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She shook her head, wiping away the moisture before it turned into a tear. Her emotions were on a rollercoaster. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just so beautiful.”
A smile grew on his lips. They continued down the road and back up the hill, and she realized they had circled back, and were only a few hundred feet from the Boudreau Farm.
He stopped in front of the driveway. “You should swing by again next time you’re babysitting.”
“Sure.” Her stomach fluttered. “We will.”
He waved as she and Emma pushed the stroller up the drive. She looked down at Mae, who was passed out asleep.
“Emma Banana, do you mind bringing Mae into the house? I’ll take the stroller back to the barn.” She waited as Emma went inside, then called out, “Jake! Wait up!”
She put the brakes on the stroller and ran down the driveway.
As soon as she reached him, he said, “Hannah, I’m really sorry about my behavior.”
She smiled ruefully and shook her head. “Funny, I was about to apologize to you. I know you were trying to help. I was just embarrassed.”
There, she’d said it.
“You aren’t the one who should be embarrassed.”
She looked up at the house. “Anyways, thanks for the walk.” She bent down and rubbed under the pig’s chin.
“Well. Come by anytime.” He gave a nod as he started to walk away.
“We babysit on Friday nights.”
As she walked back up the drive, she peeked over her shoulder and caught him looking back at her. She covered her smile with her hand as she wheeled the stroller to the empty stall where the kids’ toys and bicycles were stored.
Maybe Mr. Marine wasn’t such a bad guy after all.
“Were you just walking with Jake Malloy?” Olivia asked, coming out from behind her.
“Oh!” Hannah jumped. “You scared me!”
“Sorry,” Olivia laughed. “We just got home.”
“We took Mae on a walk and bumped into him,” she said casually, pretending not to notice Olivia’s raised eyebrow. “Stop it.”
“He’s cute, and he goes to church every Sunday with his mom, and I bet he looks good in a uniform…” Olivia nudged her with an elbow.
“What are you guys doing back so early?” she asked. “I thought you were going to a movie?”
“It’s such a nice night, we were thinking of going riding.” She laughed. “That’s why I’m out here hiding, because I don’t want Mae to see me.”
Then, out of nowhere, Olivia started to cry.
“What’s wrong?” Hannah rushed to her friend.
“I don’t want to have to send her to a daycare.” She wrapped her arms around herself and stifled a hiccup. “But I can’t get any work done without her freaking out.”
Hannah knew that feeling. Emma had gone through the same stage.
“And Jesse has so much to do at the ranch, and he’s trying to help as much as he can, but she just screams and cries if I’m in the house and not paying attention to her.” Olivia wiped her eyes with the palms of her hands. “Nana is always willing to watch her, but I don’t want to take up her whole day.”
Hannah’s heart expanded with hope. “What if I came and watched her?”
“What?”
