Sea Glass Island (Ocean Breeze) - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,17
look at her as if she were the sun, moon and stars all rolled into one?
Gabi sailed into the house just then, her expression frantic. “Is the baby okay? I know I’m late, and I know how fussy she gets if she isn’t fed right on time.”
“She definitely made her feelings known,” Samantha told her. “But Wade showed up with his magic touch, and she’s been good as gold ever since.”
Gabi bent down and gave Wade a lingering kiss. “Thanks,” she murmured as she took the baby from him.
“Sit,” he said, pulling her down beside him.
“But Dani needs to be fed,” Gabi protested.
“And here’s as good a place as any,” he said, his gaze locked with hers.
When the baby settled into place, Wade grazed his knuckles gently over her cheek in a touch so tender it brought tears to Samantha’s eyes. With the three of them so absorbed with this moment, she felt like a fifth wheel.
“I’ll get dinner started,” she murmured, though she doubted anyone heard her.
In the kitchen, she decided on pasta with a simple marinara sauce. While the water for the pasta was boiling, she tossed a salad with fresh lettuce and tomatoes from the local farmer’s stand where she’d stopped on her way home, added a bit of spring onion and blue cheese and then her own personal vinaigrette. She’d make her meal out of this, giving a token nod to her need to watch her weight.
She’d just minced some garlic into a skillet with olive oil and was preparing to add the tomato sauce when Cora Jane, Jerry and Emily came in.
“It smells fabulous in here,” Emily said, sniffing the air. “I had no idea you could cook.”
“All Castles need to know their way around a kitchen,” Samantha recited, grinning at Cora Jane when she said it. “How many times did you say that to us when we were here in the summer?”
“Not enough, apparently, since not a one of you went into the restaurant business,” Cora Jane said. She checked on the sauce, then eyed Samantha speculatively. “Of course, maybe it’s not too late.”
“Uh-oh,” Emily teased. “Grandmother’s got that look in her eye. You’d better run for your life, Samantha, or you’ll be running Castle’s before the summer’s out. If that sauce is as delicious as it smells, there will be pasta dishes on the menu and you’ll be in the kitchen making them.”
Samantha handed the spoon she’d been using to stir the sauce to Cora Jane. “Not a prayer,” she said at once. “This is your domain, Grandmother. I’m just an innocent bystander. I’m only in the kitchen because Gabi, Wade and the baby are having family time in the living room.”
“And you let them chase you off?” Cora Jane asked.
“They didn’t even know I was in the room, much less that I’d left,” Samantha said. “I think we’d better get a wedding date on the calendar for those two soon.”
“We’re eloping,” Gabi announced, arriving in the kitchen just in time to overhear the comment. “All this fuss is way too much.”
“You’ll do no such thing,” Cora Jane said, looking horrified. “Get Wade in here right this minute, and I’ll set him straight about that.”
“He’s putting the baby down,” Gabi said. “And he and I are agreed about this. No hoopla when our time comes. Just a quiet ceremony with family.”
Samantha noticed the color rising in Emily’s cheeks at Gabi’s words.
“Are you suggesting that my wedding is over-the-top?” Emily asked, an edge to her voice.
“No one is saying any such thing, honey bun,” Cora Jane said quickly, shooting a pointed look in Gabi’s direction.
“I’m just saying it’s a lot of work and stress for a party,” Gabi said defensively. “But I certainly don’t begrudge you and Boone for having the wedding of your dreams. It’s just not Wade and me.”
Emily burst into tears at that and fled out the back door.
“That girl’s nerves are getting to her,” Cora Jane assessed. “I don’t think it’s all about the wedding, either. I suspect there’s something else on her mind.”
“Such as?” Samantha asked.
Cora Jane huffed a sigh of frustration. “No idea.”
“I’d better go,” Gabi said with a sigh. “I should have kept my big mouth shut. I know she’s sensitive about the wedding spinning a little out of control.”
Samantha held up a hand. “I’ll go. I know I’m not the traditional peacemaker around her, but I’m thinking she might not want to hear anything you have to say right now.”