“You’re family,” Boone forced himself to say. “You’re always welcome.”
He just prayed that his open-door policy with his in-laws wouldn’t turn out to be a huge mistake.
* * *
“I’ll bet you’re glad I’m out of town, after all,” Emily said when Boone told her about Jodie’s impending arrival. Heaven knows, she was glad not to be there.
“I won’t lie to you, it’ll make things easier,” he said. “I know this is about her missing Jenny and blaming me for everything from ruining her life to her death, but one of these days I’m going to snap and say some things that will cause an irreparable rift. I came awfully close to doing just that today. The only thing stopping me was remembering what’s best for my son.”
“You’re too kind to do that, anyway,” Emily said. “You might be thoroughly and justifiably exasperated with Jodie, but you’d never intentionally hurt her.”
“Even I have my limits,” he contradicted. “If it weren’t for B.J., I’d have spoken my mind long before now. With my parents off going their separate ways all over the world, I want him to have at least one set of grandparents in his life. Frankly, though, Cora Jane fits that role better than the whole lot of them combined. Not that Frank is so bad, but he won’t go against Jodie.”
Emily chuckled. “Well, Cora Jane is the ultimate grandmother,” she confirmed. “Quick with the cookies and hugs. Of course, that comes with a fair amount of unsolicited advice.”
“Maybe so, but the advice is usually right on target,” he said. “And it doesn’t disparage everything I do.”
“And what does she say about this upcoming visit from the Farmers?”
“To watch my step,” he said with a sigh.
Emily didn’t like the sound of that. “Any idea why she’d say something like that?”
“I think she’s concerned that Jodie might do something completely irrational and try to make trouble for me,” Boone said. “I really don’t think it’ll come to that, though.”
“Boone, you need to pay attention to Grandmother,” Emily said. “She’s got really good instincts about this sort of thing. What sort of trouble is she picturing? Did she say? Is she talking about the whole custody thing?”
Boone didn’t answer immediately, which sent a chill down her spine. “More than likely,” he said eventually.
“No!” Emily protested, aware of the toll such a fight would take on Boone and B.J. and on her relationship with Boone, as well. “There’s no way she could do something like that.”
“Of course she could,” Boone said. “I told you that she threatened it before, right after Jenny died, but Frank put a stop to it then. I think that’s why he pushed for the move to Florida, to put some distance between us, in the hope that things would settle down. It’s the only time he’s drawn a line against her behavior, but if she’s really insistent, I doubt he can stop her.”
“No court would take that boy from you,” Emily said with feeling. “You’re an amazing father and B.J. adores you. If she tries something that crazy, she’ll lose for sure. B.J. won’t forgive her for trying, either.”
“I’m just praying it never comes to that,” Boone said. “I’m going to do my best to keep the peace while she’s here.”
“Will she do her part?”
“Doubtful,” he said wryly. “But it takes two to have a real fight, and I’m determined not to give her any ammunition.”
“You mean you don’t plan to tell her all about me and how we spent my last day in town?” she teased, hoping to lighten the mood.
Boone chuckled, as she’d intended. “That is definitely not going to come up,” he assured her. “And I do have a weapon in my arsenal, if Jodie gets too far out of line.”
“What weapon is that?”
“Cora Jane. She is very eager to take her on, not just to defend you, but she seems to be pretty provoked over the way Jodie’s been treating me.”
“I imagine she is,” Emily said. “Nobody picks on Cora Jane’s family and gets away with it. I saw her stand toe-to-toe with some bully who towered over her to get him to stop bothering Gabi one time when Gabi was waiting tables. Grandmother threw him out of Castle’s without a qualm. I imagine she’d consider Jodie Farmer nothing but a nuisance.”
“I certainly keep trying to think of her that way,” Boone said, “but that woman can get under my skin quicker than poison ivy.”
“Then I recommend you keep a giant bottle of calamine lotion handy,” Emily teased.
“I was thinking bourbon,” Boone replied.
To Emily, it didn’t sound as if he was kidding.
* * *
Boone was in his office at the restaurant when Pete came in to announce that Jodie and Frank were out front.
“You all having some kind of a problem?” Pete asked. “When Jodie asked for you, she looked as if she’d just sucked a lemon.”
Boone laughed. “The mere mention of my name does tend to turn her stomach sour,” he told Pete. “I’d better get out there. Did you seat them?”
“They told me in no uncertain terms that they’d already eaten. I got the impression that they were a little leery of our food. They’re standing by the front door, probably scaring off the other customers.”
Boone walked quickly to the foyer and found his in-laws were indeed right by the door, looking as if they might flee at any second.
“Jodie, Frank,” he said, being determinedly cheerful. He dropped a quick kiss on Jodie’s cheek before she could jerk away, then shook Frank’s hand. “How was the trip?”
“Long,” Frank said. “Jodie insisted we do the whole drive in a day. She was anxious to get up here.”
Boone frowned. “You left this morning? What time? You must be exhausted.”
“Too early, in my opinion,” Frank said. “I thought the whole reason for people to retire was so they could lead a leisurely life, but Jodie gets
