Page 159 of Key West Homecoming

“Was it a good one?”

Jake thought about the pale blue cottage and the phone number saved in his contacts. Mostly, he thought about what he had finally admitted to himself on William Street.

“It was.”

He could have told her about the house. The problem was that the house made sense only if he told her the rest.

Jake had known he was in love with Emma for less than two hours. Announcing it over Rebecca’s leftover coffee cake seemed like poor planning.

“I’ll slice this,” he said. “You want coffee?”

“I’d love some.”

They sat on the porch with coffee and cake.

Emma told him Priya had already texted twice about visiting Key West. Jake told her the pergola had survived twenty-four hours without collapsing, which he considered encouraging.

“What are you doing today?” he asked.

“I have no idea. I’m trying to get better at that.”

“At what?”

“Not scheduling every minute of my life.”

“How’s it going?”

“I find it unsettling.”

Jake smiled. “You’ll improve.”

Emma stayed for a little more than an hour. When she left, she kissed him at the gate.

Jake stood there after she drove away.

The house on William Street stayed in his mind for the rest of the afternoon.

He thought about it while watering the herb pots and again while cleaning cedar dust from the side of the pergola.

Still, he didn’t call the real estate agent.

His grandfather had once told him he stood at the edge of a piece of Michigan farmland for most of a summer before deciding to buy it. Jake had always understood that story.

Some decisions deserved time.

He was beginning to suspect some didn’t need nearly as much as he gave them.

That evening Emma stopped at Margarita Max’s.

She hadn’t planned to. The idea had been to sit at Winslow’s with Gloria’s notebook and enjoy a quiet evening.

At six, she put on her shoes and drove into town anyway.

Lloyd was on his stool.

“Lloyd.”

“Emma.”