Sand Castle Bay (Ocean Breeze) - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,5
me pancakes like Mickey Mouse?” B.J. asked. “The little pancakes that make the ears are the best part.” A guilty expression passed over his face. “Hers are better than Jerry’s, but don’t tell him. I don’t want to hurt his feelings.”
Boone laughed, well aware of how competitive the cook and Cora Jane could be at times. “I doubt she’ll have the kitchen open,” Boone told him. “The storm water’s barely receded. You know what a mess things are over at our place. Castle’s didn’t look much better when I checked it out yesterday.”
He also knew that Cora Jane was the kind of woman who liked to feel in control of things. No hurricane would throw her off course for long. By tomorrow, she’d probably be cooking whatever she could on the gas grill even if she couldn’t get the oven up and running.
He gave his son a warning look. “Don’t be asking her for pancakes, okay? Not till we see what the situation is. We’re here to help, not to make more work for her.”
“But she always says making special pancakes for me isn’t work,” B.J. said earnestly. “She says she does it out of love.”
Boone chuckled. Of course she’d tell B.J. something like that. Hadn’t she always made him feel he was no trouble, too? Even when his own folks thought he was more of a nuisance than anything else. If it hadn’t been for Cora Jane and the jobs she’d given him to keep him busy and out of mischief, his life would have gone in a whole different direction. He owed her. He surely did. And he counted himself fortunate that she hadn’t pushed him out of her life when Emily had dumped him. Given the fierce family loyalty among the Castles, it could easily have happened.
If seeing her and listening to her brag about her three granddaughters, including the woman who’d been the love of his life, was painful, well, that was just the price he had to pay for having Cora Jane as the kind of compassionate, nonjudgmental moral compass he definitely needed.
As soon as Boone had parked beside the restaurant, B.J. was out of the car and running.
“Hold it!” Boone commanded, waiting until his son had skidded to a stop and faced him. He walked closer and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder and pointed. “What have I told you about the need to be real careful right now? Just look around. There’s wood all over with nails in it and who knows what kind of glass on the ground. Take your time and pay attention.”
B.J. gave him an impish smile that reminded him so much of Jenny, it made his heart ache. Jenny had been the sweetest woman on the planet, and losing her to an out-of-control infection that had proven resistant to antibiotics had been devastating to him and to B.J.
With the resilience of childhood, B.J. was bouncing back, but Boone wasn’t sure he’d ever get past his grief. He knew some of that was colored by guilt because he’d never loved Jenny half as much as she’d loved him. How could he when a part of his heart still belonged to Emily Castle? No matter his feelings, though, he thought he’d done the best he could by his wife. Jenny had never wanted for anything. He’d been a good husband, a devoted father. Late at night, though, he couldn’t help wondering if it had been enough. It didn’t help that Jenny’s parents blamed him for everything from ruining Jenny’s life to contributing to her death. He just knew they were looking for any excuse to try to take B.J. from him. That, he thought fiercely, would happen over his own dead body!
As for the rest, well, it was water under the bridge now, he told himself, as he took a deep breath and followed his son. Alerted by Cora Jane that all three of her granddaughters were coming home to help with the storm cleanup, he braced himself for the first glimpse of Emily after all these years.
Inside the water-ravaged restaurant, though, he spotted only Gabriella, looking frantic as Cora Jane teetered on the top rung of a stepladder. Gabi was holding it steady with a white-knuckled grip.
“Cora Jane Castle, what do you think you’re doing?” Boone demanded, wrapping an arm around her hips and lifting her down until her sneaker-clad feet were firmly on the ground.
She whirled around and glared at him. “What do you think you’re doing, Boone