Sand Castle Bay (Ocean Breeze) - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,120
Emily added, smiling up at Boone. “I can’t imagine it being anywhere else. Can you?”
He grinned. “I was thinking we could gather together a few people, get married on the beach next week, maybe do a barbecue at Castle’s afterward. What do you think?”
Emily exchanged a skeptical look with her grandmother.
“Absolutely not,” Cora Jane said firmly. “We’re having a big whoop-de-do, and that’s final. After waiting this long, my girl deserves a proper wedding gown, flowers, the whole nine yards.”
Emily laughed. “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
Since all Boone really cared about was claiming this woman for the rest of his life, he wasn’t about to argue about how that came to be. If she and Cora Jane wanted a whoop-de-do, then he’d see that they had it.
“Sooner, rather than later,” he requested.
“Later,” Cora Jane corrected firmly. “Big weddings take planning, and with you two in California, that’ll take time. You want it done right, don’t you?”
“I just want it done,” Boone countered, but he knew it was a losing stance. Their minds were obviously made up.
“Early summer,” Emily said. “That’s a reasonable compromise.”
Boone nodded, albeit reluctantly. “I suppose I can live with that.”
Cora Jane looked hesitant, then she, too, nodded. “But we’ll need to start right now.” She grabbed Emily’s hand and dragged her toward the house. “We should make some lists.”
“Tonight?” Boone asked, He’d had a few other ideas in mind for tonight.
Cora Jane turned and gave him a chiding look. “You’ll have a whole bunch of time to celebrate in private,” she scolded. “Do you want this wedding to happen this summer or not?”
He shook his head, laughing. “Go. Make your lists. You have a half hour. B.J. and I will get dinner on the table.”
But he was talking to their backs. He glanced at his son. “Looks like we’re on our own.”
B.J. shook his head. “No way, Dad. We’re getting married! How cool is that?”
Pretty darn cool in Boone’s opinion. And way too long in coming!
* * * * *
Be sure to look for Sherryl’s next
OCEAN BREEZE novel,
WIND CHIME POINT,
coming in May to your favorite retailer.
Keep reading for an excerpt from Where Azaleas Bloom by Sherryl Woods
There’s no place like home, especially if it’s Serenity, South Carolina…
For more warm and inspiring stories of friendship, families and heartfelt emotions, don’t miss the rest of the Sweet Magnolias series:
Stealing Home
A Slice of Heaven
Feels Like Family
Welcome to Serenity
Home in Carolina
Sweet Tea at Sunrise
Honeysuckle Summer
Midnight Promises
Catching Fireflies
Do you love to cook? Sherryl Woods shares delicious down-home Southern recipes and exclusive “behind-the-scenes” stories in The Sweet Magnolias Cookbook. Available now!
Looking for even more? Check out the Chesapeake Shores series, and dozens of other titles by New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods, all available in ebook format.
“Woods is noted for appealing, character-driven stories that are often infused with the flavor and fragrance of the South.” —Library Journal
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1
Lynn Morrow was at her wit’s end. Her tiny desk tucked into a corner of the kitchen was piled high with bills and her checkbook balance was a stunningly low $24.35. Not since college had she seen such a scary balance.
The refrigerator held a half-empty carton of milk, five eggs and some rapidly wilting lettuce. There was a can of diced tomatoes in the cupboard, along with a box of spaghetti, a few spoonfuls of peanut butter left in a jar and maybe a bowlful of Cheerios in the bottom of the box. That, too, reminded her of college. But it was one thing to scrape by at nineteen, and quite another to try to do it in her forties with kids to care for.
“Mom, I’m starving,” Jeremy announced when he walked in the door from school. It was the standard cry of her ten-year-old. “What can I have for a snack?”
Lexie, who was right on his heels, took one look at her mother, apparently interpreted her dire expression for the near-panic Lynn was feeling, and turned on her brother. “You don’t need food. You need sensitivity training.”
Tears sprang to Lynn’s eyes as Jeremy bolted from the room. Lately, Alexis, who was only fourteen, had spent way too much time trying to protect her mother. Ever since the divorce proceedings had been initiated, Lynn had been struggling to make ends meet. She and Ed were still in court wrangling over everything from custody of