Page 10 of Rumors in Bayberry (The Bayberry, Vermont #3)

Chapter Seven

T heir last evening together.

Sadie couldn’t believe the guy she’d met at dinner on Friday night had become so important to her so quickly. It just didn’t seem right that Reed would go away the next day, and she’d never see him again. And yet, that was happening.

Evening had settled over Bayberry. The sun had sunk low on the horizon, sending an array of oranges and pinks across the darkening sky. And she wasn’t going to let this evening end until they’d played all of the games and sampled most of the festival food.

She reached for Reed’s hand and wrapped her fingers around it. “Let’s go have some fun.”

His brows rose on his forehead. “What exactly do you have in mind?”

She grinned at him. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Should I be worried?”

She let out a laugh. “Perhaps.”

“Oh boy.” He’d uttered it under his breath, but she still heard it and smiled.

As they walked, she noticed he didn’t withdraw his hand from hers. In fact, he laced his fingers with hers. It made her heart pitter-patter.

Walking side-by-side, hand-in-hand, felt natural. As though they’d done it a hundred times before. If only they had more than this weekend…

After a mental shake, she told herself not to get caught up in some romantic daydream. It was no big deal that he was holding her hand. Still, nothing would slow her racing pulse.

As they casually strolled through the festival, she was constantly seeing people she knew. There was a hello here and a how are you there. No one stopped her to chat, most likely because she was with Reed.

She was certain being at the festival with him had stirred up rumors.

In Bayberry, rumors were served up fresh twenty-four hours a day.

By now, everyone was wondering who Reed was.

She was going to let them wonder because she wasn’t telling anyone he was her dream date.

He was kind, fun, and a gentleman. Being a gentleman never ever went out of style.

“Why don’t we stop here?” He moved toward one of the game booths.

She eyed up the milk bottle toss game. There were six bottles stacked in a pyramid form. She didn’t have good aim, so she never played this game. She’d be lucky to hit the side of a barn.

She glanced over at him as he reached into his pocket and fished out some cash. He gave it to the attendant. In return, Reed got three baseballs. “Are you sure you can do this?”

He lifted his head, and she spotted a twinkle in his eyes. “I was a pitcher in high school. I think I’ve got this.”

He certainly seemed confident enough to pull it off. With the ball in his hand, he rotated his right arm in a windmill fashion. His attention was solely on the stacked milk bottles. He pulled back and sent the ball flying. All six of the milk bottles fell in different directions.

Sadie clapped her hands and smiled at him. “You definitely haven’t lost your touch.”

Reed left the other two untouched balls on the makeshift counter. “Thanks. It actually makes me miss playing ball.”

“Why don’t you play? I’m sure there must be a team close to you.” And then she realized that she didn’t know where he lived. “Are you still in Nebraska?”

He shook his head. “I’m in Chicago now.”

She reached for her phone. “I bet if I look it up, I’ll be able to find a baseball league you can join. Or maybe a softball team.” As her fingers moved over the screen, she asked, “Would you play softball?”

“Whoa. Slow down.” His hand covered her phone. “I don’t have time for that. I’m always on the road.”

She frowned. “That’s not good. Although, it’s good that your travels brought you to Bayberry.”

His gaze met and held hers. “You think so?”

Her heart skipped a beat. “Yes…”

As she stared into his eyes, she forgot what else she had been about to say. For a moment, the noise in the background faded away. It was just her and him. His gaze dipped to her lips. Her heart did a rapid rap-a-tap-tap. Was he going to kiss her?

Her body leaned toward him as if drawn in by an overwhelming magnetic force. His head lowered. The distance between them shrank.

Her heart lodged in the back of her throat, cutting off her breath. She wanted this moment more than she’d wanted the most sought-after story.

“Sadie, there you are,” a familiar voice called out to her.

Sadie’s eyes opened as she took a quick step back.

She licked her dry lips and turned to see her friends Kate and Wesley approaching them.

She wondered if they’d seen the almost-kiss.

She hoped not. Then again, what was she thinking doing it right here in the middle of the Pumpkin Festival.

She was certain that by morning, everyone in Bayberry would have heard that she’d fallen for a tall, dark stranger.

The rumors didn’t bother her so much as the fact that by tomorrow he’d be gone.

She didn’t want this day to end. The chances of them seeing each other again would be slim to none.

Sadie turned to her friend. “Hey, did you make it to the hay bale maze?”

Kate nodded and smiled. “We got lost a couple of times.”

“But I got us out of there.” Wes smiled proudly.

Kate lightly jabbed him, and the smile slipped from Wes’s face. “You did not. I got us going in the right direction.”

Sadie rolled her eyes. “Either way, I’m glad you guys liked it. I think the committee did a great job putting the festival together this year.”

Kate’s gaze kept straying to Reed. Sadie had been hoping they’d move on quickly, and she wouldn’t have to introduce him. She saw the glint of curiosity in her friend’s eyes.

Sadie swallowed hard. “Kate and Wes, this is Reed. He’s passing through town.” She turned to him. “Reed, these are my good friends. Kate and Wes. If they seem a little too happy, it’s because they are newlyweds.”

Reed smiled and nodded as they shook hands. “It’s nice to meet you both and congratulations.”

The four of them made small talk. Sadie willed her friends to move on because she wanted Reed all to herself. She’d never felt like that about anyone before. Reed was different, and she wanted to know more about him.

Kate said, “We were just on our way to the cider press. Do you want to join us?”

Sadie looked at Reed, who looked back at her. She hoped she’d read Reed’s look correctly when she said, “We were just going to grab some food. Maybe we can catch up later.”

Kate smiled at her. It was one of those I’ve-got-you smiles. “Have fun.”

And then they walked away. Sadie turned back to Reed. “I hope you don’t mind.”

A smile lifted the corners of his mouth, and his eyes warmed. “I don’t mind at all.” He took her hand back in his, sending her heart racing. “What should we eat?”

She’d already forgotten about food, but she wasn’t about to let him know how much he’d gotten to her.

“Um…I don’t know.” She honestly hadn’t given food much thought.

“We can get shepherd’s pie. Or perogies, potato pancakes, cabbage soup, sausage, peppers and onions…

” She searched her mind for other options.

“There are also pulled pork sandwiches, cheesy fries…”

“Stop. It all sounds good. Let’s start at one end and sample our way across the festival.”

“I don’t know. That sounds like a lot of food.”

He sent her a reassuring smile. “We can share.”

And that’s exactly what they did. They’d sampled so much food that by the time they finished, she couldn’t eat another bite.

She had so much fun. Reed had made this a memorable evening. He had her trying food that she would have otherwise skipped. She liked that he had her stepping outside her routine, which would have been a sausage sandwich with a side of cheesy fries. She loved being with him.

Maybe after they went their separate ways, they could stay in contact.

Maybe if their paths were ever in the same vicinity, they could make the effort to meet up.

She knew the chances were slim that their busy calendars would allow for such a reunion, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t hope for it to happen.

This wasn’t good.

He was falling fast.

Reed couldn’t believe he’d almost kissed Sadie. What was he thinking? That was the problem; he wasn’t thinking. He was just acting on impulse, which was unusual for him.

He wasn’t the type to act without thinking. Even when he started his own publishing company, he had been methodical about how he went about it. He definitely didn’t cut any corners.

Even when he decided the business was going to be too big for him to manage on his own, he had given a great deal of thought to who might make a good business partner. He was certain they had to bring more to the table than just deep pockets.

He’d needed someone who would be willing to invest themselves in the business to the same extent he had. And that was when he’d thought of his college roommate. Brad was a computer genius. He’d already made a fortune designing procurement accounting software.

When Reed had explained his concept to Brad, his old roommate hadn’t jumped at the idea. Instead, he gave it some thought and then agreed.

Now Brad had designed special software to launch their newspaper. The software was able to produce small town papers as well as pick specific articles from the various papers and merge them into the Rumor Quill .

Together, they made sure every article they published was uplifting in some way. Any rumors that are printed are of the fun or positive nature. And they were always open to honoring everyday heroes. Those were some of Reed’s personal favorite pieces.

The Rumor Quill staff took great pains to avoid printing anything that might hurt someone or a group of people.

Thus they employed sensitivity readers. The point of the feel-good paper was to help counteract the strife and worry published by the other news outlets.

Life needed balance, and that was what they were intending to do.