“Gabi thinks I’m thinking too small. She wants me to go big and open a playhouse.”
Cora Jane clapped her hands together at that. “What a wonderful idea! It would be an incredible addition to the community.”
Samantha studied her closely. “You’re not just saying that because you want me to stick around?”
“Well, that’s certainly a consideration, but it’s not the only one. I can see all sorts of potential for a playhouse, especially with you in charge. You have all those amazing contacts you’ve made over the years. It would be a real contribution to our cultural landscape.”
“That sounds a little grander than it’s likely to be,” Samantha said wryly. “But it could be fun.”
“What can I do to help?”
“Nothing just yet. I have a lot of details to iron out before I even know if it’s feasible. For one thing, I’d have to figure out an affordable location, determine if there are enough people interested in acting in this region, probably a million other things I haven’t even thought of. I was going to make a list, but I don’t seem to have Gabi’s or Emily’s gift for that.”
“You’ll work it out. As for that location, talk to your father. He has some land with a little house on it. Your grandfather left it to him. It’s in an area that’s been zoned residential/commercial now, so it would be easy enough to get the zoning approved. I have no idea what condition the house is in, but there’s enough land around it for parking, I think. And Tommy Cahill and Wade could tell you if it would cost a fortune to convert it.”
Stunned by the news, Samantha threw her arms around her grandmother. “You’ve just given me exactly the boost I need to move on to the next step. You actually make it all sound feasible.”
“It is feasible,” Cora Jane said emphatically. “Castles can make even the impossible happen. Remember that!”
Samantha laughed. With an energetic, positive woman like Cora Jane as a role model, how could she possibly forget?
* * *
Rather than three sisters on the town on their own for Emily’s night out, they’d decided to include a few of the friends Gabi had made since moving here. Wade’s sister Louise, Meg, who owned a stunning gift shop in town, and Sally, who’d tried to mentor Gabi in making glass wind chimes, had been asked to join them at a casual local bar that had a country band playing.
“I can’t tell you the last time I was out like this with the girls,” Louise, a mother of five, said. “Thank you for including me.”
“We’re counting on you not only to be the sensible one, but to help us wriggle out of any trouble we get into,” Gabi told the woman, who also had a busy career as an attorney.
Louise frowned. “Does that make me the designated driver, too? I really don’t want to be the designated driver,” she said, looking longingly at the frozen margarita that had just been placed in front of her.
“No designated driver,” Samantha said. “Boone, Wade and Ethan are coming by later to pick us up and carry us home.”
“My brother is coming?” Louise said, looking shaken. “I’ll never hear the end of it.” Then she shrugged. “Oh, well,” she said, taking a long, slow drink of her margarita. She sighed with pleasure. “This is definitely worth a little aggravation.”
Emily didn’t look much happier about the arrangements than Louise did. “My fiancé isn’t supposed to see me tonight,” she protested.
“He’s not supposed to see you on the day of the wedding,” Gabi corrected. “Tonight, though? He practically begged to get in on this. So did Ethan, by the way,” she added with a pointed look at Samantha. “He seemed especially anxious to spend a little time with my sister, in fact.”
Samantha slugged back a healthy amount of her margarita. “He might be just the teensiest bit annoyed with me,” she admitted. “He told me to stay away from Cass Gray.”
“Who’s Cass Gray?” Sally asked. A relative newcomer to the area, she wasn’t as familiar with the locals. Nor, apparently, had she been around when Cass’s accident had made the news.
Samantha explained about the teen’s disability and her desire to act. “So, of course, Ethan’s worried I’m going to kill her dream. He has no faith in my diplomatic skills at all. I don’t want to see Cass hurt any more than he does.”
“Sweetie, if you keep going through drinks the way you’re going through that one, he won’t be able to have an intelligent conversation with you tonight, anyway,” Emily teased.
Samantha grinned. “An excellent point,” she said, and ordered another one.
“Oh, dear,” Gabi said worriedly. “If she’s the only one who’s totally sloshed, we are going to have some explaining to do.”
“To Ethan?” Samantha asked. “He’s not the boss of me.”
Emily chuckled. “Something tells me it’s too late for second thoughts. Our sister is a lightweight when it comes to alcohol.”
“Maybe it’ll help if we dance,” Meg said, checking out the dance floor enviously. “I’ve always wanted to learn the two-step.”
“Let’s go, then,” Sally said, pulling her up. “Nothing says we can’t corral a couple of the men in here to teach us. Who looks as if they know what they’re doing?”
“That one,” Meg said, her expression brightening as she pointed toward a lanky guy who looked especially good in a pair of faded jeans and a tight T-shirt.
“That’s Tommy Cahill,” Gabi said, following the direction of her gesture. She caught Meg’s hand. “Come on. He works with Wade, or Wade works for him. Doesn’t matter. He’s a sweet guy.”
With the possibility of an actual introduction squarely in front of her, Meg held back. “Married?”
“Nope,” Gabi assured her. “Not even dating as far as I know. He’s a contractor with an excellent reputation for building and remodeling high-end beach houses.”
Now Sally frowned. “Gay?”
Gabi smiled. “Not a chance. Just shy, I think. Now come
