Chapter 19
BLAIRE
Istood at this dead end, thinking about him, and then he walked right up to me. My gift has never worked that fast in my life.
Jamie looks good. His hair is a mess from the wind, and his cheeks are pink. He’s smiling at me like the last five days of not seeing each other was a blip in time. For the moment, it’s just us.
“What if I manifested you?” he asks.
“Did you?”
“Maybe.” He laughs and takes a step closer.
A group of teenagers is arguing on the other side of the hay wall, close enough to hear us.
“I got your note,” he says, his voice gravelly.
“What note?” I play dumb.
He narrows his eyes at me, then reaches into his jacket pocket. Jamie pulls out the folded piece of notebook paper, then clears his throat before turning it around. “If you didn’t put this on my car, then who did?”
“Hmm. Sounds like you have an admirer.”
“I’m hoping so. But also, this is your handwriting.”
“Busted,” I say.
The teenagers come rushing toward us, only to find it’s a dead end. There are four of them, loud, passing a bag of kettle corn around.
One of the girls looks from him to me and back. “Are you making out in the maze?”
Her friends laugh, and then they turn around and go the other way.
Jamie loops his fingers in mine, and we take our time moving back into the maze.
We walk. Lanterns hang from poles, lighting the way.
The paths smell like straw, and it’s slightly damp.
Kids sprint past us, laughing and screaming, as they chase one another in costume.
When the path narrows, his fingers brush mine, and I let it happen.
The past five days, I’ve been swamped with working the festival and the storefront. But a day hasn’t passed where I haven’t thought about him.
“We should talk,” I say as we take a left. It’s another dead end with a scarecrow.
“Nothing good ever starts with that.” He leans against the hay wall next to the scarecrow.
“You never know.” I step in front of him so he has to look at me. “I want to spend the rest of October with you.”
“I knew that already.” His mouth curves upward.
“You said you want all of me. All or nothing. I’ll give you that until November first, like we agreed, but …”
He tilts his head. “But?”
“I have to work. This is my busiest season of the year. I’ve been at the shop nonstop, and the next thirty days won’t be easy, juggling it all.”
“Whatever you need, Blaire. I just want you without you holding back and running away. We agreed to a fling. That still stands. But this doesn’t have to be just a sex agreement. We can have fun. Enjoy life.”
He pulls me in closer, until I’m pressed against his chest, and then he kisses me.
“Is the Fling King always like this?” I ask after he leaves me completely breathless.
“Somewhat. Flings are like test-driving a car before buying it. I tend to give my all, then walk away when the deal expires.”
I lick my lips. “But most don’t want to give you up?”
“Correct,” he says. “So, is this us starting over?”
“Yes,” I whisper, hoping I’m not making a mistake. “All in.”
He smirks. “I love it when I get my way.”
“Please, I’m the one who got my way,” I say.
“Great. We’re on the same page then.”
He laces his fingers through mine and pulls me back toward the main path. The maze swallows us again. At the next dead end, a pumpkin sits on a stool in front of the hay wall.
Jamie turns around and pulls me closer, kissing me again. “Every dead end, you’ll get another one.”
“Damn,” I say breathlessly. “We might be in here for hours then.”
I lead us to another wall of hay bales on purpose. The exit is close, but I’m not ready to leave yet. This kiss lasts longer. My cold hands slide into his jacket and under his shirt, causing him to squirm.
“You have icicles for hands,” he says, kissing along my neck.
“You should feel my toes,” I tell him.
I can’t stop smiling, and I don’t try.
When we’re breathless and desperate, he pulls me away. We talk about everything and nothing in hushed voices, staying close to one another, but not touching when people are around.
“Tell me about your schedule,” he says at the next fork in the maze. “What am I working around?”
“I’ve got private readings booked until the end of the season. Every Friday and Saturday, I’ll be doing tarot in the wagon at the festival. I have this Sunday off and another one in a few weeks.”
“When you’re finished on Saturday, I’m stealing you. I want to go someplace where nobody knows either of us.”
“Like?”
“It’ll be a surprise,” he says.
“Even though I’m busy, I still want your midnights,” I confess.
His thumb grazes against my cheek as he stares into my eyes. “Every single one is yours.”
More voices surround us, and the maze is growing more crowded with each passing minute.
A second wave of people pours in. There are several loud groups of teenagers and a bachelorette party.
Each woman is wearing a necklace that has pumpkins and penises on it.
Every dead end we come up to has people in it.
Our fingers brush, and that has to be enough.
“Want to get out of here?” I ask against his ear.
“Fuck yes.” He pulls me toward where we both hope the exit is.
Finding it is actually harder than getting lost. Every turn delivers us somewhere else, and the scarecrow we’ve passed at least twice rises out of the dark end again.
“Okay,” I admit, “we might never get out of here.”
“Wouldn’t be the worst place to be trapped,” he says.
A boy in a bright orange beanie pops up behind us. He might be ten years old. He takes one look at us and shakes his head.
“You’ve been lost inside here forever,” he says. “I’ve already been through it three times. I can show you how to get out.”
“Sure,” I say.
“Twenty bucks.” He holds out his little hustler hand.
I gasp. “That’s robbery.”
“That’s business, baby,” the kid says.
“I like you.” Jamie hands him a twenty. “Lead the way.”
“Thanks, mister!” He pockets the cash and sets off, then points his flashlight at me. “You’re the witch lady. Why didn’t you magic yourself out? Call your broomstick or something.”
“I wish I could,” I tell him with a laugh. “If only.”
“My mom buys your candles. She lights them at the beginning of every month.” He hangs a hard right at the scarecrow. “This is Stan. You’re supposed to go straight right here at this fork in the road. The other two ways loop you back around to the front.”
“The scarecrow has a name?” Jamie asks.
“Obviously,” the kid says.
He takes us through two lefts and another turn I never saw. Ahead of us is the finish line. He’s gone before we can thank him—off to make some more cash from adults, I’m sure.
The finish line spits us out into a square that’s now twice as packed as when we went in.
The maze line wraps as far as the eye can see.
Every food truck has lines ten people deep.
The bachelorette party has taken over the pumpkin patch photo op, with the girls posing one at a time with a questionably shaped gourd.
Phones and cameras are everywhere. A flash goes off to my left, then one to my right. A woman I sold crystals to last week holds her phone up to film the whole square in one slow pan. There is no privacy here. It’s not safe.
Jamie stiffens and tugs his hat lower on his head.
The relaxed version of him that did the maze with me has vanished, and the careful guy is back.
He’s at a distance, and we walk out with a single glance at each other.
Then we pretend as if we did it alone. The crowd shoves us apart, and I lose sight of him.
I pull out my phone and text him.
Blaire
Meet me at my cabin in the mountains. Tonight.
I find him across the walkway, where he pulls his phone from his pocket and reads the text. My phone vibrates.
Jamie
Now?
Blaire
Yeah.
He stops at the pie table, where Josie is working her line. She hands him his box and says something that I can’t hear. He laughs, gives her a wad of cash, and carries it in the opposite direction of where I’m going. I wait five minutes, then move over to her table.
“Did you get lost?” she asks.
“It’s a hard maze.”
“Yeah, yeah. Did you see Jamie in there?”
I laugh. “Josie, the entire town was in there.”
“Mm-hmm,” she says, but doesn’t push.
“I won’t be home tonight,” I tell her. “Going to the cabin.”
Her whole face lights up. “Meeting the one-night stand from last week?”
“That wouldn’t make it a one-night stand,” I tell her.
“Oh, is it someone different?” she asks. “My lips are sealed,” she promises.
“And I don’t kiss and tell.” I shoot her a wink.
“Have fun! I’ll let Winter know,” she tells me.
“Thank you,” I say, giving her a hug. “You’re the best cousin.”
My phone vibrates in my pocket. I walk away and pull it out.
Jamie
Want to ride with me? I’m parked behind Charmed Cauldron.
I instantly grin.
Blaire
Top down?
Jamie
Your wish is my command.
Jamie
Be stealthy. There are a fuck ton of people around.
Being unnoticed takes me the long way around the square, past the food trucks and into the alley behind my shop. The Mustang sits in the shadows with its lights off. I open the door and drop into the passenger seat, then press the button until I’m lying flat.
“Let’s get out of here,” I whisper, looking up at the stars. “Top down is the best.”
“You say that now.”
He clicks on the heat, then pulls out at a responsible speed. He checks his mirrors and uses his blinkers—some getaway driver.
Once we’re at the edge of town, I bring my seat back to the upright position.
It’s fifty degrees, and the cold blowing through my hair is worth it.
The heater is on high, and so is my seat warmer.
I hold my hands in front of the vents and let the wind toss my hair.
There’s nobody in front of or behind us.
It’s just his headlights on the switchbacks and his hand wrapped around mine.
He takes the gravel turn to the long driveway.
“You remembered where it was?” I’m honestly impressed. “That takes skill.”
“I pay attention.”
I’m not sure I’ve ever met a man who has. The cabin appears through the last of the aspens. It looks small against the trees. He parks and turns off the engine. It’s completely quiet. We get out of the car, and I unlock the door. Jamie carries one of Josie’s pies with both hands.
I light the wood that I left in the fire, and the room comes to life.
I light the lanterns on the mantle. He stands in the living room, making the space feel so much smaller.
I cross the room toward him and take his face in both my hands, kissing him.
This time, he doesn’t hold back, like he did at the maze. We’re finally alone.
“I missed you,” I admit, “when I shouldn’t.”
Laughter escapes him as he runs his fingers through my hair. “I missed you too.”
He pulls me down onto the couch, and we pick up where the maze made us stop. Our mouths move slowly, and I memorize how he tastes. He kisses my jaw, my temple, the top of my head. I tuck my face into his neck and breathe him in. Neither of us tries for more than this.
“You want some pie?” he asks.
“I will never say no to that,” I mumble against his throat. “Josie’s an amazing cook.”
“I know. She fed me a tiny slice before the maze. A tactic, I’m sure.”
“Yes,” I say. “Can’t have a bite and not buy a whole pie. It’s a fall fact.”
We eat it straight from the box in front of the fireplace, passing one fork back and forth.
“Worth the wait?” I ask.
“Yeah, and the pie is great too.” He gives me a wink.
He steals the fork back and holds a bite to my mouth. I let him feed me, and he watches.
The fire burns down while we talk about nothing. I add more wood, and my eyes get heavy. He pulls the blanket off the back of the couch and spreads it over us. I snuggle into him.
“What time do you have to go?” I ask, barely awake.
“I don’t.”
His heartbeat is steady under my ear. The last thing I remember is his arm wrapping around me, keeping me close as we fall asleep.