Sand Castle Bay (Ocean Breeze) - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,89
what you can do to meet that deadline. There are women with kids who need to be in here before Thanksgiving. Do you really want to tell them they’ll have no roof over their heads for the holiday?”
Andy Crawford gave her a hard look, then walked away shaking his head.
“Gabi, hey,” Emily said. “Sorry to take so long, but I was in the middle of something. How’s everything in the world of public relations?”
“Insane,” Gabi said. “But I called to check on you.”
“Why?”
“You don’t seem to be back in Sand Castle Bay yet. I thought you and Boone were working things out, but it’s been a while since you’ve shown your face. And, yes, you can thank Grandmother for passing along that tidbit of information. She’s getting anxious, and I’m supposed to ferret out the information she wants.”
Emily explained about the deadline pressure on the safe house. “Plus Boone’s in-laws are there raising a ruckus about him letting me anywhere near B.J. I figured it’s best for me to lay low until they go back to Florida.”
“It might be better for them to spend some time with you so they can conclude you’re not the devil,” Gabi suggested.
“I doubt I have enough charm to pull that off,” Emily said candidly. “Given how they treat Boone, I’m more likely to say the wrong thing and cause even more trouble.”
“When are they going home?” Gabi asked.
“That seems to be the question of the year,” Emily admitted. “They haven’t given Boone a date. It’s making him a little crazy. Having them underfoot isn’t easy, but he feels he owes it to B.J. to make an effort.”
“Well, whatever you do, don’t let them keep you away indefinitely,” Gabi advised. “If they realize their presence has chased you off, they might never go back to Florida.”
“That is not going to happen,” Emily insisted. “Not that I intend to admit this to Boone, but in a way, it’s been a relief to have the extra time here. The deadline on this renovation is a killer. If I take off, it’s going to be a lot harder to convince all the people working on the project that the deadline is written in stone.”
“I’m just saying, don’t let the Farmers ruin this for the two of you,” Gabi said.
“We won’t. Now tell me about you. Everything okay at work?”
“Same old craziness,” Gabi said.
“And your guy?”
Emily thought she detected a faint hesitation before Gabi finally said, “Paul’s okay.”
“Gabi, is something wrong? Have you broken up? Was he upset about you being gone so long?”
“No, nothing like that,” Gabi said.
Despite her sister’s reassurances, Emily didn’t like the way she sounded. “Gabriella, what aren’t you saying?”
Gabi laughed, though it sounded forced. “You only use my whole name when you’re annoyed with me, just like Mom.”
“It always got answers for her, so I thought I’d try it,” Emily admitted.
“There are no answers,” Gabi insisted. “Not even any questions. I guess I’m just a little down. I miss being with you and Samantha.”
“It was fun being together again,” Emily agreed. “Like old times.”
“But in other ways I realized you can’t go back again,” Gabi said, a mournful note in her voice. “We’re adults now, with all the complications that go with that.”
“Gabi,” Emily began, determined to get to the bottom of her sister’s odd mood.
“Gotta run, sweetie. Take care. We’ll talk again soon.”
Before Emily could protest, Gabi had hung up. “What on earth?” Emily murmured, staring at her phone. She was about to make a call to Samantha to see if she had any insights, but Andy Crawford was in front of her, his displeasure evident. She forced a smile.
“What have you worked out?” she asked.
“If I bring in a few guys on overtime for a couple of days, we can maybe pull this off,” he said.
“Maybe’s not good enough.”
“Four days of overtime and I can guarantee it.”
“Then four days it is.”
He eyed her suspiciously. “You got the budget for that? I thought we were doing this on a shoestring.”
“And out of the goodness of our hearts,” she confirmed.
“I can’t pay my men with a lot of holiday cheer,” he groused.
“I’ll see that they’re paid,” she promised. Even if it came out of her own pocket. “Want me to put it in writing?”
For an instant she thought Andy was going to pull out a pen and a scrap of paper, but then he shrugged. “Nah. I trust you.”
She nudged him in the ribs. “Thanks so much for that ringing endorsement.”