Alec observed gently as he gave Abby a distressed look. The salad she’d prepared for herself was barely touched. Unlike her, Alec had eaten as if starved, consuming four hamburgers, a huge mound of mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. Abby frowned and nervously fingered her fork. “I know.” He took the utensil out of her hand. “Let’s go to your garden and talk,” he suggested rising. Abby nodded, barely able to think, her heart screaming at him to stay with her the next five days. Some of the tension eased as he placed his arm around her shoulders, drew her near and walked her toward the small backyard. With a sigh, she leaned her head against him and allowed him to open the sliding screen door. Alec bypassed the patio and the glass-topped picnic table, and went straight to the lawn, instead. All around them were colorful petunias and marigolds that Abby had planted two weeks ago. They made the drab six-foot-tall pine fence look brighter and prettier, in her opinion. “Now,”
