Page 28 of Key West Homecoming

“What about it?”

“I’d like to borrow it.”

“For what?”

“I need to make a copy.”

He didn’t say anything.

“I’ll bring it back this afternoon,” Emma said. “I won’t keep it.”

“Who’s the copy for?”

That was the part she’d been dreading.

“Someone who’s helping me figure out what’s going on with the cottage.”

“What kind of someone?”

Emma hesitated.

Jake noticed. She could see it in his face.

“I can’t tell you everything yet,” she said. “I know how that sounds.”

“Not great.”

“No.”

Emma looked toward the yard.

She could have given him something vague and reassuring. She’d spent years in conference rooms doing exactly that when a client wanted an answer she wasn’t ready to give.

She didn’t want to do that with Jake.

“I found out some things this morning that I need help understanding,” she said. “The letter may be part of that. I don’t want to tell you something today and find out tomorrow that I was wrong.”

Jake rested his forearms on his knees.

For a while, neither of them spoke.

Emma let the silence stay between them.

Finally, Jake stood.

“How long?”

“An hour, maybe less.”

“Wait here.”

He went inside.

Emma sat back in the chair.

She hadn’t expected him to say yes.

That fact had made her more uncomfortable than if he’d refused. Trust was easier when she was the one deciding whether to give it. Having someone else place it in her hands was different.