Chapter 5 #2
When she met his gaze, her striking golden-brown eyes were glistening with tears.
“If I spend the money from the sale of the house or my inheritance,” she began, her words quivering, “that means they’re really gone—forever.
” Her voice broke as a sob tore from her throat, and she covered her face with her hands.
Jake’s heart fractured at the sound of her agony. He held her against him. “It’s okay. I’m here,” he murmured in her ear.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
Emily wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in the crook of his neck.
He rubbed her back and rested his cheek on her head. “You’re not alone,” he whispered. “I’m here for you always. I mean that.”
Jake closed his eyes and held her close while he breathed in the sweet scent of her shampoo mixed with the orchard and listened
to the cicadas and frogs sing. When Emily relaxed against him, he felt his nerves finally settle down. Everything seemed to
be right in his world, and he felt like she belonged in his arms.
She sniffed and moved her fingers through his hair at the base of his skull, and the sensation sent electric pulses dancing
through his veins, causing him to draw her closer.
He stilled when that action registered in his mind. He’d consoled her dozens of times after she’d lost her parents. The first
few nights, he’d held her for what felt like hours while they sat on her sofa. But that was platonic. When he’d had her in
his arms four years ago, they were only friends.
But this moment felt different. It felt . . .
Romantic.
And suddenly the urge to kiss Emily overcame him.
They’d never kissed. He’d hugged her thousands of times over the years, and he’d never even thought about kissing her, even
when his buddies at school asked him if he and Emily were secretly more than friends.
But at that moment, he found himself wondering . . . if he lifted her chin and tasted her pink lips, would she kiss him back? If he raked his hands through her long, thick, wavy hair, would she push him away?
His hands began to tremble as he wondered what he should do with them.
As if she could read his thoughts, Emily wriggled out of his arms, sat up, wiped her eyes, and forced a smile. “That’s enough
of that.” She slid toward the ladder. “Let’s go for a night swim,” she said while disappearing through the floor and down
the ladder.
He scrubbed his hands over his face and tried to get his wits about him.
Emily would never want him as more than a friend. He needed to suppress those foreign thoughts before they destroyed their
friendship.
After a few deep breaths, he shoved himself through the hole in the floor and descended the ladder.
Emily squinted up at him. “You look a little pale. You okay?”
“Yeah.” His voice sounded rough, and he cleared his throat. “I’ll take a rain check on that swim. I think it’s time to head
to bed.”
She frowned. “When did you become such a fuddy-duddy?”
“We have a lot of work ahead of us, so it’s probably best that we get some rest.”
They walked in silence back through the orchard toward his parents’ house, though his mind was anything but quiet. His thoughts
raced at a million miles an hour.
When they reached the path that led to his house, she gave him a little wave. “Good night,” she said softly before continuing
toward his parents’ house.
Jake jammed his hands in his pockets while he watched her petite shadow disappear into the night.
He needed to get his confusing feelings for her under control before he did something stupid—like kiss her—and destroyed their friendship.
He couldn’t imagine losing her. If that happened, he’d be completely lost.
You’re not alone. I’m here for you always. I mean that.
Jake’s words were still echoing in Emily’s mind hours after she’d climbed into bed. She’d tried staring at the ceiling through
the darkness, counting sheep, and counting backward from one hundred, but nothing worked to stop her mind from reliving her
conversation with Jake in the treehouse.
When he’d asked about the money from her parents’ house, she’d tried to keep it together. But all the grief she’d kept buried
deep in her heart had poured out of her like a tsunami, and the next thing she knew, she was wrapped up in Jake’s muscular
arms, where she felt safe and protected.
She’d yearned to curl up in his lap and stay there forever. He’d held her so tight, just as he had in the days following her
parents’ death. After several moments, she relaxed, and she lost herself in imagining what it would be like to be his girlfriend.
Her fingers wound their way through his soft hair as she basked in his familiar scent and listened to his heartbeat echoing
in his brawny chest.
Then reality crashed down around her, and her silly fantasy evaporated as his words about Claire repeated in her mind like
a broken record.
He still cared about Claire. He couldn’t let her go because things were “complicated.” Emily would never have a chance with
Jake, and torturing herself with her immature dreams was just plain stupid and bad for her health.
And that was why she’d disentangled herself and suggested they go swimming, to put some distance between herself and Jake. A swim in the cold lake was just what she needed to cool down her raging emotions.
Emily groaned and yanked the sheet over her head. She needed to get over Jake once and for all. But the more time she spent
with him, the deeper in love with him she became.
“I’m doomed,” she told the empty room before she snickered. Yeah, she was doomed. But she’d been doomed since she was a kid.
Jake had hijacked her heart years ago.
With a harrumph, she kicked off the sheet and sat up. It was clear she wasn’t going to get any sleep. The glowing green numbers
on the clock declared it was 1:45 a.m. She needed something to occupy her crazy mind.
For a moment, she considered going down to the basement to finally sort through the dozens of boxes and plastic containers
that Jake’s parents had stored for her after she’d sold her family’s home. But she didn’t want to risk waking up his parents.
Plus, she wasn’t ready to face those memories—not yet.
Instead, she dragged her laptop and sketch pad out of her bag, sat down at the desk, and started researching ideas for their
fall marketplace. Hopefully by plunging her mind into the orchard, she’d eventually get sleepy and find a way to rest before
the sun rose.