Jake swallowed another bite. “I’m listening.”
She bounced on the balls of her Birkenstocks. “Let’s put a kitchen in the barn!”
He blinked and then blinked again. Had he heard her right? “A kitchen?”
“Yes!” She danced a little jig. “That way we can sell these beauties.” She pointed at the candied apples. “Along with your cider.”
Vince did a double take. “When did you start making cider, Boss?”
So much for Em keeping a secret.
Jake ignored the question and took another bite of the apple.
“Just listen. Okay?” Emily took his arm and half pulled, half dragged him into the barn while Vince followed close behind, chewing his apple. She took off and stopped in the middle of the barn before pointing to the back corner. “We can put the kitchen over there. It’ll be like a little booth, and then your mom can make her candy apples, and we can keep your cider on shelves. And then we can—”
“Whoa,” Jake began, interrupting her. He rubbed his free hand over his forehead. “Do you realize what you’re asking us to do? We have to get a permit, hire contractors, and then—”
She held her hand up, and her happy expression faded. “I’ll pay for it. You haven’t let me pay for anything yet, but I want to do this. For you.” Something flashed over her face, and she quickly added, “For your family. For Splendid Lake.”
Jake blew out a deep breath and glanced around the barn. It was still a mess, and they had so much work to do: replacing the rotten wood in the floor, painting the entire inside of the barn—after painting the outside, of course—and then building booths for the vendors. He met Emily’s hopeful expression and then shook his head. “We have a little more than a month before the anniversary, which is barely enough time to clean this place up. There’s no way we can build a kitchen.”
“I’ll pitch in,” Emily said. “You think I’m not capable, but I can do it.”
“I believe in you, but right now it’s just the three of us doing all of the work.”
“What do you mean?” Vince asked.
Jake pressed his lips together. “Eddie and Rico quit.”
“What?” Vince’s dark eyes rounded. “When?”
“They both texted me earlier. They went to work for Apple Haven.” Jake grimaced at Vince. “Tell me you’re not going there too.”
Vince shook his head. “No, I’m not. I had no idea they were even considering leaving.” He paused for a moment. “I’m shocked.”
“Yeah. Me too.” Jake sank down onto an old bale of hay. “I have no idea how we’re going to make this happen. Even if I advertised to replace their jobs, I’m running through our budget with all of these supplies.”
Emily came to stand in front of him. “We got this. And I’ve already told you I’ll pay for it.” She pointed around the barn. “Let’s forget my kitchen idea. It was silly. Instead, your mom can make the candied apples in her kitchen, and we’ll bring them out here to sell them. We just need to go forward with our plan of cleaning up the inside and retrofitting the booths. We can install counters and shelves.”
“And we need someone to sell the candy apples if we’re running the place.” Jake pointed to the three of them.
“We’ll figure that out, Debbie Downer,” Emily quipped.
Vince chuckled.
Jake ate another bite and shook his head while his lips twitched. “You know you drive me crazy.”
“That’s why you love me,” she sang with an adorable smirk.
Yeah, that’s absolutely true.
The thought caught Jake by surprise, but he forced his brain to focus on everything they had to do before the orchard opened. He pushed himself up. “That’s enough chitchat. We need to get back to work.”
“All right, Boss.” Vince started for the barn door.
Emily looped her arm in Jake’s. “We got this. I promise you.” She rested against him, and he cherished the feel of her body heat mixing with his.
“I’m putting my faith in you. Don’t make me regret it,” he teased, and her smile made his heart buoyant.
