Page 44 of The Sweetest Thing
This is bad.Dane was Dane. He wasn’t an option. She needed to get out of her head. The best way to stop all the weirdness was to get to work. Lucky for her, there was plenty of work to do.
“Leif, can you get this open?” Kerrielynn held out a paint can opener to him.
Leif hopped to it, taking the tool and opening the gallon of paint without a word or a long-suffering sigh.
“I am definitely getting a clipboard.” The level of awe in Dane’s voice had Tansy laughing.
Between Kerrielynn, the planner, and Felix, the doer and Junior Beekeepers vice president, there wasn’t much for the two of them to worry over. Kerrielynn named tasks and Felix delegated them to kids he thought could handle them.
The kids were brushing off the barn wall while she and Dane climbed up the ladders to tape off the work area. Once that was done, the work began.
The barn side mural was a sort of faux postcard, with a solid black background and white trim. It was the inside that held all the detailed work: the iconic profile of Honey’s clock-tower-topped courthouse, a winding river and several old-fashioned skep basket beehives were depicted in bright, inviting colors. The massive words, “Welcome to Honey, Texas” covered most of the upper left corner, with the word “Honey” appearing on the label of a large jar of golden honey. The words “The Honey Capital of Texas” were underneath, smaller but readable. And, of course, there were bees. Bees flying around the courthouse, bees flying around the honey, and the bees tending to the row of wildflowers that edged the bottom of the postcard frame. None of the images were overly complicated but there was a substantial amount of work to do.
The younger kids went first, rolling black paint into the large taped-off rectangle until it was covered. Afterward, Benji and a few high school students got to work painting the white frame.
She’d almost convinced herself she’d imagined the whole Dane thing until he appeared beside her.
“Going pretty well, don’t you think?” Dane’s voice drew her eye, but the instant their gazes met, she shied away.
“Yep.” She nodded, hating the way her pulse picked up. “They’re amazing.”
“It’s the clipboard. I knew it.” Dane chuckled.
“Right.” She breathed a sigh of relief when Oren Diaz, Van’s nephew, flagged down Dane. “You’re needed.”
But Dane was staring beyond her now, wearing such a hopeful expression Tansy followed his gaze.
Leif crouched low, painstakingly brushing white paint along the frame and laughing at something Benji Svoboda had said. Kerrielynn and Felix were laughing, too. From the outside looking in, it wasn’t that big a deal. Just teens hanging out, being teens.
Tansy knew it was more than that. Lorna, Nicole, Willadeene—pretty much everyone in Honey used words liketroubledora handfulorstrugglingalongside Leif’s name. Seeing Leif this way had to be a relief for Dane.
Tansy frowned. She was happy for Leif, not Dane.
Oren called Dane again so Tansy took it upon herself to sidle just a bit closer to where Leif and Kerrielynn were working.
“That looks amazing.” Kerrielynn stopped beside Leif, nodding as she inspected the work so far. “Thanks for coming today.” She smiled down at him.
Leif smiled back. No glare or sullen pout or air of overall inconvenienced irritation. Nope. He was actually smiling.
Kerrielynn turned a brilliant shade of pink before staring at her clipboard.
Leif stood, putting a hand against the fresh black paint to brace himself. He didn’t notice, he was staring down at Kerrielynn like...Like the rest of the world doesn’t exist.His mouth opened, closed and opened again but nothing came out. When he pulled his hand off the barn, he stared down at it, frowning at his paint covered hand.
Tansy glanced at Dane. Was he seeing this? Did he know his little brother had a crush on Kerrielynn? A big one. It was sweet, really. Kerrielynn was a good girl. But she was nice to everyone—poor Leif could wind up with a broken heart.On top of everything else.
But Dane was talking to Oren and had missed the whole thing.
When Tansy looked back, Kerrielynn had discovered Leif’s predicament.
“Oops, oh no. I guess it’s not too bad since you’re wearing black but...” Kerrielynn laughed, offering Leif a rag. “Here.”
“Thanks.” Leif was smiling again. “Kerrielynn.”
Kerrielynn turned an even darker shade of pink—her big brown eyes as round as saucers as she stared up at Leif Knudson. “You’re w-welcome Leif.” She stumbled over the words.
Boy did I read that wrong.Maybe Leif wouldn’t wind up with a broken heart, after all.
“Did he do something?” Dane whispered, so close to her ear that Tansy jumped.
