Love Finds a Home by Kathryn Springer Page B

but before I do, this is for you.” Jake held out a plastic cup.
    “What is it?” Emma cast a dubious look at the contents.
    “It’s an ice-cream sundae. At least it used to be,” Jake amended. The maraschino cherry that adorned the top had sunk to the bottom and the ice cream had changed from a solid to a liquid during the short drive from the Grapevine Café to the house. “Jeremy mentioned that hot fudge is your favorite kind.”
    “It is.” Emma finally reached out and took the cup but she continued to stare down at the sundae as if she’d never seen one before.
    “If it makes you feel better, we ate the oatmeal cookies first.”
    Emma smiled and Jake felt the impact down to his toes. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen it, but it was the first time she’d directed it at him. It also gave him the courage to discover the answer to the question that had been chewing at the edge of his thoughts all evening.
    “How did you do tonight?”
    “It was…hard.”
    She’d told him the truth, so Jake decided he couldn’t do any less.
    “What would you say if I told you that I was just as afraid to take him as you were to let him go?”
    Emma lifted curious eyes to his face. “What do you mean?”
    Jake wasn’t sure if he could even put it into words. Sitting on the dock, listening to Jeremy’s laughter stir the evening air. Watching his expression when he reeledthe first fish in. Seeing those blue eyes light up whenever Jake praised his effort.
    It had left him feeling…renewed.
    Until now, Jake hadn’t realized the toll his undercover work had taken on him. The subtle change that occurred when a man grew so accustomed to the darkness that he forgot what it was like to live in the light.
    Let Emma get to know you, Andy had said. But there were some things he couldn’t tell her. But he could tell her this.
    Unable to resist this time, Jake reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. He leaned closer.
    “I’ve never been fishing before.”

Chapter Ten

    J ake left Emma standing on the porch, trying to make sense of his words. And his touch.
    Dazed, she made her way upstairs just as Jeremy emerged from the bathroom, his hair damp from the shower. With the dirt removed and a damp towel draped over his shoulder instead of a fishing creel, he looked more like her little boy. To Emma’s relief, he smelled better, too.
    “Did Jake leave?”
    Emma managed a nod.
    “Did you like the sundae?” Jeremy spotted the plastic cup in her hand. “It was Jake’s idea.”
    “That was very thoughtful of him.” She was beginning to see that’s the kind of man Jake was. The kind who talked about his faith with the easy confidence of one who believed it. The kind who took a boy fishing and invited his mother along in order to ease her fears.
    If only the others could be put to rest as easily, Emma thought.
    Jeremy darted into his bedroom and flipped on thelight on the nightstand. Emma followed, bending down to collect a trail of dirty clothes along the way.
    “I’m glad you had a good time.”
    “You can come with us next time if you want to.” Jeremy peeled back the comforter and dived beneath it. “We’ll see.”
    Emma decided to save that particular discussion for later. She reached for the light switch. “Do you want this off?”
    “Not yet. I’m going to read awhile.”
    The librarian in Emma couldn’t help but be pleased. “Let me guess—a book about fishing.”
    “Nope.” Jeremy slid open the drawer in the nightstand and reached inside.
    Emma sat down hard at the foot of the bed, her gaze riveted on the little white Bible Jeremy had tugged out of the drawer. “Where did you find that?”
    “In a box of books downstairs.” Jeremy looked surprised by the question. “Mr. Redstone told us that the Bible is one of the ways God talks to us, so I read it every night before I go to bed.”
    “I see.” Emma moistened her lips, unsure of what to say. Or do.
    A few days ago, she would have