12. Jenny #2
Then he’d insisted that Jenny buy one of each baked good on the table so they could take it all to the Center to share. That meant passing the inn on the way home and doubling back, but Jenny knew there was no point arguing, because Gael had an idea he was excited about, and she was all for it.
They had waved goodbye to their new friends and filled the trunk with shoofly pies, whoopie pies, friendship bread, and even something called fasnachts, which she thought were sort of like doughnuts.
The guys at the Center had been delighted to see Gael, and half of what they brought was eaten up in a heartbeat.
The two of them were invited to stay and play a card game, but Gael was eager to get back to the inn and get ready for their dinner out, so they said their goodbyes and got right back in the car.
Jenny was honestly a little surprised that he still wanted to go out. After eating delicious treats all day, and walking around the farm and the little village, she wouldn’t have thought he’d still have the energy or the appetite for it.
But this vacation was all about Gael, and she was happy to go out for the evening if that was what he had in mind.
When they stepped into the inn, Gael ran to find Trudy and Ward and give them the shoofly pie he and Jenny had bought for them.
Trudy fussed over him and Ward pretended he was going to eat the whole thing and not share any with Trudy.
Gael predictably thought that was hilarious. But when Ward asked them to stay and share a slice, Gael said they had to go and get ready.
Jenny had done a little homework, and there weren’t that many places to go out for dinner in Trinity Falls. There was a very fancy restaurant in the village, a pizza shop, a diner, a café or two, and beyond that you had to leave the town.
She figured she would take Gael to the diner, since they would have pretty good variety and it wouldn’t be too fancy.
But when she came out of her room in a nice pair of jeans and her favorite sweater, he shook his head.
“Wear the pretty skirt,” he told her. “I know you brought it.”
She did have a long tweed skirt and a soft cream-colored sweater that went with it. She wasn’t exactly sure why she had brought it along, but tonight was as good an occasion as any to look extra nice.
“Okay,” she said. “Why not?”
Gael nodded, his eyes dancing, and she thought again how strange it was that he was this excited about going to dinner. Normally, Gael was most interested in meeting people, seeing animals, and reading. He loved to eat, but she had always thought most of the fun for him was in the cooking.
“Hurry,” he told her, pointing to her bedroom as she stood there studying him.
“You’re hungry again, huh?” she said, amazed, as she went back to grab the outfit from her suitcase.
He was a growing boy though, so she probably shouldn’t really be surprised. She found her things, and a few minutes later she was dressed and ready to go.
“You look great,” Gael said approvingly as he looked her up and down. “Absolutely perfect.”
“Wow, thanks,” she told him. “You look very nice too.”
He had on jeans and a sweater himself, but since his only other nice outfit was for the wedding, she figured that was just fine. He certainly didn’t seem half as worried about himself as he was about her.
“Thank you,” he said, smiling to himself.
Children could certainly be mysterious sometimes. Every time Jenny thought she had her son all figured out, she was humbled all over again by a moment like this one where she truly had no idea whatsoever what was going on in his mind.
They headed down the stairs together in uncharacteristic silence.
“You know what?” Gael piped up as soon as they reached the bottom of the staircase. “I’m tired.”
Jenny turned to him worriedly. This was such a sudden change in spirits. She sure hoped he wasn’t coming down with something.
“You were so excited about this,” she said, touching her hand to his forehead. “Are you feeling okay?”
But the front door opened just then, letting in a puff of cold air, and Gael’s face lit up. Jenny turned to see Erik, gazing at her with a big smile.
“Oh,” she said.
She certainly hadn’t been expecting him, and she had no idea what other business he would have here at the inn, but all her questions froze on the tip of her tongue as she took him in.
His dark hair was combed back, and he wore a crisp white button-down and brown trousers with a sports coat on top. A hint of five o’clock shadow only highlighted the sharp angle of his jaw. Erik was always very handsome, but tonight he looked knee-meltingly gorgeous.
“You look beautiful tonight, Jenny,” he said, his deep voice sending a little shiver through her. “Are you ready?”
“I… I mean we…” she began, turning back to Gael.
“Oh, I’m not going,” Gael said, peeling off his sweater to reveal a pajama top. “I’m going to have a movie night with Miss Trudy and Mr. Ward. Right, Miss Trudy?”
“Gael, is that you?” Trudy’s voice came from the kitchen. “Did you want some popcorn, sweetheart?”
Jenny stared at her son, completely blown away. He had planned this whole thing. Suddenly, it all made perfect sense.
“Gael,” she began, her voice firmer than usual.
“Coming, Miss Trudy,” he yelped, dashing off to the kitchen.
“Did you, uh, want to reschedule?” Erik asked, clearly sensing something was amiss.
Gael stopped in his tracks in the dining room and turned to Jenny, giving her a very meaningful look.
Jenny panicked as a bubbly sensation rose in her chest.
Don’t you dare laugh, Jennifer, she told herself sternly. That is absolutely the worst thing you could do right now. You’d only be encouraging him.
But there was something so ridiculous about having been completely and thoroughly hornswoggled by a nine-year-old that she wasn’t sure she could keep the laughter in.
She shook her head briskly and headed for the door, leaving Erik to hurry behind her out into the night.
“Jenny, I’m so sorry,” Erik began. “Is something wrong?”
But she just kept shaking her head, pressing a hand to her mouth as she dashed down the porch steps and out onto the snowy gravel drive.
“Jenny,” Erik said worriedly.
Then she saw Gael’s twinkling eyes again in her mind and a snort of laughter came out of her nose.
“Jenny?” Erik said again.
But the snort was so embarrassing and also so horribly funny that she forgot and took her hand off her mouth and the laughter bubbled right out.
“Are you okay—oh,” Erik said.
“I’m s-so s-sorry,” Jenny giggled. “He j-just r-really got me g-good. And I didn’t want him to s-s-see me laughing.”
“Who got you good?” Erik asked.
Pulling herself together, Jenny looked up at her fake fiancé.
“Did you get a text from me today?” she asked.
“Of course,” he told her. “You said you wanted to go to dinner tonight.”
“Mm-hm,” she said, nodding. “Well, I didn’t text you.”
“You didn’t?” he asked, starting to reach for his phone.
“Oh, you got a text, for sure,” she said. “But it was Gael. And he told me that he wanted to go out for a nice dinner tonight.”
“Wow,” Erik said, his eyebrows lifting.
“I should have known right then,” she said, shaking her head. “Because Gael’s a homebody and he loves a home-cooked meal. But I agreed.”
Something else occurred to her and she had to smile again.
“What now?” Erik asked.
“I put on jeans and a sweater, and he made me change,” she said.
“The kid’s a real romantic,” Erik said, looking kind of impressed.
“He’s convinced that every fake engagement ends with a real wedding,” she said, then pressed her lips together.
It was one thing for Erik to want to take her out on a real date. Implying that they might actually get married was too much.
“It always works in the movies,” Erik said, shrugging.
“Don’t encourage him,” Jenny said, trying to play it cool while her heart skipped a beat.
“So does all this mean that you didn’t want to go to dinner with me?” Erik asked, his green eyes flashing to hers.
“I…um…no,” she said. “I did want to go to dinner with you. I mean I do. It’s just…”
“Complicated?” Erik offered.
“Yes,” she said, feeling relieved. “It’s all complicated, for so many reasons.”
“Do you want to go back to the inn?” Erik asked. “Or should we talk about our complications over dinner? I reserved us a table at the Village Green, if that influences you one way or the other.”
Jenny knew from her earlier research that the Village Green was the nicest restaurant in town.
This is important to him, she realized.
“Let’s have a nice dinner,” she said.
“I was hoping you would say that,” he said with a smile, offering her his hand.
Once again, she placed her hand in his and felt a tingle of happiness, like this was exactly where her hand was meant to be, even though she knew it wasn’t.
Or she thought she knew, at least.
Was it possible that her precocious nine-year-old actually knew better?