Under summer skies, New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods evokes family, friendship and heartfelt emotion

With her two younger sisters heading for the altar, will Samantha Castle exchange old dreams for new ones? Lately she’d rather be on the North Carolina coast with family than in New York with agents and actors. Though she vows not to let her teenage crush on Ethan Cole influence her decision, it’s hard to ignore her feelings for the local war hero.

Ethan lost more than his leg in Afghanistan. He lost his belief in love. Even being surrounded by couples intent on capturing happily-ever-after won’t open this jaded doctor’s heart. It’s going to take a sexy, determined woman—one who won’t take no for an answer.

Praise for the novels of

New York Times and USA TODAY

bestselling author Sherryl Woods

“Sherryl Woods gives her characters depth, intensity

and the right amount of humor.”

—RT Book Reviews

“Sherryl Woods writes emotionally satisfying novels about family, friendship and home. Truly feel-great reads!”

—#1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber

“Woods really knows what readers have come to expect

from her stories, and she always gives them what they want. Here, she pens another great love story populated with funny, witty and charming characters, written with great care.”

—RT Book Reviews on Where Azaleas Bloom

“Woods knows how to paint a vivid picture that encourages the reader to feel the emotions of her characters…

everyone will be able to relate to this book.”

—RT Book Reviews on Catching Fireflies

“Charming characters combine to create the interfering yet lovable O’Brien family…a satisfying, heartwarming conclusion to the Chesapeake Shores series.”

—RT Book Reviews on The Summer Garden

“Love, marriage, family and forgiveness all play an important part in Woods’s latest richly nourishing, holiday-spiced novel.”

—Chicago Tribune on A Chesapeake Shores Christmas

“Sparks fly in a lively tale that is overflowing with family conflict and warmth and the possibility of rekindled love.”

—Library Journal on Flowers on Main

“Woods’s readers will eagerly anticipate her trademark

small-town setting, loyal friendships and honorable mentors

as they meet new characters and reconnect with familiar ones in this heartwarming tale.”

—Booklist on Home in Carolina

Sea Glass Island

Sherryl Woods

www.mirabooks.co.uk

Dear Friends,

Most of us have come to accept that dreams change as we go through life. Sometimes this is the product of maturity and new life experiences. Sometimes we’re simply forced to accept a harsh new reality.

That’s the case with both Samantha Castle and Ethan Cole in Sea Glass Island. But while Ethan has embraced his new life running a small emergency clinic on the North Carolina coast, Samantha is still struggling to find a new focus for her future. She knows only that the acting career she once dreamed of is no longer as successful or fulfilling as she’d hoped. As readers have come to know, Sand Castle Bay is the perfect place to reevaluate goals and ambitions. And thanks to a little nudge from their grandmother, it’s also been the ideal place for the Castle sisters to find love.

I hope you’ll enjoy this final installment of the Ocean Breeze trilogy and that Samantha’s story will remind you that there’s often a new—and unexpected—dream right around the corner, if only you open your heart to the possibilities.

All best,

Sherryl Woods

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Epilogue

Excerpt

1

Samantha plunged a spoon into a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia, then sighed as the decadent ice cream melted in her mouth. Guilty pleasures like this were about all that kept her going these days. With enough Ben & Jerry’s came hope that her acting career would pick up. A positive attitude had helped her to weather tough times in the past, after all.

It was getting harder and harder to believe, though. The silence of her phone lately had been deafening. In late spring, she’d had a minor role in a prime-time TV show that filmed in New York, but it hadn’t led to other opportunities despite the enthusiasm of the director and the producers. Fall season shows were back in production, but she’d received none of the promised job offers, not even for bit parts.

She hadn’t had a single callback for a commercial in weeks. If it weren’t for her job as a hostess at a high-priced Upper East Side restaurant, she’d be in the most serious financial trouble she’d faced since coming to New York over fifteen years ago. Even with that, she’d had to dip into her savings already.

Though her sister Gabriella had mounted a terrific PR buzz campaign for her back in the spring, its effects had worn off in weeks, rather than months, and now, once again, she was struggling. She’d worn out her list of contacts. But with everything going on in Gabi’s life these days, Samantha hadn’t felt she could ask for more free publicity assistance. Gabi was adjusting to being a single mom and trying to work things out with the very patient man in her life, who’d agreed to postpone their own wedding until after their sister Emily’s in a few weeks.

Ever the optimist, Samantha had survived discouraging times more than once since arriving in New York just out of high school as a fresh-faced girl with stars in her eyes. This dry spell, however, was the worst she could recall. More disturbing was that now it came with pitying looks from other actresses up for the same roles. Her once exuberant, supportive agent had started dodging her calls, then parted ways with her. His replacement, though enthusiastic, hadn’t gotten promising results.

Samantha had been in New York long enough to read the handwriting on the wall. She was thirty-five, and while still beautiful, she was past her prime. Parts that once would have been hers for the asking were now going to women in their early twenties. It didn’t seem to matter that the casting call was for someone her age, or even older. At the same time, she wasn’t quite old enough for the burgeoning niche for older actresses. There wasn’t enough optimism in the universe to counter that harsh reality.

When her phone rang, she lunged for it, which told her just how desperate she’d become. She didn’t like the feeling.

“Samantha, hey. I’m so glad I caught you,” her youngest sister, Emily, said, as if finding her at home was a rarity, rather than commonplace these days. “We need to talk. Now that Gabi’s had her baby, it’s time to get serious about my wedding. It’s just around the corner.”

Despite her generally sour mood, Samantha smiled. “Does Boone have any idea you weren’t always serious about the wedding?” she quipped. “Remind me, when is it again? Sometime next year?”

“Very funny. It’s less than a month away.”

“That soon?” Samantha teased.

“Soon? This has been forever in the making. How long were Boone and I apart? Years and years. We need to make up for lost time.”

The excitement in Emily’s voice was wonderful to hear, Samantha thought, trying not to envy her. She and Boone did deserve this long-delayed happiness.

“When are you coming to North Carolina?” Emily prodded. “You have to have another dress fitting, not that you ever gain an ounce. It’s more of a show of solidarity with Gabi, who’s still fighting baby weight. And there’s the bridal shower Grandmother and Gabi are throwing, then the rehearsal dinner. I’m thinking we need a bachelorette night, just us girls. I want you here for every minute. This is going to be the absolute best summer the Castle sisters have ever had in Sand Castle Bay.”

“I wouldn’t miss any of it,” Samantha assured her. “After all, wasn’t I the one who predicted last August that you and Boone were going to get back together?”

“Yes, you demonstrated amazing insight, but it wouldn’t be the first time that some irresistible part came through at the last second and you bailed on me. My college graduation comes to mind.”

“Well, there’s no way I’d bail on your wedding,” Samantha reassured her. The likelihood of a plum role being offered was abysmally small. Besides, she’d never let Emily down after promising to be her maid of honor. The fact that Emily had even asked had come as a surprise. Their relationship had been tainted by some kind of sibling rivalry she’d never understood, but her sister seemed to be sincerely trying to leave that in the past.

“I’m driving south the day after tomorrow,” she told Emily, not mentioning that the wedding was providing the perfect excuse to leave New York behind during these depressing dog days of summer. “I’ll be there to do whatever you need.”

“Are you bringing What’s-his-face with you? The guy from the network or the producer? I lose track.”

“Truthfully, so do I,” Samantha admitted. “There’s no one I’d want around for an occasion as important as my little sister’s wedding.”

There was a faint hesitation on the other end of the line and then Emily asked slyly, “Not even Ethan Cole?”

Samantha’s heart did a predictable little stutter step. “Why on earth would you bring up Ethan? He’s ancient history. Not even history, come to think of it. He never even knew I existed back in the day.”

“Aha!” Emily said triumphantly. “You do still have feelings for him. I told Gabi you did. She thinks so, too. Our powers of observation are every bit as good as yours when it comes to romance.”

“And you got that from my asking why you mentioned him?” Samantha inquired irritably, hating any possibility that at her age she could be wearing her heart on her sleeve for anyone to detect. Especially when the man in question probably wouldn’t even recognize her if their paths crossed.

“I got that from your wearing his old football jersey around the house the whole time you were home after the hurricane last summer,” Emily responded. “And, amazingly, it disappeared after you went back to New York. I’ll bet it’s in your closet up there right this minute.”

“It is not,” Samantha retorted, glancing down at the gold-and-green jersey she was currently wearing. So what if she still harbored a not-so-secret crush on the star quarterback from the high school? Three years older and surrounded by throngs of local girls, Ethan had never once noticed her back then. She was a summer kid, not even a blip on his radar. She seriously doubted he’d discovered deep feelings in the intervening years just from spotting her in some detergent commercial, and that was even assuming he knew it was her.

“You know he never married,” Emily said casually. “And he and Boone play golf together. Boone’s asked him to be in the wedding.”

Samantha’s stupid heart did another of those annoying little telltale hop, skip and jumps. “Not on my account, I hope.”

“Of course not,” Emily said. “But he is Boone’s best man, which means you’ll be seeing a lot of him.”

Samantha groaned. She’d expected this sort of matchmaking from her grandmother, who’d actively campaigned to see that Emily and Boone were reunited and had done her share of manipulating to see that Gabi wound up with Wade Johnson. Samantha had been certain, though, that Cora Jane would show a little more respect for Samantha’s ability to find her own man. Then, again, there wasn’t much evidence that Samantha had made any particularly good choices up to now. The men she’d dated had been seriously lacking in staying power.

“Did Grandmother put you up to this?” she asked testily.

“Up to what?” Emily replied innocently. “I told you, Boone and Ethan have been friends forever. Their families go way back. It makes perfect sense that he’d want Ethan in the wedding.”

“I suppose,” Samantha conceded.

“Gotta run. I love you,” Emily said. “See you soon.”

“See you soon,” Samantha echoed.

Suddenly going back to Sand Castle Bay for her sister’s wedding had gotten a lot more interesting...and maybe just a little dangerous.

* * *

Gabi held Daniella Jane in her arms, rocking her gently as she studied the color in Emily’s cheeks.

“Well, did you find out whatever it was you wanted to know when you spoke to Samantha?” she asked.

“Oh, Samantha still has it bad for Ethan, all right,” Emily replied with a smirk.

“Which means you intend to meddle,” Gabi guessed.

“Well, why not?” Emily inquired, reaching to take the baby from Gabi’s arms and cooing to her. “Grandmother does it all the time.”

“And gets away with it because she’s Cora Jane and we love and respect her,” Gabi reminded her. “You and Samantha haven’t always seen eye-to-eye on things, not that I’ve ever understood why that is.”

Emily made a face that had the baby gurgling with what could have been delight...or a dire portent of something else entirely.

“I know that’s all on me,” Emily admitted. “And the worst part is that I honestly don’t remember when it started. If I was going to feel this competitive nonsense, it should have been with you. We’re the driven, ambitious ones. Or at least you were until you turned all mellow and had this beautiful baby. She’s the one and only thing good to come out of your relationship with Paul the slimebag. Now you’ve fallen madly in love with Wade, and as much as it pains me to see, now you’re just plain sappy.”

“Hey, I have a thriving art gallery with a dozen temperamental artists working on-site. I’m trying to turn that into a tourist destination,” Gabi protested. “I haven’t exactly slacked off. I just redirected my goals.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Emily said. “You’re missing my point. I can’t figure out why I’ve always had this thing with Samantha, but I honestly do want to put it behind us. It’s past time. I don’t want any of those old lingering feelings to spoil what should be the happiest time of my life.”

“Amen to that, and asking her to be your maid of honor was a really sweet gesture,” Gabi said. “I know how much she appreciated it.”

“It doesn’t exactly make up for the way I’ve treated her over the years, as if her sole role in life was to annoy me.” She tickled Daniella, then grinned as the baby squirmed. “Lordy, but she’s cute. I think I want one.”

Gabi laughed. “I have a hunch Boone will be more than willing to cooperate, but you might want to get this wedding behind you first.”

“First, Boone and I have to be in the same place at the same time if we’re going to make a baby,” Emily grumbled. “He’s checking in on all his restaurants on his way here from Los Angeles.”

“So you’ll be apart how long? A whole twenty-four hours?” Gabi teased.

“Two days actually,” Emily replied with a dramatic sigh.

Gabi laughed. “You are pathetic. You were apart for years before you reconciled. Even after you got back together, your work kept you in different cities for quite a while.”

“And now I’m spoiled,” Emily conceded. “With Boone in Los Angeles with me while I work on those safe houses for abused women and families, I’ve discovered just how amazing living together can be. I had no idea I’d adapt so quickly to having someone in my life 24/7. Add in B.J. and instant motherhood, and it’s been the most incredible few months ever.”

“It really is wonderful to see you so ecstatically happy,” Gabi told her. “It’s great that you and B.J. formed this immediate bond. Not every stepmother is so lucky.”

“Believe me, I’ve heard the stories,” Emily said. “How about you? I can see what a contented mom you are, but what’s the scoop with you and Wade? Why hasn’t he moved in here?”

“As broad-minded as Cora Jane may be, I don’t think I want to test her limits by suggesting that my boyfriend and I live together under her roof. Wade and I are committed to working things out. That’s enough for now.”

“You’re really happy?” Emily asked, studying her worriedly. “Staying here in Sand Castle Bay is what you want? And the gallery’s enough for you?”

“I have more than a job here, Em. I have family and a wonderful man and that little munchkin you’re holding. My life is full. I don’t need a ring on my finger just yet. I certainly don’t need to go back to the stressful, demanding life I was leading in Raleigh. Besides, I think Dad would stroke out if I hit him with another wedding bill right now. You haven’t been here when Grandmother’s handed over the invoices for yours. Poor Dad’s just grasping the reality that weddings don’t come cheap, especially with a daughter who has very expensive taste.”

“Hey, I’m not the one who insisted on inviting half the state of North Carolina. You can thank Dad and Grandmother for that. Boone and I would have been content with family and a few friends.”

“So you say now,” Gabi said, “but I never heard you putting up much of a fuss as the guest list grew and grew and started to include half of Los Angeles.”

“Well, it is what it is now,” Emily said blithely. “Let’s get back to Samantha. Any idea what’s going on with her? She didn’t sound all that happy when we spoke just now. Is her career faltering again?”

Gabi winced. “I’m ashamed to say I haven’t given it much thought. I’ve been a little distracted lately.”

“Understandable,” Emily said. “She hasn’t asked for your PR help, has she?”

“No, but she wouldn’t. I had to badger her into letting me help a few months ago. It seemed to be effective, so I guess I just assumed that things kept on snowballing. In a good way, that is. That’s how it is sometimes, one job leads to another, but I shouldn’t have taken that for granted. I should have asked,” she said, feeling guilty.

“Why? Not everything is up to you to fix,” Emily said, an oddly defensive note in her voice. “If Samantha wanted help, she could have said something. That’s her way, though. She just suffers in silence, then resents it when nobody jumps in to save the day.”

Gabi regarded her younger sister with dismay. “That’s not true, Emily. Samantha’s not like that. Why would you even say something so cruel?”

Emily looked taken aback by Gabi’s vehemence, then buried her face in her hands. “Because I’m mean and spiteful,” she said in a small voice, then lifted her gaze to meet Gabi’s. “What is the matter with me? I always see the worst in her, even when she’s done nothing wrong.”

“It’s times like this when I really wish Mom were still around,” Gabi said softly.

Emily blinked back instant tears at the unexpected reference to their mother, who’d died several years ago. “What does Mom have to do with this?”

“Maybe she would understand why you have this attitude toward our big sister. Dad certainly wouldn’t have any idea. He was oblivious to everything going on at home when we were growing up. I doubt Grandmother was with us enough in the early years before Mom died to know the root of the problems between the two of you.”

Emily sighed. “And it’s increasingly obvious that it isn’t something I can just wish away. These careless, hurtful words just pop out of my mouth sometimes, and I have no idea why.”

“Then dig deeper and figure it out,” Gabi advised. “You and Samantha both mean the world to me, and I don’t want to be caught in the middle. I want us to be sisters, in every positive, loving sense of the word, okay? In fact, in my dream scenario, you and Boone eventually settle back here and Samantha marries a local, too, and we all live blocks apart so our kids can grow up together.”

Emily nodded, her eyes still misty. “I want that, too,” she insisted. “Well, maybe not moving back here full-time, but the rest. I will work this out, Gabi. I promise. Maybe once she’s here, Samantha and I can sit down and hash this out. Who knows? Maybe she stole my favorite doll when I was two and I’ve blocked it from my memory.”

Gabi smiled at the idea of something so innocuous causing a rivalry that had lasted for years. And Emily’s earlier accusations about her sister harboring simmering resentments seemed to speak of something much more complicated.

“Just work it out, sweetie. Whatever it takes.”

Emily settled Daniella back in Gabi’s arms and gave her niece a last pat, then pressed a kiss to Gabi’s cheek. “Done,” she promised.

Gabi watched her sister leave and wondered if it could be that simple.

* * *

Ethan Cole had just seen his final patient of the day, a tourist who’d managed to slice open her foot on a rusty nail on one of the stray boards still around after a recent storm had ripped through the coastal areas of North Carolina. Though most of the shoreline had been cleaned up immediately, debris still washed ashore from time to time, especially along a few more deserted areas of the beach. He’d given her a tetanus shot and four stitches and told her to come back if there was even a hint of any infection at the site of the injury.

He was just finishing up his notes when the door pushed open again and Boone Dorsett wandered into the small emergency clinic that Ethan had established with another doctor who’d also served in Iraq and Afghanistan. They’d agreed that the emergencies here in a small coastal community were unlikely to rise to the level of anything they’d coped with on their tours of duty in the military. Bumps, bruises and a few stitches were a day at the park compared to anything they’d seen, or in Ethan’s case, experienced firsthand.

He’d lost his lower left leg to an IED explosion in Afghanistan. While that might not have kept him out of an operating room once he was back stateside, it had gone a long way toward changing his need for the adrenaline rush of spending hours in a trauma unit or performing complicated, high-risk surgical procedures.

“You busy?” Boone asked, his tone nonchalant but his expression harried.

Ethan studied his friend’s face. “You look like you need to talk. Wedding jitters?”

Boone sat down, one leg bouncing up and down nervously, even though he uttered a denial.

“If it’s not about the wedding, what’s going on?” Ethan asked. He’d heard it was the best man’s duty to keep the groom calm and focused and make sure he turned up at the church on time. Emily Castle had made that very clear to him. So had her grandmother. It’s was Cora Jane’s admonition that had resonated. She’d threatened him with bodily harm if he failed to deliver Boone precisely at ten-thirty two weeks from Saturday.

“There’s something you maybe need to know,” Boone admitted.

“Okay,” Ethan replied slowly. “What?”

“You’re the best man, right?”

“So you keep telling me.”

“That means you have this sort of obligation to spend time with the maid of honor.”

Ethan stilled. “What does that mean, ‘spend time with’? We walk down the aisle together at the end of the service, right? Maybe sit next to each other at the head table and deliver our heartfelt toasts about how inevitable it all was that the two of you wound up together?”

“I think maybe Emily is expecting a little more than that,” Boone acknowledged, squirming uncomfortably.

Ethan’s gaze narrowed. “And why would Emily be expecting anything more? And why are you warning me?”

“Because I don’t want you to be blindsided. I know how you are about dating. Ever since you got back from overseas, you’ve been this social recluse.”

“I was still engaged when I came back,” Ethan reminded him. At least he had been for about twenty minutes, until all the hero worship died down and Lisa had admitted she didn’t think she could stay with someone “who’s not whole.” It was the first time Ethan had really seen himself as others probably saw him, as someone who was no longer quite the same man he used to be.

The only good thing to come out of that ugly breakup was his increased determination not only to ensure that his injury put no limitations on his life, but to see that kids with physical disabilities learned to view themselves in a positive way. That mission to salvage his own dignity and help others had given his life a much-needed purpose. Project Pride filled hours that otherwise might have been spent on this so-called social life Boone—or more likely, Emily—thought he needed.

“It’s been three years since you split with Lisa,” Boone pointed out.

“Since she dumped me,” Ethan corrected to keep the record straight.

“She was a self-absorbed twit,” Boone said with feeling, “but let’s not go there. My very low opinion of your ex is not the point.”

“Then what is the point?” Ethan asked, frowning.

There was no mistaking his friend’s discomfort as Boone finally muttered, “Heaven only knows why, but Emily seems to have gotten this idea that you and her sister Samantha are perfect for each other.”

“Excuse me?” Ethan said, hoping he’d heard incorrectly.

“Come on, Ethan,” Boone said impatiently, “you know exactly what I said. I didn’t leave a lot of room for misinterpretation.”

“Samantha, the maid of honor,” Ethan said, finally getting all the implications of this little scheme of the bride-to-be. He shook his head and directed a warning look at his friend that he hoped would put the fear of God into him. “No way, Boone! You need to tell Emily to forget it. Being subjected to matchmaking, meddling or whatever you want to call it, that’s definitely not part of what I signed on for.”

Boone gave him an incredulous look. “Have you met Emily? She’s got me in here spouting off like a blasted girl about stuff that is absolutely none of my business!”

“Okay, she’s tough and determined. I’ll give you that, but you’re tougher,” Ethan said.

Boone shrugged. “Not so much.”

“I’ll bail on you,” Ethan threatened. “I swear I will.”

Boone merely rolled his eyes in disbelief. “No, you won’t. Besides, I can kind of see it. You and Samantha. She’s beautiful. You’re handsome. You’d make gorgeous babies, and that is a direct quote from Emily, by the way.”

Ethan stared at him. “What has happened to you? Since when do you get involved in matchmaking, much less on the basis of how pretty any resulting babies would be?”

“Emily was very convincing,” Boone said, then grinned. “Besides, she says Samantha had a crush on you back in the day. She seems to think this is destiny or something.”

Ethan searched his memory, but no image came to mind, just bits and pieces of more recent gossip. “Isn’t Samantha an actress? Younger than me by a couple of years at least? She went off to New York to be a star or something? Does that really sound like someone who’d be suited for life with a small-town doctor? The whole Lisa experience pretty much cured me of having unrealistic expectations when it comes to women.”

“Emily believes Samantha is ready for a change of direction. She keeps talking about Samantha’s summer of transformation or some such. Believe me, she has a plan.”

Now Ethan couldn’t hide his amusement. “And how does Samantha feel about that?”

“She might not have figured it out just yet,” Boone admitted. “But she will, once Emily spends a little time with her. I have complete confidence in Emily’s powers of persuasion. She’s also highly motivated. She and Samantha haven’t always been on the best terms. I think she sees this as a chance to turn that around and truly bond with her older sister.”

“By delivering a man into her life?” Ethan asked incredulously. “One she may not even want?”

“Emily’s convinced she has this right,” Boone countered. “And just so you know, I think Cora Jane’s on her side in this, too. She has an uncanny knack for these things. If you ask me, you’re pretty much doomed. I’m just giving you fair warning.”

“Just because Emily—or Cora Jane, for that matter—can obviously twist you around her little finger and get you to buy into all this sisterly bonding and destiny nonsense doesn’t mean she’ll have the same effect on the rest of us,” Ethan said.

In fact, he could pretty much guarantee he wouldn’t get with the program. He’d had his fill of silly, shallow women who thought looks were everything. His ex-fiancée had seen to that.

He realized exactly how bitter that made him sound. Well, he was bitter. In fact, he’d been counting on that for quite some time now to keep his heart safe, no matter who was scheming against him. Up to now it had worked like a charm.

Then, again, he hadn’t tested it against the likes of Emily and Cora Jane Castle just yet. That, he was very sorry to admit, was just a little worrisome.

2

Samantha wandered into the kitchen at her grandmother’s on her first morning back home wearing Ethan Cole’s old football jersey and nothing else. Since the jersey reached practically to her knees, she considered it perfectly respectable to wear around the house, even if a little dangerous given the message it sent confirming her fascination with the man.

At least no one else was home at the moment and she was in serious need of a caffeine fix to jolt her out the lethargy she’d been feeling lately. The coffee would be better over at the restaurant, but it would take her at least a half hour to get there—even longer since she’d have to walk—and would require getting dressed, two huge strikes against that idea.

She’d just reached up into the cabinet for a mug when she heard a muttered curse. It came from a very masculine source, judging from the sound of it. It scared her so badly she dropped the mug on her foot, yelped as it shattered on the tile floor and then danced around the kitchen before even casting a glance toward the wide-open back door where none other than Ethan Cole stood with a dumbstruck yet surprisingly irritated expression on his face. It might have been years since she’d laid eyes on him, but she’d know those broad shoulders, that square jaw and those deep blue eyes anywhere.

“Well, this is awkward,” she murmured, wrapping her arms around her middle in a probably futile attempt to keep him from identifying her nightwear as something that had once belonged to him.

He stepped closer and ordered tersely, “Sit.”

Samantha couldn’t believe the audacity, first for walking in uninvited and now for giving such abrupt orders. “Excuse me?”

He gave her an impatient look. “There are chips from the mug all over the floor.” He adjusted his tone with apparent effort. “Please sit before you cut your feet and I have to stitch you up.”

“Oh,” she said, chagrined. As he stooped down and picked up the shards of china, she asked, “What are you doing here?”

He gave her a wry look. “According to Boone, I’m here to pick up something that Emily left for me, something that absolutely has to be delivered to downtown Sand Castle Bay this morning. He gave me Cora Jane’s address. He also told me to come on in, that I’d probably find it in the kitchen. Just so you know, he neglected to mention that anyone might be home. Otherwise, I would have knocked.”

“No problem,” she said, despite the racing of her heart. “No other clues?” she asked, glancing around for a package of some sort. There was nothing in plain sight.

“He said I’d recognize it when I saw it,” Ethan said, regarding her pointedly.

Samantha’s mouth gaped as she put the pieces of the plot together. She was going to kill her baby sister. She really was. “You think he meant me?”

“I’d lay odds on it, if you’re who I think you are.”

“I’m Emily’s sister,” she said. “Samantha Castle.”

Ethan sighed heavily. “Of course you are.”

She frowned at the attitude, even though her own mood was deteriorating rapidly. “Meaning?”

“It’s just that Boone gave me a heads-up about the meddling,” he said. “I rather emphatically warned him and, through him, his bride-to-be and your grandmother, to stay out of my life. Apparently I didn’t get through to any of them.”

Just great, Samantha thought wearily. She had no doubt at all about exactly the sort of meddling Boone had described. She just didn’t want to believe that Emily would do anything this outrageous to embarrass her.

She opted to try to put a better spin on the situation, even though she was pretty sure it would take someone with Gabi’s PR skills to pull it off successfully. Then, again, she hadn’t lost all her acting skills, even if they weren’t in much demand lately.

“Look, I don’t know what kind of crazy idea you have about me,” she said earnestly. “The truth is that I turned in my rental car yesterday, and everyone had to leave the house at some ungodly hour this morning, leaving me without transportation. Emily said she’d take care of it. That’s all I know.”

“Oh, I believe you,” Ethan said, his tone resigned as he dumped the remains of the mug into the trash can. “Meddling works most effectively when neither of the affected parties has a clue what’s going on.”

“In my experience it doesn’t matter if they know,” she said wryly. “In this family, we seem helpless to stop it.” She gave him an apologetic look. “I’m really sorry, Ethan, especially if you’ve gone out of your way. As you can see, I’m nowhere near ready to go anywhere.”

“I see,” he said, his gaze raking over her in a thorough survey that heated her blood by several degrees. “Mind my asking how you wound up with my old high school football jersey?” He looked into her eyes. “It is mine, isn’t it?”

She feigned surprise. “Is it? I picked it up at a yard sale down here years ago. I thought it would make a great nightshirt.”

“It definitely makes a fashion statement of some kind,” he confirmed, his gaze now frankly traveling up and down her very long, very bare legs. “So, are we going to do this or what?”

Samantha blinked and swallowed hard at the question. “Do this?” she asked, imagining every one of her teenage fantasies finally coming true.

An unexpected grin transformed his face. “Not that,” he scolded, “though I might be open to negotiations down the road. I meant get you over to wherever your sister wants me to deposit you.”

“A dress fitting,” Samantha said, trying to hide her disappointment. She also saw the sense in taking him up on his offer. “Can you give me ten minutes?”

“Ten? Seriously?”

She laughed. “Trust me. In my world ten minutes for a wardrobe change is an eternity. Help yourself to coffee. I’ll be right back.”

Of course, changing into something more presentable was only half the battle. She also had to catch her breath. That was going to be a whole lot trickier.

* * *

So this was what Boone had warned him about, Ethan thought as he watched Samantha practically race from the kitchen. Just the first tiny step in some campaign to hook him up with the maid of honor. Right this second he was having a little too much trouble seeing the downside of that. It had been a lot easier to rail indignantly when there had been no face—or body—to go with the name.

He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but it definitely hadn’t been the sight that greeted him in Cora Jane’s kitchen. Samantha Castle was a delectable handful. Even caught off guard with no makeup, tousled hair and wearing his shapeless football jersey, she’d been take-his-breath-away stunning.

Suddenly he’d been assailed by tantalizing visions of her crawling from his bed looking just like that after a night of passion. It was a rude awakening to realize any woman could still get to him like that, especially after he’d dismissed this one so thoroughly as not his type. Shallow, he reminded himself staunchly. She was bound to be shallow. Egotistical, too. Wasn’t that a trait of all actors? They had to have monumental egos to survive.

He glanced at the clock, noted that ten minutes had elapsed and was about to smirk when Samantha sailed into the room, dressed as if she’d just stepped out of some fashion magazine ad for wildly expensive resort wear. Her highlighted blond hair had been swept back and caught in a clip at the nape of her neck, her makeup had been so skillfully applied it was almost impossible to tell she was wearing any, and her eyes were hidden by a pair of chic designer sunglasses that probably cost more than he’d taken in at the clinic last week. He had a feeling if he could have seen those eyes of hers, they’d be filled with mirth at winning her bet with him.

“I’m impressed,” he admitted. “That’s quite a transformation, and it was accomplished in record time.”

“Theater training,” she explained. “You get used to quick wardrobe changes. They really hate to stop the play while the actors jump into a new outfit.”

Ethan chuckled as he led the way to his car, Samantha keeping up easily with her long-legged stride. Only as he was about to close her door did he hear her soft gasp. It was enough to tell him she’d seen the prosthetic, or guessed. It was impossible to tell which. He also had the distinct impression no one had warned her.

His friends said his movements looked a hundred percent normal to them, but they would say that. They were all so darned careful not to offend.

He got into the car, put the key in the ignition and glanced her way, waiting to see if she’d bring it up or sit there in embarrassed silence.

“Iraq?” she asked simply.

“Afghanistan,” he responded.

“You manage very well.”

“Not well enough to keep you from noticing,” he commented wryly.

“I just caught a glimpse of the prosthetic,” she said. “Otherwise I’d never have figured it out.”

“And your sister and Boone neglected to mention it?”

“Not a word,” she confirmed.

He wondered, as always, if it changed anything, but he wasn’t about to ask. He’d figure that out soon enough. His radar was finely tuned these days. There’d be a pitying look or a faint expression of distaste, quickly hidden, but detectable since he’d learned to watch for the signs.

Worse, sometimes, there was the curiosity, the undue fascination that seemed to stem from a desire to figure out just what else might have been affected by the explosion that took his lower leg. Lisa’s most crushing impact had been to make him so self-conscious that the prospect of intimacy was far less appealing than it had once been to someone with his healthy libido.

“Did it take a long time to adjust?” Samantha asked.

“Physically? Sure, but I was highly motivated. I worked at it,” he said with a shrug, minimizing the months of painful rehab that had threatened to shatter his normal optimism more than once.

“And emotionally?”

He was surprised that she’d dared to ask that. Most people didn’t risk going there.

“Still a work in progress,” he admitted. “I don’t want anyone pitying me.”

She smiled at that. “I wouldn’t think they’d dare. Not in this town, which still has a memorial wall dedicated to your extraordinary feats on the football field.”

“It’s not a wall,” he said, flushing. “It’s a couple of pictures outside the gym.”

“Have you been back to the high school recently? It’s a wall,” she insisted, then grinned as she acknowledged, “Which is not to say you don’t deserve it. Leading the team to two state championships is nothing to sneeze at. A record number of touchdown passes both years. Not too shabby, Cole.”

Ethan regarded her with surprise. It wasn’t just her up-to-date awareness of his football achievements and the school’s embarrassing tribute, but her cut-to-the-chase insights. “You’re not at all what I expected,” he told her.

“Oh?” She gave him an amused look. “Something tells me you were thinking vain and shallow.”

He winced at the accurate guess. “Something like that,” he admitted.

“It’s a common curse in my profession,” she conceded. “But I try never to be predictable.”

“So far you’re doing a good job,” he said. In fact, she was so unpredictable he wasn’t quite sure what to make of her, and that really, really worried him.

A few minutes later, he pulled up in front of the new art studio being run by her sister Gabriella. He’d been to the opening a couple of months back, mostly as a favor to Boone. His knowledge of art was limited to recognizing a van Gogh when he saw one...as long as it was a painting of sunflowers. Beyond that he’d been hopeless in art appreciation classes.

“You’re having your dress fitting here?” he asked, puzzled by the choice.

“Gabi can’t get away. Emily’s freaking out that we’re running out of time. Since everyone’s goal these days is to calm the bride’s jittery nerves, we do whatever she asks.” She grinned at him. “You might want to keep that in mind. I’m pretty sure Boone is living by the same rules. He could probably use a whole lot of moral support from his best man.”

“Not a doubt in my mind about that, and I plan to do my best,” Ethan said, then grinned. “I’m under strict orders from Cora Jane.”

Samantha laughed. “Yes, she can strike terror into the hearts of most people I know, but she is amazing.”

“No argument from me about that.”

She studied him for a minute. “I know you’re older than me, and that also makes you older than Boone. How’d the two of you wind up as such good friends?” Her gaze narrowed. “Or are you? Please, God, tell me that Emily didn’t pressure Boone into asking you to be his best man just because of me, did she?”

Ethan laughed. “I have no idea when the diabolical plotting started, Samantha, but Boone and I have been friends for years. Our families were close. The age difference never seemed to matter much. We bonded over sports. We’ve been there for each other through some tough times.”

“When Boone lost his wife,” Samantha guessed.

Ethan gave her a long look. “And when he lost Emily before that. I was mostly away back then in med school, but I was around enough to know she broke his heart. I hope she’s not going to do it again.”

“Not a chance,” Samantha said, not even trying to deny that her sister had made a terrible mistake years before by choosing her career over Boone. “She knows how lucky she is that they have this second chance.”

“Second chances are hard to come by,” Ethan said.

“Voice of experience?” she asked him.

“You could say that.”

She looked as if she wanted to probe a little more deeply, but Ethan forestalled her questions by asking, “You’ll have a way to get back home from here?”

Though she was clearly disconcerted by the change of topic, she merely nodded. “Sure. Emily, if I’m still speaking to her after this morning’s turn of events. If not, I’m sure Grandmother will take pity on me and let me use her car.”

“If that doesn’t work out, give me a call. I have a light morning at the clinic, unless some big emergency crops up. I can always run you back home.” Even as the offer came out of his mouth, he was mentally kicking himself for making it. Spending any more time with this woman than absolutely necessary was probably emotional suicide.

She grinned at him. “You almost made that sound like a sincere offer,” she said.

“It was,” he insisted.

She shook her head. “Something tells me we shouldn’t be giving them any encouragement. I’ve seen how my family works, Ethan. One tiny little hint that their meddling is working and they won’t let up. Do you really want the aggravation?”

“No, I suppose not,” he said, surprised to find that a part of him was actually disappointed at the prospect of running across her only when their wedding duties required it.

“Okay, then,” she said breezily. “Thanks for the lift. See you around, I’m sure.”

“See you,” he mumbled, and watched her go. He told himself his inability to tear his gaze away was purely masculine appreciation of a gorgeous woman, but the truth was, there was also just the tiniest twinge of regret.

* * *

Unfortunately the clinic was even quieter than Ethan had predicted, which made his determination to keep his mind off Samantha Castle much harder to achieve. If he closed his eyes for so much as a second, he could see that old football jersey of his riding up her bare backside as she stretched on tiptoe to reach into a kitchen cupboard. The fact that the image had stuck with him was troubling. Then, again, it had been a while since he’d seen a sight that provocative.

He grabbed the running clothes he kept at the clinic, changed into them in the bathroom, then stopped to let his partner, Greg Knotts, know that he was taking a break. The other Afghanistan vet gave him a knowing look.

“Something on your mind?”

“More like someone,” Ethan told him.

“A woman?”

Ethan nodded.

Greg’s expression lit up. “Well, hallelujah! It’s about time you moved on. It was a crying shame you let an idiot like Lisa keep you from having an active social life.”

Ethan grinned. Greg, along with Boone and his other friends, had been fiercely united in their dislike of his former fiancée. Unlike some of them, Greg had never been shy about expressing his opinion. That straightforward talk, while annoying at times, was one of the reasons they got along so well. Ethan knew he could trust Greg to have his back. Boone was the only other friend about whom he felt the same way.

“Lisa is old news,” he told Greg. “I try not to think about her.”

“But the woman’s still in your head,” Greg said. “I’ve seen you show a spark of interest in someone new a time or two, and then in a flash I can almost see the wheels in your head turning and that tape of her dumping you playing again. I think that’s what I hate her for the most, not that she left, but that she ripped your soul to shreds in the process.”

It was true, Ethan thought, but refused to admit. The fact that he let a woman like Lisa control his life, even a little, was crazy. Rationally, he knew that. That didn’t make it any easier to burn that stupid mental tape Greg was talking about.

“No more,” he insisted, more wistful than convinced that it was true.

“I hope so,” Greg said. “So, who is she? The woman who’s got you in a dither this morning?”

Ethan knew he wasn’t going to get out of the clinic without filling Greg in. Unlike Ethan, Greg was a happily married father of three, who yearned to live vicariously through someone else’s exciting social life. He’d pester Ethan until he spilled details.

“A woman named Samantha Castle,” he told him.

Greg whistled.

Ethan regarded him with surprise. “You know her?”

“I used to admire all of the Castle sisters from afar. They were way out of my league. Samantha was something, even back then. I’ve spotted her a few times on TV, mostly commercials, but she was in an episode of Law and Order not too long ago. Barely a walk-on, but I recognized those incredible long legs.” He sighed. “What she did for a pair of high heels ought to be outlawed. It probably is in some states.”

Ethan chuckled. “Yeah, I can see that. Of course, she wasn’t wearing shoes when we met. Or much of anything else, for that matter.”

Greg’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding me!”

“I walked into the kitchen over at her grandmother’s this morning and there she was, wearing nothing but an old football jersey, reaching up into a cupboard.”

“How’d you know it was all she was wearing?”

“It was evident,” Ethan said, unwilling to describe the glimpse he’d gotten of her delectable bottom. Some things a man didn’t share, not even with his buddies.

“Holy mackerel,” Greg said, his voice tinged with reverence. His expression suddenly turned speculative. “You said an old football jersey. Yours, by any chance?”

Ethan frowned. “How’d you know?”

“I remember hearing way back that she had a crush on you. A couple of guys we hung out with asked her out, but she turned them down flat. She was maybe fifteen, sixteen. You were a senior and all caught up with your adoring horde of beauties. If you ask me, not a one of them held a candle to her, but you were oblivious. I watched her stand on the fringes of a few beach parties, her heart in her eyes.”

Since Boone had mentioned something similar about an old crush, Ethan couldn’t dismiss the comment. “I’m surprised you didn’t rush in to console her.”

“Like I said, she was out of my league. And I had enough issues living in the shadow of your popularity without risking rejection by one of your adoring fans.”

Ethan knew perfectly well that Greg’s ego had been healthy enough to withstand most anything back then. If Ethan had been a star on the offensive side of the football, Greg had been equally outstanding on defense. He’d even played both college and pro football briefly while studying medicine, a taxing combination that proved he had both brains and athletic skills, to say nothing of a whole lot of grit and determination.

And yet with all that potential to choose either a well-paying career in pro football or an equally successful path in medicine, he, just like Ethan, had opted for tours in the military. Unlike Ethan, though, Greg had come back in one piece, physically at least. Only a handful of people knew of the nightmares that tormented him, nightmares that left him emotionally exhausted and his wife and kids shaken.

Ethan’s understanding of the toll PTSD had taken on his friend and Greg’s insights into Ethan’s struggles to cope with his physical disability had made them the perfect partners for this medical practice in a quiet, familiar community.

Ethan noted the signs of exhaustion on his friend’s face and realized that all this focus on his social life was masking another of Greg’s bad nights.

“Change and come running with me,” he suggested, knowing that physical exertion could help them both. “Debra and Pam can hold the fort here and call us if there’s a sudden rush of patients. It’ll do you good. I might even let you beat me for a change.”

Greg laughed. “Let me? Just who do you think you’re fooling? If you’re brave enough to put a little money on this, I think we’ll see that you’re no match for me.”

“You believe that?” Ethan mocked. “You’re even more delusional than I thought.”

“Oh, it’s true. I might just give you a head start to even up your chances,” Greg taunted. “Otherwise it wouldn’t be fair to take your money.”

Ethan scowled at that. “I’m faster these days, even on one good leg, than you are on two. You’ve gone soft, Knotts. Now, come on. Change those clothes and lace up your running shoes. I’ll wait.”

“Two minutes,” Greg said, accepting the challenge as Ethan had known he would. “Loser buys lunch.”

“Works for me,” Ethan agreed.

“And I have a hankering for a burger at Castle’s,” Greg said, his expression gloating. “Just so you know what’s at stake.”

Ethan stared after him. Oh, he knew, all right. Lunch where there was every chance he’d catch another glimpse of Samantha? So much for clinging to whatever hard-won peace of mind he accomplished on this run.

3

“You sent Ethan Cole to the house without warning me,” Samantha said, giving her sister a swat. “How could you do that?”

“I didn’t want you to tell me not to,” Emily said blithely. “And to be totally accurate, Boone sent him. I didn’t.”

Samantha regarded her with a cynical look. “Not much of a defense, Em. Surely you can do better than that.”

“Why should I?” Emily asked unrepentantly, then grinned. “How’d it go? Judging from your mood, I’m guessing it was exactly the push the two of you needed.”

“We did not need a push, or a nudge or any other form of interference,” Samantha retorted.

Emily merely rolled her eyes. “Resent me now, but once the two of you are as happy as Boone and me, you’ll thank me.”

“You think so?” Samantha said direly. “He caught me in his football jersey reaching for a mug in the kitchen cabinet. I think his eyes are still glazed over from the glimpse he probably caught of my bare bottom.”

Emily burst out laughing. “Oh, that’s perfect!”

“It wasn’t perfect,” Samantha contradicted. “It was awkward and embarrassing.”

“But he’s bound to be intrigued, don’t you think? You do have an incredibly shapely bottom, after all. And Ethan hasn’t dated a lot since his fiancée dumped him. He needs someone just like you to get him back into the game.”

“Hold on,” Samantha said as Emily’s offhand remark sank in. “His fiancée dumped him? After he came home from Afghanistan?”

“I know. Really tacky, huh?” Emily said, her expression sobering. “I’d like to give that woman a piece of my mind.”

Samantha agreed. “It was definitely a pretty shallow reaction, assuming it was about the loss of his leg,” she said.

“Oh, it was all about that,” Emily confirmed. “Boone says she told him she couldn’t be with someone who wasn’t whole or perfect or something like that.”

“That’s disgusting. No wonder he’s so sensitive about how people are likely to react,” Samantha said, seeing their conversation in a different light. “He admitted he’d expected me to be shallow and vain. Maybe it wasn’t all about me being an actress, the way I took it. Maybe he feels that way about all women these days.”

Emily’s eyes widened. “He did not accuse you of such a thing! Of all the unmitigated gall. He hardly even knows you. There’s not a shallow, vain bone in your body.”

Samantha sighed at the surprisingly ardent defense. “I don’t know about that. In my business I do spend a lot of time looking in the mirror and fretting over wrinkles.”

“But that’s just the business you’re in,” Emily said, loyally waving off the suggestion. “You don’t judge other people by those standards. You’d never look down on someone who’s not perfect.”

“No, I wouldn’t,” Samantha agreed, thinking of that one moment when she’d gotten a real glimpse of vulnerability in Ethan’s eyes. He’d expected to be judged or, worse, to be pitied. She couldn’t imagine any man wanting pity, but for someone who’d demonstrated so much courage, it would be even more humiliating.

And Ethan, who’d once caught her attention with his charm, good looks and football prowess, was courageous. She had no doubts about that. Even in this morning’s brief encounter, she’d realized the kind of strength it must have taken for him not only to survive his injury, but to move forward, to not accept limitations. In her view, that made him someone to be admired, and lifted her old secret crush to a whole new level.

Even so, she scowled at her sister. “Do not put me in that position again,” she said flatly. “Ethan and I are adults. We’re bound to run across each other in the next couple of weeks with all the wedding hoopla. We don’t need you and Boone manufacturing excuses to throw us together. Understood?”

“Okay, fine,” Emily conceded unhappily. “I was just trying to do something nice.”

“The only way you could have been any more obvious would have been to send him over there with a big fat bow around his neck and a sign that said Keep Me.”

Even as the words came out of her mouth, Samantha caught the worrisome gleam in her sister’s eyes. “Oh no, you don’t. Your meddling days are over.”

“If you say so,” Emily replied dutifully. “But just so you know, I’m an amateur. The real pro, Grandmother, hasn’t even gotten started.”

And that, Samantha thought wearily, was scarier than just about anything else her sister could have said.

* * *

Cora Jane took one look at the sight of Ethan Cole and Greg Knotts walking into Castle’s and slipped into the kitchen and called Emily.

“Have you finished with the dress fitting?” she asked, lowering her voice to a whisper.

“About five minutes ago,” Emily said. “Why? And why are you whispering?”

“Because I don’t want anyone to overhear me,” Cora Jane said.

“Uh-oh,” her granddaughter said, chuckling. “What is it you don’t want Jerry to hear?” she asked pointedly, referring to Castle’s longtime cook who was now courting Cora Jane. “What are you up to?”

“Stop asking so many questions,” Cora Jane ordered. “Just pack up your sister and get over here to the restaurant.”

“Hold on,” Emily muttered. Seconds later, she was back on the line. “Does this have something to do with Ethan Cole? Is he at Castle’s?”

“Just walked in,” Cora Jane confirmed. “Now, will you get Samantha over here, or do I need to get Gabriella involved?”

To her annoyance, Emily laughed. “What’s so funny?” Cora Jane demanded.

“Not a half hour ago I promised Samantha I’d stop meddling, but I warned her that you hadn’t even gotten into the game yet.”

“Well, now I see my chance,” Cora Jane said. “Can you do this, or do I need to call and tell her I’ve slipped on the kitchen floor and think I might have broken my hip?”

“Heaven forbid!” Emily said fervently. “I’ll get her over there. You just keep Ethan from getting away.”

“Not a problem,” Cora Jane said, “even if I have to sacrifice Castle’s reputation for fast service to accomplish it. The man may not get his meal for an hour. Hurry up, honey bun. I don’t want him to get too suspicious.”

“Something tells me that ship has already sailed,” Emily said. “But we’ll be there as quickly as I can round up Samantha and get her out the door. She seems just a little obsessed with playing with the baby. I think her biological clock started ticking the second she picked up Daniella Jane. Frankly, I recognize the signs, because that kid does the same thing to me.”

“All the more reason to see that Samantha and Ethan fall head over heels for each other by the time you and Boone head off on your honeymoon,” Cora Jane said.

She hung up on Emily, found the server assigned to Ethan’s table and warned her to take her time placing their order, then plastered a smile on her face and walked over to say hello.

“Good to see you, Greg,” she said to Ethan’s companion. “Ethan, I have to say I’m surprised to see you here. Did you finally come by for that meal I promised you after you took such good care of Rory Templeton and helped him get the rehab he needed so he could go back to work?”

Ethan gave her a sour look. “I’m here because I lost a bet,” he admitted.

Greg grinned. “I outran him,” he explained. “The man’s so arrogant, he didn’t think I stood a chance.”

Cora Jane chuckled. “Well, whatever brings you by, I’m happy to see you, though I imagine you’ll be around quite a lot over the next couple of weeks.”

“That seems to be the plan,” Ethan said, clearly not overjoyed about it.

“What he meant to say, Cora Jane, is that he’s looking forward to the wedding,” Greg interpreted. “We’re still working on his manners now that he’s back in polite society.”

“Bite me,” Ethan murmured in an undertone, though he managed a contrite look for Cora Jane’s benefit. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize on my account. I’ve heard plenty worse. Now, tell me, has your waitress taken your order?”

“She has,” Greg said cheerfully. “She told us it should be right out.”

Cora Jane nodded. “Let me check on it. The kitchen’s been pretty backed up today. I’ll have her refresh your drinks while you’re waiting.”

As she was walking away, she overheard Ethan say, “She’s up to something. You mark my words.”

No sooner had he made the statement than he added, his tone a mix of triumph and dismay, “And there she is now!”

Cora Jane turned in time to see Samantha being nudged along by Emily, Samantha’s expression just as dour as Ethan’s.

“Well, look who’s here!” Emily said cheerfully. “Mind if we join you, Ethan?”

Without waiting for a response, she pulled two chairs up to the table and gestured for Samantha to sit in one of them.

“I’m going to wash my hands,” Samantha said, stalking off.

Cora Jane intercepted her as she headed, instead, straight for the front door. Samantha whirled on her.

“Don’t think I don’t know you’re behind this,” she said irritably. “I heard enough of that call you made to Emily to know she was up to something. What I can’t figure out is why she’d take the chance of me strangling her not a half hour after I’d told her to stay out of my personal life. You must have been very persuasive.”

“We just love you, honey bun,” Cora Jane soothed. “We want you to be happy.”

“Shoving me down the throat of a man who’s not the least bit interested is not the way to accomplish that.”

“Oh, posh!” Cora Jane said. “Of course he’s interested. You didn’t see the way his eyes lit up when you walked in the door just now. I did.”

“What you saw, if anything, were sparks of anger over the meddling,” Samantha told her.

“I know what I saw,” Cora Jane insisted. “And you don’t want to offend the best man and create tension before your sister’s wedding, do you? Now, go on over there and be nice.”

“Is that an order?” Samantha asked.

Cora Jane leveled a look into her eyes. “Does it need to be?” she inquired, holding her granddaughter’s gaze.

Samantha finally sighed. “I’ll go, but I won’t like it.”

Cora Jane knew it wasn’t smart, but she couldn’t help chuckling. “You sounded exactly like that when you were a toddler and we forced you to do something you didn’t think you wanted to do.”

“If you’re trying to insult me by suggesting I’m behaving like a child, I don’t much care.”

“Actually I was just trying to remind you that in just about every one of those instances, we turned out to be right and you had yourself a good time.” She touched Samantha’s cheek with a soothing caress. “I’m doubting this will be an exception, unless you work hard at making it one.”

“This is the one and only tiny bit of slack I’m going to cut you,” Samantha warned. “I will not cave in again.”

“Of course not,” Cora Jane said, wisely hiding a smirk this time. “I wouldn’t expect you to.”

Samantha gave her a suspicious look, then headed back to the table where Ethan looked only slightly less irritated than she did. Oh well, Cora Jane thought, relationships had started with far less in common than mutual annoyance at a third party.

Satisfied, she returned to the kitchen, where Jerry turned from the stove and frowned at her. “I thought the only pot-stirring going on around here was supposed to be in the kitchen.”

“You do your stirring. I’ll do mine,” she retorted.

“One of these days your meddling is going to blow up in your face,” he warned. “Those girls of yours are independent thinkers, just the way you taught them to be.”

“Well, of course they are,” she said proudly. “It doesn’t mean that one of them can’t use a nudge from me from time to time. I don’t hear Emily or Gabi complaining, now that their lives are just about settled.”

“Samantha’s a different kettle of fish,” he warned. “So is Ethan Cole. Remember, I was with you the day you threw out the first bit of bait a few months ago. He didn’t bite. In fact, he made his lack of interest pretty clear. You might need to reassess your target and your tactics.”

Cora Jane shook her head. “I know what I know,” she insisted. “I’ve known Ethan since he was a boy. Those two are perfect for each other. They just have to get out of their own way and things will fall right into place.”

“I hope you’re right,” Jerry said, regarding her tenderly. “I know how badly you want this to work out. You’re convinced if they do, you’ll finally have all your girls back here in Sand Castle Bay and a dozen great-grandbabies underfoot eventually.”

“And what would be wrong with that?”

“Not a thing. I just hope you haven’t misjudged the situation this time.”

Cora Jane heard the genuine worry in his voice, and though she’d never in a million years admit it, he gave her pause. Jerry didn’t meddle, but he was a keen observer, especially of her and the granddaughters she loved. Could he have gotten it right? Were Samantha and Ethan a bad match? Or were they both so stubborn they’d fight fate just to spite her?

She thought about it, then thought some more, considering what she’d just seen with her own eyes. No, she concluded. Ethan and Samantha were every bit as destined to be together as Emily and Boone had been or Gabi and Wade. She was sure of it.

And in a lot of years of living, her gut hadn’t steered her wrong on more than one or two occasions. This wasn’t going to be another one of them. She’d see to it.

* * *

Samantha squirmed uncomfortably under Ethan’s cool gaze. Not even Emily’s steady stream of chatter or Greg’s determinedly upbeat efforts to keep the conversation flowing could cut through the tension at the table. It was getting on her nerves.

When she’d finally had enough, she stood up. “Ethan, could I speak to you outside, please?”

Every single person there looked startled by the request, but Ethan rose as if she’d just offered to show him an escape route from a particularly unsavory prison.

Casting one last scowl at her sister, Samantha led the way onto the deck at the side of the restaurant and headed toward the railing where they’d have a view of the ocean across the street. Thanks to an offshore storm, the surf was churning, reflecting her own emotions. She drew in a deep breath of the refreshing, salty air and turned to face Ethan.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I should have figured out that Emily and Grandmother had hatched some kind of plot the minute Emily started insisting we come here for lunch.”

Ethan’s hard expression eased slightly. “Not entirely your fault. This is your family’s restaurant, and I did come here, after all. I knew there was a chance you’d be around.”

She regarded him curiously. “So, why did you come?”

He shrugged. “Lost a bet, to be perfectly honest.”

Samantha’s lips twitched at his resigned tone. “To whom?”

“Greg,” he admitted sheepishly. “I’m thinking his matchmaking gene just might rival Emily’s and Cora Jane’s. If I’d had any idea he had such a devious, romantic streak, I’d never have opened that clinic with him.”

“So, what are we going to do about this? We’ve been warned. We know what they’re up to. Just hours ago we vowed to end the madness, and here we are again. Are we naive or just no match for their ingenuity?”

“No idea,” he conceded. “I’m way out of my element here. Oh, there have been a few people who’ve tried to set me up ever since my engagement ended, but most of them gave up eventually. If you say no often enough and forcefully enough, people stop trying.”

“So, you’re dead set against ever getting involved in another relationship?” she asked, hoping there was no hint of disappointment in her voice.

“Pretty much.”

“All because of a woman who, if you’ll pardon me for saying so, sounds about as sensitive as a slug?”

Ethan smiled at that. “That pretty much sums up Lisa.”

“Well, that’s just crazy,” she said. “If you can see her for the kind of woman she was, then you shouldn’t let her have any influence whatsoever over the choices you make now.”

He gave her a wry look. “So I’ve been told.”

“You don’t buy it?”

He hesitated, then said, “Maybe we should come at this from a different direction. You’re younger than I am, but if you’ll pardon me for stating the obvious, you’re not a kid. Why aren’t you married? Or have you been?”

Samantha winced at having the tables turned on her. “No marriages,” she conceded. “I guess I never met the right man.”

“So it’s not because some insensitive clod broke your heart?”

She thought about it, not sure how to explain the choices she’d made. “Amazingly, I don’t have any ill will toward any of the men I’ve dated, not even toward the man I was pretty sure I loved.”

“What happened with him?”

“He was an actor, which isn’t always the smartest match for an actress, even though you both understand the demands of the business. That’s the upside.”

“And the downside?”

“My career took off for a time. His tanked. He couldn’t handle it.” It sounded so simple, but it had been the most painful period of her life. No matter how she’d fought to keep silent about her own successes to keep him from feeling like a failure, it hadn’t been enough.

Ethan gave her a sympathetic look. “Pride can be a pain, can’t it?”

“Masculine pride surely can,” she responded agreeably. “I’m surprised you can admit that. After all, wasn’t it your pride your fiancée hurt, as much as your heart?” She studied him with a worried gaze. “Or did she really break your heart?”

For a minute the look on Ethan’s face suggested she’d gone too far. His jaw tensed, his eyes sparked and then, in an instant, a smile tugged at his lips.

“You don’t mince words, do you?”

“I don’t see a lot of point in it, no.”

“That’s a refreshing change,” he told her. “I’ve spent a lot of time in recent years with people who are way too careful about speaking their minds around me. Even if what they want to say has nothing at all to do with my injury, they seem to think I’m too fragile to be challenged.”

“So they think you can’t take the truth?”

“Probably. And, to be honest, when I first got back and was going through rehab, I probably couldn’t. If anyone even looked at me the wrong way, I’d explode. Believe me, I was impossible to get along with.”

“I imagine that’s just as much part of the healing process as learning to deal with the prosthetic.”

He looked surprised once more by her insight. “It was. A few people, like Boone and Greg, figured that out and never gave up on me. I’d kick ’em out, but they kept right on coming back.”

“Unlike your fiancée?” she said, disliking the woman intensely.

Surprisingly, he shook his head. “It wasn’t my temper that pushed her away. I don’t think I could have blamed her for that. No, she stuck it out until I was on my feet, so to speak. Then she bailed. She said she couldn’t cope with me not being the man she’d fallen in love with, as if my leg were the most important part of my anatomy and losing it made me less of a man.”

Samantha shook her head. “The woman was an idiot.”

Ethan laughed. “Thanks for the ardent defense, but maybe we should get back to our immediate problem. What do we do about the meddlers?”

“Stay alert. Let them do their thing, I guess,” she suggested, though she was unconvinced that the strategy would work.

“Seriously?”

“It’ll make them happy to try,” she said, “and there’s nothing that says we have to get with the program, right?”

He held her gaze for a minute, just long enough for a spark of sexual tension to sizzle between them. “Nothing,” he agreed, though he too sounded a little unsure of himself when he said it.

Samantha held out her hand. “Friends, right? We have a deal.”

Ethan took her hand in his. She couldn’t help noticing that his grip was strong, his fingers long and slender. It was the sure and steady hand of a surgeon.

“We have a deal,” he said.

He was awfully slow to release her hand. When he did, his eyes were troubled.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

“Sure.”

“Ethan, I thought being straight with each other was an implied part of our bargain,” she scolded.

He gave her a rueful look. “I have this odd premonition that we’ve just made a fool’s bargain.”

“Oh?”

“I’m thinking that unless we’re very, very careful, we’re going to blow this whole friendship thing to smithereens,” he said direly.

Samantha had to fight to hide the laugh that bubbled up at his unmistakable frustration, because the truth was, on some level, that was the best news she’d heard in a very long time.

4

“So, when are you seeing her again?” Greg asked Ethan as they drove back to the clinic. There was no mistaking the spark of mischief in his eyes as he spoke.

Ethan frowned at him. “No idea what you’re talking about,” he insisted.

“You and Samantha. Don’t even try to deny that something happened when the two of you were out on the deck. You came back looking like two cats that had managed to dine on some very tasty canaries.”

“What a lovely analogy,” Ethan commented. “You obviously have a poet’s way with words.”

“Not exactly the point,” Greg said. “Let’s stick to the accuracy of my assessment. When are the two of you getting together again?”

“Whenever circumstances dictate,” Ethan said irritably.

Suddenly Greg’s eyes lit up as if he’d just discovered the secrets of the universe. “And you’re not happy about waiting for those circumstances to roll around, are you? Oh boy, I knew it! You’ve got the hots for her.”

“Once more you’re demonstrating your way with words,” Ethan grumbled. “I do not have the hots for anybody. Turns out she’s a nice woman, not at all what I expected.”

“Beautiful, too. Do not try to tell me you didn’t notice. Otherwise I’m going to have to check your vital signs the second we get back to the clinic.”

“I noticed,” Ethan said tightly. “Will you please drop this?”

“I’m thinking I probably shouldn’t,” Greg said cheerfully. “I’m thinking you need me to be a thorn in your side, a burr under your butt, as it were, until you finally get back in the dating game.”

“Dating is not a game I want to play,” Ethan claimed, though he was clearly not convincing his friend. He’d been happily protecting his heart for a good long time now. He saw no reason for that to change. The last time he’d taken a risk on love, it hadn’t worked out so well.

“Ah, but sometimes life just comes along and gives you an unexpected chance to reach for your heart’s desire, ready or not,” Greg said. “A smart man seizes those moments.”

Ethan scowled at him. “Heart’s desire? Game? Which is it? How exactly do you see this going?”

“What I see isn’t important,” Greg insisted. “What do you see? And do not try to tell me you’re oblivious to the possibilities.”

“I see disaster waiting to happen,” Ethan said with a level of frustration he hadn’t felt in months, maybe not even years. Shouldn’t he have a better grip on his own blasted destiny? Surely it was just a matter of willpower. If he wanted to resist Samantha, he could do it, the same way he’d avoided every other entanglement since Lisa had so unceremoniously dumped him. Of course, it didn’t help that his friend refused to let the matter drop.

“Because you’re not really attracted to her?” Greg persisted.

“No,” he bit out.

“Because you don’t think she’s attracted to you?”

He recalled the look that had simmered between them more than once on the deck. Whatever she’d said about friendship, she was interested in more, no question about it. Was he insane for not taking her up on it? After all, it wasn’t as if she’d be around for long. Her life was elsewhere. They could indulge in a satisfying two-week fling, no harm, no foul. Greg would certainly approve. Boone probably would, too, though he might get a little protective since Samantha was about to be his sister-in-law.

“It doesn’t matter if she’s attracted to me or not. We’ve agreed to be friends, period. We are not succumbing to the pressures of the meddlers, you included.”

Greg stared at him incredulously. “Whose dumb-ass idea was that?”

“Hers,” Ethan said. “I agreed.”

Greg shook his head sorrowfully. “I always thought Lisa was the idiot. Now I’m wondering if you’re one iota better.”

Ethan frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“This gorgeous woman, who’s had a thing for you for like a million years, has been delivered practically into your arms and you’re content with friendship.” Greg shook his head. “It’s pitiful, man. Just pitiful.”

Ethan was beginning to think maybe his friend was right, but that didn’t mean he intended to do a single thing to change the rules he and Samantha had just negotiated. There was safety in following those rules. There was the peace and serenity he’d claimed he wanted for years now.

And, sadly, there was total, unrelenting boredom, he admitted only to himself.

* * *

Samantha was pacing the floor with Daniella Jane, who was impatiently and loudly proclaiming that it was dinnertime. Even with the baby’s cries echoing in Samantha’s head, she felt this incredibly fierce tug as she held her niece.

“Come on, sweetie,” she murmured soothingly. “Don’t let your mommy walk in the door and get some crazy idea that I’m a terrible aunt. Settle down. Dinner is on its way, I promise.”

Dinner, of course, was tied directly to Gabi’s arrival. She was still nursing the baby. Normally she kept Daniella Jane with her at the gallery for that very reason, but she’d taken a visible deep breath and agreed to let her daughter come home with Samantha an hour ago. It had definitely been an act of faith. The way Samantha had heard it, the baby had barely been out of Gabi’s sight since the day she was born.

Today’s reluctant concession was supposed to be a win-win, giving Gabi an uninterrupted hour to get some work done while Samantha bonded with her niece. She had no idea how things were going on Gabi’s end, but she wasn’t exactly bonding. If anything, she felt as if she was selfishly depriving her niece of sustenance to fulfill her own maternal yearnings.

The back door of Gram’s house burst open, and Gabi’s guy, Wade Johnson, came in, grinning.

“That’s my girl,” he said, reaching for the baby, whose cries instantly changed into gurgles of delight. He winked at Gabi. “She’s already learned to let the world know when she’s displeased. Nobody will be walking all over this woman.”

Samantha chuckled. Wade might not be Dani’s biological father, but he was already a dedicated parent. “You do know that you’ve just given me a terrible inferiority complex, don’t you?” she said. “I may give up on the whole motherhood thing after the way that child started cooing the instant I handed her off to you.”

“Don’t take it personally,” he said, holding the baby high in the air. “Dani and I have a deal.”

“A deal?” Samantha questioned, smiling.

“Yep. We work at being so good together that there’s not a chance her mama will change her mind about marrying me. Right, baby girl?”

Daniella Jane giggled happily.

“So, where is Gabi?” Wade asked. “It’s not like her to be late for this little one’s suppertime. Did you convince her to take a nap?”

“Are you kidding me? She’s using my offer to watch the baby to get some work done. You can take the workaholic out of a high-powered job, but you can’t take the drive and ambition out of her. The success of that studio the two of you created is her personal mission.”

“It was supposed to be a low-key alternative to that last nightmare job,” Wade grumbled.

“Sorry. Gabi’s not made for low-key.” She studied him closely, aware of what a laid-back kind of man he was. “That’s not a deal-breaker for you, is it?”

“There are no deal-breakers for me when it comes to Gabi,” he said flatly. “She’s it for me. If she’s happy, I’m happy.”

Samantha barely contained a sigh of envy at the conviction she heard in his voice. Boone sounded the same way when he talked about Emily. Was she ever going to find the same sort of devotion? Would anyone ever look at her as if she were the sun, moon and stars all rolled into one?

Gabi sailed into the house just then, her expression frantic. “Is the baby okay? I know I’m late, and I know how fussy she gets if she isn’t fed right on time.”

“She definitely made her feelings known,” Samantha told her. “But Wade showed up with his magic touch, and she’s been good as gold ever since.”

Gabi bent down and gave Wade a lingering kiss. “Thanks,” she murmured as she took the baby from him.

“Sit,” he said, pulling her down beside him.

“But Dani needs to be fed,” Gabi protested.

“And here’s as good a place as any,” he said, his gaze locked with hers.

When the baby settled into place, Wade grazed his knuckles gently over her cheek in a touch so tender it brought tears to Samantha’s eyes. With the three of them so absorbed with this moment, she felt like a fifth wheel.

“I’ll get dinner started,” she murmured, though she doubted anyone heard her.

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 do you want?”

“I haven’t looked that far ahead,” Samantha said, her tone neutral. “After all, there’s not even a man in my life at the moment.”

“Liar,” Emily taunted. “You’ve seen every kind of wedding imaginable on those soaps you used to do from time to time. Which one struck you as the most devastatingly romantic?”

Samantha leaned back, finally relaxing now that the crisis appeared past, and gave Emily’s question some thought.

“A destination wedding,” she said eventually. “On the beach, maybe, with the wind in my hair and the sand beneath my feet.”

When she glanced at Emily, there was a sheen of tears in her eyes.

“It sounds perfect,” Emily whispered. “And it does sound like you. It needs to be at sunset, though, with all that glorious color in the sky.” She glanced over at Samantha and added, “I hope you get it.”

“One of these days, if I’m lucky,” Samantha said.

“Maybe it’ll be even sooner than you think,” Emily replied, a glint in her eyes. “And last time I looked, Sand Castle Bay was known all over as a terrific spot for a destination wedding.”

Samantha frowned at her. “Do not even go there, you hear me? Or I will take back every nice thing I just said about you.”

“I can take it,” Emily said, grinning. “It’ll be worth it to watch this thing with you and Ethan unfold. Don’t forget I was right there with the two of you today when you came back inside the restaurant. Sparks were flying all over the place. It’s a wonder Greg and I didn’t get burned.”

“Didn’t it occur to you that those sparks were anger directed your way for the meddling you did to throw us together for the second time in one day?”

Emily waved off the suggestion. “Not a chance. This was all about a man and a woman who’ve taken a real shine to each other. Pheromones, chemistry, whatever you want to call it.”

“Enough!” Samantha said, her voice rising as she tried to get the point across once and for all. “Ethan and I agreed to be friends, nothing more.”

Emily merely laughed. “I know. I can just hear the two of you being all rational and determined. I had a similar conversation with Boone when I first came back to town.” A grin spread. “I’ll tell you now exactly what you told me then.”

“What?”

“That all that denial is what’s going to make this so much fun to watch.”

“Enjoy yourself, but I think you’re going to be disappointed,” Samantha told her. “Now I have another question for you before we go back inside and you make peace with Gabi.”

“What’s that?” Emily asked, not arguing that it was up to her to apologize.

“Grandmother’s worried that there’s something else on your mind. Is there? Are you worried about the wedding? About Boone? About his nasty ex-in-laws? Anything else?”

Emily’s expression immediately shut down in a way that was more revealing than words would have been.

“Emily?” she prodded.

“I don’t know if Boone loves living in Los Angeles as much as I do,” she admitted eventually.

Samantha had wondered when that issue was going to show up. “It’s still new to him.”

“But Sand Castle Bay is in his blood.”

“Has he said anything about coming back?”

“No, and I thought when he moved out there to open this restaurant, it would be okay.”

“Maybe it will be. Ask him what he’s feeling.”

“I’m half afraid to. What if he wants me to move back here, after all?”

“What if he does? What will you do?”

Emily sighed and regarded Samantha with a bleak expression. “I honestly have no idea.”

“Then, sweetie, you need to talk to him now, before this wedding.”

Emily shook her head. “No, absolutely not.”

“But—”

“No,” Emily repeated, then stood up. “We need to go back inside. I have some fence-mending to do.”

She took off for the house, leaving Samantha to stare after her, far more worried now than she’d been when she’d come outside.

* * *

On Sunday evening, Cora Jane looked around the backyard with satisfaction. With the help of Jerry, Gabi, Wade and Samantha, it had been turned into a showcase of tiny lights, huge pots of colorful summer flowers and tables laden with food and gifts for Emily’s bridal shower.

Samantha draped an arm around her shoulders. “You’ve outdone yourself, Grandmother.”

Cora Jane glanced up, blinking back unexpected tears. “I can’t believe the first of my girls is getting married in less than two weeks. I’ve waited for this for so long.” She gave Samantha a pointed look. “I thought you’d be the first, you know.”

“Just because I’m older?”

“No, because boys were flocking around from the time you hit your teens, and I know for a fact it was no different when you got to New York. Every time we spoke, you mentioned one man or another.”

Samantha shrugged. “None of them stuck. I want to find what Em has with Boone or what Gabi’s found with Wade. I guess the Castle women are all romantics at heart. We want the happily-ever-after. At least I was smart enough not to settle for less than that.”

Cora Jane nodded approvingly. “You know, I think your daddy always sold you short. He thought just because you wanted to be an actress, you were flighty or something, but your mama and I always knew better. You’ve got a good, level head on your shoulders. You know what’s important. And you’ll find the right man. There’s not a doubt in my mind.”

Samantha gave her a hug. “Thanks for your faith in me. As for Dad, he hasn’t exactly been attuned to any of us and the skills we possess.”

“No, he hasn’t,” Cora Jane said. “I do think he’s coming around, though.” She glanced across the lawn to where Sam was conferring with Jerry over the grill. “Look at him. Not only is he here, but he’s really trying to fit in.”

“How’d you pull that off, especially for a bridal shower on a Sunday night? Tomorrow’s a workday, after all. I can practically hear him making a million and one excuses for not coming.”

Cora Jane chuckled. “Probably double that, but I trumped ’em all. I told him to be here. That it was an order from his mother and I’d be disappointed in him if he didn’t show up for his daughter’s big evening.”

“Good for you. I know it means a lot to Em that he came. But aren’t he and Jerry going to feel like odd men out at a party crowded with women?”

“Oh, the party isn’t just for women,” Cora Jane said blithely. “Emily wouldn’t hear of that. There will be plenty of men around, too.”

She saw the quick rise of understanding in Samantha’s eyes and then the deepening of the color in her cheeks. “I imagine Ethan’s on this coed guest list,” she said stiffly.

“Of course,” Cora Jane responded. “The entire wedding party was invited.”

“Of course they were,” Samantha said, shaking her head. “You and Emily don’t give up, do you?”

“I have no idea what you mean,” Cora Jane insisted, trying out the innocent look she’d had years to practice, but still hadn’t exactly perfected. Judging from Samantha’s skeptical reaction, it wasn’t terribly effective this time, either.

“Do you have any idea how much you and Emily are humiliating me?” Samantha asked. “Ethan’s going to get the idea that I’m desperate or something.”

“Oh, honey bun, there’s no chance of that,” Cora Jane assured her. “Any man looking at you is only going to wonder why no one has had the sense to snap you up. You’re beautiful and, even more important, you have this huge heart. You’re smart and talented and quick-witted. Any man would be lucky to have a chance with you. And a smart man wouldn’t blow that chance.”

Samantha looked pained by the recitation of her attributes, but by the end she was grinning. “So you’re saying if Ethan doesn’t take you up on this golden opportunity you’re throwing his way, then he’s a dolt?”

Cora Jane chuckled. “Well, I might have put it a bit more diplomatically, but yes, that’s exactly what I’d conclude. Just so you know, though, I think Ethan is an awfully smart man. Now go inside and put on something pretty.”

Samantha looked down at her capris and the colorful matching blouse that even Cora Jane recognized as coming from a famed New York designer’s summer collection. She’d seen an ad for it in Vogue or one of those other fashion magazines that the girls had left lying around the house.

“Prettier than this?” Samantha inquired doubtfully.

“I’m thinking a sundress,” Cora Jane said. “One that shows a little cleavage.”

“Grandmother!”

Cora Jane wasn’t bothered by the dismay she heard in Samantha’s voice. She merely held her gaze. “Can you think of a better way to let a man know what he’s missing?”

This time Samantha groaned, but she turned and headed for the house. Of course, it was anybody’s guess if she’d come back wearing that sundress Cora Jane had recommended or something that covered her from head to toe. The girl did have a perverse streak that kicked in when she’d been pushed too far. Cora Jane realized that she might have tiptoed a little too close to that particular boundary, but she still had high hopes that the evening would end with one more breach in those walls of defenses those two young people had around their hearts.

5

“Would you get a move on?” Boone called out as he paced Ethan’s living room. “We’re going to be late. If we are, Emily will have a cow.”

“You could go on without me,” Ethan called back. “I’m perfectly capable of driving myself over to Cora Jane’s.”

“But the question is, will you?” Boone replied. “I’ve been getting the distinct sense that you’re not exactly getting with the program. One of my assignments for tonight is to make sure you show up and play nice.”

Ethan walked out of his bedroom, a scowl firmly in place. “If, by that, you mean that I haven’t tumbled straight into bed with the maid of honor, then you’re right. I’m not getting with the program. Has it occurred to any of you that Samantha is no happier about this matchmaking scheme than I am? You’re humiliating her.”

For just an instant, Boone looked nonplused. “Seriously?”

“Seriously. My God, man, you’re all but offering her up like a sacrifice in some ancient ritual. I’m surprised she hasn’t packed her bags and flown back to New York.”

“She’d never do that to Emily,” Boone said, though he looked vaguely shaken by Ethan’s assessment. “At least I don’t think she would.”

“You said there was some sort of issue between the two of them. Can you see any possible way that this is helping, rather than making things worse? How would you feel if I kept pushing somebody on you after you’d declared you had no interest?”

Ethan realized he’d taken the debate one step too far when amusement sparkled in Boone’s eyes.

“You did your share of pushing when Emily and I were trying to put things back together and you thought we were getting offtrack.”

“Entirely different,” Ethan claimed. “You were meant to be together. That much was clear even to someone as antiromance as I am.”

“And you and Samantha aren’t meant to be?”

“We aren’t,” Ethan said adamantly. “As my friend, you certainly are well aware of my stance on relationships and love. I’m a nonbeliever.”

“You’re just scared,” Boone countered.

Ethan gave him a scowl that should have shaken him to his core.

Instead, Boone looked amused. “Okay, let’s say you’re not terrified of taking a risk. What makes you think you know what she’s thinking? Exactly how much time have you spent with her?”

“Come on, Boone. It’s plain as day. We couldn’t be any more different. She’s a glamorous actress living in New York. I’m a small-town, one-legged doctor,” he said with brutal honesty. “It just doesn’t compute.”

The expression in Boone’s eyes turned surprisingly angry. “If I ever hear you sell yourself short like that again, I swear I will knock you off that good leg of yours and pummel some sense into you.”

“Just being realistic,” Ethan said, though he was admittedly a little touched by Boone’s quick and vehement defense. For a guy who’d once looked up at Ethan as if he were some sort of hero, Boone didn’t seem the least bit shy about calling it as he saw it now. He was the kind of friend a man needed, even if Ethan wondered whether or not he deserved it.

“Nonsense,” Boone declared. “Give the woman a chance. That’s all any of us are asking. What’s the worst-case scenario? You’ll have spent a couple of weeks in the company of a very sexy woman. No harm, no foul.”

Since a similar thought had crossed Ethan’s mind, he could hardly muster a believable argument against the casual interlude Boone was describing. It just felt wrong, though. Someone was bound to get hurt. No matter how innocently things started, in his experience someone always got hurt.

“And if one of us winds up getting hurt?” he asked Boone. “Are you going to carve out my heart if it’s Samantha who gets burned?”

“I’m pretty sure Samantha can take care of herself.” Boone leveled a curious look at him. “Are you thinking that could happen to you, though? Are you more attracted to Samantha than I realized?”

“Absolutely not,” Ethan said, probably a little too forcefully. “I’m just saying it could happen to either one of us. Do you and Emily and Cora Jane and whoever else is involved in this romantic conspiracy want to take responsibility for that? Because if you push and things blow up, that’s on you, too.”

“I think we’re all looking at the upside,” Boone said. “We’re very big on happy endings these days.”

Ethan shook his head. “Yeah, you would be, but not all of us are that lucky, pal. I speak from experience. Maybe you should leave this alone and stop tampering with fate.”

Just then B.J., Boone’s son, walked inside, a scowl on his face. “Are you guys ever coming? Emily just called your cell phone, Dad. I think she’s getting ticked off because we’re not there.”

Ethan grinned at the sudden panic on the groom’s face. “And maybe that’s the relationship you should be focusing on,” he advised his friend. “That’s all I’m saying.”

“Okay, yeah. I get it,” Boone said.

But even though his words sounded sincere enough, Ethan had a hunch the meddling was far from over.

* * *

Samantha was very much aware of Ethan standing across the lawn all alone, a can of soda in his hand. He looked as if he’d rather be just about any place other than a bridal shower overrun by eager matchmakers. She could relate. Since she was probably the only one there who could, she crossed the yard to join him, taking two fresh glasses of champagne with her.

“You look as if you’re in need of this,” she commented.

He lifted a brow. “I don’t think champagne is the answer.”

“Then what is?” she asked, downing the last of her own drink. She’d discovered that two glasses was just the right amount to create a happy little buzz. Three was apparently one too many, she concluded as she wobbled slightly.

He gave her a wry look. “Keeping my mind on full alert.”

“Ah, to avoid all the devious scheming going on around here tonight,” she concluded.

“Exactly.”

“Want to go for a walk, instead? I think I might be the tiniest bit tipsy. A walk would be good.”

“It will also lend fodder to the family gossip mill,” he suggested.

She airily waved off the warning. “Oh, so what? We’re tougher than that.”

He smiled. “If you say so.”

They’d walked down the driveway and started around the block when she paused and twirled around. It made her head spin, which was unfortunate, but she managed to stay upright with Ethan’s steady hand on her elbow.

“You okay?” he asked worriedly. “Any particular reason you decided to do that twirl?”

“I was showing off my dress. Do you like it? Grandmother thought you might.”

She watched as Ethan’s gaze dipped to the cleavage displayed by the dress’s neckline. There was no mistaking the heated reaction as his gaze lingered. She giggled.

“She was right. You do like it, don’t you? Especially the neckline. I’ve absolutely got to give that woman more credit. She is very, very wise. And sneaky.” She bobbed her head. “Yep, she is definitely sneaky.”

Ethan sighed. “Exactly how tipsy are you, Samantha?”

“Not tipsy,” she insisted. “That’s not possible. I can hold my liquor. I’ve only had three, or maybe four, glasses of champagne.” She glanced at the empty glass in her hand. “Could be five. I just finished the one I brought for you.”

“Have you eaten today?”

She thought about it. She couldn’t recall having anything since the bowl of cereal and yogurt she’d had for breakfast. “Not so much.”

“Then let’s get you back to the party and get some food into you.”

“More champagne would be lovely,” she told him.

“I don’t think so.”

“Okay,” she said compliantly, clearly startling him. Surprising him felt good. She couldn’t help wondering what he thought of her, especially after all the interfering attempts to push them together. “Am I pitiful, Ethan?”

He stared at her with a shocked expression. “Absolutely not. Why would you ask something like that?”

“Because no one in my family seems to think I can find a man on my own.”

“Then that would have to make me pitiful, too, since I’m the one they’ve targeted for you. Do you think I’m pitiful?”

She shook her head so hard it took another unfortunate spin. “You’ve very, very brave and sexy.” She smiled at him. “I always thought so, you know. Still do.”

Something in his expression seemed to soften at her words. “That’s nice,” he said. “But I’m not going to hold you accountable for anything you might say tonight. You’re a little looped.”

“Not looped,” she told him. “Just unin— What’s that word? Uninhibited, that’s it. I’m uninhibited.” She wobbled a little. “It’s kinda nice.”

“And dangerous,” Ethan muttered under his breath.

“Dangerous,” Samantha echoed, pleased. “I like that. Don’t you?”

“Not so much,” he said. “The truth is, you scare me to death.”

“How come?” she asked, honestly wanting to know how she could possibly scare a man who’d been through everything Ethan had been through. Scary and dangerous sounded much better than pitiful.

“Maybe it’s better if I don’t tell you that,” he said. “It could come back to bite me in the butt.”

“How?”

“Women have been known to take advantage of a man’s vulnerabilities,” he said.

“And you’re vulnerable to me?” she asked.

“Unfortunately, it seems I am.”

She beamed at him. “That’s nice,” she said. “I’m glad you like me, Ethan, ’cause I really, really like you. Always have.” Even as she spoke, she sank down on the grass right where she’d been standing. “I think I’ll sleep now.”

Ethan stood there for a heartbeat, his amusement unmistakable. But then she felt herself being scooped into his arms and carried somewhere. To his bed would be nice, she thought before falling soundly asleep.

* * *

“How’s your head?” Gabi inquired even as she handed over a glass of water and a couple of aspirins to Samantha.

The sunlight streaming in through the bedroom window made her head pound. “That depends. Am I dead?”

“No, I’m pretty sure you just wish you were,” her sister said, amusement threading through her voice. “Just how much did you drink last night?”

“No idea,” Samantha admitted. “How big a fool did I make of myself?”

“You’ll have to ask Ethan that. He was with you when you crashed.”

Samantha buried her face in her hands. “Oh, sweet heaven! He must think I’m awful.”

“I’m not sure what he thinks, but I don’t think awful is on the list. He looked smitten and unhappy as hell about it, to be honest.”

Samantha looked down and realized she was once again wearing his football jersey. “Please tell me he did not put this on me.”

“Nope. I did that with a little help from Emily. You were pretty much deadweight by then. And Ethan was looking a little shell-shocked. What on earth did you say to him before you crashed?”

Samantha racked her brain, but nothing specific came to mind. Surely she hadn’t said anything about how desperately she’d been hoping he’d take her to bed. Sweet heaven, what if she had?

“Oh God,” she murmured, holding her head.

“What?” Gabi demanded. “Have you remembered something?”

“Not exactly. I just remember thinking it would be really nice if he carried me off to his bed, but I don’t think I actually said that.”

A grin spread across Gabi’s face. “But you’re not sure?”

“Afraid not. The man is going to think I’m a stalker, isn’t he? He’s going to forget all about the meddlers—Emily, Boone, Grandmother—and conclude that I’m behind everything they’re doing.”

“So what if he does? Liking the man and letting him know it is not so terrible.”

“You don’t think it’s just a little bit pathetic?”

Gabi gave her an impatient look. “Let’s think about this for a minute. You’re gorgeous. You have a successful career as an actress and model. You’re smart. I’m not seeing the downside of this for Ethan.”

“He doesn’t want me,” Samantha replied. “He’s made that abundantly clear. Chasing after him anyway just makes me look desperate.” She gave Gabi a plaintive look. “I don’t want him to see me as desperate. Can you think of any man on earth who wouldn’t be completely turned off by that?”

“And you don’t want Ethan to be turned off?” Gabi said, amusement dancing in her eyes.

“Of course not,” Samantha said before she considered the implication.

“So Grandmother and Emily have been right from the beginning,” she concluded. “This old crush of yours hasn’t faded away.”

Samantha frowned. “What’s your point?”

“That you, my dear, hungover sister, are in a heap of trouble. Those two will never let up now.”

“And you?” Samantha asked warily, hoping for one person who’d back her up.

“I’m on your side,” Gabi confirmed, then blew it by adding, “Which puts me on their side, too.”

“Traitor,” Samantha accused. “Couldn’t you at least be neutral, like Switzerland?”

“Were you neutral when they were pushing me and Wade together? No, you were not.”

“So this is payback,” Samantha concluded.

“It is, but only in the most loving, sisterly way.”

Samantha frowned at Gabi’s overly upbeat mood. “Bite me,” she muttered.

Gabi merely chuckled. “By the way, you might want to hop in the shower and pull yourself together. Rumor has it that Ethan is due here in about twenty minutes to give you a lift over to Castle’s. Believe me, I know how much pride you have. You definitely don’t want him to catch you looking like this.”

“Why is Ethan coming by when you’re right here?”

Gabi regarded her innocently. “Do you even have to ask?”

“You could tell him to go away.”

“I could, but I won’t be here. My assigned duties are done and I’m off to work.” She pressed a kiss to Samantha’s forehead. “Love you. We all do. Try to remember that,” she added as she left.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Samantha muttered in her wake, regretting that she couldn’t crawl beneath the covers and spend the day right where she was. Of course that would risk Ethan coming upstairs in search of her. She couldn’t allow him to find the disheveled mess she most likely was.

And that, she assured herself as she showered and washed her hair, was the only reason she wasn’t going to defy everyone’s latest attempts at meddling. Pride. Whatever impression she’d left in his head last night, she needed to imprint a totally different one today. Breezy, independent and not the least bit love-struck came to mind. Pulling off that performance was going to test her acting skills in ways no other role ever had.

* * *

Ethan still regretted answering his cell phone when it had rung at dawn. If he’d ignored it, he wouldn’t be at Cora Jane’s right now with two giant-size containers of steaming coffee, fresh blueberry muffins and a boatload of anxiety.

“Samantha’s worried she made a fool of herself last night,” Emily had told him. “You need to let her know she didn’t. Otherwise, things could be really awkward between now and the wedding.”

“I know what you’re doing,” Ethan countered.

“I’m just trying to make sure everything goes smoothly,” she’d insisted in her most innocent tone. “I can’t have the two key players in the wedding party not even able to look each other in the eye. Please, Ethan. I know I got things off to a bad start between you two with my meddling. Once you’ve settled things, I’ll stay out of it. I promise.”

“You are genetically incapable of staying out of it,” Ethan had responded.

“I’ll try. Really,” she insisted. “Please do this for me.”

Ethan knew he’d experienced a moment of temporary insanity when he’d agreed, but the truth was he wanted to see for himself if Samantha was okay after the way she’d practically crashed at his feet the night before. He wondered if she remembered what he’d said or, more importantly, what she’d said in response, that she was glad he liked her. That spontaneous exchange could be the spark that set off unwanted fireworks down the road, if they weren’t very, very careful. Delivering coffee and muffins was not being careful.

Remembering the last time he’d arrived without notice, he knocked on the kitchen door at Cora Jane’s. When no one answered, he knocked a little harder, but still got no response.

“Blast it,” he muttered, wondering if this was part of the plot. Was he supposed to panic, go running upstairs, find her asleep in her bed, then jump in with her? He wouldn’t put it past Emily to devise just such a scheme.

He opened the back door, then shouted, “Samantha! You awake?”

Only then did he hear the sound of the shower cutting off. It immediately sent his imagination into overdrive. All that slick bare skin, those long legs, the mane of thick hair clinging damply to her shoulders. He swallowed hard against the tide of pure lust that swept over him.

“Not doing this,” he muttered, dismissing the desire to take the stairs two at a time. “No way.”

He plunked himself down in a kitchen chair, opened one of the containers of coffee and took a drink, scorching his throat in the process. At least that got his mind off the naked woman upstairs. Or it should have.

“Ethan? You down there?”

“I’m here,” he hollered back, his voice choked. “There’s coffee.”

“Oh, you wonderful man!” she called back with heartfelt emotion. “Could you bring it up?”

“Upstairs? You want me to bring the coffee to you?” he asked, trying to keep the panic out of his voice. Had she joined the plot?

She laughed as if she’d read his mind. “I promise you that you’ll be safe. I wouldn’t ask if I weren’t in desperate need of caffeine.”

He picked up the coffee and headed for the stairs. “Are you decent?”

“I can see why you’d ask,” she teased. “And I suppose it’s a matter of opinion, but I am clothed if that’s what you really want to know.”

Was that the real question? he wondered. He’d kind of liked imagining her without a stitch on. Still, this was better, he assured himself as he hit the top step.

She was waiting for him halfway down the hall, wearing jeans and a plain white T-shirt. Her feet were bare, her wet hair just starting to curl waywardly. She looked more intoxicating than the champagne she’d been drinking the night before.

“See, perfectly decent,” she said, grinning.

“Too bad,” he murmured before he could stop himself.

She blinked. “What?”

“Nothing,” he said hurriedly. “Here’s your coffee. There’s a blueberry muffin in the bag.” He held them out, keeping a safe distance between them. “I’ll be waiting downstairs.”

“It’s okay if you want to stay. I just need to dry my hair. I’m used to having men coming in and out while I get ready.”

Instantly he experienced a surge of jealousy like nothing he’d ever felt before. “Is that so? Just how casually do you take relationships?”

“We’re not talking relationships,” she said, her amusement plain. “Dressing rooms can be crowded on soaps, especially for day players who only come in to work occasionally. And backstage in the theater, people are changing everywhere you look. Modesty pretty much disappears in a hurry.”

The thought of men catching a glimpse of her half-dressed, no matter the circumstances, set his teeth on edge.

“I think I’ll wait downstairs just the same,” he said.

“Sure. Whatever makes you comfortable,” she said agreeably.

Nothing about this situation was comfortable, he thought irritably as he went back to the kitchen and finished his coffee. Heck, he saw half-naked women all the time in his line of work. That was different, too. They were patients, and he’d trained himself to be clinical and objective when treating them.

Samantha was different. She wasn’t a patient. She wasn’t even a friend, despite their determination to pretend they could pull that off. She was a potential lover. He knew it. So did she. And that turned casual glimpses of bare skin and intimate little moments into something dangerous. It hadn’t sounded to him as if she recognized that.

Was that because she didn’t feel the sizzling chemistry the way he did? Or was she only trying to ignore it, to pretend it didn’t exist?

He’d known what to do with all the meddling. It had been annoying, but too blatant to take seriously.

He’d even been able to dismiss the hints that Samantha had held a long-ago crush on him. Time faded that sort of thing, especially when they had never exchanged more than a word or two back then.

But this new twist, this need that was growing inside him? That had the potential to rip him apart.

In Afghanistan, it hadn’t been possible to hide from the dangers. They were all around and part of the job. This danger was something else, something he could avoid.

And somehow he had to find a way to ignore his suddenly raging hormones and do just that.

6

“I went downstairs and he was gone. He just took off without a word, not ten minutes after handing me a container of coffee and a muffin,” Samantha told Emily later that morning when she’d finally managed to get a lift over to Castle’s from a neighbor who was heading that way. “Now will you please end the plotting and scheming? It’s evident that Ethan and I are not meant to be. Being pushed together constantly is just making both of us uncomfortable. If you keep trying to make something happen, one of us is likely to bail on your wedding.”

To her dismay, Emily burst into tears at the warning. “Sure, you’d like nothing better than to ruin my wedding, wouldn’t you? Go on and bail, if that’s what you want to do. Gabi can always fill in. Maybe I should have picked her to be maid of honor in the first place.”

Samantha barely resisted the desire to snap right back. Instead, she latched onto Emily’s arm and drew her outside. “Okay, let’s have this out right now. Do you even want me in your wedding?” She tried to temper her anger and added more gently, “Em, it’s okay if you don’t. Frankly, I never expected you to ask me. If you’d rather have Gabi, it would be okay.”

Emily’s tears flowed harder. “No, I want you in the wedding. And I wanted Ethan to fall for you. I thought it would make up for things.”

“What things?”

“You know perfectly well what I mean. We’ve never been close.”

“We’ve had our problems, sure, but we’ve been close,” Samantha said. “We’re sisters. We’ll always have each other’s backs. Nobody knows us better than we know each other.”

“You and I don’t get along the way you and Gabi do,” Emily insisted, then added with a sniff, “Or the way you and Mom did.”

Samantha stared at her incredulously. “And Gabi and I don’t relate the same way the two of you do. That’s nothing to be jealous about. It’s just the nature of relationships. As for Mom, she absolutely adored you. You were her beautiful baby.”

“No,” Emily insisted, rejecting the idea. “I was the afterthought that kept her from having the life she really wanted.”

The bitter words that revealed years of unexpressed pain stunned Samantha. “Sweetie, you know that’s not so.”

“It is so,” Emily insisted. “I heard her once, you know. She was telling a friend that she’d applied for this dream job, but then found out she was pregnant with me. The same thing had happened before, when she and Dad were first married. She’d just started working and then she got pregnant with you, so she’d quit to be a full-time mother.”

Samantha tried to absorb this news, or rather the implication it apparently held for her sister. Though she knew she’d been a bit of a surprise to her parents, she’d never given it another thought. And she couldn’t understand why what Emily had overheard had caused this rift between her and Emily. “Okay, I knew both pregnancies were unexpected, but what does that have to do with you and me?”

“She never resented you for ruining her life,” Emily said, her tone accusatory. “But she did resent me. I could hear it in her voice that day. Oh, she tried not to let it show, but I knew the truth.”

“And you twisted that around to be my fault?” Samantha said, trying to follow the logic.

“Not your fault,” Emily contradicted, looking slightly sheepish. “I know they were Mom’s feelings.”

“But you couldn’t blame her, especially after she’d died, so you started taking it out on me,” Samantha concluded. “Oh, sweetie, the last thing Mom would ever want would be for the two of us to be at odds over which of us she loved more. I wish you’d said something about this years ago. Maybe we could have put it to rest.”

“How?” Emily asked with a sniff. “It was what it was. And Mom’s not here to deny it or explain it. Not that she could.”

Grateful that the outside deck at Castle’s was deserted, Samantha started to reach for Emily’s windblown hair to smooth it back from her face, then hesitated. She doubted her sister would appreciate the gesture just now.

“I wish Mom were here now, too, but you’re going to have to listen to me, instead. Gabi was still young, but I was old enough to remember the look on Mom’s face when she told us she was expecting you. She was over the moon, Em. She really was.”

Emily still looked skeptical. “Then why did she sound so disappointed about that job?”

“I can’t say for sure, since I didn’t hear her, but I do believe if she’d been thinking about going to work, it was only because she didn’t think another pregnancy was in the cards. She wanted the distraction of a job, not the fulfillment. Grandmother told me once that Mom was cut out for motherhood and that it was lucky for us that she was, since Dad was so caught up in his work.”

Emily looked as if she was struggling to accept the truth of Samantha’s words, but it was plain she was wasn’t there yet.

“I know that doesn’t match your perceptions, but you can ask Grandmother,” Samantha told her gently. “She knew exactly how thrilled Mom was about having you.” She grinned. “In fact, if anyone should have been jealous of losing Mom’s affections, it should have been me or Gabi. Once you came along, you became the center of her universe. She doted on you.”

“She did not,” Emily denied, though she looked intrigued by the possibility.

“Did, too,” Samantha retorted. “To make up for the attention Mom was giving you, I retreated into a world of make-believe, which is probably what led me to acting. Gabi became obsessed with trying to win Dad’s attention, and we both know how that turned out.”

“Seriously?”

“Think about it. You know it’s true.”

“Why didn’t I see any of that back then?” Emily asked.

“Because you were the youngest. And you were the princess. That’s heady stuff.”

“Are you saying I was self-absorbed?” Emily asked, instantly defensive.

“No, I’m just saying that your role in the family was defined for you by Mom, just the way mine was or Gabi’s. We each had a different experience growing up, even though we were in the exact same household.”

Emily’s expression turned thoughtful. “I heard Grandmother say something like that once. She said every sibling grows up in a different family. I had no idea what she meant.”

“And now?”

“After what you’ve just said, I think maybe I do.”

“Can we put this behind us?” Samantha pleaded. “Can you accept that I am genuinely thrilled for you and Boone, that I want to be in your wedding and that nothing is going to drive me away?”

“Not even the meddling?” Emily asked, the sparkle slowly coming back to her eyes.

“Well, you might not want to push your luck with that,” Samantha warned. “I’m feeling pretty mellow and tolerant right this second, but it might not last if you decide to test it.”

Emily nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

It wasn’t the airtight commitment Samantha had been hoping for, but it was a start. And with less than two weeks until the wedding and a mountain of details to attend to, perhaps the meddling would land on the bottom of Emily’s list.

* * *

“You don’t look so hot,” Debra said when Ethan arrived at the clinic. “Late night?”

He frowned at the personal question, though he knew it wasn’t in his bubbly young receptionist’s DNA to censor herself. “Busy morning,” he countered tightly. “What’s the schedule look like here?”

“Two drop-in patients waiting, more appointments on the books and your afternoon with the kids. Greg called in. He said he’d be here before you take off.”

Ethan nodded distractedly as he glanced through his messages. “Give me five minutes and have Pam send in the first patient,” he said just as he noticed that one of the pink slips had a message from Marty Gray indicating that Cass wouldn’t be coming on this afternoon’s hike with the rest of the kids in his positive self-image group. “Hold that. I need to call Marty back. I’ll let Pam know when I’m ready for the patients.”

In his office, he dialed Marty’s number. “Got your message,” he told the harried mother, who was most likely trying to get kids off to school. “What’s up with Cass?”

At seventeen, Cass was the oldest member of Project Pride. Two years ago, she’d lost her arm when it had been crushed in a riding mower accident. Though she managed well with her prosthesis, she was rebelling against everything these days. It was tough enough being a teen, he knew, without seeing herself as a damaged misfit. Cass and the others like her were precisely the kids he’d been hoping to help with his program. He wanted them to believe that their self-worth was not tied to any disabilities they might have. On occasion, he actually saw the irony of setting himself up as that particular messenger.

“Nothing new, really,” Marty said with frustration. “Could be the usual teen mood swing.”

“Or something happened at school,” Ethan guessed.

“Always a possibility,” Marty said. “But I have zero luck when it comes to getting her to open up. Teens can be notoriously tight-lipped, but Cass has raised the sullen silence to an art form.”

“Which is why she needs to be here this afternoon. It’s not just about going on a hike. It’s a chance for these kids to open up with other kids who’ll understand.”

“Ethan, I know that,” Marty said impatiently. “So does Cass. She says she won’t go. What am I supposed to do? Get my husband to drag her over there and leave her on your doorstep? Believe me, that holds a lot of appeal for me when she’s acting out, but it’s not up to you to deal with her moods or to fix this.”

“It may not be up to me, but I think I can help,” Ethan said. “Mind if I pick her up after school? I don’t think she’ll be able to say no if I’m right there.”

Marty hesitated. “Are you sure about this? She could be embarrassed in front of her friends. It could make things worse.”

“I can be diplomatic when I need to be,” he assured her. “I’m not going to toss her over my shoulder and haul her off, even if she behaves like a real brat.”

“I’d actually like to see you try that,” Marty said, her sense of humor kicking in. “Two stubborn wills colliding could be highly entertaining.”

Ethan thought of this dance he and Samantha were performing. Stubborn wills were playing a role in that, too, he conceded before snapping his attention back to the moment.

“So, it’s okay if I pick her up? If she refuses, I won’t cause a scene. I’ll let you know she’s heading home.”

“Thanks, Ethan. You really are a saint for putting up with Cass.”

“I’m not just ‘putting up with her.’ She’s a good kid. She just needs to remember that she still has a lot to offer the world.”

It was a lesson that had been a long time coming for him. In fact, it was one with which he still struggled from time to time, especially when it came to opening his heart. Just look at how determined he was to keep Samantha at arm’s length. It must be a hundred times harder for an insecure teen who’d just been figuring out her own identity when the accident happened.

* * *

With Debra, Pam and Greg keeping an eye on the other kids in Ethan’s program until he could get back, Ethan stood outside the high school and watched for Cass to emerge. It wasn’t hard to spot her.

While the other kids spilled out in chattering clusters, she exited alone, an angry expression on her face. Ethan suspected only he saw the desperate longing in her eyes as she surreptitiously glanced at her classmates.

When she spotted him, though, her frown deepened, but she didn’t turn away or try to avoid him.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded, confronting him belligerently.

“Waiting for you,” he said, falling into step beside her.

“I’m not going hiking, so you might as well take off.”

“You know that hiking, at least the way we do it, is nothing more than going for a walk, right?”

“Which makes it a dumb way to spend the afternoon,” she retorted.

“Not if you’re one of the kids who has trouble walking at all,” he reminded her.

“But I’m not,” she countered. “My legs are perfectly fine. It’s my arm that’s gone, remember? Or do you not see what’s right in front of you?” She waved the arm with her prosthesis to emphasize her point.

“Then today maybe you could help one of the kids who’s not as lucky. It might make you feel good to do something for someone else. You could push Trevor in his wheelchair, for instance.”

“Hello!” she said sarcastically. “One arm, remember?”

“And a perfectly good prosthesis on the other,” he said without any hint of sympathy. “Or haven’t you mastered it yet?”

She scowled at the suggestion that a lack of skill was behind her refusal to join the hike. “You know I have.”

He gave her a sly glance. “Then prove it.”

Cass heaved a sigh, clearly aware that she was going to lose in the end. Or maybe even wanting to participate, as long as she could do it grudgingly, as a favor to him. “Fine. I’ll come on the stupid hike. And I’ll push Trevor’s wheelchair so fast he’ll squeal like a little girl.”

Ethan bit back a grin. “Thank you. I’m sure he’ll appreciate your daredevil tendencies.” He gestured across the street. “My car’s right over there.”

“I should probably call my mom and tell her I changed my mind,” she told him.

“Good idea, though I told her I was going to try to convince you to come along this afternoon.”

After Cass made the call, Ethan waited until they were halfway to the clinic before asking casually, “So, anything new in your life these days?”

“I go to school. I go home. It’s not exactly material for a TV show.”

“No after-school activities that interest you?” he prodded, knowing that at one time she’d been active in the drama club. She’d been cast in every play at the middle school and starred in one her first year at the high school. All, though, he realized now, had been before the accident.

“None,” she said flatly.

Ethan glanced over and caught the tear that had leaked out, aware then that he’d hit on something. “I thought you were going to try out for the school play.”

She whirled on him. “Do not mention that stupid play to me, okay? I didn’t get the lead. I didn’t even get a walk-on. I heard Mrs. Gentry tell another teacher it was a real shame to waste my talent, but she thought my prosthesis would be a distraction. She sounded all sad and sympathetic, but it was fake. I think she was glad to be able to give that twit Sue Ellen the lead. Like Sue Ellen will be able to remember her lines,” she scoffed. “She’s so busy batting her eyes at every guy in school, she can barely remember her own name.”

Ethan felt a swell of fury on Cass’s behalf. It was one thing for kids to be inadvertently cruel to each other, but teachers should have more sensitivity. “Sounds to me as if Mrs. Gentry needs to be replaced.”

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