B.J. held out his bandaged arm. “Dr. Cole says I’m going to have a scar,” he said excitedly. “I had to have stitches. I didn’t even cry.”
“He was incredibly brave,” Cora Jane confirmed, giving Boone a warning look.
Emily watched Boone blink back a tear as he forced himself to give his son a congratulatory high-five.
“You’re not going to ground me, are you?” B.J. asked worriedly. “Or yell at anybody? Or keep me from going to Castle’s?”
“You might need to take a couple of days off till your arm’s healed up,” Boone said. “But, no, I’m not going to ground you.”
“How about the yelling?” Emily asked quietly. “I imagine you’d like to direct a few pointed words at me.”
Boone glanced up at her, his eyes filled with emotion. He looked as if there was plenty he wanted to say, but he managed to censor himself.
Cora Jane seemed to sense that the two of them needed to talk privately. She put an arm around B.J.’s shoulders. “Come on, B.J. Let’s get those cookies and the milk I promised you. I’ll bet Samantha has them on the table waiting for us.”
“All right!” B.J. enthused, then took off running.
Boone shook his head as he watched him. “That boy never slows down. I’m sure that’s how he fell in the parking lot.”
“It is,” Emily confirmed. “I’m really sorry, Boone.”
“Intellectually, I know it wasn’t your fault.” He tapped his chest. “But in here, I’m looking for somebody to blame.”
“I get that, and it did happen on my watch, right after I’d assured you he’d be safe with me.”
“And I was standing right here when he took off running across the lawn just now, oblivious to all the branches that could trip him up. He’s a rambunctious kid.”
“That almost sounds as if you’re letting me off the hook,” Emily said.
“Trying to,” he admitted, grinning. “Ethan gave me an earful. That helped to put things in perspective, too.”
“You two are still good friends?”
Boone nodded. “Ethan didn’t make it easy when he first got home from Afghanistan. He was angry and bitter and pretty much hated the world after he lost his lower leg.”
Emily’s eyes widened. “He lost his leg? I had no idea.”
“He’d be delighted to hear that. The truth is that most people don’t even notice. He’s mastered the prosthesis, had a huge attitude adjustment and finally seems to be on track again.”
“That’s amazing. Good for him.”
“It really is good for him,” Boone said. “There’s nobody around I admire more.”
“Wasn’t he engaged? Is he married now?”
Boone hesitated, then said, “That didn’t work out. And, word of advice, don’t bring it up around him.”
Emily stared at him. “They broke up because of his injury?” she guessed.
Boone nodded. “Talk about being bitter where women are concerned? Ethan wrote the book on it.”
“That’s a shame,” she said.
Boone nodded.
Emily met his gaze. “You coming in for cookies and milk? Or would you rather have something stronger? I think we have some beer.”
Boone looked torn. She had a hunch if it hadn’t been for B.J., he’d have taken off right then. He surprised her, though, by suggesting she get a couple of beers.
“Maybe we could sit down by the water,” he said. “Catch up?”
“Sure,” she said, eager to accept the olive branch he was extending.
When she went inside to retrieve the beers, she found her sisters doting on B.J., exclaiming over his bandaged arm and his bravery.
“Where’s Boone?” Cora Jane asked.
“Outside. I’m going to grab a couple of beers and join him for a little while, if that’s okay.”
The three women at the table exchanged amused looks.
“I win!” Samantha said, holding out her hand.
“Win what?” Emily asked with a narrowed gaze.
Cora Jane and Gabi each put five dollar bills into Samantha’s outstretched hand. The sight of her sister gloating grated.
“You’re kidding me,” Emily said. “What was the bet?”
“How long it would take for you and Boone to settle your differences,” Gabi said with a grin.
Emily frowned. “Nothing’s settled. We’re having a beer and a conversation.”
“Close enough to count,” Samantha said.
“And you bet it was going to take a couple of days?” Emily asked, then looked at her grandmother. “How about you?”
“I thought you’d hold out for at least a week,” Cora Jane admitted.
“And my money was on never,” Gabi said. “Given how stubborn the two of you are.”
Emily simply shook her head, grabbed the beers and went outside. She found Boone sitting on the dock, his jeans rolled up and his feet dangling in the warm waters of Pamlico Sound.
“How many nights do you suppose we sat out here like this, talking till Cora Jane insisted you come inside?” he asked, as he accepted his beer from her and took a swig.
Emily smiled at the memory of her grandmother’s determination to make sure that nothing more than talking went on between the two of them. She’d succeeded until Boone got his driver’s license. After that, they’d found plenty of places with more privacy.
“Well, I was fourteen the summer we met. We were pretty much inseparable after that. You do the math. Of course, back then we were drinking sodas, not beer.”
“I thought you were the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen,” he said, his voice filled with nostalgia for a change, rather than the bitterness she’d grown accustomed to the past couple of days.
“And I thought you were the most dangerous boy around, especially after I found out you’d been picked up trying to buy beer with a fake ID.” She slanted a look at him. “Seriously, you thought you could pass for twenty-one? You’d just turned fifteen.”
“Not one of my shining moments,” he admitted. “Cora Jane reminded me of that just this morning. She claims it should have made me into a believer in second chances.”
Emily regarded him closely. “You don’t believe people deserve second chances?”
“Depends on the circumstances, I guess,” he said with a
