by Mary Davis
The people watching looked amazed.
Brent snapped another picture.
The little girl with the twin brothers raised her hand. “I want to do that.”
“Come on up.” The guide returned the chair to its starting position, and Haley stood.
After the girl and another person tried the stunt, the group moved to the next room, and Brent whispered in her ear, “Are you a gullible person?”
“I don’t think of myself as one.”
“So you get how all this works?”
She understood the trick now and nodded. “Funny how the brain works, but it’s still fun.”
The redhead did demonstrations in this room, as well. Brent volunteered Haley for every one, and she returned the favor.
The end of the tour exited through the gift shop—one way to get people to buy something before they left. If she walked a little slowly, she could look at quite a few of the souvenirs before she and Brent reached the front exit.
“Do you want to look around a bit?” Brent asked.
She looked up at him surprised. He hadn’t exactly enjoyed shopping earlier but had gotten into the spirit of it. “Just a quick once through. I promise not to take long.”
“One condition: no hats.” Brent followed her around, acting as though he were interested in the variety of souvenirs designed to tempt a person to part with his money. Haley had gone down one side and was on her way up the other toward the exit door when a rack of Christmas ornaments caught her eye. Now these were worth looking at. An ornament was small and useful. Her parents had many ornaments from the various places they’d traveled. She looked at several and had pulled off a coppery one when a wooden, jointed snake wiggled in her face.
“Hiss.”
She sucked in her breath and pushed the toy away.
Brent’s face contorted as he struggled to hold back a laugh. “Are you afraid of snakes?”
She hung the ornament back on the rack. “Only fake ones that are suddenly thrust into my face.” She spun back quickly and reached out to take the snake from him, but he was faster and hid it behind his back. She could try to reach around him, but that would only serve to put her in a similar position as in the house of mirrors. “I’m not foolish enough to think I can actually get that from you.”
“But you could try.”
Trying would involve standing very close and reaching both hands around him. She wasn’t ready to step over that line with him yet. She turned to a bin of batik sarongs. “These are cute.”
Brent looked over her shoulder. “What are they?”
“Sarongs.”
“Is that saright? What do they do?”
She unfolded a blue one with dolphins and wrapped it around her waist. “You can wear it over a swimsuit like a skirt. Or you can wear it like a shawl or scarf or make it into a turban. Some girls even fashion them into a top.” She pulled out a yellow one. “You want to try one? It’s not a hat. You didn’t say anything about sarongs.”
“You are too funny.” He backed away. “I saw a maze across the road. Do you want to go through it?”
“Sure.” She held up the yellow sarong. “I think this could be your color.”
He shook his head and backed away another step. “You wait here, and I’ll go ask about the maze.”
She put back the yellow sarong and took off the blue one, then folded it corner to opposite corner into a triangle and tied it around her waist again at her left hip. She liked it, but she didn’t have the money for it today. The cash in her pocket would cover it, but she’d better keep that in case things went south with Brent and she had to get herself back to the island. She could come back on her next day off prepared and get it along with the ornament.
Brent returned. “We’re all set to get lost in the labyrinth. You ready?”
She reached for the knot at her hip. “Just let me put this back.”
“I thought you liked it.”
“I do, but I can’t buy it today. I’ll come back another time to get it.”
“Well, I paid for one today, so you might as well take it.”
“You bought this for me?”
“Well, I’m not wearing it.”
“Why?”
“It wouldn’t look good on me.”
She swatted his arm. “Why did you buy it for me?”
“I wanted to.” He shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. It didn’t cost that much.”
Even though it was inexpensive, a gift put their relationship on a different level. Did she want to move to another level with him? She didn’t not want to. “Thank you,” she finally said.
“You’re welcome. You ready to go get lost?”
She nodded and felt the warmth of his hand rest at her lower back as he guided her out the door and across the road.
Eight
Brent followed Haley into the maze tucked in the edge of the forest. Though the sign threatened a guard, there was none to be seen. People were on their honor to pay admission at the gift shop.
As in a real fort, the maze had rustic log planks dividing the pathways. Haley stopped at the T inside the entrance. “Right? Or left?”
“It probably doesn’t matter which way we enter. Go in one way and out the other.”
“Follow the arrow then.” Haley turned left down the first passage. The crushed rock path crunched beneath their feet.
“So you ran away from Mommy, Daddy, Sister, Grandpa, the dog, and who else?”
“I didn’t run away from the dog. Tawndy has been gone for several years.” She turned right.
He hesitated. Why was she so reluctant to tell him? She had freely told him she ran away, opening herself to the question of why. The more she resisted, the more he wondered. He turned the corner and met her coming back.
“This one’s a dead end.” She thumbed behind her.
“Why’d you leave home? By not answering, you only make me more curious.”
“You are more persistent than a dog with a bone.” She moved to slip by him.
He put his hands on the walls on either side of him. “Say the magic words, and I’ll let you pass.” He watched her mouth move back and forth as if deciding whether or not to tell him. She took a step backward, and he took a step forward; then suddenly she turned and dashed away. He stood there. Where does she think she’s going? She had already said it was a dead end. “You’re trapped.” He heard a giggle and the grinding of the rock path. He walked to the end of the passageway and couldn’t believe Haley was crawling under the wall. Turning, he headed back. Could he catch her going through the maze? At the T, he made a fast decision to head back to the beginning. He hid in the entrance alley and waited. Her hurried footsteps grew closer, and he anticipated her arrival.
She came around the corner, skidded to a stop with a squeal, and headed back into the maze. He chased after her and grabbed her arm, pulling her back around to him. This was the moment. He pulled her closer and kissed her. He kissed her long enough to hold her an instant but not long enough for her to get over the initial shock and push him away.
Voices entering the maze crowded the moment, and he pulled Haley aside as the girl and her twin brothers darted past them into passageways. “We almost got run over.”
Haley only nodded.
What was she thinking? Had he scared her by kissing her? Now he wished he hadn’t done it. The stolen kiss wasn’t nearly as satisfying as he had imagined.
He led her out and blinked in the bright sunlight, hoping for some way to break the tension he was feeling. To the right, flags waved over a miniature golf course. “Do you want to play a round of golf?”
“Sure.”
She walked with him back across the road to the gift shop, where he paid, and they each received a club and a ball.
On the golf course, they stood at the first hole to putt. “You go first,” he said.
Haley set her ball down and prepared to hit it.
What was she thinking about that kiss? She hadn’t push
ed him away or slapped him. That was good. But he hadn’t been able to gauge her reaction either, because of those kids coming into the maze. Now the moment was past, and he had no way to tell. But she was still here with him. He wouldn’t worry about it.
Haley putted, and her ball went down and around and stopped near the hole. She smiled at him. “Your turn.”
That looked easy enough. He grabbed his club in both hands and hoped he didn’t make a fool of himself. He stared down at the ball and prepared to swing.
“Like this.” Haley stepped up beside him and held her club out with her hands positioned on the grip.
He held up his hand. “I’ve got it. I’ve got it.” He had watched how she did it and swung. It was a pathetic putt. How did she made it look so easy? He was afraid to look at her and see a gloating expression or, worse yet, pity, but he did look.
Her back was to him as she prepared to putt. She tapped her ball, and it dropped right into the hole. She plucked it out and turned to him with a shrug.
He took three more hits to get his ball into the hole. The next two holes were similarly miserable.
At hole four, Haley stood in front of his ball with her hands on her hips. “Are you ready to take a little advice now?”
“You’ve done this before.”
“High school golf team.”
He hung his head and took a deep breath. It would be foolish not to accept help at this point. “Okay.”
She set her club to the side and stood at his right shoulder. She put one fisted hand above the other as if holding an invisible club. “Hold the club like this.” He gripped the club as she showed. She leaned in against his shoulder and put her right hand over his. “Just move it a little more this way.”
He looked away to smile. He liked her this close. This was too good to be real.
“Now move your left foot forward.”
He drank in her closeness, hay and sunshine. This close he could easily kiss her again.
“Are you concentrating?”
“On what?”
“On what I’m trying to teach you.”
He hesitated before answering. “I must confess that I’m a wee bit distracted. But I’m paying attention now.”
“Line up your shot, then look where you want the ball to go.” She grabbed her club and walked down the green, then knelt down and pointed to a spot on the bumper wall. “You want the ball to hit here to make it through this passage on the first shot. You want to just miss the corner.”
He lined up with where she said to hit it, took a deep breath, and swung. Too hard. But the ball did miss the corner—and the spot Haley was pointing at—and bounced several times back and forth in the passageway. It then spun off another corner, went down past the hole, bounced off the far wall, and crept back to the center past her ball, and dropped into the hole.
He released his breath and raised his club in the air. “Yes!”
Haley stared at the hole. “I can’t believe you made a hole in one off that shot. Good job.”
He pulled out the scorecard and marked it down. “I’m catching up now. Watch out.”
She removed his ball from the hole and tapped hers in. After retrieving hers, she brought him his ball and pressed it into his palm. “It’s going to take more than a fluke.”
He looked down at her. “Is that a challenge?”
“I don’t think beating you will be much of a challenge.” She sashayed off to the next tee.
He smiled. She was flirting back.
As on every other hole, her first hit landed inches from the cup. He lined up his shot.
“Remember to look where you want the ball to go.”
He hit the ball. It zoomed past the hole, bounced off the wall, and rolled back toward him, stopping a foot from where it started.
“Tap gently. It’s not a baseball.” She tapped hers in.
He tapped his ball, and it stopped near the hole. One more tap and it went in. It was obvious he wasn’t going to beat her on skill alone, because he had none when it came to golf.
Haley hit a hole in one. It took him three tries to get his ball in.
Haley lined up for the next hole. As she pulled her club back to hit the ball, he hooked her club with his. She swung her head back to look at him, and the hair sticking out of the top of her hair weapon did a little dance. “Do you mind?”
“Sorry.” He unhooked their clubs. On her next attempt, he hooked it again. She took it well. And on her third attempt, when she was expecting him to do it again, he didn’t, and her shot went wide.
He lined up his shot, then looked at her and swung. He kept his gaze on her as she watched the ball. Her eyes widened, then her jaw dropped. He looked down the green and furrowed his brow. Where did it go? He looked back at his feet, but the ball wasn’t there either.
“I can’t believe you did that again.”
He looked into the hole, and there it was. “Yes!”
Haley took three more hits to sink her ball, and he hadn’t done one thing to distract her.
At the next hole, as she prepared her shot, he studied her hair weapon. It had to go. Just when he thought he’d figured out the contraption, Haley swung her head around to look at him.
She squinted and pointed with her club. “Put your club down over there.”
He obeyed and did his best to look innocent.
She squinted at him one last time before turning back around to focus on her shot.
He stepped forward and pinched the weapon, and her hair fell free.
She turned and glared at him, then tucked her hair behind her ears and took her shot. A sad shot. She held out her hand. “May I have my hair clip back?”
He looked from the clip to her free hair framing her face. “Nope.”
“Fine. I’ll win anyway.”
He looked to where her ball had stopped. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that. You don’t shoot so well without this.”
“Take your stroke.” She walked to her ball to watch. “Or two or three.”
His hit was good. Even he couldn’t miss sinking it on his next shot.
He poked and tickled her and made noises and faces when it was her turn. She took it all with a smile and a determination to win. And now it came down to the last hole.
She held out her hand to him and wiggled her fingers. “I want to see the scorecard.”
He handed it to her. “We’re tied. Winner of this hole wins the game.”
She handed back the card. “You go first.”
“Ladies first.”
“I insist. I want to see what I have to beat. I play best under pressure.”
He lined up his shot and took a deep breath. Talk about pressure. He turned to her. She might decide to pay him back on this hole. “You mind standing where I can see you?” She did his bidding with a little bow. Was she going to make some loud sound to throw him off? He mentally prepared himself for that and pulled back his club. Lord, let this be a great shot. He swung. After bouncing off several walls, the ball stopped a sliver’s width from dropping into the hole. Yes! He tried not to look smug. “You’ll have to get a hole in one to beat that.”
She raised her chin slightly and smiled. “So be it.”
He wouldn’t even heckle her this time. He’d let this hole be fair and square.
She prepared, swung gracefully, and landed her ball right in the hole.
He stared at the black spot that had swallowed her ball. “I can’t believe that.”
“I believe that makes me the winner. And I didn’t even cheat.”
“I didn’t cheat—I distracted.”
“Are you going to put your ball into the hole, or should I?”
“Are you gloating?”
She tipped her head and thought a moment. “I believe I am. May I have my hair clip back now?”
“No. You gloated.”
“Then take your final stroke so I can officially win.”
“What if I don’t? Then it looks like a tie.”
“If you don’t finish, you can’t place. And we’d still both know who won. You want a rematch?”
Was there any chance he could beat her fairly? Only if her hands were tied behind her back and she used her mouth to swing the club. “I’ll pass.” He knocked his ball in, and they returned their clubs to the gift shop.
He opened the passenger door of his truck for her. “I can’t believe you won.”
She stepped up into the cab. “I must admit I had help on that last hole. I was praying real hard.”
“What do you think I was doing the whole game?” He closed her door and climbed into the driver’s side. “I think we’ve done everything there is to do here. Where to now? We still have the lighthouse, the colonial fort, and Mill Creek.”
“Surprise me.”
“Okay.” Where should he take her next? He could take her to Fort Michilimackinac, introduce her to Dalton, then have a nice dinner somewhere and an evening stroll on the beach by the lighthouse. That sounded like a perfect plan to round out the day.
The only shortcoming was that he was running out of pictures on his camera. He hadn’t downloaded the recent pictures he took on Mackinac Island, and the memory stick in his camera was nearly full. “Do you mind if I stop by Dalton’s house? I’m running out of pictures. It’ll only take a few minutes to download them to my computer.”
“Sure. That’s fine.”
He crossed the bridge and headed for Dalton’s house in Mackinaw City. The houses on the street were on the small side but nice. He parked out front. “I’ll only be a few minutes. I’ll leave you the keys so you can listen to music if you want.”
He jogged up to the door and let himself in. He flipped open his computer and waited for it to boot. “Come on—hurry up.” He didn’t want to leave Haley waiting too long. She could decide to leave without him. He strode to the window and peered out at her waiting in his truck. Don’t get restless and disappear on me.
He went back to his computer and plugged in the cord to both the computer and the camera. Soon the pictures were downloading. He returned to the window, but his truck was empty. He opened the door and took a harder look. She was gone.
He walked outside and looked up and down the street as he strode to his truck. She wasn’t there, but her sweater still lay on the seat. He looked back toward the house, then went around the side of it. When he rounded the back side of the garage, he saw her peering in the window of the garage. “There you are.”