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If she had to guess, he was mulling over what they were going to do about the wedding. It was a subject she’d been avoiding since they’d arrived at the B&B—because the wedding was nothing but a mess. With no cell service, she hadn’t been able to speak to Clara. She had no idea where things stood with the wedding. Or even if there’d be one.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Candace called, “this will be our final challenge. The winners of this challenge will have a very special treat—a hot air balloon ride.” Candace paused as a gasp swept over the small crowd. “The balloon ride will take place early tomorrow morning at sunrise, before you check out.”
Carter glanced over at her with excitement glinting in his eyes. She’d never been in a hot air balloon before, and as far as she knew, he hadn’t been in one either. She wondered what this challenge would entail. Something told her it wouldn’t be easy.
Candace’s voice drew Angela’s attention. “Behind me are some grape vines. It might look like an extension of the vineyard, but this section is a maze.”
This held Angela’s full attention. She loved the thought of a maze, and she’d had a blast doing the corn maze at the Halloween festival last year. But a vineyard maze? She was ready to jump in.
“However, this won’t be your usual maze.” Candace held up a blindfold. “One of you has to put this on your partner. And then the other has to lead the person through the maze with just voice commands. Each team will be timed. After each team completes the maze, you’ll switch places. The times will be combined, and the team with the lowest combined time will have a bird’s eye view of the Sonoma Valley from a hot air balloon. Now who wants to go first?”
Angela’s arm immediately shot up. She wouldn’t let this challenge go astray like the canoeing incident. When she and Carter were picked to go first, she felt a rush of excitement.
Carter joined her at the entrance of the maze. It didn’t look very big, but with a blindfold on, she had the feeling the maze would feel quite large.
Bill joined them. “There’s one more rule… No words are allowed. You can make sounds or speak in gibberish, but no recognizable words allowed.” Bill held out a blindfold. “Who’s going first?”
Worry pulsated through Angela. This challenge was getting harder and harder. Without words, how were they supposed to navigate the maze?
She looked at Carter, who stared back at her. He didn’t look concerned. That made one of them. She’d let them down on the canoe ride because she’d been frustrated and not paying enough attention to where the canoe had been headed. This time around, the stakes were much higher than the corn maze she’d done—here, it’s the hot air balloon and what feels like their entire relationship was on the line. She needed to do her very best.
“I’ll do it.” She glanced at Carter. “Do you mind?”
He shook his head and held his hand out for the blindfold. Carter tied it on her. She couldn’t see a thing.
“Three. Two.” Candace continued the countdown. “One. Go!”
Carter grunted. Angela had absolutely no idea what he was trying to tell her, but she followed his voice. A couple of times, she walked into the vines. Okay, it was more than a couple of times. A lot more.
About halfway through the maze, they figured out a system where the number of his grunts would equal the number of steps she needed to take. The problem was figuring out which direction to turn. If she turned left and she was supposed to turn right, he’d let out a deep, long grunt. It was different than his short grunts.
It was a lot to figure out, but eventually she reached the end of the maze. She removed the blindfold, as well as a couple of grape leaves. She was really worried. The maze had taken her forever to complete. At least that’s how it felt to her. In reality, it was more like twenty-seven minutes.
There was already another couple partway through it. And another couple getting ready to enter. Bill and Candace kept things moving along.
Carter walked with her over to a table that had been set up with refreshments and snacks. “You did really well in there.”
“You think so?” He had to be saying that just to make her feel good because she was certain she’d gotten a terrible time.
He smiled and nodded. “Now that we have a system worked out, I hope to match your time.”
He wanted to match her time? Really? Maybe she hadn’t done as miserably as she’d originally thought. Maybe they still had a chance.
Her smile warmed a spot in his chest.
Carter didn’t care if they won the challenge or not because he’d already won. Seeing the twinkle in Angela’s eyes and hearing the eagerness in her voice were the best prizes of all. He just wished this wasn’t their last day at Vines Entwined. They would definitely have to come back here, but the next time, they wouldn’t need couple’s counseling.
“Are you ready?” Angela’s voice drew him from his thoughts.
“You bet I am.”
Candace handed Angela the blindfold. When Angela had problems reaching up to tie it around his head, Carter bent his knees until she could reach. The blindfold covered his eyes as she tied it tight. There definitely wouldn’t be any cheating going on because he couldn’t see a thing.
Bill came over and inspected the blindfold. “Very good. Are you two ready to go again?”
“We are,” Angela said.
“Now remember, no words or you’ll be disqualified.”
