Sand Castle Bay (Ocean Breeze) - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,85

up on that.” He bit back a sigh. “Look, I really don’t want to fight with you, but you need to keep in mind that B.J. is my son, too. I’m the one here raising him. It’s not something I would have chosen to do alone, but this is the way it is.”

“So my feelings don’t count?”

“Not when you’re being unreasonable,” he said, trying to keep his tone gentle. “B.J. loves you, Jodie. I want you and Frank to play an important role in his life, but I won’t let you question my decisions, especially when you’re not around.”

“Fine,” she said tightly. “Then I guess we’ll just have to make a trip up there next week. I want to see what’s going on with my own eyes.”

Boone bit back his annoyance. Out of respect for Jenny, he didn’t want to make this visit any more awkward than it was destined to be. “B.J. will be thrilled to see you,” he said. “Let me know what day you’re coming. Will you stay with us?”

“If you’re sure we won’t be in the way,” she said, not even trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

“You’re family,” Boone forced himself to say. “You’re always welcome.”

He just prayed that his open-door policy with his in-laws wouldn’t turn out to be a huge mistake.

* * *

“I’ll bet you’re glad I’m out of town, after all,” Emily said when Boone told her about Jodie’s impending arrival. Heaven knows, she was glad not to be there.

“I won’t lie to you, it’ll make things easier,” he said. “I know this is about her missing Jenny and blaming me for everything from ruining her life to her death, but one of these days I’m going to snap and say some things that will cause an irreparable rift. I came awfully close to doing just that today. The only thing stopping me was remembering what’s best for my son.”

“You’re too kind to do that, anyway,” Emily said. “You might be thoroughly and justifiably exasperated with Jodie, but you’d never intentionally hurt her.”

“Even I have my limits,” he contradicted. “If it weren’t for B.J., I’d have spoken my mind long before now. With my parents off going their separate ways all over the world, I want him to have at least one set of grandparents in his life. Frankly, though, Cora Jane fits that role better than the whole lot of them combined. Not that Frank is so bad, but he won’t go against Jodie.”

Emily chuckled. “Well, Cora Jane is the ultimate grandmother,” she confirmed. “Quick with the cookies and hugs. Of course, that comes with a fair amount of unsolicited advice.”

“Maybe so, but the advice is usually right on target,” he said. “And it doesn’t disparage everything I do.”

“And what does she say about this upcoming visit from the Farmers?”

“To watch my step,” he said with a sigh.

Emily didn’t like the sound of that. “Any idea why she’d say something like that?”

“I think she’s concerned that Jodie might do something completely irrational and try to make trouble for me,” Boone said. “I really don’t think it’ll come to that, though.”

“Boone, you need to pay attention to Grandmother,” Emily said. “She’s got really good instincts about this sort of thing. What sort of trouble is she picturing? Did she say? Is she talking about the whole custody thing?”

Boone didn’t answer immediately, which sent a chill down her spine. “More than likely,” he said eventually.

“No!” Emily protested, aware of the toll such a fight would take on Boone and B.J. and on her relationship with Boone, as well. “There’s no way she could do something like that.”

“Of course she could,” Boone said. “I told you that she threatened it before, right after Jenny died, but Frank put a stop to it then. I think that’s why he pushed for the move to Florida, to put some distance between us, in the hope that things would settle down. It’s the only time he’s drawn a line against her behavior, but if she’s really insistent, I doubt he can stop her.”

“No court would take that boy from you,” Emily said with feeling. “You’re an amazing father and B.J. adores you. If she tries something that crazy, she’ll lose for sure. B.J. won’t forgive her for trying, either.”

“I’m just praying it never comes to that,” Boone said. “I’m going to do my best to keep the peace while she’s here.”

“Will she do her part?”

“Doubtful,” he said wryly. “But it takes two to have a