Barefoot in the Sand Read Online Free Page A

she backed up to him.
    “Excuse me!” she called, turning down the music. She glanced over her shoulder to say something to the other two as he came around the truck to get closer.
    The one in the back didn’t look like a tourist, morelady exec with black hair secured in a ponytail and a crisp white shirt. She didn’t reply to what the driver said, but the woman in the passenger seat laughed softly, leaning forward to look at him, dishwater-brown locks falling over an angular face.
    Blondie slid her sunglasses into her mane. “We’re trying to find Barefoot Bay, but the roads aren’t marked at all up here. Do you know if we can get through this way?”
    Some time to come for vacation, ladies. “The beach is right there.” He pointed behind him. “Your best bet is to park here and walk down, or drive a little farther that way. You can get through, but there’s a lot of storm damage and the road gets pretty dicey.”
    “Let’s go straight through,” the business-like one in the back said. Probably the Realtor helping them snag a cheap lot, he mused. Good luck with the bitchy property owner. “Once we get closer,” she added, “I’ll recognize Lacey’s place.”
    Oh? Friends of Strawberry’s?
    “Thank you,” the blonde said to him, adding a dazzling smile. “I really appreciate it. Looks like you’ve been to the beach.”
    “Zoe,” the passenger said, giving the driver a nudge. “Do you have to flirt with every man?”
    “Only the good ones,” she teased with a laugh.
    “ ’S okay,” Clay assured her. “Yeah, I’ve been up there.”
    “Is it a complete wreck?”
    He gave in to a wry smile. “Complete.”
    “Oh, man, what a shame.” She swiped her hand through her hair, sharing a look with her friends, then beamed another thousand-watter with dimples at him.“Well, thanks again. Is that your truck? Do you need a ride or anything?”
    Oh, yes, he needed something. He couldn’t help smiling, because sometimes it seemed that whenever he faced a wall, the universe handed him a ladder.
    “As a matter of fact, did I hear you say you’re headed up to see Ms. Armstrong?”
    “Yes, we are,” Crispy said from the back. “Why?”
    “Well, if it’s not too much trouble, could you give her these?”
    “Of course.” The driver reached out and he met her halfway, handing off his ideas, which were immediately flipped into the backseat. “Are your name
and
number on there?”
    “Tell her they’re from Clay Walker.
The
Clay Walker.”
    Lacey had wasted way too much energy worrying about how to talk to Clayton Walker—Senior. He was unavailable at the moment. That was all Lacey could get from his arctic assistant, even after Lacey told her exactly why she was calling and how much she needed an architect for her inn at Barefoot Bay. She got to leave sketchy details of the land and job, which she doubted Miss Ice Cube was writing down, and only got a promise that Mr. Walker would call when he had a moment.
    Which might be never, the bitch managed to imply.
    Don’t let this be the excuse that stops you, Lacey chided herself as she and Ashley climbed into her mud-covered VW Passat. She’d call again to—
    “Someone’s coming up the road,” Ashley said, holding up a finger to indicate the not-so-distant sound of a car engine.
    Oh, God. Maybe he was coming back.
    The thought gave Lacey’s heart a jump so unnatural and infuriating she twisted the key with a jerk just as a huge white 4x4 rolled over some debris and hit the horn loud and long enough to block out everything else.
    “What the—”
    “It’s Aunt Zoe!” Ashley shouted, throwing off her seat belt.
    “Not just Zoe!” Lacey slapped her hand over her mouth, sucking in a shocked gasp. “They’re all here!” Tessa and Jocelyn waved and hollered from the roofless vehicle.
    Zoe squealed the Jeep to a stop and all three of them scrambled out, running and dancing toward Ashley and Lacey, arms outstretched.
    In an instant it was a huddle