Page 104 of Key West Homecoming

She hesitated.

“Jake?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for not letting him in.”

“You don’t have to thank me. What’s right is right.”

“I’ll be in touch.”

She called Rachel next.

“Write everything down,” she said. “Date and times included. Have Jake write his own account separately, and don’t compare them before he sends it to me.”

“All right.”

“Your uncle drove to the cottage the day after he was served and after his own attorney entered an appearance. He tried to get past a tenant who may be a witness in this case. I can use that.”

“For what?”

“At minimum, I can ask the court for an order directing him to stay away from the property while this is pending. Beyond that, judges notice how people behave.”

“Jake said that Arthur made a comment about there being something riding on this.”

“Did he explain?”

“No, Jake said Arthur let it slip. He didn’t think Arthur meant to say that.”

Rachel went quiet.

“Friday. Nine o’clock. Don’t be late.”

Emma knew she wanted to see Jake before she even finished the call with Rachel. She could have called him again and asked if he was all right, but hearing his voice wasn’t enough this time. Arthur had shown up at the cottage angry and determined to get inside, and Jake had been the one standing between him and the gate. Emma needed to see for herself that he was okay.

At least that was what she told herself when she picked up her keys.

The truth was more complicated, and she knew it before she reached the car. Earlier that afternoon, she had almost called Jake because she wanted to tell him about Gloria’s notebook. She had stopped herself then because wanting to talk to him had felt like something she needed to think about first. Now, only a few hours later, she was looking for another reason to be with him.

She stopped denying she was developing feelings for Jake. Her life was still in Chicago, even if she’d taken two months away from it. The cottage wasn’t legally hers yet, and she had no idea what would happen when those two months were over. Jake had a life here, and the last thing either of them needed was for Emma to mistake everything she was feeling about Key West, Gloria and the cottage for something she felt about him.

Except she didn’t think that was what she was doing.

She wanted to see Jake because she loved being with him. That realization stayed with her all the way to Hibiscus Lane.

Jake was in the back corner of the yard setting the fourth pergola post. Cedar shavings had been swept into a pile near his feet.

He looked up when she came around the cottage but kept the drill running for another few seconds before shutting it off.

Emma waited.

When he set it down, he wiped one hand across the front of his shirt.

“I’m glad you came.”

“So am I.”

She sat on the bench beneath the lignum vitae. Jake sat beside her, leaving the same small space between them he always did.