seen every kind of wedding imaginable on those soaps you used to do from time to time. Which one struck you as the most devastatingly romantic?”
Samantha leaned back, finally relaxing now that the crisis appeared past, and gave Emily’s question some thought.
“A destination wedding,” she said eventually. “On the beach, maybe, with the wind in my hair and the sand beneath my feet.”
When she glanced at Emily, there was a sheen of tears in her eyes.
“It sounds perfect,” Emily whispered. “And it does sound like you. It needs to be at sunset, though, with all that glorious color in the sky.” She glanced over at Samantha and added, “I hope you get it.”
“One of these days, if I’m lucky,” Samantha said.
“Maybe it’ll be even sooner than you think,” Emily replied, a glint in her eyes. “And last time I looked, Sand Castle Bay was known all over as a terrific spot for a destination wedding.”
Samantha frowned at her. “Do not even go there, you hear me? Or I will take back every nice thing I just said about you.”
“I can take it,” Emily said, grinning. “It’ll be worth it to watch this thing with you and Ethan unfold. Don’t forget I was right there with the two of you today when you came back inside the restaurant. Sparks were flying all over the place. It’s a wonder Greg and I didn’t get burned.”
“Didn’t it occur to you that those sparks were anger directed your way for the meddling you did to throw us together for the second time in one day?”
Emily waved off the suggestion. “Not a chance. This was all about a man and a woman who’ve taken a real shine to each other. Pheromones, chemistry, whatever you want to call it.”
“Enough!” Samantha said, her voice rising as she tried to get the point across once and for all. “Ethan and I agreed to be friends, nothing more.”
Emily merely laughed. “I know. I can just hear the two of you being all rational and determined. I had a similar conversation with Boone when I first came back to town.” A grin spread. “I’ll tell you now exactly what you told me then.”
“What?”
“That all that denial is what’s going to make this so much fun to watch.”
“Enjoy yourself, but I think you’re going to be disappointed,” Samantha told her. “Now I have another question for you before we go back inside and you make peace with Gabi.”
“What’s that?” Emily asked, not arguing that it was up to her to apologize.
“Grandmother’s worried that there’s something else on your mind. Is there? Are you worried about the wedding? About Boone? About his nasty ex-in-laws? Anything else?”
Emily’s expression immediately shut down in a way that was more revealing than words would have been.
“Emily?” she prodded.
“I don’t know if Boone loves living in Los Angeles as much as I do,” she admitted eventually.
Samantha had wondered when that issue was going to show up. “It’s still new to him.”
“But Sand Castle Bay is in his blood.”
“Has he said anything about coming back?”
“No, and I thought when he moved out there to open this restaurant, it would be okay.”
“Maybe it will be. Ask him what he’s feeling.”
“I’m half afraid to. What if he wants me to move back here, after all?”
“What if he does? What will you do?”
Emily sighed and regarded Samantha with a bleak expression. “I honestly have no idea.”
“Then, sweetie, you need to talk to him now, before this wedding.”
Emily shook her head. “No, absolutely not.”
“But—”
“No,” Emily repeated, then stood up. “We need to go back inside. I have some fence-mending to do.”
She took off for the house, leaving Samantha to stare after her, far more worried now than she’d been when she’d come outside.
* * *
On Sunday evening, Cora Jane looked around the backyard with satisfaction. With the help of Jerry, Gabi, Wade and Samantha, it had been turned into a showcase of tiny lights, huge pots of colorful summer flowers and tables laden with food and gifts for Emily’s bridal shower.
Samantha draped an arm around her shoulders. “You’ve outdone yourself, Grandmother.”
Cora Jane glanced up, blinking back unexpected tears. “I can’t believe the first of my girls is getting married in less than two weeks. I’ve waited for this for so long.” She gave Samantha a pointed look. “I thought you’d be the first, you know.”
“Just because I’m older?”
“No, because boys were flocking around from the time you hit your teens, and I know for a fact it was no different when you got to New York. Every time we spoke, you mentioned one man or another.”
Samantha shrugged. “None of them stuck. I want to find what Em has with Boone or what Gabi’s found with Wade. I guess the Castle women are all romantics at heart. We want the happily-ever-after. At least I was smart enough not to settle for less than that.”
Cora Jane nodded approvingly. “You know, I think your daddy always sold you short. He thought just because you wanted to be an actress, you were flighty or something, but your mama and I always knew better. You’ve got a good, level head on your shoulders. You know what’s important. And you’ll find the right man. There’s not a doubt in my mind.”
Samantha gave her a hug. “Thanks for your faith in me. As for Dad, he hasn’t exactly been attuned to any of us and the skills we possess.”
“No, he hasn’t,” Cora Jane said. “I do think he’s coming around, though.” She glanced across the lawn to where Sam was conferring with Jerry over the grill. “Look at him. Not only is he here, but he’s really trying to fit in.”
“How’d you pull that off, especially for a bridal shower on a Sunday night? Tomorrow’s a workday, after all. I can practically hear him making a million and one excuses for not coming.”
Cora Jane chuckled. “Probably double that, but I trumped ’em all. I told him to be here. That it was an order from his mother and I’d be disappointed in him if he didn’t show up for his daughter’s big evening.”
“Good for you. I know it means a lot to Em that he came. But aren’t he and Jerry going to feel like odd men out at a party crowded with women?”
“Oh, the party isn’t just for women,” Cora Jane said blithely. “Emily wouldn’t hear of that.
