by Terri Thayer
April looked at Deana. She was suppressing a giggle, and April followed her eyes back to the man unfolding himself carefully from the back seat of the SUV.
Scott Ferguson was five feet eleven inches tall and two hundred pounds. He had dark, thick hair that was springy and curly, hard to manage. He was dressed in a kilt. His red plaid sport coat matched, and his button-down shirt was a coordinating gold color. A large leather pouch rested below his belly button.
He came out smiling as if he were royalty. Or Sean Connery.
It obviously took a real man to wear a skirt.
Deana was the first one to ask, “What does a guy wear under there?”
Rocky said, “I wouldn’t ask him if I were you. He’ll probably give you that old line that nothing is worn under the kilt. All the parts are in good working order.”
“Eww,” Deana said, slapping Rocky on the arm.
“Speaking from personal experience?” Mary Lou asked. Rocky gave her a dirty look.
“He certainly thinks he looks great,” April said. “He’s got a Mel Gibson vibe going on.”
Scott Ferguson waved in their direction magnanimously and then reached out to envelop Suzi in a hug.
April asked, “Who is this guy?” They returned his wave.
“His Highland Fling show is on the local affliate every Saturday night,” Mary Lou said. “Not only that but he sponsors dances.” Mary Lou ticked off on her fingers. “He’s got a travel agency. Didn’t you ever notice the Scottish gift shop on Route 309? That’s his baby, too. Makes a boatload of money. He’s like Jon Bon Jovi to the older generation.”
April didn’t see the connection but decided there were people in New Jersey who knew what Mary Lou was talking about.
“He’s the king around here,” Mary Lou continued. “Sort of like Elvis and Joel Osteen put together.”
“His show is on that network,” Rocky said, indicating the WLUC truck. “That’s the real reason they’re here. Suzi gets a little airtime; he gets filmed doing a good deed. Good PR for everyone. Lord know he needs it.”
Jocelyn Jones put her microphone up to her mouth and started talking. They couldn’t hear her from where they were, so they moved closer. She was still ignoring Mitch, but Ferguson solved that problem.
“Do you know who this is, Jocelyn?” he said. “He’s the man.”
He took a step toward Mitch and the reporter followed.
“You’re the man,” Ferguson said, poking Mitch in the chest several times for emphasis. “You the man. The house-building man. Helping the downtrodden man.”
Mitch’s reaction was guarded. The big man in a kilt had an oversize personality. “I’m glad you approve,” he said.
“I do approve. I approve big time,” Ferguson said. “I’m just jealous I didn’t think of it first.”
Ferguson pulled Mitch into him by his shoulders and squared him to the camera. “People like this guy are the ones that will make a difference in our community. You here raising money? Everyone should donate what they can to his project.”
Ferguson spread his hands. He looked into the camera. “In fact, this week on the twentieth annual Ferguson Telethon for Widows and Orphans of Scotland, I will donate one percent of my profits to Winchester Homes for Hope.”
“Thank you,” Mitch said.
Suzi stepped in, and Mitch gave her a grateful look. “It’s time to do the ribbon cutting. Look,” she said, pointing.
A line of cars had formed on the road. They were blocked from entering the nursery by the gate Suzi had closed across the driveway. She’d tied a bright orange ribbon on it.
Ferguson waved to the waiting crowd. Suzi gave him a pair of garden loppers instead of traditional scissors. He wielded them like a clabber. The TV camera filmed his clowning, and the crowd, some of them out of their cars, cheered.
People leaned out of their windows to take pictures of Ferguson as he mimed cutting. Suzi grinned as the crowd returned to their idling cars after he finally slashed the ribbon.
April took her position. The cars were filling the parking lot. She and Rocky were going to have a rush of business in about two minutes.
“Do you have corn mazes in California?” Rocky asked, appearing at the admissions table.
Why was she asking about mazes? Had Mitch told her about April’s dislike for them? “Will you look at this?” April said, holding up the bag that had held the starting cash, and ignoring Rocky’s question for now. “Most people have one with an ugly bank logo. Not Suzi.”
The bag was made of white canvas, with a huge blue zipper. The zipper pull was blue sea glass chips alternating with wooden beads. The bag itself had been stamped and painted in Suzi’s signature style. The front had a white picket fence with blue lupines crawling up the slats. Behind the fence were rows of flowers, lilies. On the back was a bucolic farm scene, rolling green hills, a silo and a cow. April looked up and saw that the view was Suzi’s backyard.
“Suzi would decorate anything and make it beautiful,” she said.
Rocky admired it before asking her question again. “Are there mazes on the Left Coast?”
“Of course there are,” April said. “I heard there was a great one in Danville.”
Any further discussion of California corn mazes was cut off by the customers queuing up to pay admission. Deana enticed some kids to try stamping, and Mitch took his place at his table. Pumpkin Express at Dowling Nursery had begun.
The morning passed quickly. By lunchtime, business had slowed as the hot and humid weather kept people away, but as soon as an afternoon breeze kicked up, the property was teeming with customers again.
At the kids’ table Deana was smiling over her charges, who were stamping their hearts out. The happy noises emanating from her tent were loud and precious as the little kids showed their parents their accomplishments.
But by midafternoon, April badly needed a bathroom break. Rocky had wandered off and was nowhere in sight, so April flagged down one of Suzi’s employees. As she ran to the house, she saw Mary Lou in the kitchen, cutting up lemons. On April’s way back from the bathroom, Mary Lou handed her a glass of lemonade.
“Great stuff,” she said to Mary Lou.
“Secret family recipe,” she said. “It refreshes without making you more thirsty.”
“What’s in it?” April asked.
Mary Lou pushed up her Mother Goose bonnet with the back of her hand, juice dripping down her arm. April had an uncomfortable flashback, remembering her ill-advised cleaning of an historic mural at the Mirabella mansion a few months ago.
“I can’t tell you that. If I did, I’d have to kill you.”
April laughed. Mary Lou didn’t look dangerous at all. She was a middle-aged realtor prone to outfits that showed more cleavage and leg than her age allowed. Her bonnet sat atop a highlights-streaked bob that could be achieved only in New York.
“I’m so glad you could come today,” April said. “Since your grandkids have been born, you haven’t made it to one stamp meeting.”
April knew she sounded whiny, but she’d missed Mary Lou, with her quirky outlook on people and life, always delivered with a caustic wit and an insight gained from working for years selling homes. The once-a-week stamping meetings had been a little tame without Mary Lou there.
“Having twins is definitely not for the weak. Kit has been so exhausted. I’ve been trying to give her as much of a break as I can.”
“But they’re darling,” April said.
“When they’re asleep,” Mary Lou said. She straightened and slapped herself on the cheek. “I don’t mean that. They’re beautiful. Everyone is just a little tired. Me included. I want to come to stamping, I really do. I miss crafting, and I miss you guys.”
Now April felt bad. Of course Mary Lou’s focus was on her family. “It’ll get better,” April said, although her experience with babies was limited to watching Jon & Kate Plus 8. That woman made having sextuplets look easy.
April finished her lemonade and gav
e Mary Lou a smile of thanks before returning to her station. Before she knew it, it was five o’clock.
“Great job, everyone,” Suzi called out as she closed the gate. “We are finished. The A.maz.ing Maze is officially closed.”
CHAPTER 5
“So, you survived your day in the corn maze,” Mitch said. They were walking back to the car. Rocky caught up to them.
“She never went near the thing,” Rocky said. She exchanged a meaningful look with her brother.
April looked at them askance. She tried to change the subject. “It looks like we took in a good amount of money. I counted three thousand dollars,” she told Mitch.
“Are you too chicken to go into the maze?” Rocky said.
Rocky never gave up. She found a weakness and was there to exploit it. Mitch should know better. “Why are you guys ganging up on me?” April finally said. “I read a lot of Stephen King as a kid. Children of the Corn freaked me out for years.”
“I suppose you have a car phobia, too,” Rocky put in. “And dogs. And proms.”
“Leave her, Rock,” Mitch said. “Not everyone is like you and likes to be goaded into doing things.”
“Thank you,” April said, leaving off the finally but letting her tone of voice speak for itself.
They got to the silo, where Suzi was directing her crew.
Deana approached April. “Rocky’s going to give me a lift home,” she said.
April was surprised. She frowned at Deana. “You okay?”
Deana looked baffled and April was reminded that she’d left town for fifteen years. Rocky was now Deana’s friend, too.
Deana whispered, “You can get back to the barn that much quicker.” Her eyebrows waggled, and April nearly laughed. She’d told Deana of the night she’d planned for Mitch. This was the first time in weeks that she’d have him all to herself for more than a couple of hours at the end of a long work day. She wanted the night to be extra special. She had steaks in the refrigerator and a salad already made.
Deana said loudly, “Rocky’s in desperate need of new brayer, and I just got new ones in stock.”
“And I’m going to buy some new papers and inks, just to get myself back into the swing of things,” Mary Lou said.
“Looks like the Stamping Sisters store is open for business,” Deana said.
April leaned in to give Deana a hug, and then Rocky waved good-bye as she, Deana and Mary Lou headed to the parking lot.
“Need any help cleaning up?” April asked Suzi. She was really just being polite. She couldn’t wait to get out of her tulle skirt and into normal clothes. Being a fairy princess had its limitations. Besides, Suzi had a passel of teenagers to do her bidding.
“As a matter of fact, could you do me a favor and go through the maze? I got a call that someone is missing their camera,” Suzi said.
“Sure we will,” Mitch said. He smiled at April, and she wondered if he’d set her up.
“It’s going to be dark soon,” April said.
“That’s why we have to hurry. You’re not afraid, are you?”
April looked at him. His green eyes were twinkling, his mouth upturned in a grin. She couldn’t let him get away with thinking she was scared.
“Let’s go,” she said, leading the way as she grabbed his hand. It was broad, powerful, and she could feel the roughness. She liked the feeling of his masculine mitt in hers. He tightened his fingers and she held them until they got to the maze.
At the entrance, Suzi had constructed an arch of white lattice. She’d wound ivy through the slats and placed pots of orange and yellow mums at the base. The phrase “A.maz.ing Corn Maze” was painted on a sign overhead.
April felt her throat constrict. Past the pretty gate, the stalks were tall, and the pathway between them was narrow. “Let’s stick together, okay?” she said. Her voice sounded much weaker than she’d intended.
Mitch stopped. He picked up her hand again. “Are you okay? If you’re really nervous, we don’t have to go in there. I was just teasing.”
She broke off her grasp and headed down the path. “I’m fine.”
But after a few steps she wasn’t so sure. The corn was over her head. Stalks enveloped her immediately, and her heart began to race a bit. She took a big intake of air, smelling the musk of the vegetation, the sweet smell of decay. The wind shifted and the funky smell disappeared. She wished she hadn’t let go of Mitch’s hand but was feeling too shy to reach for it again.
In front of her the path forked. She looked back at Mitch, who shrugged.
“You pick,” he said. “I’m following your lead.”
April chose the correct path as they weren’t greeted by a hay bale, but they soon came to another intersection. She began to gain a little confidence as each turn she made led to a new path. They laughed when they hit their first dead end and had to backtrack. Mitch moved aside so she could lead again.
The sun was setting and the sky was dusky. It would be totally dark soon. April was beginning to like the feeling of being followed by Mitch. She could hear his steady breathing behind her.
At the next dead end, she changed direction abruptly, bumping into Mitch as she turned. He stood his ground, obviously happy to be chest to chest with her. Her eyes lingered too long on his lips, and she looked away, blushing.
“This is going nowhere,” April said, taking a step back.
“This?” Mitch said, the grin back on his face. “You and me, this? Or this path?” His fingers fluttered between them, and then pointed at the maze.
April blushed, and pushed past him. “The maze,” she muttered.
“ ‘Baby, I’m amazed,’” Mitch sang, imitating Paul McCartney.
April groaned. They were deep into the maze, which was spread out over several acres. Above she could see bats wheeling in the twilight. Several turkey vultures circled. Vultures were a fact of life in this part of Pennsylvania, cleaning up after dead wildlife.
A firefly flitted by, showing itself with its tight lightbulb body.
“We don’t have fireflies in California,” April said.
“Did you miss them?” Mitch asked, his voice husky. She knew he was asking more. Like did she miss her life in California.
She tried to answer honestly. She did miss the fog, full of the smells of the ocean, and the ding of the cable cars and the sight of huge tankers going under the Golden Gate Bridge. But she was beginning to find a richer life here in Pennsylvania. Richer because of her friends, her family. And him.
“Being here has its advantages,” she said mildly.
Mitch pulled her closer. “I can think of one perk,” he said, his breath a whisper in her ear.
“And that would be?”
He tilted his head and kissed her gently. “That.”
She didn’t move, his mouth still on hers. “That it?” she asked, teasingly.
His eyes sparked with amusement. He kissed her again, more deeply. She opened her mouth and felt his tongue explore. She moved closer, letting her body sink into his until he was supporting her with his arm. She felt the softness of the air caress her skin and wanted to take him home to the loft in the barn. Now.
She broke away. “Let’s get out of here,” she said, her voice quivering.
He squeezed her hand, not letting her pull away this time.
“Where are we?” she said.
She stood on tiptoe, looking above the stalks so she was able to see the gentle humps of Nescopeck Mountain and hear the dim steady hum of cars driving Interstate 80. They seemed to be walking parallel to the highway, so going east-west. She hoped they were past the middle of the maze, about to come out back at the festival.
They started walking. April’s frustration grew as they hit three dead ends in a row. It was really dark now and this was not her idea of fun.
“Mitch,” she said after the fourth dead end. “Why didn’t you bring a flashlight?” She was a little ashamed of how testy she sounded. She wanted out.
“Don’t worry,” he s
aid. “I know where I’m going. Follow me.”
Before he turned to take the lead, he gave her elbow a squeeze and smiled. April felt a little better.
The first path he took was clear. The second led them to another dead end.
“Damn!” he said.
She looked around. She could see nothing but stalks. Above her. Next to her. On both sides. It was creepy. The stalks rustled, making her wonder about rodents. Crows landed ahead of her on the path, startling her. She screamed. A snake slithered by.
This was definitely not fun anymore. She was okay with scaring herself a little, just enough to get the blood pumping, the adrenalin moving. She didn’t mind that. But now she was terrified.
“Get me out of here, Mitch,” April said, her voice scratchy and low. Suzi could look for the damn camera tomorrow. The only way they were going to find it now was to trip over it.
“Hey,” he said. “It’s okay. I know the way out. Really.”
He smoothed her hair. A crow cawed noisily, making them both jump.
She laughed. “Sorry, I just freaked myself out.”
“It’s Halloween. It’s supposed to be creepy. No need to apologize.”
He held apart a row of stalks, making an opening for her to go through.
“In there?” she said.
“We’ll cut across the maze.” He nudged her forward. “I’m right behind you. Just keep going.”
They made some progress cutting through the stalks. After a few minutes they came to an area from which April could see Suzi’s silo, so she knew they were heading toward the gift shop and the parking lot. Light from Suzi’s place was spilling onto the ground in front of them. That was good.
April pushed open the last row of stalks. Something was blocking the way.
“Mitch,” she said tentatively.
“No, no. Don’t worry,” he said, looking skyward. The first star had come out. “We’re practically out.”
“Mitch, look . . .” she said, finger pointing. Her arm shook.
“We’re almost there. Just keep going.”