With a sigh, Lena grabbed the kitchen scale, weighed the apples, and placed them in the pot. After a quick calculation, she added some sugar and closed the lid, then went to see how Jess was doing.
She had removed the leaves and debris floating on the water and was now placing the blackberries in a sieve. Carefully, by hand. Her brows wrinkled, and she bit her lip in concentration as she sifted through, looking for spoiled berries.
Lena stepped next to her to wash her hands in the other sink.
“How am I doing, chef?” Jess grinned. “Everything up to your standards?”
“Fine. Kitchen helper could be a new career for you.” Lena dried her hands on a clean towel. “Would you mind weighing them for me? I need to look at my notes to see how much I used last time.”
“Sure.”
Jess continued sorting the berries as Lena retrieved a notebook and pen from her backpack. She glanced at Ella, who still slept soundly. “You’re lucky she loves to sleep so much. How is it at night?”
“In the beginning, when I was home with her alone, I had the feeling she never slept at all. Whenever I closed my eyes for a second, she opened hers and cried. But now she seems to be in a more relaxed phase. I’m hoping it will last a while.” Jess finished washing the blackberries and poured half of them into the bowl. “How much do you need?”
Lena skimmed through the book until she found the right page. She glanced at the scale. “Add another handful. That should be fine.”
Turning her head to look at Lena, Jess raised one eyebrow. “Another handful? What kind of measuring system is that?”
“My grandma’s. She always cooked and baked with handfuls and pinches. Adding this and that until her gut said it was right. I try to at least stick to approximately the same ratios every time I reproduce a recipe.”
“Well, it’s your name on the jam. As a scientist, this is very unsettling for me.” Jess exaggeratedly shuddered, then added a handful of blackberries to the bowl. “How does your gut feel now?”
“Perfect.” Chuckling, Lena opened the pot to stir the apples. They had started to break down, and a heavenly aroma rose up in the steam. “You can add the blackberries now.”
“Mmmh.”
Jess was leaning over her shoulder, and her moan vibrated on the sensitive skin behind Lena’s ear.
The wooded spoon fell from her hand.
Hot applesauce splashed upward.
Lena jumped back and collided with Jess, who steadied her with one arm around her waist.
“Careful,” Jess mumbled, reaching over to retrieve the spoon with her free hand. “Don’t burn yourself.”
Even though no drop of the hot liquid had touched Lena’s skin, it might be too late for the warning.
Jess let go to pour the blackberries into the pot. “And now?”
“Now we wait. Close the lid and let it simmer.” Would that work for their attraction too? If she waited long enough, would the different ingredients mix well enough to turn into something new, something delicious?
Lena stepped away. Don’t be silly. That had never worked for her. Each and every one of her previous romantic affairs had turned inedible after stewing too long. She didn’t have the time and energy to invest in a girlfriend as long as her debt was piled up over her head and she needed every second of her day to keep from being buried alive.
And she was here to work today, not to flirt. She reached for her notebook again. “I’ll note the amounts for next time.”
Adding the numbers didn’t take long enough to gain the emotional distance she needed, so she stalled by sketching a few blackberries next to it.
Jess had gone to the far side of the room and was talking to Ella in that low, comforting tone. Ella made some bubbly noises in response to whatever her mother mumbled.
“Is it okay to heat some formula here?” Jess straightened and looked over to Lena.
“Sure. No problem.” Lena filled a smaller pot with water and put it on the stove to heat.
Jess wandered over to her, carrying Ella on one arm and her baby bag in the other. “Would you mind holding her for a second?”
“Mind?” Lena eagerly reached for Ella and cradled her in her arms. “I’d love it. Hi, cutie.” She smiled.
To her delight, Ella answered with an adorable smile of her own.
“Did you see that? She’s smiling!”
Jess transferred the formula to a bottle and placed it in the water. “She knows she’s in good hands. Return her if you need to work on something again.”
“The pears can wait.”
Jess’s gaze fell on the open book Lena had been working on. “May I look at the other recipes?”
“Sure.”
Jess skimmed a few pages, then stopped at a sketch Lena had done for one of her preserve labels and whistled. “Did you draw this? This is amazing.”
“Um, yeah. I was just testing out some ideas for my labels.”
“Wait, you do your own labels? I thought you hired a designer or got them off the internet or something.”
“No, I could never afford a designer.”
“And you certainly don’t need one. They look professional. You should do this for a living.”
“Thanks, but…doing it for a living involves investing time and money I don’t have right now. I have no formal education. And sketching is something I can always do as a hobby.” Lena hoped Jess would let it go. She was happy right now to have Ella in her arms and didn’t want to taint the moment with thoughts about her financial situation.
Jess regarded her skeptically but accepted her answer and shifted her attention back
