"I found him! Like no test needed, he remembers you girly! He's flying us out tomorrow morning on his Private Jet! You are one lucky woman for sure, he seems the super responsible type and he was super excited to know more about you, there's no way he doesn't still love you. Are you there McKenna?" "Yeah, yeah I'm here just...I can't believe we finally found him..."
McKenna was pretty much speechless as her friend continued talking about what a dreamboat Blake was and how it was too bad he was obviously still into McKenna because she would definitely hit that if given the opportunity.
She had to tell the girls, prepare them mentally for the visit and give herself a little downtime after the girls went to bed to prepare mentally as well. There was no way that Blake was still into her but she did know that he would take responsibility for the girls and would welcome them into his life with open arms. She remembered how warm and loving he was with his brother, how much family meant to him, especially after the way his parents had treated him and his siblings.
His grandparents had raised all four of them and had nearly lost their own marriage to the struggle of raising them in their later years. And he had never wanted his children to grow up not knowing him. How she wished she had found him sooner, she had no idea if he had ever looked for her after that summer but she wasn't going to hold that against him.
Men didn't fall in love the way women did and she was not one to hold onto false hope, it had been one night together after a summer of looking for his brother. There was nothing special between them other than the girls and she refused to trap him in a relationship he wouldn't want to have.
**********
McKenna was busy as ever with her shop. She was busy preparing more baked goods as her baristas made coffee and took orders up front. She was almost out of cinnamon rolls again and the next 4 batches had 5 minutes before they could come out of the oven.
She knew that Jess was on her way to NYC with Blake and she had no idea when they would be showing up. His main office building was in Orlando, FL and the flight would take several hours so she was busy doing the one thing she knew how to do the best; bake delicious pastries. It was also her best way of dealing with stress and staying useful.
McKenna finished rolling out her scone dough, the smell of blueberries wafting through the room mixed with cinnamon from the oven. It was the last week for the summer season and she would miss the delicate flavors of summer. She was looking forward to the robust flavors of fall as well, maple, bacon, pumpkin, apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves; she couldn't wait to start selling them all.
"Um boss, Jessica is here with some super hot dude asking for pumpkin scones and a meeting?" Brittany called through the kitchen window.
McKenna looked up from the baking sheets she was placing the scones on and was shocked for a minute. "Umm, what? Already? Uh, who is available to watch the kitchen while I'm out?"
"I can do it for you." Brittany answered as she came inside the kitchen and shooed McKenna away to wash her hands. After she finished washing her hands, she pulled the cinnamon rolls out of the oven and put them on the cooling rack before heading to the front of the shop. She took a deep breath and walked through the door with a plate of pumpkin scones for Jessica.
She felt like the breath was knocked out of her as her eyes met with his. With Blakes'. They were the same blue as the girls, the same wavy chestnut brown hair, the broad shoulders and muscular arms had only filled out more with age. 25 looked good on him. She slowly walked forward and offered the plate to Jessica who took it quickly so McKenna could offer Blake her hand.
Blake grabbed her hand and pulled her to him, embracing her in a comforting hug. She was stiff at first then relaxed into it as she breathed in his familiar scent, almost like he had just got out of the ocean. Realizing suddenly that were in still in the middle of her shop, as the place had grown quiet when her regulars saw what was happening, she quickly backed out of the hug and ushered the two to her office, her face burning bright red.
As soon as she closed the door, Blake pulled her into a hug again and this time she embraced him back. She was so relieved that Jessica had found him. It was definitely her Blake. After several long minutes she realized that Jessica was making yum yum noises and looked up to see what in the world her friend was thinking. Jessica had half of one of the scones gone already and was rolling her eyes in ecstasy as she gobbled up the dessert.
McKenna laughed softly as she let go of Blake. He kept his arms around her and looked down at her with a guilty look on his face.
"McKenna, I am So sorry that you've gone through 7 years of pregnancy and raising our daughters all on your own. I tried to find you after the school year started back up but by the time i got there you were gone and they didn't know where you were. I just hope you don't hate me for not at least giving you a number to reach me by."
"No, no I don't hate you. I just wanted to find you for the girls sake. I remember your brothers story and how you never wanted to do what your dad did and just disappear on your kids and I've searched, well Jessica has searched, so hard for you. I still want to do the paternity test for your families sake at least but I know they're yours. I haven't been with anyone else, I swear."
Blake looked at her funny then and pulled a little box out of his pocket. McKenna backed away immediately. "NO. I didn't find you just to trap you in a marriage. I just want the girls to know their father and his family, their family! You don't have to marry me."
"McKenna, you're not trapping me. I want to marry you."
"No, not so soon anyways. We're different people than we were back then, we hardly know each other. It's not right and I won't do it."
Blake hung in head and had a thoughtful expression on his face. After several minutes, he looked back up at her with a mischievous smirk on his face. "Then date me McKenna."