“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.
