He was actually going to dunk the bread into the stew, but noticing the eager look in her brown eyes, he relented.He grabbed his knife and slathered butter over the still-warm bread.Immediately the butter softened.
The bread reminded him of visiting his grandmother when he was a kid.His gran loved to bake.Bread was her specialty.She’d slice him a piece and top it with butter and currant jelly.Mm…He hadn’t visited that memory in ages.
He took a bite of the bread, and it swept him back in time.As he chewed, his eyes closed.In his mind’s eyes, he was once more that innocent little boy back in his grandmother’s warm kitchen.It was before he knew how cruel the world could be.He missed those days.
“See.I told you it’s good.”Abby’s voice drew him back to the present day.
His eyes snapped open.When she looked at him with that I-told-you-so look on her beautiful face with a twinkle in her eyes, he felt a strange sensation in his chest.
“It is good.”He took another bite of the bread.He couldn’t decide which he liked more, the bread or the stew.But at the moment, he had more important matters on his mind.“Do you think Sadie was serious about having an engagement party?”
Abby’s brows scrunched together.“Why wouldn’t she be?”
He shrugged.“I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it back for the party.”
“But you have to.You’re the best man.”
“A best man that has obligations in Chicago.”
Ding.
He pulled his phone from his pocket.It had been going off during the tour of Bayberry, but he’d chosen to ignore it.He told himself that he was drawn in by the quaintness of the town, but it might have been the tour guide who had him ignoring his work.That didn’t happen often.In fact, it’d never happened before.
He liked his work.It was something he could rely on.Unlike some of the people who’d passed through his life, his work was always there and always in need of his attention.
As he checked his text messages, Abby asked, “Anything important?”
He shook his head as he put the phone face down on the tabletop.“Nothing that needs my immediate attention.”
Ding.
Ding.
Ding.
What was going on?He lifted his phone and checked his messages.He could feel Abby’s gaze on him, as though she were waiting for an update.
But the more he read, the more concerned he became.There was a problem with the server that housed the Rumor Quill, their publication.His assistant had already alerted their technical support.But he felt as though this was something that might need his attention.
After lunch, Abby said, “Do you want to continue the tour?”
He gave a quick shake of his head.“I can’t.There’s a business emergency.I’m going to head back to the B&B to work on things.”
“Do you want to meet up later to plan the party?”
He hadn’t been expecting that question.“I don’t think you want me helping with the party.It’s not my area of expertise.”
“But you’re the best man.”
A frown pulled at the corners of his lips.He had a feeling he was going to hear that line a lot over the next several months until the wedding in May.“I can’t this evening.I’m having dinner with Reed and Sadie.”
“That’s okay.We can do it before.How about four o’clock at the coffeehouse?”She sent him a smile, as though she’d solved all of his problems.
She was practically impossible to deny.It would give him a few hours to work.“Okay.”
Ding.
He glanced at his phone.There was another problem with the newspaper’s software.He couldn’t tell without digging into things if this was one big problem or a bunch of non-related problems.His finger moved rapidly over the screen as he typed a response to his assistant.
