A small laugh bursts out of him, and warmth shivers across my skin. “Layne mentioned you name them after songs.”
“Yeah. People identify with the songs so much that they’ll try a flavor they wouldn’t have otherwise.” I shrug. “It’s fun.”
“It’s more than fun. It works, so, it’s brilliant marketing.”
“Do what you gotta do to make those sales.”
“Speaking of which . . .”
I sigh. “It’s fine. You won, fair and square. It was my stupid idea. I’ll tell June the results.”
“You really don’t have to tell her about our little contest.”
“She’s not dumb, Mason. It’s pretty clear who was busier. Alcohol or no, your bar outsold me by miles.”
“We have a way broader menu.”
“Don’t start making excuses for me.”
He’s silent for a moment. “I’m sorry. I know you really wanted to win.”
“Oh my god, do not feel sorry for me. Major ick. I’m leaving before this gets embarrassing for both of us.”
I hear his warm chuckle behind me as I head for the door.
“Hey,” he says. “You wanna take the shortcut?”
Mason walks me down the grass behind the cider house and along the edge of the orchard. We walk in silence with only the moonlight to show us the way. The night air is warm and fresh on my skin, and butterflies flit happily in my stomach.
Mason is quiet, in his thoughts, and so am I.
I almost don’t care where he’s taking me.
I’d probably go anywhere with him.
Sad.
After passing many rows of trees, light spills across the grass from the back of Layne’s cottage. And a definite path is revealed. A very old path, the gravel now embedded in the dirt, grass overgrowing much of it. It leads down from Layne’s cottage and skirts along the edge of the orchard ... then disappears into it.
I follow Mason’s lead as we take this path, moving away from the cottage, and definitely in the direction of June’s property.
“What is this?” For some reason, I whisper it.
“This, Sierra Daniels,” he whispers back, “is the secret passage between the Grant family’s property and the Spencers’.”
I let out a gasp, which is half fake-dramatic and half real. “Secret passage? This is scandalous. How many people know about this?”
“Not many. Besides the families, just the few employees that need to access this area.”
We pass through the rows of apple trees.
“Where does it go, exactly?”
“It leads all the way from Layne’s cottage to the cottage where you’re staying.”
“No.”
“Yup.”
