Barefoot in the Sand Read Online Free PDF Page A

Lace,” she said, turning slowly. “It’s like Barefoot Bay was demolished.”
    “We got creamed up here,” Lacey agreed.
    “Almost everything is gone,” Ashley said, an understandable whine rising in her voice. “Mom managed to save like five things of mine but everything else is bulldozed or blown away.”
    Tessa gave her a sympathetic look. “That has to be tough on you, honey.”
    “I’m telling you, sugar”—Zoe leaned into Ashley’s ear—“shopping op!”
    “And you guys are living with your parents, Lace?” Tessa asked.
    “In their house on the other end of the island, but they’re staying up in New York with Adam.”
    “They don’t want to come back and help?” Jocelyn gave Lacey a look. “I know your mom likes to, you know, have opinions.”
    Lacey bit back a laugh. “My dad offered, but honestly, the last thing I want…”
Is to deal with Mother at a time like this
. But she wouldn’t admit that in front of Ashley. “Is for them to have to put up with all the construction. But there’s plenty of room for you guys,” she added. “We’ll squeeze in.”
    “Actually, I’ll stay over the causeway in a hotel,” Jocelyn said quickly.
    “Like hell you will,” Zoe shot back.
    “There’s plenty of space and we’d love the company. Right, Ash?”
    “Oh my God, totally,” Ashley agreed, still holding on to her beloved Aunt Zoe. “You have to stay with us.”
    Jocelyn shook her head. “Nope, sorry. I’m still on theclock with at least six clients and I’ve got to be available to them. I booked a room over at the Ritz in Naples, so I’ll stay there and come and go with you guys when I can.”
    “La-dee-dah at the Ritz,” Zoe teased, lifting her nose into the air. “We’ll be having slumber parties and drinking wine all night.” She eyed Ashley. “Not you, of course. Show me the beach, doll face.”
    Zoe dragged Ashley away and they ran arm in arm toward the sand.
    Lacey let out a slow breath, watching them, then turned to Tessa and Jocelyn. “I can’t believe you guys are here.”
    Tessa wrapped an arm around Lacey and tugged her toward the gutted foundation. “I can’t believe you lost everything.”
    “Everything,” Lacey confirmed. “Baby pictures and memories, keepsakes and—oh, every day we think of something else.”
    They tsked and sighed in sympathy.
    “But, really, getting wiped out like this teaches you those material things aren’t important. What matters is that we survived, and are moving on.”
    “To think I could charge a client three hundred an hour for doling out that advice,” Jocelyn said wryly. “And you figured it all out by yourself.”
    “I figured a lot out while I was holed up in a bathtub and the world was falling apart around me.”
    They walked as a threesome, arm in arm. “Like what?” Tessa asked.
    “Like it’s time to use that three-quarters of a degree in hospitality I have. And I don’t mean a shoestring cake-baking business I run from my kitchen.”
    “That inn full of antiques you’ve talked about sincecollege?” Tessa stooped to pluck a stray orange flower that somehow had survived, rolling it in her fingers and giving it a sniff.
    “Exactly.”
    “And how’s that working out for you?”
    “It’s not yet,” Lacey admitted sadly. “I thought I had an architect, but I don’t think I can get the one I want.”
    “So you’re giving up?” Tessa’s voice had a familiar edge of frustration in it. “The world is full of architects, Lacey.”
    “I need one with the right vision and credentials.”
    The other two women leaned forward to share a look. “I smell a full-blown Lacey Armstrong rationalization coming on,” Jocelyn teased.
    “No, no. I want to do this and I have the insurance money, which is enough for a really nice B and B, even a little more if I could swing it, which”—she gave a soft, self-deprecating laugh—“is always the question with me.”
    “Now you know why we’re here,” Tessa said