Читать книгу Sea Glass Island - Sherryl Woods, Sherryl Woods - Страница 9

3

“You sent Ethan Cole to the house without warning me,” Samantha said, giving her sister a swat. “How could you do that?”

“I didn’t want you to tell me not to,” Emily said blithely. “And to be totally accurate, Boone sent him. I didn’t.”

Samantha regarded her with a cynical look. “Not much of a defense, Em. Surely you can do better than that.”

“Why should I?” Emily asked unrepentantly, then grinned. “How’d it go? Judging from your mood, I’m guessing it was exactly the push the two of you needed.”

“We did not need a push, or a nudge or any other form of interference,” Samantha retorted.

Emily merely rolled her eyes. “Resent me now, but once the two of you are as happy as Boone and me, you’ll thank me.”

“You think so?” Samantha said direly. “He caught me in his football jersey reaching for a mug in the kitchen cabinet. I think his eyes are still glazed over from the glimpse he probably caught of my bare bottom.”

Emily burst out laughing. “Oh, that’s perfect!”

“It wasn’t perfect,” Samantha contradicted. “It was awkward and embarrassing.”

“But he’s bound to be intrigued, don’t you think? You do have an incredibly shapely bottom, after all. And Ethan hasn’t dated a lot since his fiancée dumped him. He needs someone just like you to get him back into the game.”

“Hold on,” Samantha said as Emily’s offhand remark sank in. “His fiancée dumped him? After he came home from Afghanistan?”

“I know. Really tacky, huh?” Emily said, her expression sobering. “I’d like to give that woman a piece of my mind.”

Samantha agreed. “It was definitely a pretty shallow reaction, assuming it was about the loss of his leg,” she said.

“Oh, it was all about that,” Emily confirmed. “Boone says she told him she couldn’t be with someone who wasn’t whole or perfect or something like that.”

“That’s disgusting. No wonder he’s so sensitive about how people are likely to react,” Samantha said, seeing their conversation in a different light. “He admitted he’d expected me to be shallow and vain. Maybe it wasn’t all about me being an actress, the way I took it. Maybe he feels that way about all women these days.”

Emily’s eyes widened. “He did not accuse you of such a thing! Of all the unmitigated gall. He hardly even knows you. There’s not a shallow, vain bone in your body.”

Samantha sighed at the surprisingly ardent defense. “I don’t know about that. In my business I do spend a lot of time looking in the mirror and fretting over wrinkles.”

“But that’s just the business you’re in,” Emily said, loyally waving off the suggestion. “You don’t judge other people by those standards. You’d never look down on someone who’s not perfect.”

“No, I wouldn’t,” Samantha agreed, thinking of that one moment when she’d gotten a real glimpse of vulnerability in Ethan’s eyes. He’d expected to be judged or, worse, to be pitied. She couldn’t imagine any man wanting pity, but for someone who’d demonstrated so much courage, it would be even more humiliating.

And Ethan, who’d once caught her attention with his charm, good looks and football prowess, was courageous. She had no doubts about that. Even in this morning’s brief encounter, she’d realized the kind of strength it must have taken for him not only to survive his injury, but to move forward, to not accept limitations. In her view, that made him someone to be admired, and lifted her old secret crush to a whole new level.

Even so, she scowled at her sister. “Do not put me in that position again,” she said flatly. “Ethan and I are adults. We’re bound to run across each other in the next couple of weeks with all the wedding hoopla. We don’t need you and Boone manufacturing excuses to throw us together. Understood?”

“Okay, fine,” Emily conceded unhappily. “I was just trying to do something nice.”

“The only way you could have been any more obvious would have been to send him over there with a big fat bow around his neck and a sign that said Keep Me.”

Even as the words came out of her mouth, Samantha caught the worrisome gleam in her sister’s eyes. “Oh no, you don’t. Your meddling days are over.”

“If you say so,” Emily replied dutifully. “But just so you know, I’m an amateur. The real pro, Grandmother, hasn’t even gotten started.”

And that, Samantha thought wearily, was scarier than just about anything else her sister could have said.

* * *

Cora Jane took one look at the sight of Ethan Cole and Greg Knotts walking into Castle’s and slipped into the kitchen and called Emily.

“Have you finished with the dress fitting?” she asked, lowering her voice to a whisper.

“About five minutes ago,” Emily said. “Why? And why are you whispering?”

“Because I don’t want anyone to overhear me,” Cora Jane said.

“Uh-oh,” her granddaughter said, chuckling. “What is it you don’t want Jerry to hear?” she asked pointedly, referring to Castle’s longtime cook who was now courting Cora Jane. “What are you up to?”

“Stop asking so many questions,” Cora Jane ordered. “Just pack up your sister and get over here to the restaurant.”

“Hold on,” Emily muttered. Seconds later, she was back on the line. “Does this have something to do with Ethan Cole? Is he at Castle’s?”

“Just walked in,” Cora Jane confirmed. “Now, will you get Samantha over here, or do I need to get Gabriella involved?”

To her annoyance, Emily laughed. “What’s so funny?” Cora Jane demanded.

“Not a half hour ago I promised Samantha I’d stop meddling, but I warned her that you hadn’t even gotten into the game yet.”

“Well, now I see my chance,” Cora Jane said. “Can you do this, or do I need to call and tell her I’ve slipped on the kitchen floor and think I might have broken my hip?”

“Heaven forbid!” Emily said fervently. “I’ll get her over there. You just keep Ethan from getting away.”

“Not a problem,” Cora Jane said, “even if I have to sacrifice Castle’s reputation for fast service to accomplish it. The man may not get his meal for an hour. Hurry up, honey bun. I don’t want him to get too suspicious.”

“Something tells me that ship has already sailed,” Emily said. “But we’ll be there as quickly as I can round up Samantha and get her out the door. She seems just a little obsessed with playing with the baby. I think her biological clock started ticking the second she picked up Daniella Jane. Frankly, I recognize the signs, because that kid does the same thing to me.”

“All the more reason to see that Samantha and Ethan fall head over heels for each other by the time you and Boone head off on your honeymoon,” Cora Jane said.

She hung up on Emily, found the server assigned to Ethan’s table and warned her to take her time placing their order, then plastered a smile on her face and walked over to say hello.

“Good to see you, Greg,” she said to Ethan’s companion. “Ethan, I have to say I’m surprised to see you here. Did you finally come by for that meal I promised you after you took such good care of Rory Templeton and helped him get the rehab he needed so he could go back to work?”

Ethan gave her a sour look. “I’m here because I lost a bet,” he admitted.

Greg grinned. “I outran him,” he explained. “The man’s so arrogant, he didn’t think I stood a chance.”

Cora Jane chuckled. “Well, whatever brings you by, I’m happy to see you, though I imagine you’ll be around quite a lot over the next couple of weeks.”

“That seems to be the plan,” Ethan said, clearly not overjoyed about it.

“What he meant to say, Cora Jane, is that he’s looking forward to the wedding,” Greg interpreted. “We’re still working on his manners now that he’s back in polite society.”

“Bite me,” Ethan murmured in an undertone, though he managed a contrite look for Cora Jane’s benefit. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize on my account. I’ve heard plenty worse. Now, tell me, has your waitress taken your order?”

“She has,” Greg said cheerfully. “She told us it should be right out.”

Cora Jane nodded. “Let me check on it. The kitchen’s been pretty backed up today. I’ll have her refresh your drinks while you’re waiting.”

As she was walking away, she overheard Ethan say, “She’s up to something. You mark my words.”

No sooner had he made the statement than he added, his tone a mix of triumph and dismay, “And there she is now!”

Cora Jane turned in time to see Samantha being nudged along by Emily, Samantha’s expression just as dour as Ethan’s.

“Well, look who’s here!” Emily said cheerfully. “Mind if we join you, Ethan?”

Without waiting for a response, she pulled two chairs up to the table and gestured for Samantha to sit in one of them.

“I’m going to wash my hands,” Samantha said, stalking off.

Cora Jane intercepted her as she headed, instead, straight for the front door. Samantha whirled on her.

“Don’t think I don’t know you’re behind this,” she said irritably. “I heard enough of that call you made to Emily to know she was up to something. What I can’t figure out is why she’d take the chance of me strangling her not a half hour after I’d told her to stay out of my personal life. You must have been very persuasive.”

“We just love you, honey bun,” Cora Jane soothed. “We want you to be happy.”

“Shoving me down the throat of a man who’s not the least bit interested is not the way to accomplish that.”

“Oh, posh!” Cora Jane said. “Of course he’s interested. You didn’t see the way his eyes lit up when you walked in the door just now. I did.”

“What you saw, if anything, were sparks of anger over the meddling,” Samantha told her.

“I know what I saw,” Cora Jane insisted. “And you don’t want to offend the best man and create tension before your sister’s wedding, do you? Now, go on over there and be nice.”

“Is that an order?” Samantha asked.

Cora Jane leveled a look into her eyes. “Does it need to be?” she inquired, holding her granddaughter’s gaze.

Samantha finally sighed. “I’ll go, but I won’t like it.”

Cora Jane knew it wasn’t smart, but she couldn’t help chuckling. “You sounded exactly like that when you were a toddler and we forced you to do something you didn’t think you wanted to do.”

“If you’re trying to insult me by suggesting I’m behaving like a child, I don’t much care.”

“Actually I was just trying to remind you that in just about every one of those instances, we turned out to be right and you had yourself a good time.” She touched Samantha’s cheek with a soothing caress. “I’m doubting this will be an exception, unless you work hard at making it one.”

“This is the one and only tiny bit of slack I’m going to cut you,” Samantha warned. “I will not cave in again.”

“Of course not,” Cora Jane said, wisely hiding a smirk this time. “I wouldn’t expect you to.”

Samantha gave her a suspicious look, then headed back to the table where Ethan looked only slightly less irritated than she did. Oh well, Cora Jane thought, relationships had started with far less in common than mutual annoyance at a third party.

Satisfied, she returned to the kitchen, where Jerry turned from the stove and frowned at her. “I thought the only pot-stirring going on around here was supposed to be in the kitchen.”

“You do your stirring. I’ll do mine,” she retorted.

“One of these days your meddling is going to blow up in your face,” he warned. “Those girls of yours are independent thinkers, just the way you taught them to be.”

“Well, of course they are,” she said proudly. “It doesn’t mean that one of them can’t use a nudge from me from time to time. I don’t hear Emily or Gabi complaining, now that their lives are just about settled.”

“Samantha’s a different kettle of fish,” he warned. “So is Ethan Cole. Remember, I was with you the day you threw out the first bit of bait a few months ago. He didn’t bite. In fact, he made his lack of interest pretty clear. You might need to reassess your target and your tactics.”

Cora Jane shook her head. “I know what I know,” she insisted. “I’ve known Ethan since he was a boy. Those two are perfect for each other. They just have to get out of their own way and things will fall right into place.”

“I hope you’re right,” Jerry said, regarding her tenderly. “I know how badly you want this to work out. You’re convinced if they do, you’ll finally have all your girls back here in Sand Castle Bay and a dozen great-grandbabies underfoot eventually.”

“And what would be wrong with that?”

“Not a thing. I just hope you haven’t misjudged the situation this time.”

Cora Jane heard the genuine worry in his voice, and though she’d never in a million years admit it, he gave her pause. Jerry didn’t meddle, but he was a keen observer, especially of her and the granddaughters she loved. Could he have gotten it right? Were Samantha and Ethan a bad match? Or were they both so stubborn they’d fight fate just to spite her?

She thought about it, then thought some more, considering what she’d just seen with her own eyes. No, she concluded. Ethan and Samantha were every bit as destined to be together as Emily and Boone had been or Gabi and Wade. She was sure of it.

And in a lot of years of living, her gut hadn’t steered her wrong on more than one or two occasions. This wasn’t going to be another one of them. She’d see to it.

* * *

Samantha squirmed uncomfortably under Ethan’s cool gaze. Not even Emily’s steady stream of chatter or Greg’s determinedly upbeat efforts to keep the conversation flowing could cut through the tension at the table. It was getting on her nerves.

When she’d finally had enough, she stood up. “Ethan, could I speak to you outside, please?”

Every single person there looked startled by the request, but Ethan rose as if she’d just offered to show him an escape route from a particularly unsavory prison.

Casting one last scowl at her sister, Samantha led the way onto the deck at the side of the restaurant and headed toward the railing where they’d have a view of the ocean across the street. Thanks to an offshore storm, the surf was churning, reflecting her own emotions. She drew in a deep breath of the refreshing, salty air and turned to face Ethan.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I should have figured out that Emily and Grandmother had hatched some kind of plot the minute Emily started insisting we come here for lunch.”

Ethan’s hard expression eased slightly. “Not entirely your fault. This is your family’s restaurant, and I did come here, after all. I knew there was a chance you’d be around.”

She regarded him curiously. “So, why did you come?”

He shrugged. “Lost a bet, to be perfectly honest.”

Samantha’s lips twitched at his resigned tone. “To whom?”

“Greg,” he admitted sheepishly. “I’m thinking his matchmaking gene just might rival Emily’s and Cora Jane’s. If I’d had any idea he had such a devious, romantic streak, I’d never have opened that clinic with him.”

“So, what are we going to do about this? We’ve been warned. We know what they’re up to. Just hours ago we vowed to end the madness, and here we are again. Are we naive or just no match for their ingenuity?”

“No idea,” he conceded. “I’m way out of my element here. Oh, there have been a few people who’ve tried to set me up ever since my engagement ended, but most of them gave up eventually. If you say no often enough and forcefully enough, people stop trying.”

“So, you’re dead set against ever getting involved in another relationship?” she asked, hoping there was no hint of disappointment in her voice.

“Pretty much.”

“All because of a woman who, if you’ll pardon me for saying so, sounds about as sensitive as a slug?”

Ethan smiled at that. “That pretty much sums up Lisa.”

“Well, that’s just crazy,” she said. “If you can see her for the kind of woman she was, then you shouldn’t let her have any influence whatsoever over the choices you make now.”

He gave her a wry look. “So I’ve been told.”

“You don’t buy it?”

He hesitated, then said, “Maybe we should come at this from a different direction. You’re younger than I am, but if you’ll pardon me for stating the obvious, you’re not a kid. Why aren’t you married? Or have you been?”

Samantha winced at having the tables turned on her. “No marriages,” she conceded. “I guess I never met the right man.”

“So it’s not because some insensitive clod broke your heart?”

She thought about it, not sure how to explain the choices she’d made. “Amazingly, I don’t have any ill will toward any of the men I’ve dated, not even toward the man I was pretty sure I loved.”

“What happened with him?”

“He was an actor, which isn’t always the smartest match for an actress, even though you both understand the demands of the business. That’s the upside.”

“And the downside?”

“My career took off for a time. His tanked. He couldn’t handle it.” It sounded so simple, but it had been the most painful period of her life. No matter how she’d fought to keep silent about her own successes to keep him from feeling like a failure, it hadn’t been enough.

Ethan gave her a sympathetic look. “Pride can be a pain, can’t it?”

“Masculine pride surely can,” she responded agreeably. “I’m surprised you can admit that. After all, wasn’t it your pride your fiancée hurt, as much as your heart?” She studied him with a worried gaze. “Or did she really break your heart?”

For a minute the look on Ethan’s face suggested she’d gone too far. His jaw tensed, his eyes sparked and then, in an instant, a smile tugged at his lips.

“You don’t mince words, do you?”

“I don’t see a lot of point in it, no.”

“That’s a refreshing change,” he told her. “I’ve spent a lot of time in recent years with people who are way too careful about speaking their minds around me. Even if what they want to say has nothing at all to do with my injury, they seem to think I’m too fragile to be challenged.”

“So they think you can’t take the truth?”

“Probably. And, to be honest, when I first got back and was going through rehab, I probably couldn’t. If anyone even looked at me the wrong way, I’d explode. Believe me, I was impossible to get along with.”

“I imagine that’s just as much part of the healing process as learning to deal with the prosthetic.”

He looked surprised once more by her insight. “It was. A few people, like Boone and Greg, figured that out and never gave up on me. I’d kick ’em out, but they kept right on coming back.”

“Unlike your fiancée?” she said, disliking the woman intensely.

Surprisingly, he shook his head. “It wasn’t my temper that pushed her away. I don’t think I could have blamed her for that. No, she stuck it out until I was on my feet, so to speak. Then she bailed. She said she couldn’t cope with me not being the man she’d fallen in love with, as if my leg were the most important part of my anatomy and losing it made me less of a man.”

Samantha shook her head. “The woman was an idiot.”

Ethan laughed. “Thanks for the ardent defense, but maybe we should get back to our immediate problem. What do we do about the meddlers?”

“Stay alert. Let them do their thing, I guess,” she suggested, though she was unconvinced that the strategy would work.

“Seriously?”

“It’ll make them happy to try,” she said, “and there’s nothing that says we have to get with the program, right?”

He held her gaze for a minute, just long enough for a spark of sexual tension to sizzle between them. “Nothing,” he agreed, though he too sounded a little unsure of himself when he said it.

Samantha held out her hand. “Friends, right? We have a deal.”

Ethan took her hand in his. She couldn’t help noticing that his grip was strong, his fingers long and slender. It was the sure and steady hand of a surgeon.

“We have a deal,” he said.

He was awfully slow to release her hand. When he did, his eyes were troubled.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

“Sure.”

“Ethan, I thought being straight with each other was an implied part of our bargain,” she scolded.

He gave her a rueful look. “I have this odd premonition that we’ve just made a fool’s bargain.”

“Oh?”

“I’m thinking that unless we’re very, very careful, we’re going to blow this whole friendship thing to smithereens,” he said direly.

Samantha had to fight to hide the laugh that bubbled up at his unmistakable frustration, because the truth was, on some level, that was the best news she’d heard in a very long time.