Page 26 of Clued in to Love
“That’s it, yeah?” William said. His voice was guttural, like it resonated deep in his throat. Every word that emerged sounded rich and velvety.
They were entering dangerous territory.
She finally leaned back, pulled away from him, and tried to regain her composure. “What does it mean? Could that be why the team mentioned heading to the pub?”
“Good question.” He cleared his throat and frowned. Had he felt the palpable energy between them, too? “And good call. I guess you were right.”
“Here’s the thing you should know about me: I’m always right,” Marissa teased, hoping her tone sounded light. She was still trying to calm the throbbing feeling in her stomach.
“‘Pub’ is another wide-open clue,” William said. “How many pubs does Bend have?”
“A lot.”
“And ‘paparazzi.’ Do we need to take pictures at each of them?”
“Oh, that’s a good thought. Do we enter this find on the app? Maybe once we do that, it will give us another hint.”
William was already on it. He leaned in again.
Marissa willed her body not to betray her. She suddenly felt a teenager with wildly fluctuating hormones again.
“Okay, yeah. We have our first points.” He gave her a high five, breaking the tension. “And it looks like we got bonus points for being among the top ten teams.”
“Really?” That was a huge relief. Marissa had been so sure they were at the back of the pack. “Does it say anything about pubs or paparazzi?”
He nodded. “Listen to this. ‘The Bend Ale Trail has it all. A holiday pint. A tasting bite. A photo op. A special stamp. Take the map, and don’t forget that you might get wet on this route.’”
“What?” Marissa made a face.
“We know the Ale Trail.”
“Sure, but are we supposed to go to every pub on the route?” Marissa scrunched her forehead, trying to decide if the clue would be that easy to crack. The Bend Ale Trail was popular with locals and tourists. The Chamber of Commerce offered free maps for craft beer lovers to follow and find large and small breweries throughout the high desert. It was similar to Passport to the Holidays. Beer lovers followed the map from brewery to brewery for tastings, tours, and special merch. But there were at least a dozen stops on the map. How could they possibly hit each one?
“Good question.” William reviewed the clue. “It doesn’t say. That’s it. We need to log this clue by the end of day Tuesday, so I guess it’s good that we found the first clue tonight.”
“But ‘get wet’?” Marissa was stumped. “Could it have something to do with the Deschutes? I mean, it’s certainly not white rafting season.”
“What if it’s that?” William snapped his fingers together like he’d cracked the code. “Deschutes Brewery? It’s on the river.”
“Maybe.” She twisted her head from side to side. “That feels too easy again. Doesn’t it?”
“There’s one way to find out.” William glanced at his watch. “They’re open for another hour. Should we try? If we’re wrong, we can meet up again tomorrow.”
“Sure.” Marissa nodded. “That sounds good.”
She couldn’t believe that she meant it. Was she looking forward to spending more time with William Graff?
SIXTEEN
HILARY
Staff and volunteers dismantled the stage and hot chocolate stations. It didn’t take long to return the park to its pre-Passport to the Holidays kickoff state. Hilary was impressed with the speed and efficiency of the parks department crew. She made a mental note to mention it to Samesh tomorrow.
Hilary had noticed the unmistakable gleam in his eyes when he had checked in with her to let her know he was taking off early to meet an old friend. Not that he needed to. She wasn’t his boss. However, she did appreciate the professional courtesy and was glad that, aside from Darby backing out of her speech, the rest of the event had gone smoothly.
It wasn’t terribly late. She should probably go home and try to make amends with Ben. She felt terrible for upsetting him. It had been sweet of him to show up and surprise her with flowers. It was just bad timing, which felt like the story of their lives at the moment.
She wondered if he’d eaten. She could swing by their favorite ramen shop and pick up dinner on the way home.
