Page 40 of Save a Wish

We stood at the mouth of the corn maze now and, to be honest, this was one time where I didn’t care how fast we made it through. Normally when I came here with my family or with friends, we made it a competition to see who could find the way out in the shortest amount of time. Free beer was usually on the line and I often was the victor of that contest.

Today? Well, today, I wanted to get lost somewhere in the center of it with Sadie. I wanted the tall corn stalks to shield us so the rest of the world faded away. I wanted us to fall into another dimension in this cornfield where just the two of us existed and the only thing we had to accomplish was to make each other feel fantastic.

“Ready?” Sadie asked me when I’d stood at the start of the maze for far too long, daydreaming.

“Yes. Let’s do this.”

I let Sadie take the lead, but she slowed so we were walking side by side instead.

“Have you ever gotten trapped in this maze?” She fingered one of the browned, papery leaves of a stalk.

I shook my head. “You can’t get trapped. There are little emergency exits that lead directly to where we started.”

“Oh, that’s a relief.” She arched an eyebrow. “Although the prospect of getting trapped in this maze with you doesn’t seem so bad.”

“I love that you’re thinking exactly what I’m thinking.” I nudged her arm with my elbow. “You don’t have corn mazes where you lived before coming to Greenridge?”

“No.”

I waited a beat to see if she’d say more about where she’d come from, but she focused on looking around a bend in the path ahead.

I tried again. “Does corn not grow where you used to live?”

Sadie considered whether to go right or left then paused to read the clue on a little wooden board and turned toward the right. Perhaps she hadn’t heard my follow-up question.

“We grow corn,” she finally said, “but no one is as creative as this in my country. We grow corn to eat it and that’s it.”

More of an answer but still not very revealing.

Be patient. I didn’t need to know everything about Sadie right now. I’d learned other things by spending time with her recently that were enough to keep me interested. Hopefully, in time, she’d feel comfortable with sharing more with me.

She hadn’t shied away from being open about her vision for her business. Steering the conversation in that direction would no doubt stir up more conversation.

“Did you look at the bookings from today?” I asked.

At that question, Sadie twirled to face me, a huge smile stretching across her incredible mouth. “I did and I made plans for them and I’m so thrilled to be able to do this work.”

“What made you get into this mindful stuff?”

She looked down to the boots she wore and I feared she’d shut down on the sharing, but she drew in a deep breath and met my gaze. A hollowness in her green eyes replaced the joy that sparkled there but a moment ago.

“I had an older sister,” she began. “A sickness overtook her and she passed. Mindful work helped me deal with that loss.”

I took a few steps to put me directly in front of her. “I’m so sorry, Sadie.”

“Thanks.”

I hadn’t meant to plunge this date into a deep well of sadness for her. I’d only been trying to get to know her better.

“She was a wonderful sister,” Sadie said. “I wanted to be just like her.”

“I’m sure she’d be proud of you and what you’re doing.”

A small smile dispelled some of the sadness. “I think she would too.”

“That’s something I try to remember when I’m missing my dad,” I admitted.

Sadie pressed a hand to my chest. “I’m certain he’s proud of you, Beckett. Of the work you do. Of the help you give animals.” She rubbed a small circle near my heart. “Of the help you give people.”