Sand Castle Bay (Ocean Breeze) - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,40
the beginning. Even so, I think you will be ready to open before Christmas.”
“Can you commit to that?”
“Once you give me an okay on what I’ve shown you, I’ll set everything in motion. Give me a week and I should be able to give you a firm date.”
“That’s reasonable, Derek,” Tricia chimed in, giving her husband a chiding look.
Emily regarded her with gratitude. She knew if it weren’t for Tricia’s more reasonable expectations, Derek would probably have fired her, or perhaps never hired her in the first place.
She looked from Tricia to Derek. “You have my promise to make this a top priority.”
“And you can do that from North Carolina?” Derek inquired skeptically.
“Of course she can,” Tricia answered for Emily. “Look what she’s already accomplished from there. It’s going to be lovely, exactly what we were hoping for.” She smiled at Emily. “And you tell that young man who’s helping you that I am very excited about the red fabric he chose.”
Emily laughed. “You do know he’s only eight? He’s probably going to insist that his father bring him out here so he can see for himself that you actually took his suggestion.”
Tricia chuckled. “We’ll give them the best room in the lodge,” she said. “Bring them anytime.”
Emily heard the sincerity in her voice. “I’ll definitely let him know,” she said, though she was doubtful that Boone would ever take advantage of the offer, not if there was even a chance they’d cross paths with her.
Emily gathered up her papers and closed her laptop. “We’re all set, then? Any changes you’d like to see? If not, I’ll have the contractor in here first thing tomorrow and start making the calls to order the furniture and accessories.”
Tricia slid closer to her husband and tucked her arm through his. For all of his gruff demeanor with Emily, it was evident that when it came to his wife, he was putty in her hands. “Derek, everything’s perfect, isn’t it?”
He smiled at her, his expression indulgent. “If you say it is. There’s little question that you have better taste than I do when it comes to this sort of thing.”
Tricia laughed. “If we left it to him, everything would have been brown so it wouldn’t show dirt,” she confirmed. “You have our go-ahead, Emily.”
“Fantastic. You’ll have updates from me every day, and I’ll be back as soon as I can manage it,” she promised.
From their private quarters at the lodge, she headed straight for the airport and the connecting flight that would take her to Denver. From there she would have to fly to Atlanta and then to Raleigh. She figured that would give her just enough time to try to figure out what she could possibly say to Boone to make him relent about her spending time with B.J. Unfortunately it probably wasn’t nearly enough time to imagine any scenario in which he’d forgive her for hurting his son in the first place.
* * *
Now that Tommy and his crew were working on his restaurant renovations, Boone had managed to stay away from Castle’s for a few days in a row. B.J. had complained bitterly about that, and none of the activities Boone had arranged for him had gone over well. Apparently he’d been impossible when he’d spent the day with Alex, had been rude when he’d gone to a minor league ball game with another family and had sat in stubborn silence in front of the TV all day when left at home with a sitter.
“Do I have to ground you to get it through your head that being rude isn’t acceptable when someone’s included you in an outing?” Boone demanded in frustration. “Because if that’s what it takes, I will do it. You’ll spend the rest of the summer at home with a sitter, and there will be no games and no TV.”
B.J. simply stared at him mutinously. “Whatever.”
“That attitude is not winning you any points,” Boone told him.
“Whatever,” B.J. said again and stormed off to his room.
Boone stared after him in frustration. This was all Emily’s fault. He didn’t have a doubt in the world about that. Other than that one call, she hadn’t been in touch. Not that she’d even promised to be, but B.J. had obviously been missing her and hoping for another call.
Tomorrow was B.J.’s soccer game, and Boone was torn about whether to take him or keep him home as punishment for his behavior the past few days. He finally decided to take him. The poor