“Yeah. Yes.” Ben’s voice sounded muffled. When Emerson turned, he saw that Ben had covered his mouth, his own eyes wet as he surveyed the cleared circle around them. He dropped his hands before continuing.
“Our wedding coordinator will bring them all and transfer them to the barn for the reception. This is—I’m gonna take some pictures for Lex.”
“I’m gonna take some for Elle and Jesse. This is going to be her first trip to the West Coast!” Julie directed this last sentence directly to Emerson, her still sparkling eyes now bright with excitement. Emerson couldn’t help but smile at the enthusiasm, even if it felt small and tight on his face.
He and Jay had barely been able to take Daisy outside of Oregon. A trip to Seattle once had been the most she’d seen of the world. It was hard, arranging vacations around owning a farm.
“See?” Emerson almost jumped at that voice, low and quiet against his ear again. He hadn’t noticed Luca sneak up behind him. “They’re in love.”
Emerson swallowed.Yeah, he thought.They are.With Alexei. With Elle. With each other.
God, he was being maudlin. He’d have to get over these jealous trains of thought before an actual wedding smacked him in the face.
He took a small step away.
“Haven’t gotten to the rough part yet,” he said. “You haven’t seen the old barn either.”
Luca didn’t have a chance to reply. Ben and Julie had wandered toward them, sticking phones in their pockets and looking at Emerson with matching smiles, the universal sign forwhat’s next?
Emerson led the way.
The old barn lay to the east of the house, toward the edge of Emerson’s property. Past a boggy, weed-tangled field Emerson hadn’t yet even contemplated what to do with, and just before the line of trees that separated the farm from its neighbors. The field would hypothetically be an ideal spot for parking, but even if Emerson managed to mow down the vegetation, he wasn’t sure the wet soil could handle the weight. There was at least a relatively stable path from the dirt road that bisected the property, not far from the wildflower field, that led down to the barn while avoiding the worst of the marsh. Emerson was quiet as they walked, listening to the comfortable chatter of Luca, Julie, and Ben behind him, Luca easily answering questions about the farm like he’d worked there for years.
Emerson couldn’t explain why he’d invited Luca, but damn, he had been working the entire night to perfection. Emerson would give him a bonus, if he had money for bonuses.
And then there was no hiding behind silence anymore. They were here.
The barn, like its sturdier sister down the road, was made of gray, weathered wood. The walls of this one, though, were tilting, the spaces where the slats had warped or chipped away never repaired, the dying sunlight shining clear through the gaps from one wall to another.
Emerson slid open the rudimentary latch and pushed open the door. At least, he attempted to push open the door.Hanging crooked from loose hinges, it caught on the floor about two feet in. Trying to lift the door from its latch, Emerson shoved his weight against the old wood with his shoulder until it scraped its way open.
Before they could stand even a second in awkward silence, he hustled inside and to the wall on the left, flipping on the light switch. Hooking up electricity in here had been one of the first things Jayden did when they moved onto the property, even though Emerson had thought it was a waste of money. But if Emerson wasn’t going to use the barn for the actual farm, Jayden swore it had potential for hosting events.
And then they’d gotten distracted with other projects, and hadn’t done a single other thing to it.
For half a second, the barn was filled with warm light.
And then the lightbulb above their heads went out with a loud, ominouspop, leaving the group below in eerie half light.
Emerson cleared his throat again.
“There’s still quite a bit of cleaning up in here to do.” The words came out a feeble scrape, but the dilapidated walls around them still amplified them somehow, echoing around the shadowy room. “And we’ll get those lights up outside, like I promised.”
Luca stuck his head into the empty tack room they were standing across from.
“Maybe this could be where your bar’s set up? Or a coat room?”
Saving Emerson, once again.
Ben joined Luca, murmuring plans, while Julie wandered into the spacious open floor of the main room beyond. Emerson stood frozen by the light switch. There was nothing else to see, other than the tack room: no amenities, no kitchen, no heat, no fairy lights or cute rustic decorations he was sure Jayden would have scrounged up prior to this walk-through.
There was only dirt, and dust, and cobwebs, and questionable structural integrity.
He really had meant to get around to the barn this week, especially after getting Ben’s text. Do a little cleaning, wipe awaysomeof the grime, for Chrissake. What an embarrassment. He had seen it on Ben’s face the moment they’d walked in. A clear look of distress, marring his beautiful features. He’d recovered, attempted to force his face back to neutral as he chatted with Luca. Maybe Emerson had been the only one who’d seen it. But he was the only one who needed to see it. This was his fuck-up. His problem.
An unholy scream rang through the empty room.
Half a second later, Ben was running across the uneven floorboards toward Julie.
