3. Cedric

I was drinking my second coffee in the little café near the hotel which was also beside the river.

The sound of water was soothing, and I took deep breaths of the clean air.

Reed strolled in. I waved as he ordered coffee, and he asked if I'd had breakfast. It was mid-morning, and I'd ordered room service at the crack of dawn and gone back to sleep.

He joined me, and I finished my coffee and gathered my things.

"No need to hurry, Cedric. We have all day."

"We do, don't we?" This was a new experience for me; having time where I had nothing lined up except a visit to his office and the nature reserve.

"I'm sorry for what happened." He glanced down as the café owner brought his coffee. "I feel somehow responsible." He stirred his hot drink so slowly it was mesmerizing.

I could pretend I didn't know what he was talking about, but that was silly. "Hey, this is not on you. Only the person who put?—"

Reed's eyes bulged, and he snorted, the hand holding the spoon jerking and banging the side of the cup. But his lightning-fast reflexes had him covering the coffee with a napkin before it sprayed over the table and us.

"How do you do that?" I'd never asked before, but I'd never had time for a discussion about his split-second reactions.

"Do what?" He looked away, convincing me he knew what I was talking about.

"The super-speedy thing. If that had happened to anyone else, we'd be mopping coffee off us."

He shrugged. "Just lucky, I guess."

His phone beeped, ending the conversation. I stared out at the river while he read his text.

"Hmmm. Maybe a change of plan."

I didn't mind. I'd bought a novel at Greg's bookstore when it opened this morning and was planning on sitting in the park and reading it. Might even take a nap.

His phone rang. "Harry." But as Reed spoke, he turned toward the entrance. A man strode in with the most stunning head of brilliant blue hair. I couldn't help my mouth gaping, but just before he reached us, I shoved a hand under my chin and closed it.

"Boss."

"Cedric, this is my assistant extraordinaire, Harry."

I was supposed to meet Harry last night when I had dinner with Reed and family at Mr. Lucas and Mrs. Ambrose's place, but he'd been kept late at the office. I'd been curious why everyone called them Mr. and Mrs. when according to Reed they were practically family. Not that it mattered.

"Nice to meet you." Harry's face lit up as we shook hands. "Sorry about last night."

"No problem. I hear the boss is a hard taskmaster."

Harry grinned, and Reed rolled his eyes.

"We have a situation." Harry jerked his head in my direction. It was subtle, but he was definitely referring to me.

I saved them the trouble of moving outside to speak. "I can go if you need to talk privately." I rose.

"No," they both yelled in unison.

The force of their voices had me sitting my butt back on the chair.

"What do we do?" Reed asked, averting his eyes from me.

"Maybe…" Harry paused. "You left something at Uncle's last night and need to pick it up." He had an odd sing-songy tone to his voice as if he were saying one thing and meaning another.

"That's exactly what happened." Reed drained the rest of his coffee. "We have to take a detour and collect a… a…"

"Book?" Harry asked.

"That's right. A book." He lowered his voice. "A very important book."

I gazed at Reed, then Harry and back to Reed. They were acting weird. Maybe it was the Riverford air. Reed did say the place was magic. Maybe he meant it literally.

Harry said his goodbyes and left, and Reed hustled me to his car. I hadn't buckled up when he took off, not looking behind him as he pulled out. Yikes. Was the situation an emergency?

When he pulled up at Mr. Lucas's, Harry got out of his car in the street as a pickup was in the driveway. Someone had been cutting the hedge but must have been interrupted and put down their tools. It was half done. I'd warmed to Mr. Lucas and Mrs. Ambrose last night, but while the elderly man was spritely enough, I couldn't see him climbing a ladder and attacking the hedge with a trimmer.

"I'll sit in the car."

Reed's blank expression suggested he wasn't expecting me to say that. But he poo-pooed my suggestion and said the elderly couple wanted to see me again.

He steered me inside with Harry at our heels. We bypassed a broken lamp on the floor, and he escorted me onto the deck. Along with the couple, there was another guy, a huge bear of a man. His face registered discomfort, along with something I couldn't determine.

Mrs. Ambrose hooked her arm in his and told us to sit. She introduced us, but the guy, Gage, didn't extend his hand to shake mine.

Harry bustled around making tea and serving cake. I wasn't hungry but accepted a hot cup of tea and nibbled on a slice of excellent chocolate cake. I was glad for the diversion, and after each bite, my gaze flicked to Gage. I couldn't get a handle on the guy. His shirt has two small holes at the shoulder, his hair was unruly and needed cutting, and his hands were covered in fine scars as if he did manual work.

"Gage has been cutting our hedge." Mr. Lucas tapped his cane on the floor. "And a very fine job he's doing."

"Very fine." Reed nodded.

Working in the garden might explain the scars.

From the corner of my eye, I noted poor Gage turning bright pink. I squirmed in the seat, sweat trickling down my spine. If this was what I thought it was, everyone could stop what they were doing right now. It was way too early for me to get into another relationship. And Mrs. Ambrose's hand on Gage's arm was vice-like. Like me, he wanted to be anywhere but here.

"I should get back to work." Gage picked up a dainty tea cup as though he was grabbing a ball, his gnarled fingers too big for the handle, and gulped the hot liquid. He stood, Mrs. Ambrose followed, Reed got up and so did I, Harry had never sat down. Only Mr. Lucas remained seated.

"Interesting. Maybe I should retire."

"You're always threatening to, Uncle, but you never do." Harry put a hand on the older man's shoulder.

Gage nodded to everyone, thanked the elderly couple for the food and dashed into the house. The faint whirr of the trimmer started up seconds later.

"Can I help take the dishes inside?" I glanced from Mr. Lucas to Mrs. Ambrose.

"Don't worry, dear. Mr. Lucas will clear everything away and load the dishwasher." She kissed her partner.

"See you at the office." Harry left, but when we walked out the front door, I asked Reed about the book.

"Book?" There was no recognition in his eyes.

"The reason we came here was to get a book."

"Oh, yes." He stared upward. "It's not here. I'll get it another time."

Curious. Was everyone in this town a little quirky?

As we walked to the car, I sensed a pair of eyes on me. Gage. I didn't get a sense his interest was stalkerish. If we'd been in the city, a guy staring at me like that would have made me uncomfortable. But Gage had seemed so out of place in the house, and I wanted to give him a hug and tell him it was okay, I wasn't looking to be matched with anyone.

If Mr. Lucas and family's hobby was matchmaking, they'd made a mistake this time.

I turned and half waved to Gage before getting in the car.

We drove in silence to the office, and Harry showed me around and explained their fundraising and marketing plan. I suggested they book a booth at the annual Riverford festival toward the end of the year, the date of which was on a poster at the café. That would get eyes on their project and maybe corporate sponsors.

"We only want the right kind of sponsors," Harry told me as he pointed out the hammock out back. "No organizations that profit from destroying the environment or paying their workers wages just above the poverty line."

I admired what they were doing and wished more companies had a moral compass, but taking the high ground limited who would get behind them.

"I'll drive you back to the hotel." Reed grabbed his keys.

"No, don"t. We're on the outskirts of town, and there's that patch of land you mentioned between here and the built-up area. The one you own that's not part of the reserve. I'd like to explore it."

"Okay. You'll come across the bumblebees. I'll see you at dinner. My brother and his family will be there too."

I made my escape. I adored Reed, but he'd been part of that scheme to match me with Gage, and it colored my perspective of whether I should accept a job with him.

I'd had enough of people messing with my head. But I was enjoying Riverford.

Maybe there was another job here for me.