Abby Ch 27

Passion In James County XI: Abby

Chapter twenty-seven

"Don't you think it's about time you start dating again?" The question was posed to Abby by Leila Wilkes, a therapist Abby had been seeing for most of the nine months that had passed since the day Ellen Coughlin almost killed her. Leila was slim, rather severe-looking, but very easy to talk to. Abby felt she'd gotten a lot from her sessions with the woman.

Since that awful day, Abby had settled in at the cabin at the lake and, with Greg's assistance, she had found a nursing job in the emergency department of Victorville Community Hospital.

She'd also filed for divorce and found that her husband was more than willing to dissolve their marriage with no more cost to him than the cabin at the lake. In fact, thanks to the fact that Lee had done surgery on the judge handling the case and the wife of the court clerk, the divorce had already gone through the courts and would be final in another two days.

"I suppose, maybe, I should," Abby said. "It's just..."

"It's just what?" Leila asked. "Abby, you're a very attractive woman, you can't tell me nobody's asked you out in the last nine months."

"A couple of the EMT's and cops who come in to the E.R. have asked," she said, "And one of the doctors has been asking me out, too, but..."

"What about Greg, that neighbor of you're always talking about?" Leila asked. "Judging from the way you talk, you spend a lot of time with him. Hasn't he ever asked you out?"

Abby shrugged. "I...I don't know," she replied. "I mean, Greg and I are friends. I think he may be the best friend I've ever had. I...I know we spend a lot of time together, but it's never, you know, gone beyond friendship."

"Do you want it to?" Leila asked.

Abby looked at her therapist, a bit surprised by the woman's question. "What...what do you mean, do I want it to?" she asked.

"I thought it was a pretty simple question," Leila said, "Would you like it if your relationship with Greg went beyond friendship?"

"I...I haven't really thought much about it," Abby said.

"You haven't?" Leila asked. She smiled. "Abby, if you want me to think believe that, I'm not sure whether you're trying to con me or yourself."

Abby sat there, pondering Leila's observation. In fact, she did spend a lot of time thinking about Greg and a lot of time in his company. They had coffee and breakfast every morning, either at her place or his. And, unless Greg happened to be working, they had dinner together every night. Greg seemed to find a lot of reasons to be at the hospital when she was working, too. In addition, they'd also been doing a lot of other things together. She had been helping Greg get his firewood split and stacked, and he kept her yard mowed and did a lot to help her salvage what they could from the charred ruins of her garage.

"You looked pretty thoughtful, there, Abby," Leila said. "What were you thinking about?"

Abby felt her face get hot. "I...I was thinking about my relationship with Greg, actually," she admitted.

"And...?" Leila asked.

"It's...it's kind of odd," Abby said, "I mean, I see more of Greg every day than I used to see of my husband the last two or three years I was married to him. We have breakfast and dinner together almost every day, and when we're not working, we spend a lot of time doing things around our houses."

"From what you've told me about him, this Greg sounds like a nice guy," Leila said.

"He's wonderful," Abby replied. "He's so thoughtful, too. Last month, on my birthday, he gave me a bouquet of daffodils, my favorite flower. And he cooked me my favorite dinner. And he's someone I can talk to about anything. I...I'm not sure I've ever had a friend I trust as much as I trust him."

Leila grinned and shook her head. "Abby, I wish you could see and hear yourself," she said. "But you really don't see it, do you?"

"See what?" Abby asked.

"I could be totally wrong, but I doubt it," Leila said, "but it looks and sounds to me like you're in love with the guy. Not that I blame you. If he's half as good as you say he is, he's a helluva guy."

Abby smiled and nodded. "He's everything I told you," she said, "Even when Lee was being attentive to me, he was never as attentive as Greg is."

"How does he feel about you?" Leila inquired.

"I...I don't know," Abby replied.

"What do his actions tell you about his feelings?" Leila persisted.

Abby shrugged and felt her face getting hot.

"Is he dating?" the therapist continued.

Abby shrugged. "I...I don't know," she admitted. "I...I guess I never really thought about it. But, now that I think about it, I'm not sure he is." Actually, given the amount of time she and Greg were spending together, he really didn't have time to be seeing anyone else.

"Would it bother you if he was seeing someone?" Leila queried.

Abby thought for a few minutes, then she nodded slowly. "Actually, if I tell you the truth, I guess it would," she said.

"So what are you going to do about your situation?" Leila asked, smiling.

"I...I don't know," Abby said, "I mean, I'm not sure if Greg feels the same way about me that you say I...that I feel about him."

Leila continued to grin at Abby. "And what if he does feel the same way?"

"If he does, and I'm not sure that's true," Abby said, "What am I supposed to do? Seduce him?"

"That would be one solution," Leila said, "You could invite Greg over for a candle-lit dinner, and surprise him by wearing a really sexy outfit. You never know what might happen if you did something like that."

Abby felt herself blushing. "I...I could never do something like that!" she exclaimed. "I...I just couldn't."

Leila glanced at the clock on her desk. "Well, as much as I'd like to continue working on this with you, Abby, our time is up," she said. "Tell you what, I'm going to give you a homework assignment. Between now and when you come in next week, come up with a couple of ways to let Greg know how you feel about him that you'd be comfortable with."

"O...OK," Abby said. "I guess I can do that."