Page 146 of Key West Homecoming

“I know. Go. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“I can’t thank you enough for everything you did.”

Rachel’s expression softened. “You’re welcome,” she said, then looked over at Jake. “I think there’s someone here waiting for you.”

Emma blushed and then looked at Jake.

Rachel and Yolanda headed for the door.

Jake came toward Emma.

She watched him cross the hallway and felt something inside her finally give way. She had been holding herself together since Rachel met her in the lobby that morning. Maybe since Samantha’s first phone call.

Jake stopped in front of her.

“Well?” he asked softly.

Emma looked at him. “The cottage is mine.”

His smile came slowly. “Yeah, it is.”

Hearing him say it nearly undid her.

She stepped forward and put her arms around him. Jake held her, one hand settling at the back of her neck.

“I kept thinking about you sitting behind me,” she said against his shoulder.

Emma pulled back enough to look at him. “You wore a nice shirt.”

“I own two.”

“That many?”

“I save them for court visits and funerals.”

Emma laughed.

Jake brushed his thumb beneath one of her eyes. “You want to get out of here?”

“Please.”

They walked out of the courthouse into the Wednesday sun. Emma left her sunglasses in her bag. After the cold courtroom, she wanted the heat on her face.

At the corner, she stopped and Jake stopped beside her.

Emma looked back at the courthouse and thought about Gloria.

“You know for so long, I’ve thought of my grandmother’s final years in terms of what she’d lost, her health, her freedom. And then I find out she couldn’t visit the cottage she loved so much.”

She looked at Jake. “But today I feel joy knowing that in the end, she had the last word.

The tears came before Emma could stop them.

Jake put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

“I am happy.” Emma wiped beneath one eye. “That’s not what this crying is. I think it’s just tension releasing.”

“I know.”