“Gabi, then?” Boone suggested. “She might deserve a heads-up.”
“Or maybe you should both stay out of it,” Cora Jane said.
Boone held up his hands. “Okay, then. I’m out of here to safer territory.”
Jerry nodded. “Can’t say I blame you. I wish I could come along.”
“You can walk out any time you tire of being around,” Cora Jane said tersely.
Jerry lifted her off her feet and planted a kiss on her mouth. “I never tire of you. Don’t you know that by now?”
Cora Jane felt her cheeks flame. “Now you’ve gone and done it,” she muttered.
But he only laughed. “You were the only one who thought the girls weren’t onto us.”
“He’s right,” Emily confirmed. “And we may not know exactly what’s going on, but you have my approval. Gabi’s and Samantha’s, too.”
“Did I ask for approval?” Cora Jane inquired with a little huff of indignation.
Jerry gave her a chiding look. “Just say thank you, Cora Jane. You know perfectly well you wanted their blessing.”
“I might have wanted it, but I certainly didn’t need it,” she grumbled, then met Emily’s sparkling eyes. “Okay, fine. Thank you.”
Emily gave her a fierce hug, then kissed Jerry’s cheek. “I’m so happy you two have each other.”
Tears gathered in Cora Jane’s eyes. Despite her grumbling, that was exactly what she’d hoped to hear. Maybe these feelings she had for Jeremiah weren’t so crazy after all.
* * *
“That was a nice thing you did in there,” Boone said when he and Emily were outside alone on the deck.
“What?”
“Giving Cora Jane your blessing. I think she was scared to death you all wouldn’t approve.”
“She was right about one thing. It’s not really our place to approve or disapprove,” Emily said.
“But the approval matters to her. She was worried sick you’d think she was behaving like an old fool.”
“She talked to you about it?”
“She mentioned it,” he confirmed.
“So you knew there was something going on with her and Jerry?”
He nodded. “Anyone around the two of them for more than a split second could see it.”
Emily immediately got defensive. “Is that some sort of knock about Samantha, Gabi and me not being around enough?”
“Take it however you like,” he said. “Bottom line, I think Jerry has had a thing for Cora Jane for years, but there was no way he’d ever act on it while your grandfather was alive. He and Caleb were friends. He’d never have betrayed the friendship like that. He’s an honorable man.”
“I guess I never really thought about why there was never a woman in his life,” Emily admitted. “He always seemed like part of the family. You know, the bachelor uncle who keeps his private life private.”
Boone gave her an odd look. “You thought he was gay?”
Emily laughed. “Oh, please. Not even for a heartbeat. I’d seen him looking over the women customers a time or two. For all I knew, he could have been seeing a different woman every night. He just never made a big deal about it.”
“My hunch is he went out just often enough to keep your grandparents from guessing about his real feelings. Once when I was helping out in the kitchen, I overheard your grandmother trying to set him up with a friend of hers. He turned her down flat, said it would be too awkward if it didn’t work out. Obviously he couldn’t say that the woman didn’t stand a chance compared to Cora Jane.”
He studied Emily’s thoughtful expression. “You’re really okay with this?”
“I was just thinking that it’s sweet in a way, all those years of unrequited love finally paying off.”
“It is reassuring, isn’t it?” Boone said. “It says the universe has a way of making things right in the end.”
“That’s a very romantic way of looking at things,” she said, sounding surprised.
He smiled at her reaction. “I have my moments.”
He just couldn’t allow these crazy, romantic notions to get the better of him when it came to Emily.
* * *
Emily thought about Boone’s comment that night when she was sitting on the porch at Cora Jane’s, her bare feet propped up on the railing, a tall glass of sweet tea in her hand.
“I thought I might find you out here,” Gabi said, settling into a wicker chair next to her, her own glass of tea in hand. “You were awfully quiet during dinner tonight. Everything okay?”
“Just thinking about love and how complicated and unpredictable it is,” she admitted.
“Ah, the easy stuff,” Gabi said with a smile.
“Grandmother admitted earlier that she and Jerry are an item,” Emily told her.
Gabi’s expression lit up. “Really? How’d you wrestle that news out of her?”
“Boone and I walked in on them in the kitchen. It wasn’t exactly a compromising moment, but Grandmother looked as if we’d caught them in bed. Took a couple of nudges, but she finally spilled the truth. Boone says he thinks Jerry’s had feelings for her for years.”
“When did Boone get to be so observant, especially when it comes to romance?”
“The same thing I wondered,” Emily said. “I’ve been seeing a different side to him since I got back here.”
“You sound surprised.”
“Once upon a time, I thought I knew everything there was to know about Boone,” Emily said. “It is kind of a shock to discover all these new facets. Do you suppose they were there all along or do you think Jenny brought them out in him?”
“Maybe he’s just matured,” Gabi said. “That can happen between the age of twenty-one and thirty-one. You’re not the same woman you were when you walked out on him, are you?”
Emily thought about that. “Not really.”
“How do you see the changes in yourself?” Gabi asked curiously.
“It might make more sense for you to tell me what you see. I could probably use an outside opinion.”
Gabi looked oddly reluctant to answer. “Do you really want to know what I think? Uncensored?”
Her sister’s reaction startled her. “Sure. Why wouldn’t I want to hear the truth?”
“Maybe because you’re human, just like the rest of
