Sea Glass Island. Sherryl Woods

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      In the kitchen, she decided on pasta with a simple marinara sauce. While the water for the pasta was boiling, she tossed a salad with fresh lettuce and tomatoes from the local farmer’s stand where she’d stopped on her way home, added a bit of spring onion and blue cheese and then her own personal vinaigrette. She’d make her meal out of this, giving a token nod to her need to watch her weight.

      She’d just minced some garlic into a skillet with olive oil and was preparing to add the tomato sauce when Cora Jane, Jerry and Emily came in.

      “It smells fabulous in here,” Emily said, sniffing the air. “I had no idea you could cook.”

      “All Castles need to know their way around a kitchen,” Samantha recited, grinning at Cora Jane when she said it. “How many times did you say that to us when we were here in the summer?”

      “Not enough, apparently, since not a one of you went into the restaurant business,” Cora Jane said. She checked on the sauce, then eyed Samantha speculatively. “Of course, maybe it’s not too late.”

      “Uh-oh,” Emily teased. “Grandmother’s got that look in her eye. You’d better run for your life, Samantha, or you’ll be running Castle’s before the summer’s out. If that sauce is as delicious as it smells, there will be pasta dishes on the menu and you’ll be in the kitchen making them.”

      Samantha handed the spoon she’d been using to stir the sauce to Cora Jane. “Not a prayer,” she said at once. “This is your domain, Grandmother. I’m just an innocent bystander. I’m only in the kitchen because Gabi, Wade and the baby are having family time in the living room.”

      “And you let them chase you off?” Cora Jane asked.

      “They didn’t even know I was in the room, much less that I’d left,” Samantha said. “I think we’d better get a wedding date on the calendar for those two soon.”

      “We’re eloping,” Gabi announced, arriving in the kitchen just in time to overhear the comment. “All this fuss is way too much.”

      “You’ll do no such thing,” Cora Jane said, looking horrified. “Get Wade in here right this minute, and I’ll set him straight about that.”

      “He’s putting the baby down,” Gabi said. “And he and I are agreed about this. No hoopla when our time comes. Just a quiet ceremony with family.”

      Samantha noticed the color rising in Emily’s cheeks at Gabi’s words.

      “Are you suggesting that my wedding is over-the-top?” Emily asked, an edge to her voice.

      “No one is saying any such thing, honey bun,” Cora Jane said quickly, shooting a pointed look in Gabi’s direction.

      “I’m just saying it’s a lot of work and stress for a party,” Gabi said defensively. “But I certainly don’t begrudge you and Boone for having the wedding of your dreams. It’s just not Wade and me.”

      Emily burst into tears at that and fled out the back door.

      “That girl’s nerves are getting to her,” Cora Jane assessed. “I don’t think it’s all about the wedding, either. I suspect there’s something else on her mind.”

      “Such as?” Samantha asked.

      Cora Jane huffed a sigh of frustration. “No idea.”

      “I’d better go,” Gabi said with a sigh. “I should have kept my big mouth shut. I know she’s sensitive about the wedding spinning a little out of control.”

      Samantha held up a hand. “I’ll go. I know I’m not the traditional peacemaker around her, but I’m thinking she might not want to hear anything you have to say right now.”

      “Go ahead,” Cora Jane said. “I’ll finish up here and get dinner on the table. Don’t be too long, okay?”

      Samantha kicked off her shoes on the porch and walked barefoot through the grass down to the pier. Emily was sitting on the bench at the end, her shoulders hunched, her face streaked with tears.

      “You probably agree with Gabi,” she accused when Samantha sat next to her.

      “Not the way you’re thinking,” Samantha said.

      “See, I knew it! You always think I make lousy choices.”

      Samantha was saddened by yet more evidence that the two of them had a long way to go before they’d ever understand each other.

      “And you always anticipate the worst from me,” Samantha replied quietly. “Did you not hear what I said? I told you that though I agreed with Gabi, it was probably not in the way you were thinking.”

      Emily scowled at her. “You either agree or you don’t.”

      “Does everything always have to be either black or white to you?”

      “It generally is,” Emily said.

      “Oh, sweetie, there is an awful lot of gray in the world. Believe me, you’ll figure that out eventually.”

      “And now you’re saying I’m not that experienced or wise or something,” Emily said, obviously taking offense when none had been intended.

      Samantha frowned at her. “And people think I’m the drama queen in the family,” she murmured dryly, knowing the comment would only add fuel to the fire. “Will you please just listen for two seconds?”

      “Go ahead,” Emily muttered.

      “I agree with Gabi that the two of you are very different people. In fact, the three of us are very different women, despite a few similarities here and there. I think you started dreaming about the perfect wedding on the day you first laid eyes on Boone. When things fell apart and you went off to follow your career, that dream didn’t die. It was just put on hold.”

      She took heart from the fact that Emily was still paying attention. “The minute the two of you were reunited and engaged, it’s not even a tiny bit surprising that you wanted the whole fairy-tale wedding you’d always envisioned.” She tucked a finger under Emily’s chin. “And there is nothing wrong with that, you hear me. Nothing! None of us begrudge you this moment, Em. Not even a tiny bit. Every woman should have the wedding of her dreams.”

      “But Gabi said—”

      Samantha interrupted. “All Gabi said was that she didn’t want this same kind of hoopla. Gabi probably doesn’t even want to take off a couple of hours from work to go down to the courthouse to get married.”

      Emily giggled at that just as Samantha had hoped she would.

      “You’re probably right,” Emily conceded. “She’s pretty focused on the studio these days, and the baby, and Wade. The ceremony is just some kind of technicality to get out of the way.”

      “Exactly,” Samantha said. “And that’s okay, too, if it suits the two of them.”

      “I suppose, even if I do think it’s kind of sad.” Emily studied her curiously. “What about you? What kind of wedding СКАЧАТЬ