“Me and Dad will come and we’ll all go,” he announced excitedly. “He’s been promising to take me, and Dad never breaks his promises.”
Emily looked taken aback by the suggestion, as if she weren’t quite sure how to respond. “I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time,” she said eventually.
“You, too,” B.J. reminded her insistently. “I’ll go tell Dad now.”
He bounded away from the table, leaving all of them grinning.
“I think you’ve made a conquest,” Gabi said.
“Like father, like son,” Samantha chimed in.
“Stop it,” Emily said, blushing. “He’s at that age when he loves everyone.”
“You have a lot of experience with eight-year-old boys?” Gabi teased.
“No, but isn’t it obvious? He was chattering away to Grandmother and you before Sam and I even walked in the room. He’s comfortable here.”
Gabi’s expression sobered. “Be careful with him, Em. He’s been through a lot.”
“What are you talking about? I’m here for a few days. It’s not as if there’s time for him to get attached or something.”
“Just keep that in mind,” Gabi persisted. “You are leaving, and he might not understand that.”
“Well, I think it’s sweet the way he’s taken a shine to you right off,” Cora Jane said. “To all of you. He can use a woman’s influence.”
Emily chuckled. “You don’t think Boone is capable of teaching him manners?”
“Boone is capable of that and much more,” Cora Jane chided. “But it’s not the same as having a mother’s touch, that’s all I’m saying.”
“Grandmother, you’re not harboring any illusions about Boone and me picking up where we left off, are you?” Emily asked, her gaze narrowed. “Because that’s not in the cards. My life’s in California.”
“Such as it is,” Cora Jane muttered.
Emily frowned. “What is that supposed to mean? I have an excellent life. I make a ton of money. I’m respected in my field.”
“And who’s there to share in all that success, I ask you?” Cora Jane retorted. “No one, that’s who. Or is there someone special you haven’t bothered to mention to any of us?” She glanced at Emily’s sisters. “Samantha? Gabi? Have either of you heard about anyone?”
Emily ignored the sarcasm. “Plenty of women have happy, fulfilling lives without a man,” she said, turning to her sisters. “Am I right?”
“Men do have their uses,” Gabi said, grinning.
“Amen, sister,” Samantha chimed in.
Emily just shook her head. “Thanks for the backup. Wait till she starts on the two of you.”
“That’s not going to happen, because our lives are perfect,” Gabi said, standing up to give Cora Jane’s shoulder a squeeze.
Cora Jane glanced up at her. “Well, now that you mention it...” She let her voice trail off, leaving the unspoken implication to hang in the air. It would give them something to think about. She, indeed, had plans for all of them, and, God willing, she’d been unexpectedly blessed with the perfect opportunity to see them carried out.
3
Seeing Emily had rattled Boone, no question about it. His hand was shaking as he replaced the lightbulbs that had blown when the power was knocked out and a few that had been shattered by debris blowing around inside the restaurant after a boarded-up front window had given way to the storm’s fury.
He was supposed to be over her. Wasn’t that what he’d told Gabriella not ten minutes before Emily had walked in the door and caught him off guard? He’d meant it, hadn’t he? He was not going to allow her to stomp all over his emotions a second time, especially not with B.J. to consider.
Though he’d been out on a couple of dates since Jenny’s death, he’d made it a point to keep his son out of the mix. After his own mother had paraded half a dozen men through his life before settling on a replacement for his dad, he knew the dangers of allowing a child to get too attached to someone who wouldn’t be staying.
Unfortunately, that didn’t seem feasible with Emily, not with the two of them in the kitchen right this second apparently whooping it up with the rest of the Castles. With Cora Jane’s undoubted encouragement, his son and Emily were probably bonding even now.
B.J. emerged just then, his face sticky with maple syrup and his eyes round with excitement. “Daddy, did you know that Emily knows movie stars?” he asked, pretty much proving Boone’s point.
“Does she really?” Boone said, his tone offhand, though a perverse part of him wanted to know every detail.
“She’s been in their houses and everything,” B.J. reported. “She even met Johnny Depp once. Isn’t that awesome?”
Boone wondered what the appropriate response was. Should he express an enthusiasm he wasn’t feeling, deliver a lecture on the fact that celebrities were merely people just like everyone else, or let the moment pass and accept that Emily had impressed his son with a lifestyle he could never match?
“Hey, Daddy, how come you never told me you knew somebody famous?” B.J. asked.
“I’m not sure that working for celebrities makes Emily famous,” Boone said cautiously.
“Not her,” B.J. said impatiently. “Samantha. She does those soap shows on TV, and she was in a play on Broadway. She even did a commercial for that cereal I like. She was the mom, remember? I didn’t recognize her right off, because she’s prettier in person.”
Boone recalled only that every time he’d spotted Samantha in any commercial, she’d reminded him of Emily and, out of loyalty to Jenny, he’d tried his best to wipe all those memories out of his mind.
“You gotta come in the kitchen, Dad,” B.J. urged. “They’re telling the best stories.”
“We came here to help Ms. Cora Jane clean up, remember?”
“But she’s in the kitchen, too,” B.J. protested. “I think she’s happy her granddaughters came home.”
Boone imagined she was. He’d seen the yearning in her eyes when she’d talked about them. Oh, she’d bragged about their accomplishments, her pride showing, but he’d heard the note of wistfulness she couldn’t successfully hide, at least from him. Undoubtedly she was thrilled to pieces that a hurricane had brought them running home.
Too bad none of them came around when there wasn’t a crisis.
“And guess what else?” B.J. said as he dragged a reluctant Boone toward the kitchen. “Emily’s never been to Disneyland, so I said we’d come to California and she could go with us. We can do that, right?”
Boone stopped in his tracks. Things were suddenly moving way too fast. He hunkered down and looked into his son’s eyes. “B.J., you know Emily’s just here for a visit,” he cautioned.
“I know. That’s why I said we’ll come to see her,” B.J. responded reasonably.
“Son, don’t start counting on Emily, okay?”
B.J. clearly didn’t comprehend the warning. “What about Disneyland, Dad? You promised we’d go there, so why can’t she come with us?”
Boone counted to ten. It wasn’t B.J.’s fault that this entire conversation was making him a little crazy. “Actually I promised to take you to Disney World in Florida, so we could stop by and see your grandparents, remember?” Boone said patiently, but he knew he was fighting