Page 105 of Key West Homecoming

For a while, neither of them spoke.

Emma looked toward the cottage.

“Did he scare you?”

“No.”

She turned to him.

Jake smiled a little. “He made me angry.”

“That I believe.”

“I didn’t want him near the house.”

“I know.”

Jake picked up his water bottle.

“I kept thinking about your grandmother wanting to come back here and being told she couldn’t. Then he showed up and acted like all he had to do was open the gate.”

Emma felt her throat tighten.

“He did that to her for years.”

“I know.”

She looked at him.

“Jake.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to keep thanking you for things, so you can stop telling me I don’t have to.”

He took a drink of water.

“You don’t have to thank me.”

Emma laughed.

“You did that on purpose.”

“Maybe.”

She smiled and looked down at her hands.

“Supporting what you’re doing matters to me,” he said. “Probably more than it should.”

Emma looked back at him and noticed he seemed to realize what he’d said, but didn’t take it back.

She thought about almost calling him earlier and about Leah’s advice at the bar. She had spent the afternoon telling herself she needed to know what she was doing before she came back to this garden.

Now she wondered if that had ever been possible.

“I almost called you today,” she said.

Jake looked at her. “Why didn’t you?”