it with the rest of the world.

"Mom, listen. I told you about meeting up with Patty for a reason."

"Oh?"

"Patty's organizing a lunch with some of my old friends who still live in the area and she asked that you come, too."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. She's hoping to have her mother join us." Abby rattled off the names Patty had mentioned.

"I was on the school board with Kathy Wilson," her mother said. "She's Kelly Wilson's mother."

"I know Kelly," Abby said, amused now and struggling to disguise it.

Once again her mother hugged her. "I knew this wedding would bring our family back together again. I just knew it."

Abby wasn't ready to go quite that far, but she felt it was a start.