Grant had been a sore subject between them from day one. “They’re my friends.” She glanced around the lobby, worried about the formidable Gansett Island gossip machine. As Cal had once been the island’s only doctor, everyone knew him—and her. “Would you please sit down?”

“I don’t want to sit. I’ve been sitting all day trying to get here on three different airplanes.”

“People are looking at us, Cal. I’m asking you to please sit and have a civilized conversation with me.”

“Let’s go to your room.”

“No.”

“I don’t understand what’s happened to you.” He ran his fingers through his blond hair in a frustrated gesture that further ramped up her anxiety. “That dress… It’s not you, and were you drinking? You don’t drink.”

“I do now, and this dress is me. It’s the new me.”

He took a second closer look at the dress, his gaze lowering to fixate on the new tattoo on her ankle. “Are you kidding me? You’re gone one day and now you have a tattoo? You’re hanging out with your ex-boyfriend’s family, drinking and wearing low-cut dresses?”

Abby had to remind herself they were in public, that people were watching. She kept her voice low. “I have two tattoos.” That wasn’t what she’d planned to say, but the words came out of their own volition.

His eyes bugged. “Are you having some sort of crisis or something? I wasn’t paying enough attention to you, so you come home and go nuts?”

“I’m not saying another word until you sit down and be quiet.”

He flopped into a chair. “There. Happy now?”

“For the first time in a really long time, I am happy. Thanks for asking.” As the words came out of her mouth, she realized they were true. The months of indecision over what to do about another relationship that wasn’t working were over. She’d made her decision, and now she intended to stick to it. “I’m happy to be home.”

“Your home is in Austin with me.”

She shook her head. “No, it isn’t. I’m sorry, but this is where I belong, and I’m not leaving again. I’ve done that twice now, and it hasn’t worked for me either time. Lesson learned.”

Mentioning her past with Grant was never a good idea where Cal was concerned, but history couldn’t be rewritten. “It doesn’t matter at all to you that I love you? That I want to marry you?”

Abby took a moment, choosing her words carefully. “I don’t believe you love me as much as you think you do. I believe you love the idea of me, waiting patiently at home for you to fit me into your busy schedule. I believe you actually love Candy. You’re in love with her.”