Page 21 of Not Just Gal Pals

“Hey, Auntie Blake, where do babies come from?” Ava piped up as she stared at the sleeping baby sitting across from us, causing me to almost choke from trying to hold back my giggles.

“Let’s ask your dad when he picks you up, okay?” Blake said solemnly, her lips twitching.

“No, I wanna know right now.” Ava stared at Blake.

Blake’s eyes widened, and she shot me a panicked look. I slapped my hand to my mouth to stop laughter escaping.

“Well, babies are made by combining an egg from a woman and sperm from a man. A doctor can do it in a lab or—”

The cart jerked as it drove over a pothole, and Ava shrieked with glee. Much to my disappointment, she forgot about the birds-and-the-bees talk Blake was valiantly attempting just as it was getting interesting. Blake caught my eye and mimed wiping her brow in relief, and I stifled another giggle.

The hayride was over too soon. I could have spent another hour enjoying the views and fresh air, but the farm was closing. We scrambled off the cart and were making our way toward the exit when the twins spotted one of those “put your face in the hole” boards and ran toward it. It was adorned with a painting of cartoon farm animals, their faces cut out so you could poke your head through.

“You go too, and I’ll take a photo of the three of you.” I shooed Blake with my hand and pulled out my phone.

Liam poked his head through the yellow duck’s head, Ava’s head appeared on top of the pig’s body, and a second later, Blake’s head popped through above the cow’s shoulders. I’d taken a few photos when the farm employee who’d put Donna on my head approached.

“If you’d like, I can take a photo of your gorgeous family so you can be in it too,” she said, smiling.

Blake and I exchanged amused looks. To be honest, it was refreshing. The number of times I’d been out with a woman I was dating, only for people to assume she was just my friend, my sister, or even once—much to my date’s horror—my mom, was too many to count. It was nice for once for the assumption to go the other way. Blake and I weren’t dating, or even friends, but this woman had thought we were a couple. Well, at least, we hadn’t been friends. Now, I wasn’t too sure what we were.

“That would be lovely, thank you,” I said, handing over my phone.

“C’mon, Jenny! You can be the horse!” Ava yelled.

“Okay. Okay. Coming!” I looked down at Walter. “You can be in the photo too, little guy.”

I jogged over to the board, directed Walter to sit next to Liam’s duck, and poked my head through the remaining hole.

“One, two, three, say, ‘corn cob’!” The woman took some shots, and then we extricated our heads from the holes and thanked her.

“Can you send me those photos?” Blake asked.

“Of course.” I smiled and then noticed Blake’s bare head, my smile fading. “Oh shit, I forgot to give back your beanie.”

Without thinking, I turned to her, taking the beanie off my head and, with both hands, gently placing it on Blake’s hair, tugging it down.

I suddenly became conscious of how close I was to Blake again, how intimate this felt. I could smell the sweetness of cinnamon and cider on her breath, feel the softness of her hair on my fingers. If this was one of those Hallmark movies, we’d look intensely into each other’s eyes and slowly lean in for a passionate kiss. I yanked my hands away and took a step back at the thought. What the hell are you doing, Jenny?

Blake cleared her throat. “Um, do you need a lift home?” Her voice sounded normal, like I hadn’t just invaded her personal space and imagined kissing her. Thank god.

I paused for only a second before accepting Blake’s offer. After overexerting myself in the corn maze, walking home had lost its appeal.

We spent the ride home in comfortable silence, the twins dozing in their car seats behind us. I leaned back in the passenger seat, Walter on my lap, warm and relaxed after the adventures of the day. I hadn’t felt this content and peaceful since the scandal happened. Maybe longer. I stole glances at Blake’s face in profile as she focused on driving down the dark, winding roads back to Sapphire Springs.

As I got out of the car, Blake cleared her throat. “Thanks for hanging out with us this afternoon. I’m not sure we’d all still be in one piece if it hadn’t been for you. And I…I had a really nice time.” Her voice was gruff.

“Me too.” I hoped my voice didn’t sound as surprised as I felt.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

BLAKE

“Shouldn’t you be working?” George asked, surprised, as I walked into Novel Gossip.

I huffed. “Yes, thanks for the warm welcome and reminder. I blocked out an hour this afternoon to try to get on top of paperwork, and Dad is waging another battle with the printer that I can’t listen to any longer, so I thought I’d give you some business, see how my BFF is doing, and do a bit of work. But if you’re not interested, I can go to Dippin’ Donuts instead.” I raised an eyebrow.

She took a dramatic intake of breath and glared at me. “You wouldn’t dare!”