Sand Castle Bay (Ocean Breeze) - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,49
on her cheek. “But I think I’d better get B.J. and head home.”
“Now?” Cora Jane said incredulously. “Did I just waste my breath here?”
Boone laughed. “I heard you. Doesn’t mean I’m going to jump off the deep end just because it’s what you want.”
She shook her head. “I might have to take it all back,” she warned him.
“Up to you,” he said, giving Jerry a wink. “See you soon.”
“Maybe you will. Maybe you won’t,” Cora Jane replied. “I really don’t like it much when my advice is ignored.”
“Keep that in mind when Emily comes to you with her latest plans for this place,” he suggested. “She’s not crazy about being ignored, either. The two of you are a lot alike in that regard.”
“Well, I never,” she muttered as he walked out. She turned to Jerry. “I honestly thought I’d finally made some progress with that man.”
Jerry chuckled. “Maybe you ought to think about sitting back and letting nature take its course. Neither one of them is going to stand a chance against those sparks that fly whenever they’re in the same place, not for long, anyway.”
“I don’t like leaving the important stuff to chance,” Cora Jane said in frustration.
“Think of it this way,” Jerry suggested. “You’re putting it in God’s hands. Last time I checked, He was even better than you at making sure things turn out the way they’re supposed to.”
Cora Jane could hardly deny that, but she sure as heck didn’t have to like it.
* * *
Boone had heard every word Cora Jane said to him on Saturday. He even believed some of it. That didn’t mean he was quite ready to let go of the guilt that had wrapped itself around him like a cloak ever since Jenny’s death. That being the case, he tried to give Castle’s a wide berth at least until Emily left town for good. He managed to steer clear on Sunday and Monday, but by Tuesday B.J. was having none of it. Boone dropped him off that morning and returned only to pick him up. He didn’t set foot inside.
On Wednesday he tried yet again to convince B.J. to spend the day with him. Unfortunately B.J.’s attachment to Emily was growing. Boone might not consider it healthy, but he understood why his son was basking in her attention. He missed his mother and needed a woman’s tender touch.
“How about hanging out at my restaurant today?” Boone suggested when they left the house.
B.J. immediately shook his head. “It’s boring there. Everybody’s too busy to pay any attention to me. Tommy won’t let me help with anything. He says I might get hurt.”
Boone could hardly argue with Tommy’s instincts, though they certainly didn’t help him out of this particular jam. “I’ll find something for you to do,” Boone promised. “Or maybe you could help Pete with something.”
B.J. didn’t look convinced. “Like what?”
“We’ll ask him when we get there,” Boone said, since no immediate ideas came to mind.
“No way,” B.J. protested. “Once you get there, you won’t want to leave, no matter how boring it is.”
“But you have that game you insisted was the best thing ever,” Boone said in frustration. “This is exactly the reason I bought it for you, so you’d have something to keep you from being bored.”
“It’s not as much fun as real work, like the kind they give me at Castle’s,” B.J. argued. “And Emily needs my help. You said so yourself.”
Boone conceded defeat, drove right on by his restaurant and headed north to Castle’s.
“What exactly did Emily let you do yesterday to help her?” he asked his son, curious to know what B.J. found so fascinating.
“She showed me this cool computer program she uses to decide on paint colors and stuff,” B.J. explained. “She thinks Castle’s should be a sky blue color with sunshine yellow trim, instead of all dark and dreary the way it is now.”
Boone hid a smile. “I assume that’s a direct quote, the dark and dreary part?”
B.J. nodded. “She called it something else, too. Rus...something.”
“Rustic?” Boone suggested.
“That’s it,” B.J. confirmed. “I wasn’t sure what it meant, so that’s when she said dark and dreary, kinda like a cave.”
Boone could only imagine how Cora Jane would react to that comparison. “And did you happen to hear what Ms. Cora Jane said when Emily proposed that idea?” Boone asked. Despite his own less-than-subtle attempts to get Cora Jane to at least listen to Emily, he had a feeling Cora Jane still wasn’t going to be open to