Getting What You Want

Book 1: Stepp Sisters

by Kathy Love

Genres: Family Life; Women's Fiction; Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

In this delightful, heartwarming novel, Kathy Love introduces the Stepp sisters, three women whose lives are about to take a turn for the wild, the unpredictable, and the absolutely enchanting. . . Meet Abby. Note To Self: Remind me to have my head examined. What exactly possessed me to come home to Millbrook, Maine, where nothing changes but the weather? Oh, right. A six-month grant to do genetics research at Rand laboratories. What can I say--I'm a smart girl. And smart girls get what they need and get out again. Smart girls don't dream, they settle. And smart girls do not get completely tongue-tied while holding a basket of fried clams when they bump into the most gorgeous man they haven't seen in fifteen years: Chase Jordan. Remind me to have my hormones removed. Chase Jordan. Town bad boy. Rebel with a cause to show up in my dreams unannounced. Oh boy, this is not good. Not smart. It's like high school all over again. But in a good way. A heart-thumping way. An I-have-no-idea-what's-going-to-happen way. A way that's making me feel like maybe settling for what I have isn't so smart. . .but really going after what I want is the craziest thing I may ever do. . .

Release date: April 6, 2010

Publisher: Zebra Books

Print pages: 352

Sample

“I just can’t believe you’re home!” Ellie exclaimed for the umpteenth time.

Abby laughed. “Geez, you’re acting like I haven’t seen you in years.”

“I haven’t see you in this kitchen for years. And to be honest, I never thought I would.”

“Well, to be honest, I never thought you would either. Funny how things work out.” Of course, there was nothing very funny about this situation at all.

The teakettle on the stove began to whistle, and Abby pushed up from the table to tend to it, waving for Ellie to stay put.

No, she hadn’t set foot in this old house since the day she left for Boston University. That was nearly fifteen years ago.

She turned the dial on the back of the stove, noting that it still stuck slightly. Automatically, she went to the cupboard to the right of the range and got down two mugs. Both were chipped and stained from age and use. She moved to the avocado-green canisters lined up on the counter, pulled off the lid of the middle one and took out two tea bags.

Pausing, she looked at Ellie with startled amazement. “Absolutely nothing has changed here.”

“I’ve made some changes,” Ellie said, a tad defensively, but then shrugged. “There are things that Grammy always had a certain way, and I saw no reason to change them.”

Abby shook her head. “It’s like stepping back in time. I’m not sure I like it.”

Ellie smiled, accepting the cup and spoon Abby offered her. “Well, I like it.” She started to lift a heaping spoonful of sugar toward her cup, then paused and shook most of the white granules back into the bowl. She stirred the small amount left into her tea. “I love this old place.”

Abby smiled, but a wave of sadness washed over her. Ellie had stayed in Millbrook to care for their grandmother. After Grammy passed away, she claimed to stay because of her job at the library. Abby knew Ellie wasn’t comfortable with change, but she always felt Ellie could be much happier somewhere else. Somewhere far away from the painful memories of their childhood.

Ellie started to reach for one of the cookies she had set out earlier, but stopped, instead taking a sip of her tea.

Abby knew it was the lingering effects of that childhood that caused her sister to skip the cookie. Ellie had always been a bit chubby, but she was by no means fat. In fact, she was very pretty like a sweet-faced cherub, but Ellie couldn’t see that. She was forever trying to diet.

“How long are you planning to stay?” Ellie asked, pushing the plate of cookies toward her.

As short a time as possible, Abby thought, but she didn’t say it. She knew Ellie would be hurt that her desire to leave Millbrook was stronger than her desire to be with her sister.

“I’ll be here for at least four months, depending on how smoothly the grant project goes. Working with Dr. Keene is a great opportunity, and I expect our research to go well. He’s quite renowned in my field of study.”

“It must be a dream come true for you,” Ellie said, a wistful quality to her voice.

Abby didn’t respond immediately. Certainly this job opportunity was what she had been working for all her life, but was it a dream come true? Abby didn’t really have dreams anymore. She’d long since given up dreams for goals and wishes for reality.

“It is a huge honor for Dr. Keene to choose me out of all the scientists working on this particular research.”

“A lot of other scientists are clamoring to study the genes of mice?” Ellie wrinkled her nose.

“Yes, they are.” Abby mocked her sister’s disgusted look.

Ellie grinned, dimples deepening in her round cheeks. “You should be very proud of yourself. In fact, we should go out and celebrate the occasions.”

“Plural? What occasions?”

“Firstly, you getting this prestigious position, and secondly, you actually setting foot back in Millbrook to accept it.”

Abby shook her head. “I guess that does warrant a bit of a celebration. Where would you suggest?”

Ellie raised her eyebrows expectantly.

Abby frowned, unsure what Ellie was waiting her to say. Then it dawned on her. “You’ve got to be kidding. The Afternoon Delight is still in business?”

Ellie laughed. “You forget this is Millbrook, Maine. Nothing changes but the weather. Speaking of which, let me grab a sweater before we go. I’ll be right back.”

Abby shook her head with a rueful smile. She really couldn’t believe she was sitting in her childhood home again. And she was about to go to the snack bar that she’d worked at all through high school.

She had worked so hard to escape this place, and now the very thing she’d pursued to enable her getaway was the same thing that brought her back. She’d almost turned down the research position, but then she realized she was being ridiculous. She’d survived eighteen years here—she certainly could endure another few months.

“Ready?” Ellie asked, reappearing with a sweater over her arm.

Abby forced a bright smile. “Let’s go.”

The drive to the Afternoon Delight was so familiar, it was as if Abby had just ridden there yesterday. The residential streets were still lined with huge oaks. Main Street still hosted run-down shops, and the local kids still hung out in the parking lot of the Dairy Palace.

“So, how are things with Nelson?” Ellie asked as they passed the high school. Its red brick walls were still faded and worn.

“Fine,” Abby said automatically.

“He must be upset you’re going to be gone for so long.”

Nelson upset? Not likely. Nelson was a focused man. His career was first and foremost. It might take him a couple months to even realize she wasn’t around.

“He’s very busy with his own research.”

Ellie pulled into the parking lot of a white and green A-framed building perched on a hill overlooking the frothy waters of Fiddlehead Bay. Several people waited at the order windows lining the front of the structure.

Ellie put the car into park and twisted in her seat to face Abby. “It doesn’t bother you that you two have been together for years, and I’ve only met him—what? Four times, if that.”

“Well, like I said, he’s a very busy man.”

“Too busy to get to know the family of the woman he loves?”

Love—Abby suspected that emotion was too impractical for Nelson.

“Nelson and I agree that our careers are the most important thing right now. That’s why we’re together. Our priorities are the same.”

Ellie pulled a face. “That’s not terribly romantic.”

Abby shook her head at Ellie. Her sister was forever the romantic. But Abby’s relationship with Nelson went beyond silly starry-eyed idealism. They were together because they had common interests, common goals. He was a natural and sensible choice for a partner.

Ellie sighed. “I don’t think we are going to agree on the important points of relationships.”

“Probably not.”

“Then let’s eat,” Ellie said, readily dropping the subject. She wasn’t the type to start an argument. Normally, that particular trait bothered Abby. She wanted her sister to stand up for her beliefs. But on this occasion, she was quite content with her sister’s submissive temperament. Discussing Nelson with Ellie made the relationship seem—cold.

Nelson was quickly forgotten as Abby approached her old place of employment. They placed their order at the screened windows and went to sit at one of the many picnic tables on the grassy hill beside the restaurant.

“It looks exactly the same,” Abby marveled.

Ellie smiled. “The food is pretty much the same too. Fried, salty and utterly fattening.”

“Well, why mess with perfection.”

Abby watched the sun sparkling off the saltwater and had to admit that the view really was a bit of perfection. A perfect scene in an otherwise imperfect place.

Just then a loudspeaker crackled to life. “Number 251, your order’s ready.”

“That’s us. I’ll get it,” Abby said.

“Ask for extra ketchup,” Ellie called after her.

As she approached the pickup window, she noticed a man leaning against the counter, his back to her. Abby wasn’t the type of woman to ogle men, but this particular male was fairly hard to ignore. His lean, muscled torso was covered by a tight, white tank leaving his broad, tanned shoulders bare, and faded jeans encased long legs and a firm behind.

Abby could feel her cheeks flush and tore her gaze away from the man. Blatantly staring at strange men, beautiful or otherwise, wasn’t her style.

“Number 251,” she said, trying to stay focused on the gawky teenager behind the screened window.

The kid slid a tray laden with white Styrofoam containers and two paper cups toward her.

“May I get more ketchup, please?” she asked. As she waited for the teen to get the additional condiments, she felt a prickling sensation creep up the back of her neck. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the stranger that she had been looking at was now looking at her.

“Here you go.” The teen dropped a handful of white packets onto the tray.

“Thanks.” Quickly picking up her food, Abby started back toward Ellie, but a rich, chocolaty voice that even fifteen years couldn’t erase from her memory stopped her.

“Abby? Abby Stepp, is that you?”

Abby slowly turned back to look up into pale blue eyes that were as mesmerizing as the voice.

“Well, damn. It is you. How are you?”

Abby remained silent for a moment, overwhelmed by the sight before her. The front view was even better than the rear. His icy-blue eyes were still fringed by sinfully long, dark lashes, and a dimple deepened in his left cheek as a slow, sexy smile curved his lips.

“It is Abby Stepp, right?”

Abby nodded, but words still evaded her.

The sultry smile slipped a bit as his dark brows drew together quizzically. “I’m sorry—do you remember me?”

Again, she managed another nod. Remember him? Of course she remembered him. Ellie had said nothing in this town ever changed, and she’d been absolutely right. Chase Jordan was still the most gorgeous man Abby had ever seen.

Okay, Abby thought, you need to stop acting like a mindless twit—right now. He’s just a man. And she’d been talking to men—quite coherently—for years. Granted, not such beautiful men, but men nonetheless.

“I’m Chase Jordan,” he said after several seconds passed, and she still hadn’t managed to get her uncooperative thoughts under control. A full-fledged frown creased his forehead when she still didn’t respond. “We graduated together.”

Get your act together, gal. He thinks you are a simpleton. Abby straightened and smiled slightly, although both actions felt odd, as if her brain didn’t really have control over her body.

“I remember you,” she said.

“So what brings you back to these parts?”

“Work.”

“Great. What type of work?”

“Research.”

“Over at Rand Labs?”

“Yes.” How could simple one-word answers require so much concentration?

“Great. Great.” His eyes no longer appeared their usual pale blue but rather a mute gray color like brushed steel. His voice was nearly as cool. “Well, they just called my number. Good to see you.”

He walked to the pickup window.

Abby remained rooted to the spot, unsure what to do now. She suddenly felt like she was back in the school cafeteria, lunch tray in hand, unsure whom to talk to, unsure where to sit.

You are no longer that pathetic girl, she told herself. Your school days are long behind you. You are a successful person, a scientist respected by your peers. You aren’t here to impress your old classmates. You are here to do a job.

Who cares if Chase Jordan still finds you so uninteresting that he flees after five seconds’ worth of conversation?

She turned without a second glance toward him and headed back to the picnic table.

Abby Stepp. Now there was a blast from the past. Chase hadn’t seen her since their high school graduation. He could still recall her standing at the podium, her huge, plastic-framed glasses sliding down her nose as she gave her valedictorian address.

He remembered thinking he should be the one giving that speech—after all, everyone knew Abigail Stepp was going to graduate. It was far more amazing that he had.

He could still see the bright red blotches staining Abby’s cheeks as some of the kids mocked her speech. They had been anxious to party, not listen to the class overachiever go on and on. It may have been rude, but he imagined it was a common enough occurrence.

He tossed the grease-stained paper bag containing his dinner, fried clams and coleslaw, onto the seat of his old, rusty pickup truck and climbed in behind it. He started to turn the key in the ignition, then stopped to look across the parking lot to the picnic area where Abby sat with her sister.

Chase didn’t recall seeing her at any of those graduation parties. It wasn’t a shock. Abby had never quite fit in with the other kids at Millbrook High. In fact, she never really fit in throughout school. She was always studying, or if she was socializing, it was only with her sisters. She’d had a way of making the other kids think she considered herself better than them.

He studied her stick-straight posture as she sat at the picnic table. She looked like she should be in a fancy five-star restaurant rather than eating greasy fried food with her fingers.

Apparently she hadn’t changed much. She still seemed cold and unapproachable. She’d been as interested in talking with him as talking to a rotting stump. Actually a stump might have been more intriguing to her. Yep, it seemed that Abby Stepp was still the unfriendly person he remembered.

A salty breeze blew off the water and caught several strands of her dark hair, causing it to glint red in the afternoon sun. She reached up to brush the locks from her cheek, and Chase could see the elegant movement of her hand and the flawlessness of her profile.

He frowned at his thoughts. He didn’t remember finding Abby an attractive girl in school. In fact, he recalled that she had been rather homely, a bit too tall and chunky. But she didn’t seem either of those things now. She was actually rather pretty—in a prim way.

It had been her curved body displayed nicely in her tailored white shirt and dark blue cotton pants that had initially caught his attention. It had taken a few moments to realize who she was.

He studied her profile for a moment longer, until he noticed Ellie, looking in his direction. With a friendly smile at Ellie—Abby didn’t turn to look—he nodded and started his truck, which sputtered a few times before it roared to life.

He pulled onto the winding road that led to town, although his mind wasn’t on the drive, but back on Abby.

Maybe he had been too quick to decide nothing about her had changed. Her looks definitely had. She really did look awfully good.

Hell, why was he fixating on the looks of a woman who had basically blown him off? Life was too short to waste his time on women who weren’t interested. Besides, he had more important things to think about, like where he was going to get his hands on the brass doorknobs for the Martins’ renovated upstairs. He’d had a devil of a time getting the bedrooms back to their original condition.

He could always order reproductions if he had to, but he preferred to get the real fixtures if he could. This weekend he’d have to hit a few antique stores outside of Bangor and see what he could find.

He hated to admit it, but Abby’s cold reaction did rub him the wrong way. It wasn’t the usual response he got from the opposite sex. Not that he considered himself irresistible or anything, but he did seem to get his fair share of appreciative reactions from women.

He turned into the driveway of his house, a huge Victorian he was restoring in his spare time. The stairs of the back stoop creaked in protest as he bounded up them and threw open the heavy storm door. His huge, fluffy golden retriever, Chester, was waiting for him with one of Chase’s dirty socks hanging from his mouth.

“Thanks for the gift, Chester,” he said, scuffing the dog’s large head, then pulling the sock from him. “That’s the best greeting I’ve had all day.”

He really needed to let the whole Abby thing go. So the lady doesn’t like you. There are plenty of people who don’t care for you, and you don’t give them another thought. But even as he thought it, he knew this particular person wasn’t going to be as easy to avoid.

He threw his dinner on the kitchen counter. He knew the clams wouldn’t be nearly as tasty cold, but he needed a shower. The hot water would relax his sore muscles and hopefully clear his mind of these strange thoughts about Abby Stepp.

With Chester close at his heels, he headed upstairs, tugging his T-shirt over his head as he went.

He entered a large bathroom done completely in white tile. Turning on the showerhead in an antique-footed bathtub, he sighed.

A long shower was going to feel great.

He took off the remainder of his clothing and stepped into the steaming water. He closed his eyes and groaned appreciatively. The hard pressure of the water did feel wonderful.

Then an image of Abby peeling off her white blouse and cotton trousers and joining him in the hot spray flashed into his mind.

With another groan, this one distinctly frustrated, he reached for the faucet knobs. So much for a nice hot shower, he thought as much, much cooler water sluiced over his overheated body.

“I thought I saw you talking to Chase Jordan at the restaurant.” Ellie, of course, knew Abby had. She had waited the entire meal for her sister to mention it, but she hadn’t. Ellie simply couldn’t wait any longer.

Abby turned her head from where she sat looking out the window of the car with a faraway expression that Ellie knew well.

“Yes,” she said. “I spoke with him briefly.”

Ellie waited for her to elaborate, but it didn’t seem that Abby intended to. “He looks great, doesn’t he?”

“Does he? I didn’t notice.”

Ellie held back a smile. She was willing to bet Abby noticed all right. She had been preoccupied throughout their entire dinner, and Ellie didn’t think it was the ratio of clams to fries that had been on her mind.

“Does he still live in Millbrook?” Abby asked, the question revealingly casual.

Ellie couldn’t contain her smile this time. “Yeah, he still lives here.”

Silence passed.

“What does he do for work?” Again the question was posed under the guise of polite disinterest.

“He owns a construction company. He focuses mainly on restoring old houses. He did the Tate place. It looks beautiful,” Ellie said.

Abby simply nodded, but Ellie could tell she was intrigued.

“Now he’s working on a house up on the Bar Harbor Road. He has restored the outside, and he’s doing the interior now. I hear it looks wonderful.”

More silence.

“So did he end up marrying Summer-Ann Bouffard?”

Ellie’s smile faded. “No, no he didn’t. I think things ended rather badly for them.”

Abby feigned a look of horror and clapped a hand to her chest. “Cupid’s Couple didn’t make it? Please tell me it isn’t so.”

Ellie smiled slightly and shook her head. “Your sympathy is over whelming.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t know either Chase or Summer-Ann very well, so it’s a bit hard to get too emotional over it.”

Ellie remained silent for a moment. She didn’t like to meddle in other people’s lives. It wasn’t her style, but she knew Abby had had a crush on Chase Jordan all the way through high school. Ellie had known back then, but never mentioned it. She had been nursing her own rather sizable crush on someone unobtainable, and she certainly didn’t want anyone to ask her about it.

So she’d never brought up Abby’s crush on Chase. But now, she felt like she had to try and discover if her sister was still attracted to him. She couldn’t bear to think of Abby spending her life with a passionless, dull man like Nelson.

She knew Abby would think she was being a hopeless romantic, and maybe she was, but she believed everyone deserved nothing less than true love. After all, it was the theme of so many books, plays and poems that it had to be an absolute truth, right?

“Outside of Cupid’s Couple, didn’t Chase get another senior superlative in your high school yearbook?” she asked.

Abby shrugged. “I don’t recall.”

“I’m sure he did.” Ellie pretended to ponder the subject. “Oh, yes. He got Class Clown too.”

Without hesitation, Abby said, “No, he didn’t. He got Prettiest Eyes.”

“Are you sure you didn’t know Chase well?” Ellie asked, gently.

Abby didn’t respond. She turned and looked back out the window.

As soon as they got home, Abby excused herself under the pretext of needing to get her clothes unpacked. Truthfully, she needed to get away from Ellie and her leading questions. She needed to be alone.

Why on earth was her sister suddenly so chatty about Chase Jordan? Yes, she did see him at the restaurant. Yes, she did talk with him. Why did Ellie seem to find the encounter so significant?

If anything, Abby would rather have just forgotten the whole incident. It brought back all the reasons why she didn’t want to return to this wretched little town in the first place. The man spoke to her, and she suddenly acted like English wasn’t her first language. She acted exactly like she had in high school.

Abby sighed and fell back onto her bed. The springs squeaked like they had every night of her childhood. Why should she be surprised? Things really did not change in Millbrook, Maine.

She curled onto her side, dragging the blankets with her, cocooning herself in familiar scents of lavender and fresh breeze. The homey smells seemed to soothe her frayed nerves, and she let her eyes drift shut. She needed to rest a moment.

Within minutes, she was dozing, caught in a place between reality and dreams.

It was May 30th, 1988. She was standing outside Millbrook High School. Parents hugged their graduating children, smiling proudly and snapping pictures.

She looked down at herself. The gold of her Honor Society sash stood out garishly against the maroon material of her cap and gown.

“Congratulations, sweetie,” a voice said. Abby turned to respond, but when she did, she realized the person was talking to another student. Abby immediately looked away.

She continued to watch the scene before her. The happy grins of the graduates and the pleased looks on their parents’ faces made her feel envious and out of place. It was times like these when she missed her parents the most. Her grandmother had wanted to attend the ceremony, but her health had prevented it. And even with her sisters there, Abby still felt terribly, terribly alone.

Then she saw him. Chase leaned against the school wall. He was smoking a cigarette and looking bored with the whole event. He took a drag of the cigarette, closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the bricks. The action knocked his cap forward over his eyes. With irritation, he tugged it off and tossed the cap, tassel and all, into the trash can beside him.

His response would have been rather humorous, except Abby felt his behavior went beyond mere annoyance with the cap. He looked upset, hurt even.

Suddenly, Chase Jordan seemed to be just as alone as she was.

“Your speech went great,” Ellie said, and Abby stopped watching Chase to glance at her sister.

“Thanks,” she said distractedly.

“Yeah, I liked that analogy you made between high school and MTV. It was very hip of you,” Marty informed her.

“Thanks,” Abby said again, but her attention was already back on Chase.

A group of their classmates now encircled him. His usual easy smile was in place and his posture held its customary negligent grace. Whatever signs of unhappiness that had been there were now gone, if they’d ever been there to begin with.

She’d obviously imagined it. After all, what did Chase Jordan have to be upset about?

“Super speech, Abs” a sickly sweet voice said from beside her.

Abby turned to find Summer-Ann Bouffard and two of her clique, Patty and Candace, grinning at her.

Abby stared for a moment, all logical thought seeming to vanish from her mind. E. . .