Page 8 of The Sweetest Thing
“Fine.” Tansy held up her hands. “I’ll play along. I guarantee I would never go to jail over Dane Knudson. Aunt Camellia is far calmer than I am, so that can’t be it.”
“That’s a relief.” But Astrid didn’t look entirely convinced. “So...what happened, then? Something pretty bad if he still upsets Aunt Camellia so much?” They stopped to check on Chicory, the abandoned mini donkey Aunt Camellia had recently rescued. He had become fast friends with Dandelion, their full-size donkey, over the last few weeks. Together, they guarded the herd of dairy goats Aunt Camellia kept. Neither donkey was overly friendly, but they were appreciative of the odd apple or carrot tossed their way. Astrid had come prepared, her pockets filled with both. “Ever since Auntie Mags said it, I’m trying to imagine it.” She tossed a carrot toward the waiting animals.
“Like father, like son.” But Tansy stopped there. If she kept saying Dane Knudson’s name out loud, she might summon him.We don’t want that.“I’m pretty sure Auntie Mags was joking.” She shot her sister a look. “But it’s not really our business. We may never know what happened.” Growing up, the three sisters had whispered all sorts of fantastical and over-the-top scenarios in the large bedroom they’d shared. At the time, it had all seemed rather exciting and Nancy Drew–like. But now that they were older, they’d understood how painful the topic was to Aunt Camellia. As close as the Bee Girls were, there were some things that simply weren’t talked about. Like Aunt Camellia and Harald Knudson. Tansy respected her aunt’s right to privacy but it didn’t stop her from being curious. “Eat up,” she said, tossing the apples into the pen.
“Why do people have to make things so complicated?” Astrid added the last carrot to the pile of treats. “We could all take a lesson from the bees you know.”
“Oh?” Tansy waved goodbye to the donkeys and headed toward the house.
“The strongest and most productive hives are the ones where the bees are most in sync,” Astrid said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “There’s a collective understanding that they’re all working for the good of the hive—they’re all on the same team.”
“If only it were that simple,” Tansy murmured. But, if there was a Dane Knudson bee, she was pretty sure all the worker bees would kick him out of the hive—and fast. The thought had her smiling all the way back to the house.
DANESTOPPEDTHEgrocery cart when Leif tossed in a fifth bag of chips.
“What?” Leif asked, pulling an earbud out.
Dane glanced pointedly at the chips.
“Now I can’t get the food I want?” Leif snapped, grabbing all five bags and shoving them back onto the shelf with so much force Dane suspected the contents were more crumbs than chips now.
“I didn’t say that.” He rolled his head slowly. “How about two bags?”
“Forget it.” Leif put his earbud back in and stalked down the aisle, almost crashing into another cart as it rounded the corner.
“Excuse me,” Camellia Hill said, with more than a little sarcasm. It didn’t matter that Leif couldn’t hear the woman, the look of reproach on her face said it all. She’d have likely given Dane the same look if she’d been present when Tansy had visited Texas Viking Farms four days ago. The thought was almost enough for him to regret the way he’d acted...Almost.
Leif paused, mumbled something, turned on his heel and hurried the other way.
I’ll bet she got an apology out ofhim.
Petite or not, Camellia Hill had a presence about her. Warm, energetic and practical. Dane could still remember how it felt to be showered with praise and love—or to be on the receiving end of that look. He’d been a handful of a kid... But he also had good memories of Camellia Hill, the Hill home, the menagerie of animals about the place, plus the smell of delicious baked goods and the sound of laughter spilling from the old house’s kitchen. In the year following his mother’s death, her loss had threatened to consume Dane and his father, until Camellia Hill stepped in. She’d taken Leif in her arms, given Dane a sense of structure and challenged his father tobea father. Good times—while they had lasted. But that had been when his father was welcome at Honey Hill Farms—before whatever had happened and, once again, Dane had lost everything. The one time he’d asked his father about it, his father said Camellia Hill had given him an ultimatum: marry her or stop using her for childcare. The older and wiser Dane got, the more certain he was that there was more to the story.
Camellia Hill was a good woman, a pretty woman, and his father had been fond of her. So had Dane. And little Leif? Well, Camellia was the one who got his baby brother to laugh for the first time.
Dane wasn’t one to linger over what-ifs but there were times he couldn’t help but consider how different things would have been if his father had married Camellia and he and Leif had had the love and guidance they’d instead grown up without.
Now here was Camellia—staring after Leif with a melancholy expression on her face. Maybe she was plagued by what-ifs, too.
Camellia drew in a deep breath, stiffened her posture and headed down the aisle—coming to a hard stop when she saw him. Her hazel eyes went round and she glanced over her shoulder then back at him, frowning.
“Camellia.” He nodded, smiling, an odd lump in his throat.
“Dane.” She paused, hesitating, shooting another look over her shoulder. “I... We... You—”
“Auntie Camellia,” Tansy—of course it was Tansy—said, turning the corner and heading down the aisle, staring at the two bottles she was carrying. “Was it the raw garlic organic fine ground or the raw garlic organic minced?” She looked up then. “You know—” A blink.
“I’d go with the minced.” He nodded at the larger jar. “Fresher taste.”
“Oh?” Tansy smiled, placing the jar of minced garlic on the shelf. “The raw garlic organic fine ground it is.”
Dane chuckled. “Your call. If you want to deprive your taste buds—”
“They aremytaste buds.” She grabbed the wire side of the cart and started pulling it—and Camellia—away.
“Not getting this one?” he asked, pointing at the deserted jar of garlic. “I’ll put it back for you, then.”
Tansy turned, that little tick at the corner of her right eye giving her away. “I’ll take care of it.”
