Page 89 of Obsession

“I completely forgot about that. Do you think you can wait until I get back?”

Iolanda crossed her arms.

“And why would I do that?”

“How in God’s name are you going to carry those crates, Iolanda? Or are you planning to take it one jar at a time?”

He was about to get slapped again, this time on the head. I laughed without meaning to.

“I managed my whole life before you showed up and snatched my daughter from under my nose, just so you know.”

Josh looked up at the sky like he was asking a deity for patience. My father burst out laughing.

“I have already taken care of it, I have someone to carry those crates, don’t worry. He should be here any minute,” she looked at her watch, and Josh turned to me.

“Welcome to the family, Katherine. We’re loud, agitated, annoying, I hope you’ll love us for who we are,” he said, and I got surprisingly emotional from his words.

I had no idea what Josh thought about my mom, or if he hated her as much as the others, but I didn’t care now.

I watched them leave and Iolanda grabbed me by the arm like a grandma from bedtime stories. She smelled like gingerbread.

“You have no idea how glad I am that you are here, honey. I even told Marta last night that I’d like you to come to the fair, it seems someone up there has answered my prayers.” too, looked up at the sky, apparently a tradition in her family.

“I’m here and you make the best honey I have ever tasted, by the way.”

She giggled in a cheerful way. She had white hair, but it didn’t make her look old, because it looked more like an elegant silver, cut into a bob. She was over sixty, but she moved effortlessly.

“What exactly are we going to do?”

“Honey isn’t perishable, it stays good even underground, so we’ll get the load into storage as soon as we can. When the fair comes, we’ll be busy with the cookies because we have to bake them the night before and the day of.”

I nodded.

“Exactly how much honey are we talking about?”

She smiled, almost devilishly.

“I can only tell you this: my honey stall is the most prized at the fair. Don’t believe my son-in-law when he tells you his cookies are.”

I laughed as she looked at her watch again. We were outside the warehouse, in the sun, but Iolanda didn’t seem to have a problem with it.

“Where is that boy? If he doesn’t keep his promise, he’ll see what happens…”

“The truck driver?”

“No, the boy I said will help us with the crates. He’s a friend’s son and just what we need for those heavy things,” she seemed to grin again, but I preferred to pretend I hadn’t seen it.“His name is Elay. Let’s go inside until he shows up. Why does it have to be as hot as inside a volcano today?”

Giggling, I wanted to turn around and follow her in, but I felt something that made me pause.

Something familiar.

No!

My brain screamed and rolled around on the floor, my heart nearly fainted, and I spun like a nut looking for the source of those ground-shaking vibrations.

“Oh, there he is! I knew he wouldn’t forget me.”

That damn car was parked a few inches away from me. If I took a ruler and measured the distance, it wouldn’t have read more than four inches between my knees and the hood of his car. He wasn’t going too fast, he wasn’t trying to attract anyone’s attention, but that didn’t mean all the prying eyes weren’t turning to look.

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