Читать книгу Sand Castle Bay - Sherryl Woods, Sherryl Woods - Страница 13

6

B.J. burst through the door onto the deck at Castle’s, caught sight of Boone and went running in his direction. Emily followed more hesitantly, regretting that she couldn’t avoid the man completely. Instead, she seemed to be drawn to him like a magnet.

“Daddy, guess what? I’m Emily’s consultant,” B.J. announced happily.

Boone smiled at his son’s excitement but gave Emily a curious look. “How’d that happen?”

She shrugged. “It turns out he’s amazingly perceptive about interior design. I appreciate his insights.”

Boone didn’t even try to hide his skepticism. “He’s eight. What kind of insights could he have?”

“He knew immediately that the furniture I was looking at online wasn’t suited for here,” she explained, then grinned. “He didn’t hesitate to tell me that, either. That’s a very good trait in a consultant.”

Boone actually chuckled at that. “Yeah, there’s not much he holds back. If it crosses his mind, it comes out of his mouth.” He ruffled his son’s hair. “You weren’t pestering her, though, were you?”

B.J. regarded him impatiently. “I told you, I’m her official consultant. She wants my help.”

“Now, if only he could wait tables for me,” Emily said, anxious to get away, though not exactly enthusiastic about the prospect of dealing with what already looked like a huge lunch crowd, proving that, as usual, Cora Jane’s instincts about reopening had been right.

“I could carry stuff,” B.J. offered eagerly.

“Sorry, buddy, we have to get going,” Boone said. “I have to get back over to my restaurant. I just wanted to make sure Tommy’s guys had things under control with the roof.”

“Judging from the hammering overhead when I was working inside, they must be making progress,” Emily said.

Boone nodded. “Tommy says the protective sheeting will all be in place before any rain this afternoon. They’ll have a good start on the new shingles, too.”

“That’ll be a huge relief to Grandmother. She was afraid we were going to be dealing with more water damage inside. Speaking of that, did she tell you that the cashier station is a mess?”

Boone nodded. “I’ll take a look before I leave. I have an excellent cabinetmaker I use. I can get Wade over here tomorrow to build something exactly like she wants to replace it. If there’s any other updating she wants in the dining room, just let Wade know.”

“Updating?” Emily said, rolling her eyes. “I’m lucky she’s letting me bring in the painters.”

“Yeah, she is a big fan of the status quo.” He gave her a searching look. “You okay with that now?”

Emily shrugged. “I’ll continue nudging, but I’m not holding out a lot of hope.”

“Okay, then, I’d better check out that cashier area, then hit the road. Let’s go, B.J.”

“But I want to stay here,” B.J. protested at once.

“Not this afternoon,” Boone said firmly. “It’s too busy for you to be underfoot right now. Cora Jane can’t keep an eye on you when it’s crowded like this.”

“I will,” Emily blurted impulsively before she could stop herself. “If that’s okay with you, that is. Between Grandmother, Gabi, Samantha and me, he’ll be fine. And he can always hang out in the kitchen. Jerry loves having him around. Besides, don’t you have your hands full over at your place? I heard about the damage you found.”

“I do, but—”

B.J. bounced up and down. “Please, Dad.”

“Sorry, pal. I made arrangements for you to spend the afternoon with Alex. His mom said you could have a sleepover tonight, too.”

“I’d rather stay here,” B.J. pleaded.

“We’re only open until three, anyway,” Emily reminded Boone. “Then we’ll be cleaning some more. We can keep him busy with that. Then one of us can drop him off at your restaurant or the house later.”

She wondered if the real issue was Boone wanting him out from underfoot because he had a date tonight. For all she knew, he was involved with someone. “Or if you have plans for tonight, he can stay over at our house,” she suggested mildly.

“No plans,” Boone said, an oddly tense note in his voice. “Usually he loves having a sleepover at Alex’s house because they have all the game systems I won’t let him have at home.”

“But today I want to stay here and help,” B.J. repeated emphatically.

“Okay, fine,” Boone agreed with unmistakable reluctance. “Let me speak to Cora Jane.”

“No need,” Emily said. “I’ll let her know.”

“Then I’ll pick him up at your place tonight around seven-thirty. Will that work? That way if I get held up at the restaurant, he won’t have to hang around there.”

“Absolutely. Knowing you’re coming by will be the perfect excuse to get Grandmother out of here at a decent hour.”

“Then I guess it works out well all around,” he said, a wry note in his voice. He hunkered down in front of his son and held his gaze. “You do as you’re told and don’t give Emily or Ms. Cora Jane any trouble.”

“Promise,” B.J. said, and scampered quickly away as if he feared his father might change his mind.

Boone studied Emily with a narrowed gaze. “I’m not entirely happy about this.”

“So I gathered. Mind telling me why?”

“I told you the other day. I’m scared to death you’ll disappoint him when you leave.”

His candor wasn’t a total shock, but his lack of faith in her hurt more than she’d expected it to. “Boone, he’s a wonderful boy. I won’t let him down. I promise.”

His gaze locked with hers. “I’m holding you to that, Em. That boy is the most precious thing I have in my life. He’s been through enough.”

“And so have you,” she said, understanding the pain they’d both suffered. “I get it, Boone.”

He hesitated, holding her gaze, then nodded. “I’ll see you later, then.”

She swallowed hard as he turned and walked away. “Later,” she whispered, wondering if she hadn’t just made a huge mistake by making a promise she’d never be able to keep, no matter how good her intentions were. After all, what did she really know about protecting a little boy’s heart?

* * *

It was about six-thirty, and Boone was wrapping things up for the day, preparing to head over to Cora Jane’s house to pick up B.J., when his cell phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID but didn’t recognize the area code or number.

“Boone, it’s Emily,” she said when he answered.

The shakiness in her voice put him immediately on full alert. “What’s wrong? Has something happened to B.J.?”

“He fell in the parking lot and cut himself on a nail sticking out of a board,” she blurted as if she had to get the words out in a hurry. She drew in a deep breath, then added, “It’s a pretty deep gash, but he’s fine. I swear, Boone, he really is fine. He’s handling it like a real trouper.”

“Where are you?” he asked, trying to temper panic and the need to lash out. He’d known leaving B.J. behind today was foolish. What had he been thinking?

“We’re at Ethan Cole’s Emergency Clinic,” Emily told him. “Grandmother called Ethan and he met us here. B.J. needs stitches and probably a tetanus shot, unless he’s already up-to-date on that. That’s really why I’m calling. Ethan doesn’t want to give him the shot if he doesn’t need it.”

“Let me speak to Ethan,” Boone demanded, needing not only the insights of an expert, but his reassurance.

“Of course,” Emily agreed at once.

“Hey, Boone,” Ethan said, sounding calm and completely unruffled, exactly the demeanor one wanted from an emergency physician. “B.J.’s going to be just fine. Hasn’t shed a tear. In fact, he’s excited about having a scar. I’m numbing the area right now so I can do those stitches. He’ll be good as new in a couple of weeks.”

“Swear to me he’s okay.”

“He’s okay,” Ethan said. “Emily had the bleeding stopped by the time they got here. She really kept her wits about her and kept B.J. calm in the process.”

“What the hell was he doing running around in the parking lot, anyway? And where’d that board come from? I cleaned the parking lot of debris myself.”

“You’re asking the wrong person,” Ethan said. “But, if you’re looking for speculation, seems to me it could have washed into the road overnight on high tide and somebody tossed it into the parking lot. Does that really matter?”

Boone sighed. “I suppose not. I knew I shouldn’t have left him over at Castle’s today. Emily was supposed to be keeping an eye on him.”

“Sounds to me as if she and Cora Jane were both right there when he tripped and fell. It was an accident, Boone. Things like this happen, especially to little boys who don’t think about the dangers that might be underfoot after a storm.”

“But I warned him,” Boone said in frustration.

Ethan chuckled. “Do you not recall that eight-year-old kids have the attention span of a gnat? I can’t tell you how many people I’ve patched up this week from incidents just like this one. Where does B.J. stand on his tetanus shots?”

“He’s up-to-date,” Boone said.

“Then it’s all good. I’ll have him out of here in a half hour.”

“I’m on my way.”

“Why don’t you just meet them at Cora Jane’s as planned?” Ethan suggested. “It’ll give that temper of yours time to cool down. I know you’re looking to place blame, but I’m telling you it’s an accident that could have happened to anyone. Don’t make Emily the scapegoat. If you do, you’ll just make Cora Jane feel guilty, too, and she’s shaken enough.”

Boone sighed. “You’re probably right.” He hesitated, then asked, “How are your sewing skills? He’s not going to look as if he was sewn up by a butcher, is he?”

Ethan laughed. “You do recall that not that long ago I was stitching up soldiers on the battlefield in Afghanistan, right? The United States Army trusted me to know what I was doing. The scar will be real pretty, I promise.”

Boone finally managed a chuckle. “Okay, okay, I get it. I’m overreacting. Thanks, Ethan.”

“Any time, pal. See you soon. I’ll want to see B.J. to remove the stitches in a couple of weeks. Just stop by during office hours or if that doesn’t work, give me a call and I’ll come by the house.”

“We’ll settle up the bill then, too,” Boone promised.

“Just invite me over for steak next time you’re grilling,” Ethan said. “It’s been a while since we’ve gotten together.”

“Then we’ll plan it,” Boone promised. A guy’s night was way too rare these days. He could use one, too, a night free of the complications that seemed to be piling up in his life these days.

When he’d disconnected the call, he drew in a deep breath and said a little prayer thanking God that B.J.’s injury hadn’t been worse. He understood that accidents could happen anytime, anyplace to anyone. But this had been his boy, and B.J. had been in Emily’s care. He wondered if he had it in him to forgive that, despite the logic that told him no forgiveness ought to be required.

* * *

“Daddy’s going to be really, really mad at me,” B.J. said, looking dejected as Emily drove him and Cora Jane home.

“He’s just worried, that’s all,” Emily assured him, though he’d certainly sounded angry on the phone. She hoped that had been the fear talking and that Ethan’s reassurance had settled him down. The last thing B.J. or Cora Jane needed was to have Boone storming in on a tear.

They’d barely pulled into the driveway at home when Boone turned in behind them, tires squealing as he hit his brakes. He was out of his car practically before the engine cut off. He yanked open the back door of the rental Emily was driving, his expression easing only when he saw for himself that B.J. was essentially in one piece.

B.J. held out his bandaged arm. “Dr. Cole says I’m going to have a scar,” he said excitedly. “I had to have stitches. I didn’t even cry.”

“He was incredibly brave,” Cora Jane confirmed, giving Boone a warning look.

Emily watched Boone blink back a tear as he forced himself to give his son a congratulatory high-five.

“You’re not going to ground me, are you?” B.J. asked worriedly. “Or yell at anybody? Or keep me from going to Castle’s?”

“You might need to take a couple of days off till your arm’s healed up,” Boone said. “But, no, I’m not going to ground you.”

“How about the yelling?” Emily asked quietly. “I imagine you’d like to direct a few pointed words at me.”

Boone glanced up at her, his eyes filled with emotion. He looked as if there was plenty he wanted to say, but he managed to censor himself.

Cora Jane seemed to sense that the two of them needed to talk privately. She put an arm around B.J.’s shoulders. “Come on, B.J. Let’s get those cookies and the milk I promised you. I’ll bet Samantha has them on the table waiting for us.”

“All right!” B.J. enthused, then took off running.

Boone shook his head as he watched him. “That boy never slows down. I’m sure that’s how he fell in the parking lot.”

“It is,” Emily confirmed. “I’m really sorry, Boone.”

“Intellectually, I know it wasn’t your fault.” He tapped his chest. “But in here, I’m looking for somebody to blame.”

“I get that, and it did happen on my watch, right after I’d assured you he’d be safe with me.”

“And I was standing right here when he took off running across the lawn just now, oblivious to all the branches that could trip him up. He’s a rambunctious kid.”

“That almost sounds as if you’re letting me off the hook,” Emily said.

“Trying to,” he admitted, grinning. “Ethan gave me an earful. That helped to put things in perspective, too.”

“You two are still good friends?”

Boone nodded. “Ethan didn’t make it easy when he first got home from Afghanistan. He was angry and bitter and pretty much hated the world after he lost his lower leg.”

Emily’s eyes widened. “He lost his leg? I had no idea.”

“He’d be delighted to hear that. The truth is that most people don’t even notice. He’s mastered the prosthesis, had a huge attitude adjustment and finally seems to be on track again.”

“That’s amazing. Good for him.”

“It really is good for him,” Boone said. “There’s nobody around I admire more.”

“Wasn’t he engaged? Is he married now?”

Boone hesitated, then said, “That didn’t work out. And, word of advice, don’t bring it up around him.”

Emily stared at him. “They broke up because of his injury?” she guessed.

Boone nodded. “Talk about being bitter where women are concerned? Ethan wrote the book on it.”

“That’s a shame,” she said.

Boone nodded.

Emily met his gaze. “You coming in for cookies and milk? Or would you rather have something stronger? I think we have some beer.”

Boone looked torn. She had a hunch if it hadn’t been for B.J., he’d have taken off right then. He surprised her, though, by suggesting she get a couple of beers.

“Maybe we could sit down by the water,” he said. “Catch up?”

“Sure,” she said, eager to accept the olive branch he was extending.

When she went inside to retrieve the beers, she found her sisters doting on B.J., exclaiming over his bandaged arm and his bravery.

“Where’s Boone?” Cora Jane asked.

“Outside. I’m going to grab a couple of beers and join him for a little while, if that’s okay.”

The three women at the table exchanged amused looks.

“I win!” Samantha said, holding out her hand.

“Win what?” Emily asked with a narrowed gaze.

Cora Jane and Gabi each put five dollar bills into Samantha’s outstretched hand. The sight of her sister gloating grated.