Chapter 10 #2
Jake offered.
Emily tapped the table with her finger. “Which is why we need to start contacting vendors now.”
“I can put together a list of vendors I recommend.” Andi met Jake’s gaze. “Maybe you can sell some fall favorites, like pumpkins
or cider. Have you ever considered selling a cider using apples from your orchard?”
Emily gave Jake a look. “Gee, Jake. What a great idea. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if you could sell your own cider?” Her words were measured.
He set his glass down and leveled his eyes with Emily’s.
Andi locked eyes with her husband. “Uh, babe,” she began, “I feel like we’re missing something here.”
Seth nodded. “Me too.”
Silence permeated the kitchen, and Jake was certain he could’ve heard a pin drop.
Emily rested on her elbows, her eyes challenging him. “Should we tell them?”
“Don’t . . .” he warned her. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Seth and Andi exchange confused expressions.
Suddenly, Emily jumped up and grabbed his hand. “Let’s go. It’s time for you to share your cider with someone other than me.”
“You make cider?” Andi asked.
“No way,” Seth exclaimed. “You need to sell it, man!”
Emily jammed her hands on her small hips. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell him.” She grabbed Jake’s arm and tugged again,
but he remained cemented in place. When she bent down to him, the flowery smell of her shampoo wafted over him, and his senses
began to spin. “You told me I need to believe in myself,” she said softly. “Well, now it’s time for you to do the same. You need to believe in yourself.”
Jake pressed his lips together while her words warmed him from the inside out. She’d always supported him, encouraged him,
believed in him. And at that moment, he realized she had always been his most loyal cheerleader, no matter what.
He worked to keep his smile from coming up to the surface. “I hate it when you use my words against me.”
She grinned, and his lips defied him and lifted.
“Fine,” he said with a groan. “Let’s go.”
Emily did a cute little dance before the four of them headed out into the garage, where she gathered four plastic cups and
filled them with cider from the container in the refrigerator.
Seth took a drink and then examined the cup. “This isn’t bad.”
“Yeah. It’s tart,” Andi agreed.
Jake took a long swig and shook his head. “It needs work.”
“Then work on it,” Emily insisted. “You can do it. I know you can.”
His chest swelled as he absorbed her expression. She truly believed in him, and for a moment, he was completely overcome with
appreciation for her.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll give it a try.”
Emily beamed, and Jake had to squelch the sudden yearning to hold her in his arms and kiss her.
Dismissing the thought, he headed for the door. “Let’s finish our pizza before it gets cold.”
“Thanks for a fun night,” Andi said as they walked out to Seth’s black, late-model Chevrolet pickup truck.
After finishing the pizza, they played a few rousing rounds of Uno, which included quite a bit of laughter, before the exhaustion
from their hard work finally caught up with them.
Their shoes crunched along the rock path leading to the driveway, and the sky above them was dark and peppered with bright
and shining stars. The only light came from the metal fixture above the garage door.
Jake chuckled. “I think I should be thanking you and Seth instead of you thanking me.”
“We’ll do it again tomorrow, man.” Seth shook his hand before hitting his key fob to unlock the truck and climbing in.
Emily hugged Andi. “Thank you for helping me paint.”
“It was fun.” Andi waved at Jake and then hopped up into the passenger seat beside her husband.
Jake looped his arm around Emily’s shoulders and held her against him as Seth started the truck and motored down the rock
driveway toward the orchard exit. “So I guess I have to admit that you were right about everything.”
“Everything?” She squinted up at him and pushed her thick ponytail over his arm. “Can you be a little more specific?”
He released her, but she didn’t move. She continued to rest against his side, and he reveled in their intimate contact. “You said it would work out. You said we’d find help. And you were right about it all. It’s all coming together.”
“Well,” she began with a dramatic tone, “it’s about time you trusted me.”
“I’ve always trusted you.”
She studied him, and her smile faded. “Same.”
They were both silent for a moment, and he felt something move between them—something intangible.
“I’m beat, so I’ll see you tomorrow.” She powered on the flashlight on her cell phone and started down the path toward his
parents’ house.
“Hey,” he called, and she spun to face him, her outline silhouetted in the lights coming from the back of his parents’ house.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Just thank you.”
“Um . . .” She chuckled. “You’re welcome?”
Jake crossed his arms over his chest and smiled as she waved before hurrying down the path.
Jake jogged up his parents’ stairs to the second floor the following Tuesday evening. They’d spent the weekend working on
the outside of the barn. Seth and Jake had replaced the two barn doors on Saturday while Emily and Andi finished painting
one side of the barn. Then the four of them continued painting on Sunday. Vince joined them again Monday morning, and the
five of them finished the painting earlier in the day. Jake had to admit that the barn looked not only presentable but good—really
good. In fact, it looked brand-new, and he was anxious to get started on sprucing up more of the inside tomorrow.
After Seth, Andi, and Vince left, he and Emily had eaten supper with his folks.
He enjoyed watching her glow while she talked about the barn and all of their work.
She’d even encouraged his parents to see it, and although his mother promised to come out tomorrow, his father had only grunted.
But Jake had faith that Emily would convince his father too.
He and Emily had cleaned up the kitchen before she excused herself and disappeared to take a shower. He had expected her to
join him and his folks in the den, but she’d been gone for more than an hour, which was why he headed to her room to check
on her and tell her good night.