Read Online Barefoot in the Sand by Roxanne St. Claire - Free Book Online Page B

assured her, leaning behind Ashley to share a secret look with Jocelyn. “She almost did last night,” she mouthed.
    As they crossed the lobby to the terrace restaurant, Ashley fell a few steps behind, reading her phone.
    “C’mon, Ash,” Jocelyn prodded, waiting for her.
    Ashley quickly covered her phone.
    “I’m not going to read your texts,” Jocelyn teased.
    “I know, but it’s private.”
    “A boy?” Jocelyn asked in a whisper.
    Color burst on her cheeks. “No.”
    Her tone was indignant enough for Jocelyn to let it ride. They followed a maitre d’ to a window table with a perfect view of the pool and beach. As soon as they were settled in with iced tea and sodas, Tessa gestured toward the vista.
    “I could get used to this,” she said. “It beats planting organic gardens in Sri Lanka.”
    “You love planting,” Jocelyn said.
    “Not in Sri Lanka.”
    Out of the corner of her eye Jocelyn noticed Ashley pulling out her phone, but she kept her focus on Tessa. “I thought you loved globe-trotting.”
    Tessa lifted a shoulder. “My ex-husband loved it more than I did.”
    Next to Zoe, Ashley flicked her finger across the screen and Tessa reached over and put her hand on the phone. “Hey, no texting at the table,” she chided.
    “I’m not texting,” Ashley shot back.
    “Then no e-mail at the table.”
    Ashley rolled her eyes. “E-mail is so last century, Aunt Tessa.”
    “Then no doing whatever the heck you’re doing. It’s rude.”
    “Facebooking. Sorry.”
    Just the thought of what would have happened to her if she’d used that tone at the table put an ache in Jocelyn’s stomach. “Let her go, Tess. It’s no big deal.”
    “But she’s right, Ash,” Zoe chimed in. “Cell phonesare not cool at the table. Especially in zee Ritz-Carlton, dahling.”
    Instead of joining the joke Ashley narrowed her eyes at Zoe. “I’m not your daughter.”
    Whoa. Something inside Jocelyn twisted. Instantly, she put a gentle hand on Ashley’s arm. “But you’re our goddaughter, honey, and we don’t see you that often. So what do you think of your mom’s idea for a B and B?”
    Ashley shrugged, obviously unhappy about putting down the phone. “ ’It’s cool if she really does it. She’s been talking about it forever.”
    “This time is different,” Tessa said. “I think she can really make it happen.”
    Ashley’s phone vibrated and she sneaked a peek, then let out a soft cry. “Oh, he wrote back.”
    He
. Tessa started to say something, but Jocelyn shook her head quickly, sensing that they had to let go of this one.
    “So, have you ever stayed at this hotel, Ashley?” she asked. “Maybe you could spend a night here at the hotel with me sometime. Maybe you all could.”
    That earned her a big, bright smile. “That’d be cool.”
    “Perfect timing, too,” Zoe said. “We could give Lacey a night alone to play with Clay.” She grinned. “He’ll be putty in her hands. Hah! I’m so punny.”
    Ashley’s tell-all expression shifted right back to the other side of the pendulum. “That’s just gross, Aunt Zoe. The guy’s not much older than me.”
    “Oh, yes he is,” Tessa corrected. “I’m guessing thirty, which makes him perfectly acceptable as a builder, architect, contractor, and anything else your mother wants.”
    Ashley squished up her face. “She doesn’t date.”
    “So you’ve said.” Zoe pulled her straw out of her icedtea and tapped it, then used it to point at Ashley. “And that might be half her problem.”
    “She doesn’t have a problem.” Ashley sneaked a peek at the phone.
    “You have an issue with her dating, Ash?” Tessa asked.
    “No, no, of course not.”
    “You don’t sound too convincing,” Zoe prodded. “She’s gone out with a few guys. Did you not like any of them?”
    She shrugged. “Nobody was right for her.”
    “Maybe she ought to be the one to decide that,” Jocelyn suggested.
    “Well, what if my dad wanted to get back with