A Place to Call Home (15 page)

“What were you thinking anyway?” He scraped up some anger. At the moment, that emotion was safer than the other ones swirling around in his head. “You could have been hit by lightning. You could catch pneumonia—”

“Quinn?”

He barely heard her over the jackhammer of his heart.

Abby came up on her tiptoes and touched her lips to his. Smiled into his eyes.

“Thank you.”

“G
ood news.”

Quinn rolled over and scrubbed his eyes with the back of one hand. “Porter?” he said into the phone.

“Of course.” Alex sounded irritatingly cheerful at—Quinn squinted at his watch—five o’clock in the morning.

He felt as if he’d just fallen asleep. Probably because his conscience had kept him awake most of the night.

“This better be good,” Quinn muttered. “And it better not have anything to do with attaching tiny surveillance cameras to squirrels.”

“You’re fired.”

It took a moment for the words to register. “Fired?”

“Out of a job. Let go. Terminated,” Alex clarified almost cheerfully. “The police took the guy who’s been harassing me into custody last night. Caught in the act of sticking a wicked-looking knife into the back tires of my Viper, by the way.”

Wide-awake now, Quinn propped himself up on one elbow. “Who was it?”

There was a pause, as if Alex was surprised by the
question. “The younger brother of someone I fired about a month ago. Apparently he took issue with my decision and wanted to get revenge. He’s fifteen, though. Old enough to be charged as an adult.”

Alex sounded as if he wished he were able to sentence the teen himself. Quinn couldn’t help but compare that to the compassion Abby had shown Cody Lang.

“You know what this means, don’t you?” Alex continued. “You can pack up your tools and get back to the security business.”

Pack up his tools.

A week ago, he would have already been on his way back to Mirror Lake. But a week ago, he hadn’t known Abby.

“Great.” Quinn winced at his own lack of enthusiasm as he turned away from the sunlight streaming through the window.

He thought of all the work that needed to be done in the next two weeks so that Abby would have the inn ready for the Thomases’ anniversary celebration.

“What kind of strings are you going to have to pull to get Daniel to come back early?”

Silence. And then, “I’ll think of something.”

Something in Alex’s tone made Quinn wonder if he had another plan in mind. A prickle of unease skated down his spine.

“Daniel is going to come back, isn’t he?” he pressed. “Abby won’t have the inn ready in time if he doesn’t.”

“Really?” Alex didn’t sound surprised. “I warned her she was taking on too much.”

Everything clicked into place and Quinn’s frustration swelled. “You’re a master at pulling strings but you aren’t going to get Daniel to come back, are you? You
want
Abby to fail.”

“I want her to come to her senses,” Alex retorted. “I told you that she’s fragile. It’s my job to protect her.”

“Fragile?” Quinn repeated. “Abby is one of the strongest people I know. She’s been putting everything she has into this place. And it isn’t your job to undermine her decisions. It’s your job to support them.”

“You don’t understand what my job is. It’s not that I don’t support her decisions. It’s this particular decision. Abby doesn’t have what it takes to run a bed-and-breakfast. I want her to realize that before she gets in over her head.”

Were they talking about the same person here?

Quinn’s frustration propelled him out of bed and he stalked to the window. “I think you’re underestimating her. Quit playing the protective big brother card. If you loved her, you’d be spending your time and energy helping her get this place into shape, not trying to think of ways to get her back to Chicago.” Quinn didn’t bother to sugarcoat it. It wasn’t as if Porter could fire him twice.

“You don’t know anything about my family. And you’ve only known Abby a week. You don’t know anything about…”

“About what?”

“Her past.”

“She told me about your parents. I realize that you feel responsible—”

“I’m not talking about that,” Alex said tightly.

“Then what are you talking about? You got me into this. I think you owe me an explanation.”

“Fine.” Alex snapped the word. “Maybe if I do, you’ll understand where I’m coming from. Abby was abducted by a hotel employee when she was six years old.”

The air emptied out of Quinn’s lungs.

Abducted.

A dozen possible scenarios played out in his mind and every one of them added to the weight on his chest. “What happened?”

“My parents fired Sid after they caught him stealing. He bet on the horses. Had gambling debts that needed to be paid. The thing was, if he would have asked instead of taking the money, my dad would have helped him out.”

“He asked for a ransom.”

“No. He lured her away out of revenge. To prove to my parents that they weren’t untouchable. That bad things could happen to them, too. It took the police almost two days to find Abby. I was only thirteen at the time, but I remember the look on our parents’ faces when they found out she was missing. I think it was the first time they realized success comes at a price.”

Alex’s soft laugh, stripped of humor, hinted that he was under no such illusion. “Things changed in our family after that. No more open door policy at the hotels. No more treating the employees like family. They enrolled us in private schools. Mom and Dad couldn’t undo the past, but they did everything to make sure something like that would never happen again.”

They’d closed ranks, with Abby in the middle.

“Dad took me aside one day and told me that it was up to us to do everything we could to make sure nothing like that ever happened again.”

Alex had taken it to heart. Abby had been a teenager when their parents died, leaving her brother to carry that burden alone. No wonder he’d lost it when someone had started to harass him.

Quinn wondered if the Porters’ attempt to shield Abby from further harm had done just the opposite. They’d insulated her in an attempt to ease her fears—but Abby had been a child at the time. What if their actions had only served to affirm there was a reason to be afraid? A reason not to trust people.

He let out a slow breath. It hurt. “Does she remember?”

“Enough to cause a mild panic attack on occasion. She de
scribed it to me once. Sometimes they’re triggered when there are a lot of people around or someone she doesn’t know gets too close to her. She doesn’t trust easily. I’ve seen her at a party, laughing and having fun, and the next minute she leaves. Just like that. Now do you understand? Can you imagine her running a bed-and-breakfast? Strangers showing up at her door night and day. Living in the same house with her. It isn’t a good fit.”

Quinn plowed a hand through his hair and inadvertently touched a sensitive spot on the back of his neck. The place where his head had connected with the floor of the chapel the week before.

The first time he’d met her, she did seem uncomfortable when he got too close to her. And hadn’t he questioned Abby’s strong reaction when he’d surprised her that day in the chapel?

Not that this was the answer he’d wanted to hear.

“You’ve seen it, haven’t you?” Alex asked quietly. “You know what I’m talking about.”

Quinn had seen it. But he’d also seen other things. He’d seen Abby put aside her own misgivings and give a troubled boy a chance to prove himself. He’d seen her giving one hundred and ten percent to a business that would showcase her gifts and talents…and challenge her deepest fears.

He’d seen her faith.

“Believe me,” Alex continued. “This is what’s best for Abby. If she puts all this time and effort into the bed-and-breakfast and then realizes she can’t do it, she’s going to feel worse than if she hadn’t tried it at all.”

A movement caught Quinn’s eye. Abby and Mulligan were walking down to the lake. Given the fact that Abby had another long day ahead of her, there shouldn’t have been a bounce in her step. But there was.

In spite of all the obstacles, she believed God had brought her to Mirror Lake. Abby was doing exactly what Pastor Wilde had encouraged the congregation to do. To step forward in faith.

“I think you’re wrong,” he heard himself say. “You should come up here and take a look at what she’s done to the place. You’d be surprised.”

“No offense, O’Halloran, but she isn’t your problem anymore. It’s over. Mission accomplished. You can get back to your own business now.”

And stay out of his.

Quinn got the message, loud and clear.

So that was it. He was supposed to walk away. It’s what he’d planned all along. So why did the thought twist his stomach into a knot?

Because you thought Abby would be an assignment. You never thought you’d start to care about her.

Unbidden, the memory of her impulsive, petal-soft kiss came to mind. It had taken all Quinn’s self-control not to follow up with one of his own. Instead, he’d left a millisecond after he saw the dazed expression in Abby’s eyes when she realized what she’d done.

“I don’t have to remind you that our arrangement stays between the two of us,” Alex said.

“You just did.” Quinn’s gaze remained riveted on Abby. She’d kicked off her sandals and waded in the shallows, arms outstretched, face tilted toward the sun.

Was her brother right? Maybe being the proprietress of a bed-and-breakfast wasn’t the best career choice for someone who’d been through what Abby had. And if that were true, wouldn’t it be better to accept that now? To cut her losses and close the place down before she invested even more of herself?

Alex’s dry chuckle jerked him back to reality. “I have to admit, it’s been interesting working with you.”

Quinn didn’t need one more reminder that the past few days had been a job. Keeping an eye on Abby simply a means to an end.

“By the way, don’t be surprised if you get a phone call this morning.”

“Jeff Gaines.” The last thing Quinn wanted to think about was the condos. The bid he’d thought would solve all his problems.

Right.

“No. From your old boss at Hamlin Security.”

Quinn’s fingers tightened around the phone. “What did you do?”

“You give me way too much credit, O’Halloran,” Alex said dryly. “If you kept up with the news down here, you’d know that Serena Raynes checked into a private rehab facility over the weekend. Her older brother was formally charged with providing her with prescription drugs. You were right. And I’m pretty sure your old boss is going to call you and tell you that. After he swallows that mouthful of humble pie.”

Quinn braced one hand against the wall and closed his eyes.

Hamlin Security might want him back. He’d spent seven years of his life there—close to a promotion when Serena’s accusation had cost him his job.

“You have a chance to get your life back,” Alex said. “Everything you wanted.”

A week ago, Quinn thought he knew what he wanted.

Now he wasn’t so sure.

“I know you miss her.” Abby paused to pat Mulligan’s head, sympathetic to the mournful look in his eyes. “And no, I don’t know when they’ll be back.”

While supervising the deliverymen who’d arrived to unload the new furniture for the cabins, she’d seen Quinn put Lady in his truck and drive away.

Five hours ago.

Abby couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

He’d spent the entire morning and the better part of the afternoon putting dead-bolt locks on the doors of the lodge. Abby had bribed him into stopping for a lunch break with her, but Quinn used the time together to explain a design for a security system that would warn her if a car passed a certain point in the driveway. He’d also suggested surveillance cameras so she could see who was outside the door after regular business hours.

She’d been impressed, but not surprised, at how knowledgeable he was. Quinn would make a success out of O’Halloran Security.

When she’d told him that, he hadn’t looked as if she’d given him a compliment. Just the opposite.

The only reason she could find for the sudden change in his behavior was her decision to open the inn early for the Thomases’ anniversary party.

Or because you kissed him.

She groaned at the reminder.

Maybe she could plead temporary insanity, because she still wasn’t sure what had come over her. The gentle caress of his hand against her cheek? The velvet roughness of his voice while he lectured her about the danger of wandering around the woods in a thunderstorm?

The look of stunned surprise in his eyes after she’d kissed him remained etched in her memory. So was his response. By the time she drew another breath, the door had already closed behind him. Leaving her alone to deal with the fallout of her decision.

It was ironic, really, Abby decided now that she’d had a
chance to think about it. The woman leery of men, the woman who looked for ulterior motives and tested their sincerity, had been the one who’d thrown caution to the wind and initiated their first kiss….

First, last and only kiss, she silently amended as she peeled back a corner of the dish towel to check the bread dough.

She must have done something wrong because it remained as flat as her mood.

Maybe she should call Quinn’s cell phone and find out where he was and when he planned to return…

Ack.

Abby caught herself.

“Repeat after me. You are
not
Alex.”

And Quinn wouldn’t have left without a good reason. More than likely, he’d gone back to his own office to work on the security system he’d designed for the inn.

She gathered up some supplies and a cookbook. “Come on, Mulligan. We miss them but it doesn’t mean we should sit around and sulk all evening.”

The droop of the dog’s ears said that sulking was fine with him, thank you very much, but he trailed behind her as she went out the back door and headed toward the fire pit.

Thanks to Quinn’s helpful suggestions, Abby had a fire going in no time.

She fed tiny sticks into the flames and waited for that familiar feeling of contentment to sweep away the restlessness in her soul. The first stars winked above her. The mournful cry of a loon drifted across the lake. It was a perfect evening…except for one thing.

Quinn wasn’t with her.

A few nights ago, they’d sat together in this very spot and Quinn had told her about his father.