Chapter 11
The fire crackled and popped on Wednesday evening, sending its glowing red tentacles reaching toward the dark sky. Behind
the flames, tiny waves lapped against the sandy beach while fiery reflections danced on the water in the cool mid-September
night.
Emily and Jake, along with Seth, Andi, and Vince, had spent the past week tirelessly renovating the inside of the barn. They
started by fixing the floor before moving to the walls. After painting the entire inside of the barn, they began to assemble
the booths for the market, using movable shelves and walls to accommodate multiple vendors. The barn was actually starting
to look like a market, and Emily couldn’t wait to see the final product on opening day. The entire project had gone so smoothly
that she was convinced they’d be done by the end of the week.
Aside from working on the barn, Emily had also spent the last week contemplating her conversation with Jake in her bedroom.
She couldn’t stop thinking about how he’d nearly begged her to stay in Splendid Lake.
A lump expanded in her throat as she recalled the mist in his blue eyes.
He’d seemed wounded when she explained there was no family to keep her here anymore.
There was something in his eyes that felt almost like . . .
Love.
No, no, no.
She had to be misinterpreting it all. If Jake truly loved her as more than a friend, then he could let go of Claire. Emily
couldn’t bear the thought of staying in Splendid Lake and watching Jake and Claire get back together, let alone get married
and start a family. It would rip her heart out. And that was why she was better off going back to Charlotte and working on
getting her life together after the orchard was up and running.
But leaving this time would be more difficult than the last.
She shivered and hugged her arms to her waist.
“Cold?”
Jake shifted toward her, and she breathed in his aroma—laundry soap and sandalwood mixed with the fire. He shucked his sherpa-lined
jean jacket and draped it over her shoulders. “Here.”
“Thanks,” she said, pushing her arms into the sleeves and hugging the jacket against her body. She couldn’t help but press
her nose against a sleeve to bask in his warm, comforting smell.
She snuck a glance at Jake and savored the view of him in the flickering firelight. He wore a gray-and-blue-plaid shirt, his
signature worn blue jeans that fit him oh so well, and work boots, along with his Mets cap. She wanted to run her fingers
against the blond scruff lining his jaw. And boy, did his blue eyes sparkle in the light of the bonfire.
The sound of his laughter at something Seth said broke her out of the spell for a moment. Emily shook her head. She needed
to make sure no one knew she was mesmerized by this man.
At that moment, her fingers itched to grab her sketchbook and draw Jake looking so heart-stoppingly hot on this beautiful autumn night. It would be the perfect drawing. No, if she had her easel, it would be the perfect painting—one she would cherish forever.
Emily felt someone watching her. When she turned toward Andi, her friend was smirking.
Great. Andi caught her mooning over Jake.
Oh well. Who could blame her? The man was drop-dead gorgeous!
“This is the best fire,” Andi announced. “And I didn’t manage to light up my shoe this time!”
Everyone laughed.
“That’s because Jake and I set up the fire, and you and Em didn’t, babe.” Seth drew his wife against him and kissed her before
releasing her.
“I think it’s time to make s’mores.” Andi lifted the bag of ingredients they’d picked up at the grocery store earlier.
“Yes! S’mores!” Emily distributed the skewers. Soon they had their sticks filled with marshmallows and were roasting them
over the fire and then building their delicious treats. When Emily’s marshmallow began to burn, she yelped, yanked her skewer
back, and examined the charred mess.
“I think you held it too close to the flame,” Andi quipped.
Emily gave her a mock glare. “Gee, thanks for the advice.”
“Well, she’s right,” Seth chimed in, chuckling.
With a sigh, Emily replaced the burned marshmallow with a fresh one.
“Em.”
Turning, she found Jake had moved his folding camping chair closer to her. He held up his s’more toward her. “Take a bite,”
he said.
“No, thanks.” She held up her skewer. “I’ll just try again.”
“Go on.” He angled his body toward her.
She hesitated, but then something in his expression beckoned her. She took a bite of the sweet little sandwich, and as she
licked her lips, the intensity in his blue eyes stole her breath for a moment.
He’d never looked at her that way before. What were his eyes trying to tell her? Was he attracted to her? But how could that
be after so many years? Why would he suddenly see her in a different light?
“Finish it.” He held out his hand. “I’ll make another one.”
It took her a second to find her words. “Th-thanks.”
“Sure.” He smiled before adding another marshmallow to his skewer.
“I think the market is going to be a hit,” Seth announced, and Emily was grateful for the change in focus. “You won’t have
any trouble finding vendors.”
Andi built her s’more. “We need to get working on that.”
Emily glanced toward the barn in the distance while she imagined a bustling orchard with customers hustling in and out of
the old building. But as she looked at the barn, her eyes roved around the land surrounding it.
There was other available space. What could they do to make the orchard even more inviting for customers?
Suddenly an idea hit her. “What if we had some outdoor activities too?”
“Yes!” Andi agreed. “You need to host an open-air painting workshop.”
Jake licked his fingers, which were covered with gooey marshmallow. “And you can teach people how to paint.”
“They can paint the orchard or the lake,” Seth added before handing Andi a s’more.
Emily considered that. Was she ready to try to teach again? Did she even want to? “Maybe.”
Jake gave her a look that conveyed they were going to talk about this later before he turned his focus to Seth. “So tomorrow
I think we should finish up painting the shelves in the booth areas.”
The friends spent the rest of the evening discussing the barn. Once they were full from their s’mores, they extinguished the
fire and cleaned up the beach before carrying the chairs and supplies to Jake’s house.
While the guys stood on Jake’s small front porch and discussed the plan for the next day, Andi grabbed Emily’s arm and steered
her out to the driveway. “Listen, Em. I have never been more convinced that Jake’s totally into you,” she gushed.
“Shh!” Emily hissed before peeking back toward the porch. Thankfully, Jake had his back to her while he listened to Seth go
on about refinishing the inside of the barn doors one last time. She locked eyes with Andi. “No, he’s not. And keep it down
or they’ll hear you.”
Andi’s brow wrinkled. “Didn’t you see the look on his face when he fed you his s’more?”
Yeah, Emily had seen it all right. But she had tried to convince herself she’d imagined it.
“I thought he was going to kiss you!”
The words rang in Emily’s ears. Suddenly she found herself drifting into a daydream, trying to imagine what it would feel
like, taste like, for Jake to kiss her. A shiver zipped through her belly. “Nope. No way. Jake has never, and will never,
want to kiss me.”
Andi’s furrowed brow smoothed out, a sparkle dancing in her eyes. “I predict that you two get together.”
Emily’s heart raced, but she tried to keep her expression calm. “I’m telling you, Andi, it’s not gonna happen.” She saw the guys begin to descend the porch steps and saunter toward them.
“When it does, I will take a great amount of joy in saying, ‘I told you so.’” Andi hugged her and whispered, “Chin up, my friend.”
And before Emily could say another word, the guys walked up to them.
After saying good night, Andi and Seth climbed into Seth’s pickup and motored toward the orchard exit.
“What was that about?” Jake asked as their taillights disappeared into the dark.
Emily jammed her hands into his jacket pockets. “What?”
“You know.” He gestured around her. “You and Andi looked like you were having a pretty intense conversation when Seth and
I came over. What were you talking about?”
“Nothing.”
“Huh.” He moved his fingers over his scruffy throat. “It looked like something to me.”
She shrugged and hoped her cheeks wouldn’t flush. “It was . . . top-secret girl stuff.”
“Top secret, huh?” His gorgeous smile came out to play. “Like the girl talk you had with Ms. Riley?”
“Yup. Exactly.” She wagged a finger at him. “If I tell you, then I’ll break Girl Code, and I’ll get in trouble with all my
friends.” She frowned dramatically. “Trust me. We don’t want that to happen.”
He chuckled, and she enjoyed the sound. “If you say so.” Then the corners of his lips began to fall, and his blue eyes seemed
to search her eyes. “Why don’t you want to teach painting in an open-air workshop?”
She swallowed a sigh and looked out toward the orchard. She couldn’t possibly tell him how being back in Splendid Lake made her feel so . . . emotional. All the time.
“You should do it,” he pressed. “You’re such a phenomenal teacher. Just think about it, okay?”
“Okay.” She turned toward him, and that intense expression that had surprised her earlier in the evening flickered over his
face once again. She stilled as Andi’s words echoed in her mind:
I thought he was going to kiss you!
Her pulse pounded. She’d been dreaming of his kiss since she was sixteen. Maybe their time had finally come!
Kiss me, Jake. Please!
He took a step closer to her, and she thought her heart might beat out of her chest. Reaching over, he pushed her hair behind
her ear with his fingertip, and his featherlight touch sent goose bumps chasing each other down her arms. “Well, I . . . Good
night, Em.”
Before she knew it, she released a breath she didn’t know she was holding.
“Good night,” she said softly before starting down the path. When she realized she was still wearing his jacket, she spun