Sand Castle Bay (Ocean Breeze) - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,29
he accepted his beer from her and took a swig.
Emily smiled at the memory of her grandmother’s determination to make sure that nothing more than talking went on between the two of them. She’d succeeded until Boone got his driver’s license. After that, they’d found plenty of places with more privacy.
“Well, I was fourteen the summer we met. We were pretty much inseparable after that. You do the math. Of course, back then we were drinking sodas, not beer.”
“I thought you were the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen,” he said, his voice filled with nostalgia for a change, rather than the bitterness she’d grown accustomed to the past couple of days.
“And I thought you were the most dangerous boy around, especially after I found out you’d been picked up trying to buy beer with a fake ID.” She slanted a look at him. “Seriously, you thought you could pass for twenty-one? You’d just turned fifteen.”
“Not one of my shining moments,” he admitted. “Cora Jane reminded me of that just this morning. She claims it should have made me into a believer in second chances.”
Emily regarded him closely. “You don’t believe people deserve second chances?”
“Depends on the circumstances, I guess,” he said with a shrug. “Some things are pretty unforgivable.”
“Since you were having this conversation with my grandmother, why do I have a feeling it had to do with what I did to you?”
He slanted a look her way, a smile on his lips. “Because she thinks my attitude toward you is a little too unyielding.”
“It is,” Emily agreed, then grinned. “But I get it, Boone. I hurt you. And, to be honest, I haven’t been cutting you much slack, either.”
“To hear you tell it, though, I hurt you right back when I married Jenny.”
“Yep,” she confirmed. “I took it personally, no question about it.”
“I thought you’d be relieved.”
She stared at him incredulously. “Relieved? Why? I’d told you I loved you. I thought it was understood that you’d wait for me.”
“Sweetheart, trust me. If you tell a guy you love him as you’re walking out of his life, it makes it a little hard to believe. You might want to keep that in mind if the occasion ever arises again.”
She recalled how devastated she’d felt when she’d learned he was marrying Jenny. “Did you have to turn to someone else so fast?”
He shrugged. “What can I say? I was lost without you, and I was hurt and angry. Jenny was right there. She made no secret of being in love with me. There were no games, no pretenses, no hidden agendas. She wanted marriage and a family. That held a lot of appeal after you telling me you weren’t ready for any of that.”
She forced herself to ask, “Did you love her, Boone?”
He glanced at her, his expression unreadable. “Will it make you feel better if I say no? The truth is I did love her, Emily. Otherwise I wouldn’t have married her. At least I like to think I’m a better man than that.”
Emily felt the unexpected sting of tears in her eyes. Somehow she’d held out hope that there’d been no love between them, but how selfish was that? Had she honestly hoped that Boone had sentenced himself to a loveless marriage?
“I’m sorry,” she said, not entirely sure what she was apologizing for. Was it for his loss or for her own childish desire to have remained first in his heart? “Were you happy?”
He gave her another long look, then said, “Yeah, I was. And when B.J. came along, I thought I had everything I ever wanted.”
Emily smiled. “I can understand that. He’s an amazing kid.”
“He’s certainly taken a shine to you,” Boone said, still not sounding especially happy about that.
“Well, the feeling is mutual. I hope you won’t keep him away because of what happened today.”
“Oh, I’m tempted to do just that,” he admitted, then added in a resigned tone, “but I doubt I could if I tried. B.J. is very clever about getting his way. I seem highly susceptible to his tactics. Jenny was a much tougher disciplinarian than I am. And since she died, I want him to have whatever he wants or needs. That’s probably going to come back and bite me in the butt one of these days.”
“I don’t think so. You know what I see in him? I see a boy who knows he’s loved and responds to that. I don’t see him taking advantage of it. He’s a very responsible kid.”