Prank Date [✔]

Part 12

When the phone rang, I nearly dropped the pumpkin I carried. I steadied it against my hip and reached for the phone with my free hand.

One glance at the display made my lips stretch into a broad grin. I lifted the phone to my ear.

"Hey, Jennie." I greeted.

In the four days since Jennie's birthday, I had called Jennie twice, just to talk for a few minutes, but Jennie had never called me before. I held my breath while I waited for what Jennie would say.

"Hi," Jennie said. "How are you?"

"I'm doing great. We brought in the late-harvest grapes, and now I can finally relax a bit. How are you doing?"

"I'm good," Jennie said, then paused.

As always, she seemed reluctant to return my recounting of my work day. Someone had probably made her believe that she would bore people if she talked about her job.

"How is training the new accountant going?" I asked. "Donnie, right?"

"Oh, he's doing great." Jennie's voice became more animated. "He's quick to understand things." She hesitated.

"But?" I prompted.

After a moment of silence, Jennie said, "He asked me out yesterday."

I found myself frowning. You're not jealous of Donnie, the accountant, are you? Jennie and you are friends at best, remember?

"And you accepted?" I asked.

"No. I told him dating a colleague is a bad idea."

"Good," I said before I could stop myself. God! I mentally slapped my forehead and added, "I mean you're supposed to be my girlfriend, and if Jin finds out you're dating Donnie, he won't fall for our trick." I decided to change the topic before I got myself into even more trouble. "So, what are you doing tonight?"

Jennie was quiet for a moment. "Nothing special."

Is she calling to see if we can get together and do something?

I waited, but Jennie didn't ask. Finally, I broke the silence.

"Want to come over and help me carve jack-o'-lanterns for the tasting room? We can talk some more about how to trick Jin."

"Does it involve your hangover-inducing red wine?" Jennie asked.

I laughed. "It better not. We're handling carving knives." I set down the pumpkin and switched the phone to the other ear. "So, do you want to come over and help?"

"If you're sure that I'm not bothering —"

"Jennie, stop," I said, my voice firm. This needed to be said once and for all. "If you were bothering me, I wouldn't have invited you over—or even answered the phone for that matter. I like spending time with you, okay?"