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. “Yousaid 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.
