Page 87 of Key West Homecoming

He wasn’t ready to put a name to whatever had changed, but he knew something had.

Jake finished his coffee, went to the workshop and pulled the blue tarp from the stack of cedar.

If Emma ended up keeping the cottage, he wanted there to be a place in the back garden where she could sit. Maybe she would only use it when she came down for a week or two. Maybe Jake wouldn’t be living here by then.

He didn’t know. He only knew he wanted to build it.

By eight, he had the base measured and the corners marked. He worked through the day, stopping only long enough to eat a sandwich and drink water to stay hydrated.

By late afternoon, the first two cedar posts were set.

He cleaned up his tools, swept the porch and made another cup of coffee. He was sitting on the front step when he heard Emma’s rental pull up in front of the cottage.

She came through the gate with a tote over one shoulder and a folder in her hand. Her hair was down, and she looked tired, but when she saw him, she smiled.

Then she noticed the cedar posts in the back garden.

“You built something.”

“I started something. We’ll see how it goes.”

“What?”

“Come see.”

Jake led her around the cottage.

Emma stopped in front of the two posts and looked at the marked corners in the ground.

“It’s a pergola.”

“It will be.”

“You did this this morning?”

“Most of it.”

“While I was in Miami?”

Jake smiled. “I had time.”

Emma looked at the cedar again, then at him.

“Why?”

He could have told her he’d been planning it for a year, which was true. He could have said the lumber was already there and he needed something to do, which was also true.

Instead he shrugged. “I thought the garden needed one.”

Emma gave him a look that said she didn’t entirely believe him, but she let it go.

“Jake, I got the original will. Rachel says it matches the copy and she thinks it’s going to hold.”

“That’s really good, Emma.”

“I know.” She smiled, and this time there was relief in it. “I don’t think I realized how much I needed to hear her say that until she did.”

Jake nodded. “So the trip was a success.”