Sand Castle Bay (Ocean Breeze) - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,30

had to grow up too soon.”

“You know he worries about you,” Emily told him. “He doesn’t like to bring up his mother because he knows it makes you sad.”

Boone sighed. “I know. I heard him tell you that earlier. It ripped me apart. I guess we need to have a talk about that. I need to reassure him that he can talk to me about Jenny anytime he wants to.”

“That’s what I told him.”

“I know. You were very good with him.”

She slanted a look at him. “You sound surprised.”

“I suppose I am, a little. I never had the sense that having kids was a big deal to you. That was another reason I thought any future for the two of us was doomed.”

Emily frowned at the assessment, though she understood where it came from. “Just because I wasn’t ready for kids ten years ago doesn’t mean I never thought about having them. You were just ahead of me. It scared me how ready you were for everything—a wife, a family, settling down. I felt as if I was just starting out. There were so many places I wanted to see, things I wanted to achieve.”

“And you thought being with me would get in the way of all that,” he said.

“Sure.”

“Being married and having B.J. didn’t stop me from starting my restaurant, expanding into a couple of other markets.”

“Obviously you turned out to be a better multitasker than I am. I thought I needed to focus a hundred percent on my dream.”

“So, have you achieved everything you wanted to achieve?” he asked.

“Not everything, but I do have an amazing career.”

“And a personal life?”

“I date,” she hedged.

“Anybody special?”

She shook her head, reluctant somehow to admit that there was no one—other than a few clients—who’d even notice that she was away from Los Angeles for an extended period of time. It sounded too pitiful, even to her, despite the fact that she was mostly perfectly content with her life. It was as if losing the most important relationship of her life had soured her on ever trying again.

“Too busy to get serious, I guess,” she said eventually. “You? Have you been dating?”

“I’ve been out a few times, but it’s too soon for me to be bringing anyone new into B.J.’s life. I have plenty on my plate without worrying about a relationship these days. And I’m trying to be respectful of the Farmers’ feelings. Jenny’s death crushed them. If I got serious about someone, they’d hate me for attempting to replace her. There’s enough ill will between us already.”

“You don’t get along with your in-laws?”

“We do okay, as long as I don’t rock the boat. Dating right now would be rocking the boat big-time.”

“Our reasons may be different, but it sounds as if we’re pretty much in the same place.”

He turned to meet her gaze, his expression vaguely startled. “That’s how you see it?”

“Sure. Don’t you?”

“Em, I don’t think we’ve been on the same page since we were teenagers sitting out here on nights just like this.”

“Oh,” she said softly, her eyes stinging once more as the unexpected barb hit its mark.

He frowned. “Are you about to cry?”

“No, of course not,” she said, swiping impatiently at a tear. “I just thought...we seemed to be getting along, maybe even making peace.”

“And that’s what you want? To make peace?”

“We were best friends once, Boone. Wouldn’t that be a good place to start over?”

“Sure. I guess,” he said with unmistakable reluctance.

“You don’t think it’s possible?”

“Possible? Anything’s possible. Men walked on the moon, didn’t they?”

“Are you putting the likelihood of us being friends again in the same category as a space walk?” she asked, not sure whether to be amused or insulted by the unlikely odds he seemed to be suggesting.

“Yeah, I think so,” he said.

Emily let his doubts wash over her. Oddly enough, they stirred an unexpected reaction. She doubted he’d intended it, but he’d just uttered an irresistible challenge. For whatever time she remained in Sand Castle Bay, she suddenly found herself with a new mission—getting back the friendship they’d once shared and that she, at least, had treasured.

At least until she’d stupidly thrown it away. However she viewed his marriage to Jenny, she was the one who’d set the wheels in motion by walking away.

7

Boone realized his mistake too late. The instant he saw the glint of competitiveness in Emily’s eyes, he realized that he’d just uttered a challenge she wouldn’t be able to resist. While all he’d hoped to do was warn her