Page 36 of Rumors in Bayberry
She couldn’t hold in her amusement any longer.The more she laughed, the more his scowl deepened.She pressed a hand to her mouth, but she couldn’t stop the rush of giddiness.
“Would you stop?”His voice held a grumpy tone.“My shoes are ruined.”
She calmed herself long enough to say, “And they stink.”
“You are not funny.Not funny at all.”
“Sadie, is that you?”
She turned to find Chester Anderson approaching her.He wore a green ball cap, his usual faded jean overalls that had smudges of dirt, an old white T-shirt, and black rubber boots.
“Hey, Sadie.It’s good to see you.”
She thought about holding out her hand to shake his but decided to just skip over that part.“I hope you don’t mind that I brought a friend.”But was Reed technically a friend or was he a foe?It was a question for another time.She introduced the two men.“Reed read the original article I wrote about Hampton and Quackers.He begged to come meet them in person.”
“Oh.I don’t mind.”Chester’s gaze moved past her to where Reed was bent over, trying to clean off his shoes with some straw.She wondered how that was working for him.Chester nodded toward Reed.“Is everything okay with him?”
Reed straightened.“I got too close to the cow.”
Chester smiled, but unlike her, he didn’t break into laughter.She had a feeling Reed wasn’t the first visitor to get too close to the backend of a cow.“Are you ready to go see Hampton and Quackers?”
She noticed that Chester wasn’t talking to her.Perhaps he was trying to distract Reed from his ruined shoes.So, she stood by quietly.
“I would like that.”Reed stepped past her and then shook hands with Chester.
The next thing she knew, the guys were walking away.She was left to either hang out with the cows or trail behind them.How did this happen?
She swallowed down a groan and rushed after them.Chester was telling Reed about the farm.He was supposed to be telling her all of this information so she could pick out the interesting details to share with the readers.
She wasn’t going to be shoved out of this conversation.“Chester, the last time I was here, you were expecting to double your herd.”
“Uh, yes.We’re expecting to double it within the next few years.We’re taking our time with the expansion.”
Reed asked some questions about the size of the herd and about the mean-old bull that was in the pasture.She was impressed with the way Reed easily made friends.With his easy-to-get-along-with personality, he could have been a reporter.
She remembered it was his personality that had her falling for him so quickly.But that wouldn’t happen again.She was on to him now.She wouldn’t let herself get swayed by his flirty words or his charming smiles.
After this visit to the farm, she didn’t know if she would see him much longer.She was waiting for a call back from her editor just as soon as they had an assignment for her.Maybe that would be her answer—if she got the call, she would stay on her current career path.
Chester led them to a penned-in area containing Hampton the pig and a now-grown duck, Quackers.“They are the best of friends.We tried to separate them once, but Hampton wouldn’t eat.Quackers went nuts, squawking up a storm until we returned her back to the pen.”
Sadie had pulled out a small notebook that she always kept in her purse and a pen.She jotted down everything about the pig and duck.She was definitely writing this story before she left…whenever that would be.
“Aw… They’re so cute.”Sadie pulled out her phone and started snapping pictures.Her readers were going to go nuts over this story.
If this was going to be her last article in theBayberry Gazette, she wanted it to be extra special.And this story definitely fit the bill.But she kept getting distracted by the handsome man with cow poop on his shoes.
His shoes were ruined.
Reed hosed them off before getting into Sadie’s car.Now they were both ruined and wet.His feet were freezing, but he wasn’t going to let on to Sadie.She’d gotten far too much entertainment out of his predicament already.
He noticed since they left the pig pen that she’d grown quiet.He wondered what she was thinking about.Was she already writing her article in her head?Or was she still upset with him?Or perhaps she was tired?
They sat in a comfortable silence on the way back to town.It was lunchtime by the time they arrived.As Sadie parked the car in front of the newspaper office, he was about to ask her to lunch, when her phone rang.
She reached into her purse and grabbed her phone.She checked the caller ID.“It’s my editor.”
Without another word, she opened the door and hopped out.He sat there for a moment, watching her animated expressions.She nodded and smiled.Was she that anxious to get out of Bayberry?
