Читать книгу Sand Castle Bay - Sherryl Woods, Sherryl Woods - Страница 9

2

“Daddy, are we gonna help Ms. Cora Jane?” B.J. asked, his expression as excited as if they were going to the circus.

“If she’ll let us,” Boone told his eight-year-old son. In his experience Cora Jane never asked for help and wasn’t real crazy about accepting it when offered. He’d learned to be incredibly sneaky about making sure she and the restaurant were looked after.

“Do you think she’ll make me pancakes like Mickey Mouse?” B.J. asked. “The little pancakes that make the ears are the best part.” A guilty expression passed over his face. “Hers are better than Jerry’s, but don’t tell him. I don’t want to hurt his feelings.”

Boone laughed, well aware of how competitive the cook and Cora Jane could be at times. “I doubt she’ll have the kitchen open,” Boone told him. “The storm water’s barely receded. You know what a mess things are over at our place. Castle’s didn’t look much better when I checked it out yesterday.”

He also knew that Cora Jane was the kind of woman who liked to feel in control of things. No hurricane would throw her off course for long. By tomorrow, she’d probably be cooking whatever she could on the gas grill even if she couldn’t get the oven up and running.

He gave his son a warning look. “Don’t be asking her for pancakes, okay? Not till we see what the situation is. We’re here to help, not to make more work for her.”

“But she always says making special pancakes for me isn’t work,” B.J. said earnestly. “She says she does it out of love.”

Boone chuckled. Of course she’d tell B.J. something like that. Hadn’t she always made him feel he was no trouble, too? Even when his own folks thought he was more of a nuisance than anything else. If it hadn’t been for Cora Jane and the jobs she’d given him to keep him busy and out of mischief, his life would have gone in a whole different direction. He owed her. He surely did. And he counted himself fortunate that she hadn’t pushed him out of her life when Emily had dumped him. Given the fierce family loyalty among the Castles, it could easily have happened.

If seeing her and listening to her brag about her three granddaughters, including the woman who’d been the love of his life, was painful, well, that was just the price he had to pay for having Cora Jane as the kind of compassionate, nonjudgmental moral compass he definitely needed.

As soon as Boone had parked beside the restaurant, B.J. was out of the car and running.

“Hold it!” Boone commanded, waiting until his son had skidded to a stop and faced him. He walked closer and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder and pointed. “What have I told you about the need to be real careful right now? Just look around. There’s wood all over with nails in it and who knows what kind of glass on the ground. Take your time and pay attention.”

B.J. gave him an impish smile that reminded him so much of Jenny, it made his heart ache. Jenny had been the sweetest woman on the planet, and losing her to an out-of-control infection that had proven resistant to antibiotics had been devastating to him and to B.J.

With the resilience of childhood, B.J. was bouncing back, but Boone wasn’t sure he’d ever get past his grief. He knew some of that was colored by guilt because he’d never loved Jenny half as much as she’d loved him. How could he when a part of his heart still belonged to Emily Castle? No matter his feelings, though, he thought he’d done the best he could by his wife. Jenny had never wanted for anything. He’d been a good husband, a devoted father. Late at night, though, he couldn’t help wondering if it had been enough. It didn’t help that Jenny’s parents blamed him for everything from ruining Jenny’s life to contributing to her death. He just knew they were looking for any excuse to try to take B.J. from him. That, he thought fiercely, would happen over his own dead body!

As for the rest, well, it was water under the bridge now, he told himself, as he took a deep breath and followed his son. Alerted by Cora Jane that all three of her granddaughters were coming home to help with the storm cleanup, he braced himself for the first glimpse of Emily after all these years.

Inside the water-ravaged restaurant, though, he spotted only Gabriella, looking frantic as Cora Jane teetered on the top rung of a stepladder. Gabi was holding it steady with a white-knuckled grip.

“Cora Jane Castle, what do you think you’re doing?” Boone demanded, wrapping an arm around her hips and lifting her down until her sneaker-clad feet were firmly on the ground.

She whirled around and glared at him. “What do you think you’re doing, Boone Dorsett?” she inquired, her brown eyes flashing with indignation, even as he gave the obviously relieved Gabi a wink.

“Saving you from a broken hip, most likely,” he said. “Didn’t I tell you a long time ago that I’d take care of fixing all the lights whenever they needed it or to have Jerry or your handyman do it?”

“Well, Jerry’s not here yet and my handyman’s nowhere to be found,” she retorted. “And since when do I need you to screw in a few lightbulbs?” Hands on her hips, she tried her best to stare him down. Given their relative size difference, she wasn’t half as intimidating as she obviously hoped to be.

“You could at least have let Gabi do it,” he replied.

She seemed to fight a smile at the suggestion, avoiding her granddaughter’s gaze. “Bless her heart,” she confided in an undertone, “Gabi is scared of heights. She got two rungs up the ladder, and I thought she was about to faint.”

“It’s true,” Gabi replied, an embarrassed flush in her cheeks. “It was humiliating, especially when she went scampering right on up the ladder.”

Thankfully, just then B.J. tugged on Cora Jane’s hand. “Ms. Cora Jane, the power’s back on, right?”

She smiled and ruffled his hair affectionately. “Came on about a half hour ago, as a matter of fact.” She gave him a knowing look. “I imagine you asked because you’re hoping for pancakes.”

B.J.’s eyes lit up. “Uh-huh, but Daddy said not to ask because we’re here to help.”

Cora Jane rolled her eyes. “Well, since your daddy seems intent on taking over the most dangerous chores himself, I imagine I can try to rustle up some pancakes for my favorite customer. You gonna help?”

“Sure. I’ll mix the batter like you showed me last time,” B.J. offered, trailing after her.

Boone watched them go, shaking his head. “I don’t know which of them’s going to give me my first heart attack, but odds on, it’s your grandmother.”

Gabi laughed. “She has that effect on all of us.”

“She told me you and your sisters were all coming home to help put this place back in working order,” he said, hoping he sounded casual, rather than panicked, which was the way just thinking about Emily made him feel.

Gabi gave him a knowing look. “Samantha just called. Emily’s flight landed about an hour ago. They stopped to pick up some things for Emily to wear. Apparently Em was in Aspen when I called her, and the clothes she had with her weren’t suitable for mopping.”

“Aspen, huh?” Boone said. “She gets around these days, doesn’t she?”

Gabi nodded. “Her reputation as an interior designer took off after the remodel she did for some actress was featured in a magazine. Now she’s working on all sorts of celebrity homes in Beverly Hills and Malibu. Last year she renovated somebody’s villa in Italy, and I think this trip was to look at a ski lodge for the friend of one of her regular clients.”

“Sounds glamorous,” he said, a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach.

Wasn’t that what she’d always wanted, the high life with famous people? Some of their old friends accused her of being superficial and shallow, but he knew better. She’d been trying to fill some empty place in her soul with all the things she thought her simple life in North Carolina had been missing.

He wondered if she still saw that world as fascinating, if she’d gotten to know even one of those celebrities as a friend, rather than as a client. He’d learned a long time ago how much better it was to have a few people he could count on than a thousand acquaintances. The folks who’d been by his side when Jenny was sick and then stuck by him after her death had taught him the real meaning of friendship.

“I’d better go in and check on Grandmother,” Gabi said. She started toward the kitchen, then came back. “I’m sorry, Boone.”

He frowned at her serious tone. “Sorry for what?”

“The way Emily hurt you. She never meant to. There were just things she felt she needed to do. I think she always meant to come back, but then you married Jenny, and, well, you know how things went after that.”

Boone nodded, appreciating the sentiment but determined to make sure she knew it was unnecessary. “I accepted her decision a long time ago, Gabi. And just so you know, I don’t think she ever intended to come back. That’s why I moved on.”

Gabi glanced toward the kitchen and nodded. “Nobody blames you for that. And B.J.’s a great boy.”

“The best,” he agreed readily. “Probably no thanks to me. Jenny was an amazing mother. I think your grandmother’s influence accounts for a lot of that, too, same as it did with me.”

“Don’t sell yourself short.”

Boone watched her go, then sighed. Why was it that all the women in this family thought he was worth something...except the one who’d stolen his heart all those years ago?

* * *

Emily had prepared herself for seeing Boone again. At least she thought she had.

And yet the sight of him atop a ladder, his excellent butt hugged by a pair of worn jeans, his faded T-shirt stretched taut over a broad chest and outstanding biceps, was good enough to give her palpitations. A baseball cap had been pulled low, which made it hard to see his face, but she imagined his granite jaw, dark-as-onyx eyes and dimples were the same.

It had always been amazing to her that a man could be flashing fire hot as a furnace one second, flip a switch to a look as cold as the North Pole the next, and then turn right around and grin with the impish expression of a boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Boone Dorsett had always been something of a contradiction, in her opinion.

“Hey, Boone!” Samantha called out, when Emily just stood there, probably slack-jawed, taking in the view.

His head snapped around so fast he might have lost his balance if Emily hadn’t instinctively grabbed the ladder to steady it.

“Samantha,” he acknowledged solemnly before allowing his gaze to settle on Emily. “Emily.”

To her annoyance there was not one tiny shred of a difference in the way he spoke her name, no hint that she was any more special than her sister, that he used to have his hands and that sweetly seductive mouth of his all over her whenever they could sneak away to be together. Seriously, shouldn’t that have called for at least a hint of intimacy in the way he spoke her name?

That was then, she reminded herself sharply. The man is married now. He belongs to someone else.

“What are you doing here, Boone?” she asked irritably.

He held up a lightbulb. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“I mean here, helping my grandmother, instead of taking care of your own business.” She knew she sounded churlish and ungrateful, but she couldn’t help herself. The rules had all gone and changed on her, and yet her feelings for this man apparently hadn’t. That was a shocker, all right. Boone Dorsett could still stir her blood in a way that not one single man she’d met since ever had. And he’d done it from atop a ladder, without even touching her. The discovery was unsettling. She’d been so sure that the bitterness she’d felt at his betrayal would trump all those old feelings forever.

“Darlin’, I know you’ve been away a long time, but down here, folks help each other out in a crisis. I’d say this latest hurricane qualifies. Your grandmother’s in the kitchen, by the way. I’m sure she’s real anxious to see you.”

He turned back to his chore, essentially dismissing her. Emily just stared at him, then turned to see Samantha grinning as if she’d just witnessed a scene in some ridiculous romantic comedy.

“Oh, hush your mouth,” she muttered to her sister as she headed for the kitchen at a fast clip.

“Never said a word,” Samantha retorted, following along behind, still grinning. “But in case you’re interested in my opinion, that was hot.”

Emily blinked and stared. “Are you delusional? The man just shooed me away as if I were an annoying mosquito or something.”

“Hot,” Samantha repeated. “Again, in case you’re interested in my opinion, I’d have to say things between you two are far from over.”

“The man is married,” Emily reminded her.

Her sister’s grin merely spread. “Oh, didn’t anyone tell you that he lost his wife?”

“Did he happen to leave her behind in the Great Dismal Swamp?” Emily asked sarcastically.

Samantha’s expression instantly sobered, all hints of teasing gone. “No, sweetie. Jenny died. Just over a year ago, in fact.”

Emily stopped just inside the kitchen door and stared after her sister. Oh, God, that was awful. She was suddenly assailed by more emotions than she could even begin to untangle. Sorrow for Jenny, who’d been a genuinely nice girl. Heartache for Boone and for his child, who must have been devastated.

And a completely inappropriate and unexpected flash of relief, followed all too quickly by panic. It was one thing to discover she wasn’t immune to the man when he was safely off-limits, but it was something else entirely to realize he was available, after all. She had not needed to know that. She really hadn’t.

Because the very last thing she needed in her very busy and tightly scheduled life was to have feelings for Boone Dorsett, the man she’d very deliberately left behind.

* * *

Cora Jane’s gaze went straight to Emily when she and Samantha walked into the kitchen. In that first quick glance she saw that her granddaughter was too thin, her face bordering on gaunt. She’d been working too hard, not taking nearly enough time for herself, Cora Jane assessed.

There was also no mistaking the bright patches of color in her cheeks and the sparks in her eyes, put there by Boone, no doubt. Cora Jane turned away, hoping none of the others would see the satisfied smile she couldn’t seem to stop. She wished she’d been witness to the first meeting between those two after all this time, but seeing Emily’s face told her it had gone exactly as she’d hoped.

“My sweet girl,” she said, then held open her arms. “It’s been entirely too long since you’ve been home.”

Emily stepped into her embrace and gave her a fierce hug. “I know. I’m sorry. I always think I’ll get here, but time just flies by.”

“Well, you’re here now,” Cora Jane said, misty-eyed as she glanced around the table where Samantha and Gabi were seated along with B.J. “You’re all here. You have no idea what it means to me that you dropped everything and came.”

“Well, of course we did,” Emily said. “Isn’t that the lesson you tried to teach us, to be there for family? Now tell me what you’re doing in here cooking? Judging from the looks of things in the dining room, we should all be on our hands and knees out there scrubbing the place down.”

“She’s making pancakes for me,” B.J. piped up, catching Emily’s attention.

Cora Jane watched as it dawned on Emily who B.J. was. There could be little question he was Boone’s son. The boy was the spitting image of the man. Shock registered on Emily’s face for just an instant, but she managed a smile.

“And who might you be that you can convince my grandmother to make pancakes?” Emily teased, her voice unmistakably shaky.

“I’m B. J. Dorsett,” he responded seriously. “Boone’s my dad. I help out here a lot, don’t I, Ms. Cora Jane?”

“Best helper I have,” Cora Jane confirmed. “And I figured B.J. had the right idea. We all need a hearty breakfast before we tackle this mess.”

“I’m betting you talked her into the Mickey Mouse pancakes, too,” Emily said to B.J., whose eyes lit up.

“Uh-huh. They’re the best.”

“I always thought so,” Emily said.

B.J. gave her a perplexed look. “How come I’ve never seen you before? Ms. Gabi’s here sometimes, but not you or Ms. Samantha.”

“Well, we both live far away,” Emily said, a guilty flush in her cheeks. “Samantha lives in New York. She’s a very busy actress.”

B.J.’s eyes widened as he took another look at Samantha, then widened some more as recognition dawned. “I’ve seen you on TV. You were the mom in a commercial for my favorite cereal.” He pumped a fist in the air. “I knew it. Cool! Have you been in other stuff?”

“Lots of things you probably wouldn’t have seen,” Samantha said. “I’ve been in a few plays on Broadway, a soap opera, a few other commercials.”

B.J. bounced in his chair with excitement. “Wait till I tell the kids at school.” He glanced at Cora Jane. “Does Dad know? I’d better tell Dad.”

“In a minute,” Cora Jane said, noting that Emily looked vaguely disgruntled by B.J.’s excitement over meeting a famous actress. That girl’s competitive streak between her and Samantha was still alive and well, apparently. “Your breakfast’s ready.”

She set plates of pancakes, eggs and bacon in front of everyone, poured more coffee, then took her own place at the table. Turning to B.J. she deliberately mentioned that Emily had worked for a few movie stars.

“No way!” B.J. exclaimed, now giving Emily his full attention. “What’d you do? Who’d you work for? Did you ever meet Johnny Depp?”

Cora Jane knew that Emily didn’t really like talking about her famous clients, but she also knew she needed to get the spotlight back on her. The affections of little boys could be fickle. Maybe it was ridiculous, but Cora Jane had a feeling that B.J. just might be the key to a reconciliation between Emily and Boone. The boy needed a mother. Oh, she knew that Boone was doing the best he could and would disagree with her about that, but in just the past hour she’d seen how B.J. responded to the attention of her granddaughters.

Over the years she’d been fortunate to have these three girls with her most summers. They’d been closer than many grandparents and grandchildren. She thought that was, in part, because she hadn’t done a lot of meddling in their lives. Oh, she’d given advice, given the occasional nudge when called for, but in general she’d let them make their own mistakes, their own decisions.

Now, though, they were older and showing no signs of settling down. Each of them had professional successes to be proud of, but not a one of them had a life. At least that’s how she saw it.

That needed to change. And though none of them had grown up here in Sand Castle Bay, they’d spent enough time here to earn the right to call it home.

She sat back and listened as B.J. peppered Emily with excited questions about Hollywood. Her granddaughter answered patiently, a smile playing about her lips.

“What about Disneyland?” B.J. asked. “Have you been to Disneyland? I’ll bet you’ve gone like a thousand times.”

Emily laughed. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but not even once.”

B.J. looked stunned. “Not once?”

“Afraid not.”

“Me and Dad will come and we’ll all go,” he announced excitedly. “He’s been promising to take me, and Dad never breaks his promises.”

Emily looked taken aback by the suggestion, as if she weren’t quite sure how to respond. “I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time,” she said eventually.

“You, too,” B.J. reminded her insistently. “I’ll go tell Dad now.”

He bounded away from the table, leaving all of them grinning.

“I think you’ve made a conquest,” Gabi said.

“Like father, like son,” Samantha chimed in.

“Stop it,” Emily said, blushing. “He’s at that age when he loves everyone.”

“You have a lot of experience with eight-year-old boys?” Gabi teased.

“No, but isn’t it obvious? He was chattering away to Grandmother and you before Sam and I even walked in the room. He’s comfortable here.”

Gabi’s expression sobered. “Be careful with him, Em. He’s been through a lot.”

“What are you talking about? I’m here for a few days. It’s not as if there’s time for him to get attached or something.”

“Just keep that in mind,” Gabi persisted. “You are leaving, and he might not understand that.”

“Well, I think it’s sweet the way he’s taken a shine to you right off,” Cora Jane said. “To all of you. He can use a woman’s influence.”

Emily chuckled. “You don’t think Boone is capable of teaching him manners?”

“Boone is capable of that and much more,” Cora Jane chided. “But it’s not the same as having a mother’s touch, that’s all I’m saying.”

“Grandmother, you’re not harboring any illusions about Boone and me picking up where we left off, are you?” Emily asked, her gaze narrowed. “Because that’s not in the cards. My life’s in California.”

“Such as it is,” Cora Jane muttered.

Emily frowned. “What is that supposed to mean? I have an excellent life. I make a ton of money. I’m respected in my field.”

“And who’s there to share in all that success, I ask you?” Cora Jane retorted. “No one, that’s who. Or is there someone special you haven’t bothered to mention to any of us?” She glanced at Emily’s sisters. “Samantha? Gabi? Have either of you heard about anyone?”

Emily ignored the sarcasm. “Plenty of women have happy, fulfilling lives without a man,” she said, turning to her sisters. “Am I right?”

“Men do have their uses,” Gabi said, grinning.

“Amen, sister,” Samantha chimed in.

Emily just shook her head. “Thanks for the backup. Wait till she starts on the two of you.”

“That’s not going to happen, because our lives are perfect,” Gabi said, standing up to give Cora Jane’s shoulder a squeeze.

Cora Jane glanced up at her. “Well, now that you mention it...” She let her voice trail off, leaving the unspoken implication to hang in the air. It would give them something to think about. She, indeed, had plans for all of them, and, God willing, she’d been unexpectedly blessed with the perfect opportunity to see them carried out.