Chapter 5
Emily grasped Jake’s hand and tugged him toward the back door. They’d cleaned up the kitchen, and Mom and Dad had retreated
to the den to watch television.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
She dragged him outside, where the evening air was warm, and he breathed in the comforting scent of the apples mixed with
the smell of the lake.
“You need to get out. I can’t stand it when you’re sad or upset.”
“Who said I’m sad and upset?”
She snorted. “Your good mood dissolved after your phone call. You’ve only managed to string two or three words together since
you hung up with Claire. Now, follow me into the orchard.”
He complied, and they started down the path toward the lake side by side.
“Does our fort still exist?” she asked.
“Yeah, but it’s a little worse for wear. It hasn’t been touched since we were twelve.”
She picked up speed with a spring in her step. “Let’s find it!”
He grabbed her arm before she could sprint away. “Wait a second. I need to know how you managed to win my dad over on the market idea.”
She shrugged. “I just asked him about the barn. Soon he was sharing stories. I told him it would be a great way to honor his
parents and grandparents if we restored it, and I said that would play into the orchard’s hundredth anniversary.”
For the second time that evening, Jake felt a warm rush of admiration for Emily wash over him. “You’re pretty awesome, you
know that?”
She chuckled. “Not really. I just know that your dad wants to keep within tradition, and we can do that and open the market by bringing together the past and the present.” She turned off the worn path. “This way, right?”
“I think so.”
They walked in silence, their shoes crunching along the grass. He began a mental list of tasks for renovating the barn, and
when he considered the budget, he recalled Emily’s confession that she hadn’t spent any of the money from the sale of her
family’s home. He knew how much money she’d gotten for the large lakefront home—seven figures—and he couldn’t understand why
she hadn’t used any of it to restart her life.
“Why haven’t you spent the money from the house sale?”
Her steps faltered, but she kept moving forward. “Wasn’t the fort over here?” she asked before she took off running.
“Wait up!” He raced after her, catching up when she stopped under a tall tree.
She pointed toward the branches. “Red delicious, right?”
“Yeah.” He picked one off the branch and held it out to her. “They probably need a couple more weeks.”
She shook her head and rubbed the apple on her gray T-shirt. “Nah.” She took a bite and closed her eyes. “So good.”
Jake smiled. He’d always been proud of his family’s apples, and seeing someone enjoy one never got old.
She held it out to him. “Try it.”
“I know what they taste like.”
“Please?” She stuck her lip out in what he’d always called her puppy dog look. “Pretty please with sugar on top?”
He laughed. He couldn’t resist her when she did that, and she knew it. “Fine.” He bit into it and enjoyed the sweet goodness.
Then he gave it back to her. “Finish it.”
“I will.” She took another bite.
While he watched her eat, the evening sunlight was at the perfect angle to not only illuminate her golden-brown eyes but also
highlight her dark hair with streaks of red. He’d never noticed the highlights in her thick, wavy mane until that moment,
and an unexpected urge to touch her hair overcame him.
Yikes.
Jake shook his head. Uh, that was weird.
She finished the apple and then tossed it aside. “Now. Let’s find that fort!”
They continued past the line of trees until they came to the part of the orchard that was off-limits to customers. He unlocked
the combination on the fence, and they continued walking to their wooden fort. It still sat on a high branch overlooking the
lake.
She ran her fingers over the bark and found the initials they’d carved there when they were ten. “Our tree,” she said softly.
She pointed to the scratches that read, JH + EC.
He touched his initials too. “Seems like it was yesterday.”
“Yeah, and you got in so much trouble for swiping your dad’s pocketknife off his dresser.”
He laughed. “Yeah. Well. I still don’t regret it.”
She grabbed the rope ladder and started to climb.
“What are you doing?” He grabbed her leg. “This thing isn’t stable, and we both weigh more than we did when we were kids.
If you fall from that height, you’ll get seriously hurt.”
She made a face, shook off his hold, and continued to climb the ladder. “Don’t be such a Debbie Downer.” She stopped midway.
“Come on! Are you chicken?”
“I don’t know if it can hold me.”
She rolled her eyes and shimmied upward. “Your dad made this solid. It’s survived windstorms and hail. We’re fine. Stop stalling
and get your butt up here!”
He groaned. “You make me crazy.”
“That’s why you love me . . .” she sang.
He laughed. She’d always kept him on his toes, and although he could usually predict her reactions, sometimes she shocked
him, like when she insisted on selling her parents’ house, moving to Charlotte, and leaving Splendid Lake and him in her rearview
mirror. It had broken his heart. But he’d kept that little tidbit to himself.
But now that he’d convinced her to come back to visit, he wanted more than anything to persuade her to stay.
He took hold of the ladder and tried to judge whether the old wooden platform could actually hold his weight now that he was
six-foot-three and close to two hundred pounds.
But if he sat in the fort with Emily, maybe she’d finally open up to him.
He slowly climbed up the rope ladder until he reached the top and managed to squeeze up through the entrance to the platform.
The canvas tarp that served as their roof was riddled with holes, allowing him to see the sun begin to set above them.
But the floor was solid, just as Emily had predicted.
He crawled over to her and sank down beside her with his long legs dangling over the side.
Emily glanced around. “I remember it being bigger.”
He chuckled. “We were a lot smaller back then.”
She rested her arms on the wooden railing that lined the perimeter of the small fort.
“Whoa!” He grabbed her arm. “That might not be secure. Are you determined to fall off and break something?”
She held on to the railing and shook it. “See? It holds together just fine.”
He groaned. “My nerves are shot right now.”
“You worry too much.” She tapped the tip of his nose and then rested her elbows on the railing and her chin on her palms while
she stared out toward the lake. The water glistened with a prism of bright colors as the sun began to set. Frogs croaked with
delight and cicadas chittered while fireflies sparkled in the air.
For a moment, Jake basked in the beautiful late-summer evening. He was sitting in his fort with Emily nearly seventeen years
after the last time they’d perched themselves in this tree. He longed to freeze time.
“Sometimes I wish I could go back to when all we did was play in the orchard and sit in our fort. Things were much simpler
then,” she said softly.
“I was just thinking the same thing.” He leaned back on his hands.
A few moments stretched out between them as they watched a sailboat pass on the distant lake.
Emily turned toward him. “Tell me about your conversation with Claire.”
He sat forward and crossed his arms. “It’s not worth repeating.”
“Jake . . .”
“I really don’t want to talk about it.”
“Too bad.” She poked him in the middle of his chest. “You’re going to tell me what happened whether you want to or not, because
I said so.”
He growled out his annoyance. “Fine, but it was the same conversation Claire and I have been having for more than a month.”
He stared out toward the lights glowing on the other side of the lake. “She asked me to come out to Nashville. She says we
can have a life there. She told me she still loves me, and she begged me not to give up on our relationship.”
Emily nodded slowly and licked her lips. “Do you . . . love her?” Her question was soft, almost hesitant.
He scrubbed his hand over his jaw. “I mean . . . I care about her. I always will.” He looked down at the ground. “But my life
is here, and she knows that.”
“Did you tell her it was time to let go?”
He sighed. “No.”
Emily was quiet for a long moment, but he could almost feel her working through something in her mind. “Why are you so afraid
of letting her go?” Her voice was uncertain, which wasn’t something he heard from her often.
He considered her question, and he couldn’t come up with an answer. “It’s complicated.”
“Okay.” She angled her body toward his. “I’m ready to listen.”
He chuckled.
“I’m serious. You told me that you broke up with her, but you’re allowing her to hound you and beg you to try again. Why don’t
you stop answering her calls?”
“Because I’ve known her since we were sixteen. We grew up together. I can’t just shut her out.”
Emily pivoted back toward the water and focused on the dock.
They sat in silence for several moments before he turned toward Emily’s childhood home and focused on her. “Let’s talk about
something else.”
“Okay.” She brightened.
“Why haven’t you spent any of the money you made on the sale of the house? I thought you were going to use it to start a new
life.”
Her mouth opened and then closed. “I don’t want to talk about it.” She shook her head, wiggled out from under the railing,
and pushed herself toward the hole in the floor that led to the rope ladder. “Let’s go for a night swim before it gets too
cold.”
“Oh no you don’t.” He gently rested his hands on her forearms, and she stilled. “You’re not going to escape.”
Her eyes searched his. “Please let me go.” Her expression pleaded with him, and the pain he found there sucked the air out
of his lungs.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you, Em. You know I never would.”
She looked down at the fort floor. “I just don’t want to talk about it.”
“Why not?”
She rubbed her eyes and swallowed.
“Hey, it’s me.” He tapped his chest. “You can say anything to me. You know that.”
She stared at her lap and moved her hands over her denim shorts.
“Look at me,” he whispered. “Please.”