Sand Castle Bay (Ocean Breeze) - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,50

such a dramatic change from basic beige walls and all that dark brown wood she thought gave the restaurant its beachside character.

“She says it’ll be all prettified over her dead body,” B.J. mimicked, grinning. “What’s prettified mean?”

“Something a girl would pick out,” Boone assumed. “And how did Emily handle that remark?”

“She called her a stubborn old coot,” B.J. reported. “Ms. Cora Jane just laughed. She said it took one to know one.”

Wasn’t that the truth? Boone thought as he made the turn into the Castle’s parking lot. With the main dining room back open, the restaurant appeared to be jammed. Apparently people didn’t care that there there’d been water damage and a layer of sand on the floor a few days before or that there was a hint of damp mustiness lingering in the air. The air-conditioning was back on, the place was drying out, the burgers were as good as always and the beer cold.

He was about to open the door, when Emily nearly knocked him down with it. “You talk some sense into her,” she said as she sailed past. “I give up.”

Boone instructed B.J. to go inside and went after Emily, who was crossing the road and heading for the dunes. Two cars had to hit their brakes to avoid her.

With no death wish of his own, Boone allowed the traffic to pass, then caught up with her at the water’s edge. He was half surprised she hadn’t walked right out in it, clothes and all. Maybe she should have. It might have cooled her temper.

“Want to talk about it?” he asked, keeping his hands shoved in his pockets to avoid reaching for her. She looked as if she might shatter completely at any offer of comfort.

“What’s to talk about? I’ve shown her a dozen different ways to bring the restaurant up-to-date, to give it a little style, and she’s blown off every one of them. She doesn’t seem to realize I actually know what I’m doing. People pay me big money for my ideas.”

“Maybe she thinks those ideas are just right for a fancy restaurant in Beverly Hills, but not so great for a casual place on the beach in North Carolina,” he suggested carefully. “It’s not as if Castle’s needs to boost business. There’s a standing-room-only crowd in there right this second.”

The look she gave him cut right through him, probably damaging a couple of vital organs.

“Don’t you think that perhaps the reason I’m successful is because I know how to research customer expectations, how to create the right atmosphere for the right place?” she asked irritably. “And who knows this restaurant and these customers even half as well as I do? I started waiting tables here as soon as I could carry a tray.”

“Hated every minute of it, as I recall,” he said with a smile.

“That’s beside the point.” She gave him a look filled with frustration. “I’m not telling her to bring in leather settees and mood lighting, for heaven’s sake. I’m just trying to give the place some beachfront charm. It’s depressing in there.”

“Rustic?” Boone suggested.

She gave him another of those piercing looks. He shrugged. “B.J. mentioned it.”

“Okay, yes. Rustic. Would you tell me why she couldn’t keep that dining room closed another couple of days until it aired out? I’m sure it’s only because she didn’t want to lose the business.”

“Maybe it’s because she knew there would be folks in town counting on her,” Boone suggested gently. “Emily, you know how many regulars that place has. It’s not even about the tourists, though they keep us all going. It’s about the locals who like to gather there to see their neighbors, catch up on what’s going on around here. Far more than my restaurant, Castle’s is an important part of the community.”

She frowned. “Okay, maybe. But what is so wrong about sprucing the place up?”

“Maybe it’s more about the timing,” he suggested, though he was convinced of no such thing.

Emily rolled her eyes. “If I thought that’s all it was, I could get this in motion and she could have the work done when the tourist season slows down, but trust me, she’ll have none of that, either.”

Boone allowed himself a small smile at the annoyance in her voice. He actually understood the point she was trying to make about bringing Castle’s interior up-to-date. He’d paid an expert much like Emily to design the ambiance for the interiors of the Boone’s Harbor restaurants to be inviting and classy. He hadn’t wanted