Lauren lifted a hand. “Hey, Pam.”
“How’s it going?” Jonah asked.
Pam beamed. “Hey, you two. Beautiful day. It’s so nice to see you two together again.”
Lauren’s face warmed. “We’re just headed out to the barn. Everything okay with the cabins?”
“Good as gold. We’ll be out of here by two.”
“Perfect.”
Jonah gave another wave. “Have a great afternoon.”
If the comment had embarrassed him, he showed no signs.
A few minutes later when they entered the forest’s shade on the far side of Lauren’s cabin, Jonah broke the silence. “How many cabins are full this weekend?”
“Just three.”
He nodded. “It’ll get busier as we head toward peak foliage, but not like the summer was.” He cut her a chagrined look. “Sorry. I keep forgetting you don’t remember the summer.”
“I keep forgetting I evenhada summer.”
He chuckled at her wry tone. “This whole thing really sucks, doesn’t it? I’m sorry it happened to you.”
“Thanks,” she said distractedly as the memory of him on the basketball court slammed into her heart. He was suffering much more than she was. How kind of him to consider her feelings when he was the one who was grief-stricken. Heaven knew she’d hardly given his feelings a second thought since the accident.
They came into the clearing and there it stood. The big barn was rustic red and in need of a good paint job. But the stone on the bottom was charming, and the structure appeared sound. At least it wasn’t falling apart.
“What do you think?”
“It’s got a lot of promise.”
His eyes warmed about ten degrees. “How did I know you’d say that? When you first stumbled upon it, it was overgrown with brambles. Took us a week to clear it all. The inside was full of junk that had accumulated over the years.”
She wished she remembered that part. How fun to rummage through someone’s old things. “Anything old and interesting?”
“You were disappointed to find it truly was just a bunch of junk. Wooden crates, ancient cans of paints and supplies, mechanical parts of machines that probably don’t exist anymore. Most of it went to the trash heap.”
He unfastened the barn door and it gave a loud creak as he rolled it open. “The plan was to seal the boards, paint the exterior, repair the rock mortar, replace the windows, and reshingle the roof before snow comes.”
“Then spend the colder months on the interior.”
“Exactly.”
She stepped into the barn and stopped. Sunlight seeped through cracks in the siding and through the windowpanes, giving the interior an ethereal glow. The building was spacious, and beyond the thick overhead beams, it opened up to a lofty ceiling. She’d been right in her notes—the space would easily seat a hundred people. She’d catered similar-sized venues for Elite. An old hayloft jutted out on one side of the building, about a quarter of the barn’s length.
In her mind’s eye, she could see the space finished. Add new wood plank flooring, some fairy lights, and a swath of white tulle draped overhead, and this place would be beautiful. “It’ll make an amazing wedding venue.”
“That’s what you said before. You’d already picked out the flooring, and you’d gotten bids on the exterior work.”
“I saw them in the binder.”
“Mom and Dad already approved them, so you can schedule the work whenever you want.”
“Sooner than later if we’re gonna beat the weather.”
When he didn’t respond, she glanced back where he’d stopped just shy of the loft’s shadow. He was seemingly lost in thought, his brows drawn, his eyes downcast.
