Page 139 of Key West Homecoming

Emma looked at him. “I saw him.”

Jake waited.

“He was standing in the hallway at the water cooler. Rachel told me not to speak to him if I ran into him, so I didn’t.”

“Did he try to talk to you?”

“I think he was going to. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.”

Jake reached for her hand. “Come sit down.”

They went to the porch, and Emma took off the blazer before sitting beside him on the swing. Jake disappeared into the house and came back with two ham sandwiches and a bag of plantain chips.

“I’m not very hungry.”

“Eat half.”

Emma smiled. “You sound like Leah.”

“I’m going to assume that’s a compliment.”

He sat beside her and handed her a sandwich.

Emma took a bite mostly because Jake was watching her. After a minute, she realized she was hungry after all.

“I thought I’d be furious when I saw him,” she said.

“You weren’t?”

“No. That’s the strange part.”

Jake waited for her to continue.

“He looked old. His suit didn’t fit, and he’d spilled water on his shoes. For a second, I almost felt sorry for him.”

“Almost?”

Emma looked down at the sandwich in her hands. “Then I remembered Gloria.”

Jake nodded.

“But I also thought about my father. Arthur was his brother. He lost him too.”

“That doesn’t change what he did.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Emma leaned back against the swing. “I think that’s what I’m finally beginning to understand. Two things can be true at the same time. Arthur can have loved my father and still have done something terrible to his mother.”

“And to you.”

“Yes.”

Jake reached over and took one of the plantain chips from her plate.

Emma looked at him. “Those are mine.”

“You said you weren’t hungry.”

“That was before you started stealing my food.”