Sand Castle Bay (Ocean Breeze) - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,45
to sit Cora Jane down and have another conversation about making some updates. This time I have color swatches and sketches.”
He gave her an amused look. “Maybe you ought to run those by B.J. first, since he has such good instincts and all.”
She frowned at his attempt to be funny. “I think I can handle this.”
“I swear, I was serious,” Boone said. “Cora Jane adores B.J. You know she’d listen to him.”
“She’ll listen to me, too,” Emily said grimly.
“Yeah, but you’re going to take it personally again when she rejects your plan.”
“She’s not going to reject it,” Emily said confidently, though she knew there was every chance that her grandmother would, indeed, turn her suggestions down flat.
“How about this?” Boone said, pulling into the Castle’s lot. “After we finish up here and B.J. gets a shower, I’ll bring him over to Castle’s. You two can talk your ideas over, then double-team your grandmother.”
She frowned at his persistence. “You really think this is doomed, don’t you?”
He nodded. “Afraid so.”
“But I’m good at what I do,” she protested.
“I’m sure you are, but Cora Jane is stubborn as a mule, to say nothing of set in her ways. She doesn’t want to change the restaurant. I’m still a little shocked that she went along with Wade’s plans to update the whole cashier area.”
Emily chuckled. “Of course she went along with it. She had to keep him around if her plan to set him up with Gabi was to succeed. Are you aware that she’s figured out some essential change he had to make practically every day?”
Boone regarded her with surprise. “You’re kidding. And Wade’s gone along with it?”
“He seems to welcome it. The man hasn’t taken his eyes off Gabi since that first day, at least according to Grandmother. He’s no more anxious to leave than she is to let him.”
Emily slanted a look at Boone. “I know a surefire way to get her to agree to these changes I want to make.”
“Oh?”
“You could agree to supervise and we could get Wade to do all the carpentry,” she said, oddly pleased by the deviousness of the idea. “Two birds with one stone. She’d be in matchmaking glory.”
“And we’d be exactly where?” Boone asked.
She grinned. “Deep trouble, I imagine, but it could be worth it.”
“Just so you could get your way?”
She nodded. “I’m just saying, I’d certainly consider it a favor.”
Boone shook his head. “Sorry, sweet pea. No can do. Not even for such a noble cause. You’re on your own unless you want B.J.’s help.”
“Fine,” she said, as he pulled up behind her car. “Bring him over. Even a pint-size ally is better than none.”
Boone laughed. “See you in an hour, then.”
As Emily watched him drive away, she couldn’t help wondering when he’d stopped worrying about her spending time with his son. Had he started to trust her, after all? Or had he simply accepted that B.J. would make it all but impossible for Boone to keep them apart?
* * *
As Boone had predicted, the last of the customers was leaving Castle’s just as Emily arrived. With the dining room closed, Wade had arrived to work on the cabinets Cora Jane had decided she wanted behind the cashier stand.
“How’s it going, Wade?” Emily asked. “How many times has Grandmother changed her mind today?”
He laughed. “So far, we’re sticking with yesterday’s plan. Three cabinets for storage, but now she’s decided some open shelving would be good, too.”
“For?”
“Souvenirs, I think. Gabi suggested it. She’s been over there poring over catalogs for a couple of days now. Says it would be great PR to have people walking around all over town wearing Castle’s T-shirts and ball caps and drinking out of Castle’s fancy to-go cups. I recommended she look into sand pails, the perfect thing for making sand castles on the beach, right? I thought it was an inspired tie-in.”
“It actually is,” Emily agreed. “What did Gabi say?”
He shrugged. “About what you’d expect. She told me to stick to carpentry.” He beckoned Emily closer. “But I sneaked a peek at the catalogs she has over there today.” A grin spread across his face. “Sand pails.”
Emily laughed. “Good for you.”
She headed for the booth where her sister had set up shop. “On a spending spree?” she asked, sliding into the booth opposite her.
Gabi looked up, the smile on her face fading as she realized who it was. “Bravely returning to the scene