Virginia stopped to check out the homemade jellies. She smiled to herself. Yeah, I saw that handholding, Jay. And those flirty looks. Guess the rumors are true.

She selected one jar of apple jelly and one of blackberry jelly. The woman who made them was quite friendly and Virginia chatted with her for several minutes. After she handed over her money and walked away, her thoughts returned to Jay and Hailey.

Good for them. They make a cute pair. Hope Sgt. Voight has the good sense not to separate them.

"Look at these caps. I think the boys will like them," said Hailey. She held them up for Jay's inspection.

"Yeah, those are cool."

She could tell he wasn't giving her his full attention. "Jay, is something wrong?" He had that wary look she often saw in the field when he was scanning for threats.

His head swung to the left, then to the right. There was no sign of Virginia. Thank goodness. He looked back to Hailey. "You won't believe who else came to the farmers market today."

Hailey shrugged. "I don't know. Do I get a hint?"

"Starts with a vee."

Hailey's eyes widened. "Don't tell me Voight is here." What would the odds of that happening be? Maybe one in a million?

"Try again."

Pondering for a moment, Hailey said, "Okay, the only other person I, wait, is it Virginia? From Records?"

"Bingo."

Hailey returned the baseball caps to the bag. "Is that a problem?"

"Hailey, she didn't just see me. She saw us."

"So? We're two people browsing at a farmers market."

"Browsing, holding hands, et cetera, et cetera."

Hailey gave him a little smirk. "Jay Halstead, you are the bravest person I know." There was a pause. "Except when it comes to vaccinations."

Sighing he said, "Did you have to bring that up?"

"Sounds like you're afraid of Virginia."

"Afraid? No way. Anxious about what she might let slip in casual conversation? Hell, yeah."

"Have you ever seen Virginia set foot in Intelligence?"

"Actually . . . no."

"Right. If she had something to tell Voight about a file, she would call or text him. And how often do we ever run into Virginia anyway?"

"Hold up. I saw her at the vending machine about a month ago," said Jay. He felt like he'd scored a point in this discussion.

Hailey's eyes rolled up. "The vending machine? Really? What were you, of all people, doing at the vending machine?"

Now Jay was the one wearing a smirk. "I went down there to get a chocolate bar for you. We were stuck reviewing pod footage all afternoon and you were getting, uh . . ."

Hailey pursed her lips. "Bitchy?"

"I didn't want to use that word, but yeah."

"I remember. The gun smuggling case. That was a frustrating one." Sitting there hour after hour and only glimpsing vague images of their suspects.

Jay nodded in agreement. "No kidding. My ass is still numb from that afternoon."

"Okay, if I forgot to thank you that day, I'm thanking you now," said Hailey. She gave him a warm smile and laid a hand on his arm.

"You're always welcome, Hails. But back to the Virginia issue. She did say, and I quote, Your secret's safe with me.

"There you go. Nothing to worry about. Virginia won't betray us."

"But . . ."

Hailey knew her partner was going to spin out about this if they didn't get it under control. She held up a hand. "Stop. If something comes up with Voight, we'll deal with it. Besides, he doesn't dictate what we do on our off time."

Jay felt a smile growing on his face. "So, you're admitting that there's an us?"

Hailey smiled, also. "I'm warming to the idea. I'm even going to tempt fate." This time, she was the one reaching for his hand.

"I knew there was a reason I really liked you," said Jay as he squeezed her hand. He almost wanted to tempt fate himself and kiss her. But we have plenty of time.

"Only one reason?" Hailey's eyebrows arched up.

"I can only think of one right now. But if given enough time, I might could come up with a few more."

"You better think real hard, mister," warned Hailey, but with a gleam in her eyes. "Come on, there's a hayride starting in five minutes."

Jay exhaled heavily. He always felt calmer after talking things out with Hailey. "Going for the whole country experience, aren't you?"

"Damn straight. Don't know when I'll have another chance like this. Just hope we don't encounter any cow patties along the way."

An older man in overalls and a green plaid shirt was standing by a trailer filled with hay. He waved to Jay and Hailey. "Come on. Got room for two more on this ride!"

They hoisted themselves up and got settled. There were some little kids and their parents already aboard. The man then climbed up on his big red tractor and cranked it up. Away they went.

Everything was smooth until they turned a corner and encountered a patch of rough ground. Kids squealed and so did Hailey as they bumped along. She got bounced up and then landed halfway in Jay's lap. "Come on, Hails. I know I'm irresistible, but we're in public," laughed Jay. "Can't you wait until we get home?"

"Ugh!" She punched his chest. "You like to think you're irresistible."

She was trying to scramble off him, but he slid an arm around her waist. "Chill. I'll make sure you don't get tossed out."

"I can fend for myself," insisted Hailey.

"But you don't have to. That's my job. We're partners, remember?"

His words warmed her heart and she experienced an unexpected rush of emotion. Partners. But headed toward something more.

"Fine," she mumbled as she relaxed against him. She was forced to admit that she liked the closeness, inhaling Jay's scent and the security of his arm around her.

"If Virginia's still out there, her eyes will pop out," said Hailey turning her head to look up at him.

Jay laughed. "I'm not worried, thanks to your pep talk."

The festival was beginning to wind down. As they walked to the truck, Hailey asked, "What's next?"

"What makes you think there's more?"

"Okay, okay. I'll just go with the flow," said Hailey.

They got in the truck and fastened their seatbelts. "Good answer," said Jay giving her a sideways look.

A few miles up the road they came to a small lake. There were picnic tables and hiking/biking trails. They got ice cream cones from a small concessions stand and strolled around the lake.

Dog walkers and cyclists and families with kids were taking advantage of the mild evening.

"It's not the Riverwalk, but I thought you'd like it," said Jay. They leaned on the rail overlooking the lake as they licked up their ice cream.

"It's nice. Not as crowded or noisy." She bumped his shoulder.

The lake turned out to be larger than they thought. They made one circuit around it and then returned to the parking area. The sun was about to drop over the horizon.

"Ready to head back?" asked Jay.

Hailey nodded. "Yeah. It's been fun, but yeah."

Hailey unlocked the door and Jay followed behind her. He didn't have to ask if it was okay; it was a given that he would come in.

They dropped their keys and phones on the kitchen island. "Drink?" asked Hailey.

"Sure." It was another aspect of their thing. Sharing a drink at one of their apartments after a bad day. Or even a good one. Talking over things. Did we do all we could in that situation? Could we have done something better? How would Voight have handled it?

Hailey poured the drinks and pushed one toward Jay. "Thank you," she said quietly.

Jay gave her a funny look. "I should be thanking you. It's your whiskey."

"Not that. But you're welcome." She took a small sip of her drink. "I mean thank you for today. It was really nice."

Jay took a slow sip and studied his partner. "What was your favorite part? Wait, don't tell me. Was it that giant pretzel you ate for lunch?"

Hailey laughed. "What? No. Although it was pretty awesome."

"It must have been. I didn't get a single bite."

"I distinctly remember offering, but you were all into your hot dog with that mountain of chili and cheese."

"Best damn hot dog I ever had."

"Glad you enjoyed it." She pointed to the front of his shirt. "Did you know you're wearing some of it?"

"No way," said Jay as he glanced down. "Oh, guess I am. But back to the original question. Your favorite part?"

Hailey looked away for a second as she bit her lower lip. "My favorite part was simply being with you. Doing everyday, fun stuff outside of work. Not having to check over our shoulders constantly."

"In other words, being a normal couple."

Hailey regarded him with widened eyes. "Couple?"

As soon as he threw out that word, he knew it would get a reaction from Hailey. "I mean, normal people, you know."

"Are we normal?' she asked.

"Not sure if anybody is completely normal," he said. "Especially in our line of work."

Hailey pulled her hair over her shoulder and noticed something. "Look at this. I have hay in my hair."

"Duh, did you forget we went on a hayride?' laughed Jay. Safer to talk about hayrides than being a couple. It was still a new concept for them. He moved around the island to stand beside her. "Let me check it for you."

As he reached up, he saw that his right hand was not entirely steady. Come on, it's only Hailey, said a little voice in his head. That's the problem. It's Hailey. I can't screw this up.

He plucked out several pieces of hay and dropped them in the garbage can. "Anybody would have thought you'd taken a roll in the hay."

Hailey looked at him curiously.

His hands stilled. "Uh, that did not come out like I meant. Like you'd been, uh, what's the term? Oh, baling hay," he stammered. After a beat of silence, they both started laughing.

"You know what I mean," said Jay.

"Do I?" asked Hailey, pretending ignorance.

Before they could get themselves under control, Jay's phone rang. Hailey glanced over at it. "It's Will. Do you need to answer?"

Jay shook his head. "It's probably about tomorrow. One of the other docs had tickets to the game that he can't use."

"You should go."

"Yeah," said Jay. He liked hanging out with his brother. But now he almost wanted to ditch Will and spend another day with his partner.

Hailey yawned. "Sorry," she said.

"I should go." He checked his watch. "It's almost midnight and I made you get up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday."

"Yeah, I must have been crazy to agree to that." Her eyes rolled up.

He picked up his phone and keys and headed to the door. Hailey followed. Jay unlocked the door and stood with his hand on the knob.

They stared at each other in the dim light of the foyer. Finally, Hailey said, "Just do it."

Jay acted surprised. "Do what? Leave?"

Hailey laughed softly. "You know what."

That was all the encouragement he needed. He leaned down and Hailey rose up on her toes as their lips met in a brief kiss.

"Goodnight, Hailey."

"Goodnight, Jay."

A short time later as Hailey lay in bed, she was still smiling. When they set out his morning, she had no idea about Jay's plan. She just trusted him and followed his lead because, ultimately, she would follow him anywhere. The result was better than she could have imagined.

Okay, running into someone from the District was not part of the plan. But it was all good in the end.

She sighed. Sure, they spent every day and many an evening together. But today was different. She ran her hand over the empty half of the bed. She wished he was here with her now.

Jay drove into the parking lot, but did not exit his truck. He reached for his phone and tapped out a text to Hailey. It made no difference that he'd left her less than five minutes ago. He wanted her to know that she lingered in his mind.

When Hailey's phone dinged with a text, she already knew who it was. She eagerly grabbed it and smiled.

Awesome day. Repeat?

Jay was grinning like a fool in the dark interior of his truck. Her answer was immediate.

H - For sure. Next weekend?

For sure. We'll make it happen.

She found it adorable how he mimicked her words.

H - Counting on it.

Hails, are we there yet?

He held his breath as he waited.

Hailey laughed as he tossed her earlier question back to her. This morning "there" was a physical destination. Now it seemed more like a state of mind, a promise of things to come.

H - Getting closer every minute.

Gonna think about that a lot.

H - Me, too.

Hailey put the phone down and turned on her side. What a day! she thought as her eyes closed.

Jay went inside and stretched out on the couch. He was too wired to sleep so he scrolled through the pictures on his phone. He found several of Hailey – at her desk in the bullpen, the breakroom, Molly's, a Blackhawks game.

Getting closer every minute. He ran a thumb over her picture.

I'm waiting for you, Hailey.