Chapter 10
ten
Despite his best intentions to forget it, Emerson could still feel the track of Luca’s fingers along his shoulder blade an hour later, like the ghost of a burn, as he drove his truck back into the familiar territory of Short King Farms.
Julie jumped out of Ben’s car as soon as they parked.
“I love it already,” she pronounced.
“Wait until you see the wildflower field,” Luca said through his open window, before he’d even cut his engine.
Emerson opened his mouth to object, to warn them that the tarp he’d finally gotten laid down this week made it look kind of a mess, but then he caught Luca giving him a look as he stepped out of his car.
A you better keep your mouth shut look.
Emerson’s jaw snapped shut.
He looked away. It had been a look Emerson needed, clearly. He was the worst salesman of all time. The rational, business-minded side of his brain was more grateful than ever that he’d invited Luca tonight.
It had also been an intimate look. Like he and Luca were suddenly a true team. People who exchanged looks, silent messages.
But as Emerson studied the horizon, he acknowledged, with a small easing in the back of his throat, that maybe Luca had been right. Now, and back at the bar. The sun had just barely set, the sky full of peach haze and baby blue blankets. When the world’s all golden.
Maybe this first part, at least, would be all right.
“It’s up here.” With a nod of his head, Emerson turned and led the way up the road. Just as he had last week with Luca. Behind his house, past the barn.
“Oh my god, hi, Cow,” Julie said behind him.
“That’s Sally,” Luca said, before Emerson could. “I don’t have a lot of experience with other cows, but I’m pretty sure she’s the best one.”
“Can Sally be the ring bearer? Or one of those goats back there?”
“Definitely not the goats,” Emerson piped in. “If you seriously want Sally, something could possibly be arranged, but I can’t guarantee how it would go.”
“This is…” Ben’s voice trailed off before he continued, in delighted wonder, “This is something we’ll have to think about.”
And then they crested the hill.
A small sound escaped Julie’s throat, somewhere in the hiccup-gasp family. She slapped a palm over her mouth.
“Are you—” Ben looked at her once they were all standing in a row at the edge of the field. His lips parted in amazement before curling into a smile. “Crying?”
“Shut up.” Julie wiped at her face. “I’ve become soft recently. Leave me alone.”
Ben slung an arm around her shoulder, pulling her in tight against his side. He kissed her temple. “Never.”
Emerson cleared his throat.
“So this tarp here is where the aisle will be, if it looks all right with you.” He walked down its length toward the center of the field. Ben followed close behind, trailed by Julie and then Luca. “We’ll cover it with bark chips, something that won’t get too messy even if it rains. And then this—”
Emerson stopped where the aisle ended, where the tarp expanded, covering the heart of the field.
“This will be for the ceremony. You said you’re bringing chairs?”
“Yeah. Yes.” Ben’s voice sounded muffled. When Emerson turned, he saw that Ben had covered his mouth, his own eyes wet as he surveyed the cleared circle around them. He dropped his hands before continuing.
“Our wedding coordinator will bring them all and transfer them to the barn for the reception. This is—I’m gonna take some pictures for Lex.”
“I’m gonna take some for Elle and Jesse. This is going to be her first trip to the West Coast!” Julie directed this last sentence directly to Emerson, her still sparkling eyes now bright with excitement. Emerson couldn’t help but smile at the enthusiasm, even if it felt small and tight on his face.
He and Jay had barely been able to take Daisy outside of Oregon. A trip to Seattle once had been the most she’d seen of the world. It was hard, arranging vacations around owning a farm.
“See?” Emerson almost jumped at that voice, low and quiet against his ear again. He hadn’t noticed Luca sneak up behind him. “They’re in love.”
Emerson swallowed. Yeah, he thought. They are. With Alexei. With Elle. With each other.
God, he was being maudlin. He’d have to get over these jealous trains of thought before an actual wedding smacked him in the face.
He took a small step away.
“Haven’t gotten to the rough part yet,” he said. “You haven’t seen the old barn either.”
Luca didn’t have a chance to reply. Ben and Julie had wandered toward them, sticking phones in their pockets and looking at Emerson with matching smiles, the universal sign for what’s next?
Emerson led the way.
The old barn lay to the east of the house, toward the edge of Emerson’s property.
Past a boggy, weed-tangled field Emerson hadn’t yet even contemplated what to do with, and just before the line of trees that separated the farm from its neighbors.
The field would hypothetically be an ideal spot for parking, but even if Emerson managed to mow down the vegetation, he wasn’t sure the wet soil could handle the weight.
There was at least a relatively stable path from the dirt road that bisected the property, not far from the wildflower field, that led down to the barn while avoiding the worst of the marsh.
Emerson was quiet as they walked, listening to the comfortable chatter of Luca, Julie, and Ben behind him, Luca easily answering questions about the farm like he’d worked there for years.
Emerson couldn’t explain why he’d invited Luca, but damn, he had been working the entire night to perfection. Emerson would give him a bonus, if he had money for bonuses.
And then there was no hiding behind silence anymore. They were here.
The barn, like its sturdier sister down the road, was made of gray, weathered wood. The walls of this one, though, were tilting, the spaces where the slats had warped or chipped away never repaired, the dying sunlight shining clear through the gaps from one wall to another.
Emerson slid open the rudimentary latch and pushed open the door.
At least, he attempted to push open the door.
Hanging crooked from loose hinges, it caught on the floor about two feet in.
Trying to lift the door from its latch, Emerson shoved his weight against the old wood with his shoulder until it scraped its way open.
Before they could stand even a second in awkward silence, he hustled inside and to the wall on the left, flipping on the light switch.
Hooking up electricity in here had been one of the first things Jayden did when they moved onto the property, even though Emerson had thought it was a waste of money.
But if Emerson wasn’t going to use the barn for the actual farm, Jayden swore it had potential for hosting events.
And then they’d gotten distracted with other projects, and hadn’t done a single other thing to it.
For half a second, the barn was filled with warm light.
And then the lightbulb above their heads went out with a loud, ominous pop, leaving the group below in eerie half light.
Emerson cleared his throat again.
“There’s still quite a bit of cleaning up in here to do.” The words came out a feeble scrape, but the dilapidated walls around them still amplified them somehow, echoing around the shadowy room. “And we’ll get those lights up outside, like I promised.”
Luca stuck his head into the empty tack room they were standing across from.
“Maybe this could be where your bar’s set up? Or a coat room?”
Saving Emerson, once again.
Ben joined Luca, murmuring plans, while Julie wandered into the spacious open floor of the main room beyond.
Emerson stood frozen by the light switch.
There was nothing else to see, other than the tack room: no amenities, no kitchen, no heat, no fairy lights or cute rustic decorations he was sure Jayden would have scrounged up prior to this walk-through.
There was only dirt, and dust, and cobwebs, and questionable structural integrity.
He really had meant to get around to the barn this week, especially after getting Ben’s text.
Do a little cleaning, wipe away some of the grime, for Chrissake.
What an embarrassment. He had seen it on Ben’s face the moment they’d walked in.
A clear look of distress, marring his beautiful features.
He’d recovered, attempted to force his face back to neutral as he chatted with Luca.
Maybe Emerson had been the only one who’d seen it.
But he was the only one who needed to see it. This was his fuck-up. His problem.
An unholy scream rang through the empty room.
Half a second later, Ben was running across the uneven floorboards toward Julie.
A belated, heart-clenched second after that, Emerson followed, Luca on his heels. Emerson stumbled over an upturned floorboard on the way. Was in the middle of muttering curses under his breath when he felt the whisper of pressure at the base of his spine.
“All right?” Luca’s voice, low, against his ear again. Luca’s hand, at his back once more.
Emerson wanted to reply, laugh it off, at least give a proper employer response like, Mark these floorboards as our first priority. But he could only give a curt nod before meeting Julie and Ben in the corner of the room.
“Sorry.” Julie was breathless, fluttering her hands around her shoulders, freckled face pink. At least the lightbulbs over here were working, so Emerson could ascertain immediately that she didn’t appear hurt. “I’ve obviously seen a mouse before, I just—”
“Julie Parker.” Ben’s voice was breathless too. But a split second later, he was doubled over laughing. “Holy shit. We’ve known each other, what, twenty years now? And that is the first time I’ve ever heard you make such a noise.”
Julie’s face suddenly scrunched up in annoyance. She slugged her best friend in the shoulder.
“Ow!” Ben stumbled back, holding his shoulder, still laughing.
“I wasn’t, like, scared,” Julie huffed, still glaring. “I just never had one run over my shoe, okay?”