Sand Castle Bay Read online

  “I know. That’s why I said we’ll come to see her,” B.J. responded reasonably.

  “Son, don’t start counting on Emily, okay?”

  B.J. clearly didn’t comprehend the warning. “What about Disneyland, Dad? You promised we’d go there, so why can’t she come with us?”

  Boone counted to ten. It wasn’t B.J.’s fault that this entire conversation was making him a little crazy. “Actually I promised to take you to Disney World in Florida, so we could stop by and see your grandparents, remember?” Boone said patiently, but he knew he was fighting a losing battle. B.J. had the tenacity of a pit bull, and he wasn’t going to drop this, at least not right now. To his son, the two amusement parks were clearly interchangeable. And, sadly, Jenny’s folks were likely no competition for the glamorous Emily. He could just imagine the outcry, though, if he chose to take B.J. to California rather than Florida. There would be hell to pay.

  “Well, I want to go to Disneyland and I want her to come,” B.J. said, his expression mutinous. “You promised!”

  Boone sighed. “We’ll talk about it later.”

  Was there even the faintest possibility that he was going to get through Emily’s visit with his sanity intact, especially with his eight-year-old apparently as enamored with her as he’d once been?

  * * *

  Emily had made herself a promise not to check her cell phone for messages until she’d spent a little time with family, but ingrained habits were hard to break. When she heard the signal for yet another text message in the past half hour, she excused herself from the table.

  “Sorry. I need to deal with this,” she said.

  “Told you she wouldn’t last an hour without checking her phone,” Samantha teased. “I’m just surprised you haven’t been on yours yet, Gabi.”

  Gabi flushed guiltily. “Actually I made a few calls and sent a couple of emails right before you all got here. My very efficient assistant is on top of things at the office. She knows how to reach me if anything crops up that she can’t handle.”

  “I wish I had one of those,” Emily said. “Mine’s great at taking messages and following up on details, but when it comes to taking the initiative or pacifying clients, that’s all on me.” She gestured with the phone. “And that’s what I’m dealing with now.”

  “Go ahead and make your calls,” Cora Jane told her.

  On the deck, Emily returned a call from Sophia Grayson, a high-maintenance Beverly Hills socialite who expected everything to be done yesterday. She paid top dollar to make that happen, and her acceptance of Emily had been a huge recommendation in certain circles.

  “You’re up early,” Emily said when she’d reached her. “It’s barely eight o’clock out there.”

  “I’m up early because I haven’t slept all night,” Sophia complained with a dramatic sigh. “I’ve been fretting about that disastrous mix-up with the drapery fabric. You know I’m throwing a very important party in less than two weeks, Emily. You promised every last detail would be completed in plenty of time.”

  “And they will be,” Emily assured her. “The new drapes are being made as we speak. I spoke to Enrico myself, and he’s appalled by the mistake. He’s put his best people on the job and he’ll have the replacements ready to be installed tomorrow.”

  “What about the paint in the dining room?” Sophia complained. “It’s just awful. I would never have chosen that color. People will feel as if they’re inside a pumpkin.”

  “I did warn you that orange could be overwhelming,” Emily felt compelled to say, “but we have the backup ready to go. I think you’ll be much happier with the taupe. It’s so classy, definitely much more expressive of your excellent taste and style. The crew will be there at nine and should be out by this afternoon.”

  “I know taupe will be just fine, but I’d hoped for a little pop of color for a change,” Sophia said with a sigh of regret.

  “And we’ll have that in the accessories,” Emily assured her. “You have an appointment with Steve from Rodeo Gallery to look at art this afternoon. I think you’ll find a lovely painting for your collection of fresh new artists that will give you exactly the splash of color you want. Once you’ve chosen that, we can add a few other touches to bring it all together.”

  “I suppose,” Sophia said. “You do know I trust you, Emily. You haven’t let me down yet. Where are you, though? Why aren’t you here? Isn’t on-site oversight part of that fee I pay for your services?”

  “I’m dealing with a bit of a family emergency in North Carolina, Sophia, but you’re not to worry. Everything’s under control. If you need me, all you have to do is call.”

  A beep told her she had another call. “Sweetie, I have to run,” she told Sophia. “I’ll speak to you later today, make sure everything’s on track. Text me if you need me before then.”

  She cut off the call before Sophia could come up with another crisis. Glancing at the caller ID, she saw the name of the client she’d just met with in Aspen.

  “We like your ideas,” Derek Young said without preamble. “How soon can you get back here to get started? We’d like to have the lodge up and running by December first to take full advantage of the ski season. Thanksgiving would be even better.”

  Emily hated the thought of putting him off, but she had little choice. “It’ll be a couple of weeks at least,” she admitted. “If there’s any way to make it sooner, I will. I’ll be honest with you, though, Derek. December might be optimistic even if I could be there tomorrow. You’re going to have to decide if you want quality work or an expedited timetable.”

  “I want both,” he said without hesitation. “If that means doubling up on work crews, then do it.”

  Emily got the message. “Of course.”

  “This is a big job,” he reminded her, clearly intending to emphasize the stakes. “It’s an entire ski lodge. I’m sure you could get some PR mileage out of that.”

  “I understand what a fabulous opportunity you’re giving me, Derek, but I can’t abandon my family right now. The hurricane’s left a mess in its wake.”

  He hesitated, leaving her with her heart in her throat. She thought she could hear his wife murmuring in the background.

  “Okay, fine, do the best you can,” he said eventually. “Tricia has reminded me that, contrary to the way I live my life, family should take priority over business from time to time.”

  Emily smiled. “It’s a lesson I’m struggling with myself,” she told him. “Thank her for me.”

  “You’ll be in touch?”

  “Of course. And there are things I can get started on from here. We won’t be losing much time.”

  When she’d disconnected the call, she allowed herself a moment of triumph over snagging the job, then sighed. She wondered if anyone in her family would be excited for her over this coup. More likely, they’d be disappointed in her for making a promise to leave before the work here was likely to be done.

  * * *

  Cora Jane looked around at her girls, drinking in the sight of them, and the next thing she knew there were tears gathering in her eyes. It was Gabi who caught her before she could wipe them away.

  “Grandmother, are you okay?” Gabi asked quietly.

  “I’m just so glad to have the three of you under this roof again, even if it is leaking in a dozen spots and the place is a disaster.”

  “There’s nothing wrong we can’t fix with a little elbow grease,” Gabi assured her. “I’ll make some calls about the roof, too.”

  “No need,” Cora Jane told her. “Boone’s already taken care of that. He has someone coming first thing tomorrow to replace it. Shouldn’t take more than a couple of days to get it fixed up. As long as we don’t have another storm between now and then, we’ll be okay.”

  “Did I hear you mention Boone?” Emily asked, coming back inside
just in time to hear Cora Jane.

  “He’s arranged for someone to fix the roof,” Gabi told her.

  Emily’s expression soured. “Why don’t you let me make a few calls? Negotiating with contractors is what I do.”

  “How many contractors do you know here who could get to the job tomorrow?” Boone asked, choosing that moment to join them in the kitchen, B.J. at his side. “But if you want to give it a try, I won’t be offended.”

  Emily flushed pink. “She should have competitive bids, that’s all I’m saying,” she retorted.

  “Gee, why didn’t I think of that?” he asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

  Cora Jane looked from one of them to the other and shook her head. Hadn’t it always been this way? If Boone said the sky was blue, Emily would argue it was a gloomy gray. She’d never before known two people who were happiest when they were at odds over one thing or another. She thought it was because they were so alike with high expectations of themselves and everyone around them.

  “Enough, you two,” she scolded. “Tommy Cahill will be here tomorrow. He gave me a price I’m happy with, so that’s that. I was lucky that Boone was able to get him to take on such a small job on short notice when there’s so much to be done out here. He’s only doing it as a favor to Boone. I could wait for weeks for someone else to become available.”

  Emily sat back, her expression disgruntled. “Whatever you want.”

  “Thank you,” Cora Jane said dryly. “Now I propose we all get busy and get this place cleaned out. I’d like to open for breakfast tomorrow morning if I can get supplies here this afternoon.”

  “That’s crazy,” Emily blurted. “The place is a mess. It’s going to take days for me to get some new furniture in here, get everything painted and spruced up with a new look. I sketched out some ideas on the way from Colorado.”

  Cora Jane knew her granddaughter only wanted to help. And she was an expert, after all, but the last thing she wanted was to walk in the door a couple of weeks from now and not even recognize the family business started by her late husband. The decor it had—minus the debris and dampness anyway—suited her just fine. And they’d never wanted for customers. Locals and tourists packed the place. Caleb had had a knack for understanding what worked in a coastal community, and she’d merely followed the path he’d established.

  “We’ll look over those designs of yours tonight,” Cora Jane promised, to take the sting out of her remark. “And you’re right about a fresh coat of paint. But in the meantime there are going to be locals coming back home and workers galore, and they’re all going to need someplace to grab a bite to eat. We’ll make do with what we have for the time being. Maybe later we can think about making a few changes.”

  Emily looked as if she wanted to argue, but instead she just stood up and walked out of the kitchen and back onto the deck at the side of the restaurant.

  Cora Jane turned to Boone. “Go after her.”

  He regarded her with predictable alarm. “Me? Why me?”

  “Sweetheart, you know why as well as I do. The two of you need to talk. You might as well do it now and settle things. Arguing with you might take her mind off whatever she’s stewing over right this minute.”

  “And you think we’re going to settle things with a quick chat on the deck?” Boone inquired skeptically. “Assuming we don’t fall through the damaged boards, that is?”

  “Probably not,” Cora Jane admitted. “But you have to start sometime. It might as well be now. Gabi, Samantha and I will get started in here. B.J. can help by washing up these dishes. You don’t need to worry about him getting into mischief or in the way.”

  Boone gave her a resigned look, but he did head for the deck.

  Cora Jane turned to see both of her other granddaughters grinning.

  “Nicely done,” Samantha said. “Do you have any other missions for these next couple of weeks we should know about?”

  Cora Jane chuckled at the girl’s impudence. Samantha might be thirty-five, but she’d always be a girl in Cora Jane’s eyes.

  “Guess you’ll just have to wait and see,” she replied. “And in case you’re wondering, while I might feel I have a halfway decent relationship with Our Lord, not even I can call up a hurricane. That was His plan.”

  And in her view it was definitely starting to look as if it had been a blessing in disguise.

  * * *

  Emily was crying. Boone could tell by the dejected set of her shoulders and the soft sniffs she tried hard to disguise when she heard the door to the deck open and close.

  “Go away,” she muttered.

  “Sorry. I’m under orders.”

  Her head snapped around at that. “You!”

  “Who’d you think it was?”

  “Samantha, Gabi, maybe even Grandmother.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, those would have been my first choices, too.”

  Surprise, then resignation registered on her face. “Of course Grandmother sent you.”

  Boone leaned on the railing next to her and stared at the ocean across the road. It was hard to believe that just a couple of days earlier it had been washing over the road with giant, angry, destructive waves. Today the sky was a brilliant blue, the waves were lapping gently against sand littered with boards, house siding and roof shingles.

  “Cora Jane seems to think we should settle things,” he explained.

  “What things?”

  “You and me, I’m guessing. We didn’t exactly part on the best of terms. That weighs on her.”

  “True, but we both moved on. That’s in the past,” she said, a hopeful note in her voice. “Right?”

  “I’d have said so until you walked in the door this morning,” he said candidly. “You came in with complication written all over you.”

  She glanced over at him, then sighed. “That was pretty much my reaction, too, if you must know.”

  Boone chuckled.

  “What’s so funny?” she asked.

  “I didn’t expect you to admit it.”

  “I’ve never been a liar, Boone. That was you.”

  Boone frowned at the accusation. “Me? When did I lie?”

  “You said you loved me. Next thing I knew you’d married Jenny.”

  He was startled by the level of pain he thought he heard in her voice. Had she been rewriting history? “You made it pretty clear you weren’t ever coming back. What was I supposed to do? Pine for you?”

  “You could have given me some time to work through things,” she accused. “That’s all I really asked of you.”

  He regarded her with surprise. “When did you ask for time? If you’d asked for it, maybe I would have. Instead, you said we were over. You made it sound pretty final.” He studied her face. “Or was that the lie you had to tell yourself so you could leave town and not look back?”

  She seemed to take the question to heart and actually mull it over. “Something like that,” she conceded eventually. “Okay, we both made mistakes. I wasn’t clear enough. You jumped to conclusions. I can admit to that much. Can you?”

  He hesitated, then said, “I suppose.”

  “Such a heartfelt concession,” she murmured dryly, then met his gaze. “But it doesn’t change anything, Boone. Not really. My life still isn’t here.”

  “Believe me, I’m well aware of that. What Cora Jane hasn’t told me, B.J. has. He’s very impressed with you and Samantha. You’re the first real celebrities he’s ever met.”

  Emily had the grace to chuckle at that, the tension easing slightly. “Samantha can lay claim to being a celebrity, but I just work for a few. Most of my clients aren’t that famous.”

  “Just rich?” he queried.

  “Is there something wrong with being rich? Your family wasn’t exactly poor. Your father was a high-powere
d lawyer, and your mother married a guy who made millions on widgets or something.”

  He smiled at her dismissive assessment of his stepfather, who’d owned a multinational manufacturing company. “That has very little to do with me. I started from scratch and earned what I have.” He gave her a lingering look. “And I wasn’t making judgments. I just meant that having money calls for a certain kind of lifestyle, keeping up appearances, that sort of thing.”

  “No question about that.” Her gaze narrowed. “Are you making a point?”

  He gave her a thorough survey that put patches of bright color in her cheeks. “I just wonder what those clients of yours would make of it if they saw you in shorts and a tank top with a discount store tag hanging out the back?” He winked at her as he snapped off the tag, allowing his fingers to linger just a little too long against her bare skin before adding, “Me, I just think you look incredibly sexy.”

  Her breath caught, and there was no mistaking the struggle she had to keep her gaze steady.

  “Let’s not go there, okay?” she pleaded. “Obviously we have to find some way to get along with each other for the next couple of weeks for my grandmother’s sake, but then we’ll go our separate ways again. Acting crazy will only make that harder to do.”

  Well, that was a clear enough warning, he thought. “No craziness,” Boone said. “Got it, though it might help if you defined this craziness you think we should avoid.”

  “No fighting,” she said at once. Color climbed into her cheeks. “No touching or kissing. You know exactly what I mean, Boone. Don’t pretend you don’t. It doesn’t take much, even now, to stir us up, apparently.”

  He grinned. “If you can keep a civil tongue in your head and your hands to yourself, so can I.”

  “Okay, then,” Emily said.

  He thought he detected a hint of disappointment in her eyes, but it was gone too quickly for him to be sure.

  She turned to head back inside, but Boone caught her shoulder. Her skin heated beneath his touch, though he felt her shiver.