Page 46 of Must Love Bees
“You can’t miss that,” Dane agreed. “With the dry weather, there’s a burn ban so the city has decided to set the fireworks off out on the lake, near by a place locals call goose island.”
“What’s goose island?” Halley asked.
“It’s a tiny island in the middle of the lake where geese have been known to rest mid-migration.” Van offered Nova another biscuit from the basket.
“Are there lots of geese there?” Nova asked around a mouthful of roll.
“Nova,” Charlie murmured.
She covered her mouth. “Sorry. Are there lots of geese there?”
“Sometimes.” Astrid nodded. “But I don’t know about now. It’s so hot, they might have flown off in search of a cooler option.”
“Won’t the fireworks scare them?” Nova asked.
“I’ll ask my friend, Everett. He works for the parks department. Knowing Everett, he wouldn’t do a thing that would upset any wildlife.” Dane scooped himself a second large portion of lasagna.
“You mentioned Delaney’s earlier... I heard they received a substantial offer on the restaurant.” Aunt Camellia sat back in her chair.
“From the same company trying to buy our shop?” Astrid found herself looking Charlie’s way.
Aunt Camellia sighed. “Yes.”
“It’s like they’re trying to buy up the whole town.” Aunt Camellia’s distress was sincere.
“No one has accepted, have they?” Tansy set her silverware aside. “I can’t imagine any true Honey resident selling to some...some developer trying to change our town.”
Charlie squirmed in his chair, his gaze fixed on his plate.
“I don’t think so.” Aunt Camellia fiddled with the edge of her linen napkin. “Though Willadeene was carrying on about what a windfall it would be if Nicole would just up and sell the beauty parlor.”
Tansy glanced her way.
Astrid understood the look. Shelby had told her to consider the offer. Until now, she hadn’t thought about how accepting the offer would impact the town. Honey was a mom-and-pop community. They’d pushed back on most large chain stores and had managed to keep too many large-scale developers from coming in and building subdivisions.
“All it takes is one person. One shop. Selling could change the landscape of Main Street and Honey forever.” Aunt Camellia’s smile was strained.
“Let’s not worry about something that hasn’t happened yet, Camellia. It’s not good for your blood pressure,” Aunt Mags soothed.
Van instantly reached over to take Camellia’s hand. Astrid loved that about them. The little touches and reassurances they constantly made. It seemed without thought—almost instinctual.
“For all Willadeene’s blustering, she won’t sell,” Aunt Mags continued. “If she didn’t have Nicole to badger and prod on a daily basis, the woman wouldn’t know what to do with herself.”
It was sad, but true. Astrid loved Nicole—she was a best friend and an extra sister all rolled into one. The idea of Nicole having to continue to put up with her mother’s antics was enough for Astrid to see the wisdom in Shelby’s advice, albeit reluctantly. What if the offer was good enough to get Nicole out from under her mother and get her a shop of her own? Her friend deserved happiness. Everyone deserved happiness.
The thought made her acutely aware of the man sitting opposite her. Bit by bit, truths about this wary, broken man were coming out. The more she learned, the more she wanted to know. She wouldn’t deny that he occupied far more of her thoughts than he should. Or that, when he was near, it was a challenge to stop herself from stealing glances that tended to morph into much longer, tingle-inducing stares. So far, she’d managed to control herself. If she didn’t, he’d leave and she’d be forced to listen to the unsolicited opinions and speculation from everyone at the table. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t tempted. Very tempted.
Don’t look at him.With her fork, she pushed a lone cherry tomato around on her plate. She lasted a full minute.
Charlie was watching her. Somber. Intense. Reserved. Yet...not. If only she could see inside that head of his and know what he was thinking. Was she simply a nuisance to him or, maybe, he wasn’t as immune to her as he acted? Maybe, and it was a gigantic maybe, he was struggling with some of the same simultaneously bewildering and exhilarating roller-coaster ride of sensations she experienced whenever he was near.
Wanting something didn’t make it reality.
Wait... She swallowed against the sudden lump lodged in her throat. Is that what shewanted? The lump seemed to grow. Did she want Charlie to be the...opposite of unaffected by her? Her throat felt too tight. And, if that was true—which she was fairly certain it was—what, exactly, did the opposite of unaffected mean? She cleared her throat but it didn’t help.
His dark gaze never wavered.
Even though his singular attention had her insides a melting jumbled mess, she managed to smile. It was what she did. Smile. She was a smiley sort of person. It was, she thought, why people liked her. People normally liked smiles. Except for Charlie.
