Page 75 of Honey Bee Hearts

“Hey, it’s okay,” Gunnar rasps, holding me tight as the tears turn into full on sobs.

More arms come around us, and then more, until everyone in the room except for Trent and Rhett are wrapping me in a great big ole hug. That only makes me cry harder.

“Alright, alright,” Rhett says, grinning. “I’ll solve this.”

He throws his arms around the large group and a laugh slips through my sobs. I’ve never felt so. . . It’s never been so. . .

This feels like home.

Ironic considering I have to leave. I never expected to feel so cared for out here on a ranch in Wyoming.

“I’m sorry,” I croak.

“Nonsense,” Mel tells me. “We understand.”

By now, everyone knows my story. Everyone talks out here, the guys would have made sure to mention any pertinent information to the others. I’d even explained it to Mel at some point when he’d handed me a stack of bread recipes a few days ago.

“I just. . . I thought no one would know,” I admit. “I’d planned on today being spent alone.”

Gunnar’s guilty expression flickers for a moment before he whips it away. “If you don’t mind, we’d like to spend the entire day with you, Florida Girl.”

“I know everyone is busy?—”

“Nonsense!” Mel explains. “Today is about you. Rhett has given everyone the day off, but I’m sticking around for a little while until I finish your dinner. We just all wanted to be here for breakfast.”

Tears fill my eyes again. “This means the world to me. I hope y’all know that.” I shake my head. “But how did you know? I didn’t tell anyone.”

Everyone turns to Rhett where he stands with his hands in his pockets. He glances around before meeting my eyes. “It was on the intake form. Jinx requested a special cake for today.”

She flickers against the wall, her image standing beside Trent. A smile pulls at her lips as she looks at everyone in the room.

“Happy birthday, Everhart. You deserve all this and more,” she says. She’s gone so fast, I almost miss her, but I don’t miss her words. Trent follows my gaze, glancing to his side, and frowns when he sees nothing there.

“Thank you,” I croak, trying not to lose my cool again and blubber into their arms. And then I sit down at the table, a plate of birthday pancakes in front of me. I blow out the candles when they sing to me, and we all dig into a really good breakfast, laughing and chatting and just enjoying ourselves.

The loneliness in my heart eases. How can anyone be lonely when they’re surrounded by such good company?

Gunnar goes out of his way to wait on me hand and foot, trying to make up for our argument out in the field the other day. Colt watches my every move obsessively. Rhett goes right back to not making eye contact. Trent glances at me every now and then, as if to convince himself I’m still here.

After everyone finishes breakfast, Gunnar stands up and grins. “So, for my present, I thought I’d get something that you’ll actually use.” He wraps his arm around Callie. “We both figured the best thing would be a trip to the craft store with no budget.”

My eyes widen. “You don’t have to do that.”

“We want to,” he argues. “Besides, I’m already letting Callie skip school today so she can come with us. We’re gonna go right after we’re done with breakfast.”

An hour later, I’m in Steele, Gunnar and Callie in tow, as we head to the craft store. I’m conscious of how much I’m spending and try to just pick and choose a few things. Callie has other ideas, however.

“You can’t just pick two things,” she insists. “You need all of these fabrics.”

“Y’all really don’t have to spend that much on me,” I try, fighting the compulsion to pick out all the accessories.

“Don’t worry about us,” Gunnar says as he leans against the counter. “I brought Callie for a reason. She’ll make sure you get plenty of stuff, and then after this, we’ll go to Ugly Mugz and get some coffee. Well, a vanilla bean for Callie. Coffees for us.”

Before it comes time to pay, Gunnar shoos me outside so I can’t hear the price and freak out. I know it’s not cheap, but when he and Callie come out with great big bags full of stuff, I grimace.

“Thank you,” I rasp. “This was literally the sweetest thing ever.”

“We thought about getting you a new sewing machine,” Gunnar admits. “But Callie said the one you have means a lot to you, so we didn’t want to replace it.”

---