Page 62 of The Sweetest Thing
“Oh please.” Tansy sighed, her features blurred by the veils they both wore but Dane would have bet money she’d rolled her eyes at him. “We’ll see.”
“Is that a challenge, Ms. Hill?”
“Well, it is sort of unfair since you’re up there and I’m down here, but sure.” Tansy’s gloved hands were on her hips.
“You’re the only person I know who can look sassy in a bee suit.” He shook his head.
Tansy giggled. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
He was glad she couldn’t see how big he was smiling.
The kids were far too excited over the queen competition. Luckily, the bees didn’t seem all that upset over the occasional squeal or laugh when either he or Tansy thought they’d found her.
“Found her! Found the queen.” Tansy banded the loose honeycomb into the empty frame and knelt. “Guess I was wrong about your eyes.” She sounded so gleeful, he had to smile.
Tansy carefully scooped up the queen into a queen clip. The clip’s slats were wide enough for smaller worker bees to get in and tend to the queen, but too narrow for the queen to escape. Tansy held the clip up and, one by one, the kids came up to see her. “Now the bees will follow. She’s sort of like the pied piper—where she goes all the other bees follow.” She placed the clip inside the nuc box. “Once they’re all settled in their new home, we will let the queen out.”
It took a couple of hours to get the comb out of the roof space, banded into frames, stored into the nuc boxes and answer all the kids’ questions but Dane considered it a successful extraction.
Leif had told him he was getting a ride home with Kerrielynn so Dane started packing his tools into the back of his truck when Tansy walked by. Her hood was back and her cheeks were flushed from the weight of her bee suit. She looked content. Instead of being smart and letting her walk by, he said, “I have a question.”
Tansy stopped, spun on her heel and cocked her head to one side. “Oh?”
“You told Benji the hive is going to Honey Hill Farms. Why not my apiary?” He didn’t want the damn bees, he was teasing. But Tansy was closing in on him, her expression all over the place, and she looked so beautiful he could barely breathe.
“I’d prefer they went to a good home. One where the beekeepers value thebees, as more than a revenue stream.” Now that there were no veils in the way, he got the full-force throat punch her fiery green eyes delivered. “By the way, how is your expansion going, Dane?” There it was. Nobody did sass like Tansy.
“Today was good. We work well together.” It was a dodge, he didn’t want to fight with her.Two revelations in one day.“You’re a good beekeeper.”
“Oh...” She blew out a slow breath. “Thank you?”
“You’re welcome.” She had every right to question his sincerity but... He wanted things to change. He’d enjoyed today, working with her—being with her. That’s what he wanted. He wanted her. “You’re beautiful, Tansy Hill.” Well...Shit. He sure as hell hadn’t planned to say that.
Tansy’s mouth fell open and her eyes went as round as saucers.
Yeah, surprise.He shook his head.For me, too. “Don’t read anything into that.” He forced a chuckle. “We’ll come back, right? Around dusk, for the hive?” She seemed closer now—so close he could run his fingers along her jaw. He wanted to. More than anything, he wanted to touch her. This was all too much, too fast.
She nodded, her features a mix of confusion and wariness.
Not exactly the reaction he was hoping for. “I’ll get going.” He moved quickly, climbing into his truck, to grip the steering wheel with both hands. This wasn’t a big deal. He’d surprised her, sure, but he hadn’t said anything that wasn’t true. She was a good beekeeper. She was beautiful. Those were facts. It wasn’t like he’d said something he’d regret.
He hadn’t said he loved her.
Where the hell had that come from? He shook his head.No. No. He’d never say that. He didn’t know if hecouldever love her. But deep inside, he suspected loving her had somehow, someway, become another fact of life. Dane Knudson loved Tansy Hill. Once again, his poor fool heart was hers to break.
LEIFTOOKASIPfrom his water bottle, thankful for the shade Kerrielynn’s van provided. He was hot and tired but happy. Today had been freaking awesome. Kerrielynn was...awesome. They were going to the dance tonight. She’d asked him. He grinned, watching as she dug through the ice chest for something. He wasn’t sure why she’d asked him but he was glad she had.
So far, today had been good. Really good. And not just because of Kerrielynn, either—though that was most of it.
Dane had been upbeat—and kind of obnoxious—all morning. His brother was being funny and having a good time, and they were doing something together without Dane hovering or telling him what to do. He’d even let Leif ride with Kerrielynn alone, even though there was room for him. Leif got it. Dane was trying.
But his phone started ringing and Leif knew it had to be his father. He was the only person that called anyone. Normal people texted. He stood, bracing himself, as he carried his phone around the end of the van. “Hello?”
“Where are you?” That was something else about his dad—he didn’t believe in hellos or goodbyes.
“Junior Beekeepers thing.” He sat on the van fender, staring around the field.
Dane was talking to Tansy. More like, they were staring at each other. Kerrielynn was right, they did that a lot.
