Page 20 of Not Just Gal Pals

She was so close to me I could see some tiny indentations that looked like chicken pox scars and some light freckles on her cheeks. So close I noticed a few silver hairs poking out from under her beanie. So close that if I just leaned over a few inches, I could tease her soft, pink, juicy-looking earlobe with my teeth. My eyes widened as the image materialized in my mind. This is Blake, remember, Jenny? Snap out of it.

She opened her eyes and turned to look at me. Shit, had she sensed me ogling her?

If she did, she didn’t say anything. Instead, she took off her beanie and handed it to me. “Here, put this on and give me your phone.”

“Okay…” Unsure where this was going, I put on the beanie, still warm from Blake’s head, and handed my phone over.

Blake took some photos, and then scrolled through them, smiling. “Perfect!”

To say I was surprised at how seriously Blake was taking her duties as my personal photographer was an understatement. I’d assumed Blake, like those teachers at the careers panel, thought my career was a joke. But the way she’d been suggesting photo ops and snapping photos without any hint of judgment had been pleasantly unexpected.

She passed the phone back to me. “Need to make sure I’m holding up my end of the bargain,” she said gruffly. I was about to look at the photos, to see what Blake had been so keen on capturing, when a bell rang.

“The last hayride is leaving in five minutes!” a young farm employee yelled.

The twins pulled the donuts away from their tongues, reinvigorated from sugar.

“Can we go on the hayride, Auntie Blake? Please?” asked Ava.

“Pleeeeeeaase!” Liam echoed.

Blake looked at me, an eyebrow raised.

I nodded. “Anything that involves sitting is fine with me. And I should probably stop eating apple fritters, or I may turn into one.” I downed the rest of my cider, surprised at how eager I was to extend my time with Blake and the twins.

“Okay, let’s do it, then.” Blake pulled some baby wipes out of her backpack and attempted to remove the sugar from the twins’ faces before grabbing a hand each and walking toward a cart lined with hay bales and attached to another red tractor.

We helped the twins up onto the cart and sat down on the bales. Blake nodded to a bale opposite us. “If you sit over there, I could take a photo of you.”

I shook my head. “Thanks, but I think I’m all photo’d out.”

“Come on, I think it’ll look good,” Blake said with a grin.

I just wanted to enjoy the hayride, but Blake was right. The late-afternoon sun was hitting the trees in front of us, and behind them were the mountains and blue sky with a smattering of fluffy clouds. It was picture perfect.

I swapped sides and got Walter to pose beside me, looking out as if the hayride was moving while Blake captured the moment. Then I took my place again next to Ava.

A man with a sleeping baby strapped to his chest and a toddler in tow climbed onto the hay bales, and then the driver secured the gate at the back of the cart, gave us a short spiel about safety, and we were off.

The cart bumped along the dirt track, past the pumpkin patch, apple orchards, and the corn maze. As we went farther out, we passed a field covered in colorful dahlias, zinnias, and snapdragons, and a greenhouse full of more flowers.

“That’s where Olivia gets most of her flowers.” Blake nodded toward the field and greenhouse.

“Oh wow! I didn’t realize she sourced them locally.” The fact the flowers we’d used for Amanda’s bachelorette party might have been growing in this field last week gave me a little buzz of warmth.

Behind the flowers was a field of verdant-green pine trees, almost ready for the Christmas tree harvest. The scent of pine lingered in the air, and I inhaled with gusto.

“Is there anything this farm doesn’t do?” I asked, only half joking. It certainly made the perfect setting for a content creator. I’d have to come back in December for another holiday-themed photoshoot.

Despite—or perhaps because of—all the sugar the twins had consumed, to my relief, they were content to sit and enjoy the ride. The rhythmic bouncing of the cart and the warm fritters and cider in my belly made me deliciously cozy, while the crisp fall air, blazing red trees, and blue skies made it feel like we were in a fall wonderland.

“How’s the wedding planning going?” Blake asked, turning to me.

“Pretty good. I’ve got a lot to do, but I’m enjoying it. I think it’s going to be a really special day.”

“Oh great. Well, my offer to help still stands if you need it.” She paused. “So, how long are you staying in Sapphire Springs?”

“Probably until January.” I studied Blake’s face for a reaction, but she just nodded.