Sand Castle Bay (Ocean Breeze) - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,36

the same room knows he still exists. The sparks are hot enough to burn the whole town down. He’s just fighting it with everything in him.”

“He’s probably wise to fight it,” Emily said bleakly. “What if, when push comes to shove, I can’t give up my career and wind up leaving again?”

“Then that would make you an idiot,” Gabi said. “I don’t think you’re going to lose anything. Rather, you have everything to gain.” She squeezed Emily’s hand. “And the sister I know and love is not an idiot. Deep down, she knows that.”

Emily wished she had as much faith in herself as Gabi had, because if she were to follow her sister’s advice, there was an awful lot at stake—for her, for Boone and for B.J. B.J. was a critical part of the equation, after all. She and Boone were adults. They could handle whatever happened. But it would be selfish and wrong to put B.J.’s emotions at risk, especially if she weren’t a hundred percent certain of what she wanted.

And wasn’t that exactly what Boone had been telling her all along?

8

“You’re leaving?” Cora Jane stared at Emily in shock. “Now, when there’s still work to be done? I thought you’d be staying at least a couple of weeks.”

“I’d intended to,” Emily said, trying not to meet Gabi’s dismayed gaze as she tried to explain to her Grandmother. “But this job in Los Angeles is at a critical stage. The client is incredibly demanding and she’s about to have a breakdown because things aren’t finished. I need to check in personally to soothe her ruffled feathers. And my client in Aspen needs to take a look at the plans I have for his ski lodge and sign off on those. This seemed like a good time, since things here are under control for the most part.”

“Is this because you didn’t get your way about renovations?” Cora Jane asked.

Gabi shook her head, clearly not buying her excuses for a minute. “No, Grandmother, this is really about what Emily and I discussed last night.” She gave Emily a penetrating look. “Isn’t it?”

“And what was that?” Cora Jane demanded. “Did you two argue?”

“No, not at all,” Emily insisted, her comment directed at Cora Jane, but her gaze on Gabi, silently pleading with her not to say any more.

“I told her she ought to reach out to Boone, that she needed to find a way to make him a part of her future,” Gabi said, giving her a defiant look. “And she obviously got scared, so her answer is to run.”

“I’m not running because of what you said, or because of Boone,” Emily retorted. “I have jobs to do. I’ve been neglecting them. I’ll be gone a few days at most, and then I’ll come back.”

Cora Jane looked relieved. “So this is just a quick trip?”

“Definitely,” Emily assured her, though only to get the two of them off her back.

“Unless she can dream up another half-dozen excuses for not coming back,” Gabi said, her gaze on Emily unrelenting.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Emily said, annoyed that her sister obviously knew her too well. She had been considering ways to stay away and avoid all the complications that were clearly looming on the horizon. “Now, I need to run if I’m going to get over to Raleigh to catch my flight this afternoon.”

“How do you intend to get there?” Gabi inquired smugly. “You don’t have a car.”

“Samantha told me I could drive her rental over there and turn it in. I’ll get another rental when I come back. After all, you have your car here and Grandmother has hers. The rental’s barely been out of the driveway.”

Samantha walked into the kitchen just then and evidently sensed the tension as she gazed around the table. “Did I do something wrong? Should I not let her take the car?”

“You’ve just made it easier for her to run away,” Gabi said in disgust. “Not your fault, of course. She probably would have hitchhiked if there hadn’t been an alternative.”

Gabi stood up and walked out of the kitchen.

“Why’s she so upset?” Samantha asked.

“She thinks I’m running out because I’m scared,” Emily said.

Samantha shrugged. “Of course you are. It’s what you do.”

Emily regarded her sister with dismay. As usual, Samantha’s accusation carried a weight that Gabi’s did not. “I do not,” she said defensively.

“That’s what you did ten years ago, isn’t it?” Samantha persisted. “I was already in New York, but it was pretty plain to all