Sand Castle Bay (Ocean Breeze) - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,41

kid was miserable enough without losing out on the soccer game he’d been looking forward to. Maybe playing would boost his spirits.

The game was scheduled for first thing Saturday morning. Boone woke B.J. at seven.

“I’m not going,” B.J. said.

“But you’ve been looking forward to this all week. It’s the first game since the hurricane.”

“I wanted Emily to see me play.”

“She’s not even in town,” Boone said, praying that was the case.

“How do you know? Did Ms. Cora Jane tell you?”

“No, but Emily told both you and me that she probably wouldn’t be back in time.”

“But she might be,” B.J. said hopefully. “We could call and find out. You have her number.”

The hopeful expression in B.J.’s eyes tore at Boone’s resolve. Still, he tried to put him off. “I’m sure Ms. Cora Jane would have let us know if Emily had come back.”

“Not if she thinks you’re mad at her,” B.J. said reasonably. “And I’ll bet she won’t come to the game unless you tell her it’s okay.”

The kid was obviously too darn smart and overheard way too much.

“Fine. I’ll call her,” Boone said through gritted teeth. “But don’t be surprised if she’s still in California or Colorado or wherever she had to go.”

Once again he found the number in his caller ID directory and connected. Emily answered almost at once. The sound of her voice set off feelings he’d really hoped were dead and buried after her latest stunt.

“Hi, it’s Boone,” he said tersely.

“I know.”

“B.J. wondered when you’ll be back in town,” he said, wanting it to be clear that he personally didn’t care one way or the other.

“I got in last night,” she told him. “Grandmother says you haven’t been around much. Is that because you don’t even want B.J. around my family now?”

“No, it just seemed best. I’ve had a lot to do at my restaurant.”

“So you were just too busy to drop him off and risk having him run into me again?”

“Okay, yes,” he admitted.

“Boone, why are you calling?”

“B.J.’s soccer game is this morning,” he said.

“I know.”

“He wants you there.”

“And you? What do you want?” she asked pointedly.

Boone lowered his voice. “I want him to be happy again,” he said, knowing the response was way too telling and gave her way too much power.

“Then it’s okay with you if I’m there?” she said, clearly wanting reassurance.

“I’ll make it work,” he said. “But Em—”

“I know, Boone. I’ll do everything in my power not to be careless with his feelings again. Besides, I have big news for him.”

“Big news?” he asked cautiously.

“My client loves his fabric choice for the ski lodge. In fact, they want the two of you to come to Aspen sometime as their guests.”

Boone couldn’t believe his ears. “You’re kidding me. They took the advice of an eight-year-old? Did they know that?”

“They did, and that invitation was serious. I have to admit I wasn’t nearly as sure about the red as B.J. was.”

Boone recalled the day B.J. had made the suggestion, the day he’d talked to Emily about his mom and her love of red. How crazy was it that the interior of this fancy ski resort would wind up being some kind of tribute in a way to Jenny, thanks to his son?

“You’re going to make him very happy,” Boone said.

Of course, the real truth was that B.J. was going to be over the moon simply because Emily was back and attending his soccer game. His so-called interior design success was just going to be the icing on that cake.

9

Emily arrived at the soccer field just after the start of the game. She tried to slip into the stands unobtrusively, but during a time-out in play, B.J. caught sight of her from the field and made a mad dash in her direction. He threw his arms around her in a hug that almost knocked her off balance.

“Dad said you were back and that you were coming,” he enthused. “Did you see me on that last play? I almost made a goal.”

“Did you really?” she said, smiling at his excitement even over an apparent near miss. “I wish I’d been here, but it must have been when I was walking over from the parking lot.”

“You’re gonna stay, though, right? For the whole game?”

“I’m definitely going to be here,” she assured him.

He glanced toward the field where play was about to resume. “Gotta go. I’ll see you after, okay?”

“Okay,” she said.

She’d barely taken a seat in the bleachers when Boone appeared from somewhere above her in the