“Well, I guess I’ll just need to figure out what to tell people for now,” Jenny said. “And then what to tell them afterward.”
“If we’re already having a fake wedding, there’s no reason we can’t have a fake annulment,” Erik joked weakly.
He felt bent out of shape all over again at the thought, though he knew he shouldn’t.
“Or a fake death,” Gael offered enthusiastically.
Erik glanced in the mirror and saw that the boy’s eyes were sparkling. There must have been a really good fake death storyline in one of his TV shows.
“I think annulment makes more sense,” Jenny said indulgently. “I don’t want us to have to go into hiding or anything afterward.”
“Oh, yeah,” Gael said, laughing.
“Well, maybe we can sit down later and talk about all this stuff,” Jenny offered. “We can decide exactly what to tell people about us.”
“Okay,” Erik said, unable to hide his smile. “That sounds good.”
He drove on, enjoying hearing Gael’s rundown of everything he saw out the window as they went. The boy pointed out every cow and horse he spotted, and he was especially tickled when he saw a big red barn.
“Here we go,” Erik said at last, gesturing to the bigwooden Cassidy Farm sign hand-printed with horses and apples.
“Cool,” Gael said as they pulled into the tree-lined driveway that led to the parking area. “That’s a lot of trees.”
“Those are sycamores,” Erik told him. “They have that pretty mottled bark, and when it’s not winter, they have nice big leaves that give a lot of shade.”
“We have those in the city,” Gael said. “In the park.”
Erik pulled into a spot up at the end of the lot where people waited in line to go on a hayride to pick apples in the fall.
“Whoa, it’s big,” Gael said as he got out. “This whole thing is one farm?”
“The farm stretches out for miles,” Erik told him. “This is just the one corner of it that’s open for visitors.”
“Can we pick apples?” Gael asked, galloping off to the wooden sign across the lane.
Thankfully, the upper parking area was almost empty. Most folks were probably at home relaxing today, or out at the mall on Route One exchanging gifts or taking advantage of sales.
“Please be really careful, Gael,” Jenny said gently. “I know there aren’t other cars, but you never know in a parking lot.”
“Sorry,” Gael said, his face falling. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she told him right away. “I love that you’re excited about this place. I’m excited too.”
Gael smiled, and Erik’s heart gave a tug. Gael and Jenny were such a good pair.
“The apple picking is only when apples are in season,” Erik explained. “But the nursery should be full of Christmas stuff right now. And there are displays too.”
“Isn’t a nursery for babies?” Gael asked doubtfully.
“It is,” Erik explained. “In this case, baby plants. People buy them for their own homes and gardens. But they also have a bunch of holiday items and decorations.”
“Can we go there?” Gael asked, looking to Jenny.
“Absolutely,” she told him. “If Erik will lead the way.”
“It would be my honor,” Erik said, giving a pretend bow that predictably cracked Gael up.
He spontaneously offered Jenny his hand. He was gratified when she took it and offered her other hand to Gael, who grabbed it eagerly, and then the three of them headed down the row of ancient sycamores toward the nursery together, hand in hand.
