“Pick one out, honey,” David tells her.
She goes rooting through the crate, handing off pumpkins to all three of us until she’s nearly at the bottom. She pulls out a perfectly round, fat gourd and holds it up in the air like a prize. “This is it!” she exclaims.
David helps us put the others back, and by the time we’re done, she has a smooth white pumpkin in her hands as well. Smiling at her, we head back to the line to pay.
Once the pumpkins are in the vehicles and everyone has seen and commented on the pink pumpkin, we decide to try out the maze. “Okay, everyone,” Seb calls. “Let’s make this interesting,” he says, eyes sparkling with excitement. “Last one out of the maze has to buy cider for the rest of us. Ready, set, go!” he yells, turning and running into the corn. Shaking my head, I check in with the others. Bay offers to take Olivia, Nick sticks with me, Alex goes with Gabby, and the parents decide to stick together.
The acre-sized maze stretches out before us, its twists and turns longer than its width. The corn is so tall that only the vast blue sky is visible, and it is wide enough for a comfortable, side-by-side stroll. Winding, forking paths cause our groups to quickly go their separate ways. I can hear other kids nearby as we walk along our chosen path. We come across several dead ends and have to turn around, but something about the maze is peaceful. Despite occasionally hearing kids, it’s quieter in here with the corn reaching 7 feet tall. I grab Nick’s hand as we work our way through, and he lets me lead and stays quiet. We run into the parents once, heading in the opposite direction. There are scarecrows, signs, and pumpkins scattered around the paths.
We eventually find the exit, and I stop Nick to take a selfie of us. He leans in and kisses my head as I snap the photo. Following the road, we find Olivia, Bay, Alex, and Gabby waiting around the corner, sitting on hay bales, so Nick and I join them to wait for the others. Olivia’s hair is a mess with bits of hay and corn everywhere, so Gabby offers to braid it for her. “You guys were fast,” I say to Bay.
“Olivia ran the entire maze,” he shrugs. “She wanted to be first.”
“We came in first too, didn’t we, Bay,” Olivia says with a triumphant grin on her face.
“Good for you, Olivia,” I smile.
The parents join us about 5 minutes later, but there’s no sign of Seb. “Did anyone see Seb in there?” I ask.
No one came across him, so we decide to wait 10 minutes before searching for him. As soon as the wait is over, we scatter to look for Seb. As we encircle the maze, calling Seb’s name, Olivia and Bay venture back in. From the left side of the maze, his voice carries to me a few minutes later. “Sunshine, where are you?” he calls.
“We’ve all finished the maze, Hurry. Olivia and Bay went back inside to find you. You’re closer to the end now. Can you follow my voice? I’ll start walking back towards the exit.”
“Man, how did you all get through already? I went in first,” he whines a little.
Chuckling, I keep talking to him as we make our way back towards the exit. He runs into a few dead ends and gets further away a time or two. I notice Nick texting the others, and Olivia finds him a few minutes later. I can hear her giving him directions on how to get out. Olivia walks out holding Seb’s hand, followed by a smiling Bay. “Drinks are on Seb,” Troy announces with a smile.
Seb jogs over to me, slinging an arm over my shoulder. “Every time, Sunshine, dammit. Why can’t I ever win? I’m cursed.” He sighs dramatically, putting his weight on me, causing me to stumble.
“Well, you’re good at basketball, so that’s something,” I smile up at him. Poor guy. He’s so enthusiastic about everything, but is absolutely terrible at games. It’s a wonder he’s so good at basketball when everything else is a disaster.
Troy ends up buying all of us apple cider as we walk around the vendors. I buy a crystal bracelet in blue while Zander purchases some popping corn. Once everyone has finished shopping, we split up to head home. It was a wonderful afternoon. Now, the guys and I have to study for midterms this coming week.
Chapter 25
Nick
Walking out to the Jeep after MMA class with Ceres, I find a large brown envelope under the wiper. Opening it, I find more photos of everyone, mostly of Shortie, though. This time from school and the carnival. He has to have someone new working for him because I haven’t seen any of his old crew around. Turning over the photos, “tick tock” is written on the ones of Summer. So he’s really after her. “Fuck.”
“Your dad again?” Ceres asks.
“Yeah.” I don’t know what to do other than lock her in her house or never leave her side. He’s going to take her, or try to, for revenge. I would stay far away from her if it would help, but she’s already on his radar, so there’s no point. I text Troy to see where he’s at. He’s still at Finn, so I nod goodbye to Ceres and drive over there.
Troy is in his office, so I drop the pics on his desk and take a seat. After looking them over, he sighs. “He’s after Summer.”
“Yeah. He'll try to take her. We both know it.”
“That poor girl,” he says, shaking his head. “Let me call Z and Eddie at the FBI office.”
I nod and wait for him to connect with everyone. Maybe I should drive to Tennessee and confront the bastard. I can’t let him hurtShortie. She’s coming along with her training, but it’s no match for guns, or more than one man. Patrick isn’t stupid. If he is watching us, he’ll realize she has some training and will send two or more men to grab her.
Focusing back in, Troy greets Eddie on the phone. “What are you thinking, Nick?” Eddie asks.
“He’s going to try to take her. I’d bet my life on it.”
I hear Zander swearing in the background, and I feel like shit I brought this into her life after everything she’s been through. “Sorry, Z.”
“Hey, this isn’t on you, Nick. I’m upset about the situation, not you. Eddie, what can you do?”
