Chapter 8
While waiting on the porch waiting for Cade to join her, Tessa began to feel something that she couldn’t quite identify. She wondered at the changes she was feeling until he joined her.
Since it had stopped raining, Cade asked Tessa if she wanted to go to the cornfield, and see if she could find her friends or the ranch where she was staying.
As much as she’d enjoyed her time with Cade, she knew she needed to go back, so she told him she yes.
Together they walked down the steps to where the cornfield began.
What had been a maze when she first entered it, was totally different. It was a cornfield, with stalks of corn and no visible paths. Still not quite sure what she was feeling, made her uneasy. She thought it might be because the field looked completely different from when she first entered it.
Sensing her hesitation, Cade asked Tessa if she was ready to go in.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and nodded her head.
He took her hand and led her into the field.
The sense of unease was still with Tess, but she was also comforted by the feel of his large work-worn hand holding hers.
The further into the field they went, the more she noticed the absence of the paths that had been present in the maze.
There were only rows and rows of cornstalks.
At first, she heard nothing but the sound of their footsteps as they walked through the field; then she began to hear voices and music.
“I think I hear music. Do you hear it?”
“I do.” Cade looked at Tessa. Seeing her anxiety, he sought to put her at ease. “Why don’t you stay here, and I’ll go check and see where it’s coming from.”
“I’ll go with you.” Tessa didn’t want to separate from Cade.
“I’ll be right back. I’ll only be gone a few minutes.” Cade promised, hoping to ease her apprehension.
Cade called out to her to join him a few minutes later.
As she walked in the direction he’d taken, the voices and music she’d heard earlier grew louder.
She called out to him, but got no response.
Worried, she started to walk faster, while noticing the sky and weather changing.
Clouds began to cover the sun as the wind picked up.
Her worry developed into full-blown panic when the rain began to fall.
All the while, she kept calling out to Cade, but heard nothing in response except rainfall and the eerie sound of the wind.
As the sky grew darker, the voices and music continued to increase in volume.
Still following the sound of the music, Tessa saw lights appear.
Looking down, a path became visible, which led her to think she might have found the maze.
Continuing along the path, she heard her name being called.
The voice calling her sounded like Elise.
Reaching the lighted area, she saw it was indeed her friend, who spotted her at the same time and ran to join her.
“Where have you been?! We’ve been looking for you!” Elise and the others had been beside themselves with worry.
“I got lost in the maze, then somehow wandered off the path.” Tessa looked around, trying to find Cade as she spoke to her friend.
“The lights went out when the storm started. Knowing you were out here, we came to check and see if the lights in the maze had gone out as well. I sent you a text message and got worried when you didn’t respond.
We joined with the staff who were searching for you and the others who were out here” Elise explained.
Listening to Elise, Tessa continued looking for Cade wondering where he might have gone. She wanted to thank him for helping her.
“Did you see a tall guy with black hair and blue eyes? He helped me when I got lost.”
“No, I haven’t seen anyone fitting that description. It sounds like he might be one of the staff here at the ranch. Come on. You’d better change out of those wet clothes.”
Tessa took one more look around before following Elise.
Back in her room, Tessa showered and changed.
At her friends’ urging, she joined them for dinner and drinks at the saloon, which also doubled as a restaurant with each group attending the weekend event having a reserved table.
She noticed Jonathan and Fallon when they entered and was glad to see their table was on the other side of the room from where she and her friends were.
She was at the bar waiting for her drink when Jonathan joined her.
“I heard you’d gone missing. I know we’re no longer together, but I was worried about you.” Jonathan said, knowing he was probably the last person she wanted to talk to.
“As you can see, I’m okay.”
“You know, Tessa, if you would have just come here like everyone else did after the hay ride you never would have gotten lost.”
“Excuse me?”
“I hope you make better decisions while you’re here. It would be selfish of you to ruin everyone’s time by getting lost again.”
“Fuck off, Jonathan.” Tessa took her drink from the bartender and rejoined her friends.
Jonathan attempted to follow her but was intercepted by Ren.
“What do you think you’re doing?” He was done with Jonathan’s behavior.
“What do you mean? I was just expressing my concern.”
“No, you weren’t. Cut whatever this shit is out and stop being an ass.”
“You know me better than that Ren.”
“You’re right I do. That’s why I’m telling you to stop. Keep it up and I’ll have you kicked off the property.”
“Like I said, I was only trying to help. Don’t come running to me if something else happens.
You know as well as I do that Tessa tends to act first and think later.
I was just trying to save you all some trouble, but I can see you don’t want my assistance.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.” Jonathan left to rejoin Fallon.
Jonathan sounded calm, but his body language said otherwise. Ren could tell he was pissed, and he couldn’t have cared less.
Despite the encounter with her ex, Tessa enjoyed the evening.
Many times throughout the night she thought about Cade and scanned the crowd hoping to find him.
As she got ready for bed later, settling under the covers, thoughts of Cade filled her mind, and later that night, whether by coincidence or because he’d been in the forefront of her mind, he visited her dreams.
“Hi Cade. I’ve been looking for you.” Tessa was happy to see him.
“I was just on my way to find you.” Cade responded with a warm smile.
“You were?”
“Yes. I was going over near the stream to eat my lunch and wanted to see if you’d like to join me.” He held up the basket he was carrying for her to see.
“I’d love to!”
“Let’s go.”
Tessa walked with Cade along the short path to a gently flowing stream, observing the trees and brightly colored flowers they passed.
After finding a spot, Cade spread out a quilt, unpacked the food, and helped Tessa sit down before joining her.
They talked and laughed like close friends as they ate.
After finishing the meal, they picked up everything and headed back in the direction they’d come.
Cade needed to get back to work. Before he left her, he surprised her.
“I have something for you.”
“What is it?”
“Just something I came across that made me think of you. I hope you like it.”
“We’ll never know unless you give it to me,” Tessa joked.
“You’re right, we won’t. Close your eyes.” Cade watched her comply with his request before reaching into his pocket to remove the gift he’d gotten for her. “Okay, you can open them.”
“Oh, my goodness! This is for me?” Tessa looked at the beautiful heart-shaped smoke blue gemstone suspended from a silver chain.
“It is.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“I believe the words you’re looking for are ‘thank you.’” Cade laughed, pleased to see she was happy with his gift. “Turn around so I can put it on you.”
Tessa turned around and lifted her braids so he could fasten the necklace around her neck.
She didn’t know Cade well enough to accept such a gift from him, but she couldn’t force herself to remove it and give it back to him.
Instead, she turned, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him toward her for a kiss. He was leaning toward her when…
She heard the beeping sound of her alarm. Tessa opened her eyes and sighed as she reached for her phone to silence it. Her time with Cade had felt so real, she’d awakened disappointed that it had all been a dream.