Page 7 of Rumors in Bayberry (The Bayberry, Vermont #3)

Chapter Five

A hay bale maze.

Really? If only his business partner could see him now.

Still, it sounded fun. Perhaps he needed more of that in his life.

Reed smiled as they moved toward the entrance of the maze.

Normally, he’d be back at his room at the Bayberry B&B, researching the lead Brad had given him about the Rosehill paper.

He always had to stay a step or two ahead of the current paper he was evaluating.

There wasn’t time to focus solely on one paper at a time.

Still, it was a sunny Saturday. Work could wait a little bit. After all, how long did it take to go through a maze?

He stood next to the beautiful Sadie. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and her bangs framed her face. He found it much too easy to stare into green eyes. In fact, if he wasn’t careful, he would get lost in them.

He checked out the starting point and found there were four different entrances to the maze. “I take it I’m supposed to go in the opposite direction of you?”

She smiled and shrugged. “Go any direction you want.”

He narrowed his gaze on her. “Do you know something I don’t?”

“I was totally honest when I said I didn’t pay attention to the direction of the maze.”

He arched a brow. “And you wouldn’t fib just to get some free help for the weekend, would you?”

She crossed her heart with her finger. “Cross my heart.”

He supposed he’d have to take her word for it. “So, you might be going in the wrong direction?”

“I might be. We will see. So, you can follow me and see if I picked the right way to start. Or you can go in your own direction.”

“What way are you going?”

She pointed to the entrance farthest to the left.

He studied each of the four entrances. There was no sign that one entrance was any better than the other. This was all guesswork. He didn’t like working with a bunch of unknowns. But that was in his professional work. This was a maze just for fun and a possible date.

He pointed to the entrance that was two spots over from where Sadie was going to enter it. “Okay. Then I think I’ll go this way.”

“Are you ready?” When he nodded, she said, “On your mark, ready, set, go!”

And she was off and out of sight two seconds later. Part of him wanted to follow her, but the other part wanted to strike out on his own. Right or wrong, he entered the maze.

He walked straight toward a wall of hay bales.

He had to choose to go left or right. He chose to go to the left.

There was no rhyme or reason. As he moved farther through the maze, he found that was the case for every choice he made.

After a while, he came to a point where he recognized a particular stack of bales.

He’d gone in a circle. So, he went right instead of going left again.

He had no idea how far he was through the maze when he spotted Sadie. He saw her through a small gap in the bales. It was much too small to walk through. And there was no way to reach Sadie, because even though she was in the next row over, he didn’t have a way to get to her.

And so, he kept meandering around. He felt as though he were going in a great number of circles.

Finally, he worked his way to what he thought was the outside wall of the maze.

He kept to the edge, but then he found himself directed back to the center of the maze.

Whoever had designed the maze had done a good job.

Even though it was late September, the afternoon sun was hot and making him wish he’d grabbed a bottle of water before heading into the maze. He kept walking. He knew he’d been in there a long time when more of the hay bales began to look familiar.

He had no idea how much time had passed when he finally made it to the Finish banner. Hot and thirsty, he stepped out of the maze.

He glanced at his wristwatch. It had been well past a half hour. He inwardly groaned. He could only hope that Sadie had gotten more turned around than he had.

But when he looked up, a cold-water bottle was thrust at him. He looked to the side and saw Sadie standing there. She didn’t look hot and sweaty. She looked relaxed and beautiful.

Sadie continued to hold the bottle out to him while wearing the smile of a winner. He inwardly groaned again. What exactly had he gotten himself into?

“Did you have fun?” she asked.

He held up a finger. Then he opened the water bottle and took a long drink. He wiped off his mouth with the back of his arm.

It was only then that he looked at her. “Do I even want to know how long you’ve been standing here?”

“Not long.” When he started to feel better, she said, “When I finished, I went to talk to my friend Abby, who has a booth here at the festival. While I was there, I got us some waters.”

His shoulders slumped. She was telling him he was a total failure at the maze. He would have to concur with her.

She studied him. “I take it you didn’t like it.”

He met her gaze. “Why would you say that?”

“Because you’re frowning.”

“I am?” He hadn’t realized it. “I guess it’s because I’m trying to figure out how you got through the maze so fast.” And then he wondered if she really did know the path through the maze, but he wouldn’t put voice to his suspicions.

Her gaze narrowed. “No. I didn’t cheat.”

“Hey, I didn’t say that.”

“But you were thinking it.” She arched a fine brow as she smiled, as though proud of herself for reading his thoughts. “I’ll have you know that I’ve been doing mazes my whole life. I guess I have a knack for them.”

“Mind sharing your tips?”

She shrugged. “I guess since you’re going to be working the maze I should clue you in. Look up.”

“What?”

She pointed upward. “Look up. What do you see?”

He couldn’t tell if she was pulling his leg or not, so he tilted his chin upward. “I see a cloud in the blue sky.”

“What else do you see?”

He turned his head and decided to have some more fun with her. “I see a bird.”

She sighed. “Try to find something stationary.”

“Oh.” He lowered his head to give her a teasing grin. “The second floor of a red brick building.”

“Yes. You can use the buildings to sort of help you find your way through the maze.”

He gave it a little thought. That wasn’t exactly a big help, seeing as there were a lot of dead ends within the maze. He looked at her. “Any other helpful hints?”

“The right-hand rule.”

“What’s that?”

“Place your hand on the wall of the maze and never lose contact with the wall. It will help you reach the exit.”

“I like that tip. I’ll remember that one.”

“Okay. I have to get to work. In five minutes, the maze is about to open to the public.”

“And what do you want me to do?”

She arched a brow. “You don’t have to do anything.”

“Yes. I do. I lost the bet.”

She shrugged. “I know, but I’m not going to hold you to it. I’m sure you have other things you’d rather be doing.”

“I’m a man of my word. Now, what do you want me to do?”

“If you could be the attendant and take their money, I can help the people that get lost in the maze. Would that work for you?” When he nodded, she said, “The important part is that you have to time their entrance into the maze. I usually do a minute apart but if things get busy, and they do get busy, I cut that down to thirty seconds.”

Sounded simple enough to him. “And that’s all you need me to do?”

She sent him a knowing smile. “Trust me. That will be enough. At the end of our shift, you might regret volunteering.”

“I doubt it. I’ve got this.”

She made it sound like it was going to be a big deal. As he glanced around, he didn’t see that many people. It didn’t seem like it was going to be that busy.

“And how long do we do this?”

“We have the one to five shift.”

He was liking this all the more. Four hours didn’t sound so bad. “What happens at five?”

“The next shift takes over, and we get to go rest.”

He didn’t think he would need to rest. He had work waiting for him back at the B&B. There was always work for him. When he came up with the idea for Rumor Quill , he never thought it would take over his life. He thought of the old saying about all work and no play. He had definitely become dull.

Did he feel guilty about taking a Saturday afternoon off to have some fun with a beautiful woman? No. Not in the least.

She couldn’t believe he’d taken her up on the bet.

Now she had help for the afternoon.

Sadie stood in her perch above the maze. There was a small balcony on the second floor of Bayberry Savings & Loan, where she’d been helping people make it through the maze.

At the beginning of the maze, flags with numbers on them were handed out to anyone who wanted one. The kids were the ones that were most likely to use their flag. Although, there were some adults who waved their flags too.

For the people without flags that needed help, she used her walkie-talkie to reach one of the teenagers who were in the maze. The teenagers would lead them to the exit.

It was disappointing that she couldn’t see Reed from where she was stationed. She told herself he’d be fine. If there was a problem, she’d given him her phone number. She’d made sure to stress that no question was dumb.

He’d assured her he would be fine. But she’d made him promise he would call if he was unsure of anything. She’d also asked Kate and Abby to periodically stop by and check in on him. They were also working at the festival, so it wouldn’t be hard for them to look out for Reed.

She didn’t have time to worry about him for long because once the maze was opened, it filled up quickly. It always seemed that there was someone who needed her assistance.

She didn’t even realize it was the end of her shift until someone tapped her on the shoulder. Her time at the Pumpkin Festival was the type of memory she would take with her when she headed out on her next assignment.

It was time for her to get on with her life. Her father was better and determined to sell the newspaper. She still couldn’t believe he was selling an important part of their heritage. She pushed away the troubling thoughts.