He clocked her expression and scoffed. “You don’t believe I missed you?”
“I thought you wanted my help.”
“I do.”
“Then why are you so skeptical about this?”
He paused, seeming to consider the barn, and then clasped his hand around hers and tugged her toward his house. “Our lunch is getting cold. We can talk while we eat.”
Sitting at his kitchen table, they unwrapped their burgers and fries. She turned to a fresh page in her notepad and started sketching the barn in between bites of her bacon cheeseburger. After completing the outside, she added booths inside. When she finished, she set her jaw. It was a lousy diagram, but it would have to work.
She angled the picture toward Jake. “Okay, this isn’t the best barn, but you get the idea. We could clean it up and then section off the inside for a variety of vendors. All the orchard has ever offered is apples, right?”
“Yeah.” He took a sip of his Coke. “It’s an orchard.”
“But what if you offered more? Then we’ll get customers that the other place doesn’t. There wasn’t anything on their fancy signs about an autumnmarket.”
He tapped his lips, and she wondered what they tasted like.
Stop it, Emily! Stay on task!
“I like it,” he said, but his expression was grim.
“You sure? ’Cause you’re not acting like it.”
He blew out a long breath and slouched in the chair. “I don’t know if my dad is going to go for this. He’s all about tradition.”
“But times change. If the orchard doesn’t, then it won’t exist anymore.”
“You’re right.” His smile returned. “Let’s make a list of things to sell and then we can work on a plan to convince my dad to agree.”
They finished their lunch before creating a list of possible vendors for their market and then discussing the barn renovations.
Later, when his phone dinged, Jake fished it from the pocket of his athletic shorts, consulted it, and frowned. He sent a brief text before turning his attention back to Emily. He seemed toshake off his frustration as he tapped her notepad. “So, about the barn. I definitely need to fix the doors and replace the hardware so they don’t fall on someone.”
She touched his forearm. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “We should start a list for Lowe’s.” He fetched a notepad and pen from a nearby drawer and wroteLowe’sat the top before listing supplies. His movements were stiff and jerky, and frustration came off him in waves.
“Jake.”
He ignored her and continued writing.
“Jake!” she exclaimed, and he finally met her gaze with a frown. She rested her hand on his bulky bicep. “You can’t lie to me. We’ve been friends for nearly twenty-five years, and I can tell when you’re upset. You know that, right?”
He sagged in the chair.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“It’s Claire.” He scrubbed his hand over his mouth. “We had an argument before she left, and she’s been bugging me to talk to her about it. Things have been... strained.”
This was news. Jake and Claire had had their share of arguments—some of them pretty intense—but they always worked it out. “I thought things were going great between you two. What happened?”
“You know she works for a big medical supply company,” he began, and she nodded. “Well, the company was bought out, and the main offices are in Nashville. She’s able to work from home, but she has to check in with her manager and team in Nashville periodically, which is where she is now. Her dream is to be CFO. Even though she had a good offer with a company over in Asheville, which is a short commute, she’s still trekking out to Nashville and waiting for that promotion.”
Emily nodded. “Okay...”
“Well, she wants to move out there permanently.” He paused, and his lips turned down. “And she wants me to go with her.”
