Page 5 of Must Love Bees
Astrid was certain there was no way that bike was fitting in that car. Charlie Driver, however, wasn’t ready to admit defeat. He pulled the bike out and tried again, from a different angle, and with an increased vigor that couldn’t be good for the bike. Or Charlie Driver.
“I can understand why people are saying he’s short on charm. I might even agree with Corliss Ogden’s assessment of downright rude.” Aunt Camellia shook her head. “Hedidn’t even bother with introductions.”
Astrid didn’t argue. One look at the girls’ faces and she wished there was something she could do. After all, Halley and Nova had come here looking for her because of Rebecca’s letters.
Charlie Driver doggedly continued to try with the bike.
“Poor little things. I should have filled their pockets with candy for later,” Aunt Camellia murmured, turning back to the stack of mail. “Astrid, look. Oh, my word, did you see this?” Camellia held the magazine out at arm’s length. “This will be going in the scrapbook.”
“I did.” But her focus remained on Charlie Driver, the bike and the two girls watching. She winced at one especially hard shove of bike against car door—and the way both girls jumped from the action.
The man was drawn so tight, there was a good chance he’d pop right here on Main Street. She could feel it, in her bones. She winced as he pulled his hand away, shaking it and flexing his fingers.
To Astrid, the entire exchange felt like a sign. He and his girls needed help. They were in a new place, knowing no one, and it would be hard to enjoy all that Honey had to offer. She could help with that. She’d take him some of Aunt Camellia’s delectable treats and see if there was anything she could do for the family. He might resist her offer, he seemed a proud sort, but she wasn’t one to give up easily.
CHARLIEWASATa loss for words. He’d looked up from his computer to see the girls sitting on the front porch swing and talking. They hadn’t exactly looked thrilled, but he could see them and knew they were safe. Safety, for Charlie, was a big thing.
Ten minutes later, they were gone. The only thing that had prevented him from going into a full-blown panic was noticing his bicycle was missing. He and the girls had discovered a series of paths across his aunt’s four-hundred-acre property a few days ago. He’d convinced himself they were probably riding one and would be back shortly. Except they weren’t back. The longer they were gone, the more anxious he’d become. After running every path on the property, he’d climbed into his aunt’s metal tank of a car and driven into town.
Seeing his bike, with both bike helmets swinging off the handlebars, allowed his lungs to fully inflate and his heart to resume a sort-of normal rhythm. He’d parked in front of the shop where the bike sat, waited until his agitation wasn’t so obvious and collected the girls. The thrum in his temple had yet to subside.
Now he was dripping sweat, trying to wedge his damn bike into the damn back seat of the awful mustard gold car. He’d yet to find a place to recharge his electric car so he was having to make do with this monstrosity. The bike didn’t want to fit but, dammit, he was going to keep trying. He bent over, turning the handlebar so the wheels would fit behind the front seat.
“Are you mad?” Nova stood on the sidewalk behind him. “About the candy?”
Her wobbly voice made him pause, rub the back of his forearm across his brow and will himself to stay calm. He slumped to rest his forehead on his arm. From this angle, Charlie could see Scorpio dangling from one of Nova’s little hands.
“Are you, Charlie?” Nova’s voice quivered a little. “It was one teeny-tiny-teeny piece.”
He sighed and pulled the bike from the back seat. He looked down at her, forcing himself to smile as he ran his fingers through his hair. “No.”
“He didn’t even know about the candy, Nova.” Halley sighed. “I did something to make him mad. Like always.” She crossed her arms over her chest, her gaze fixed on the sidewalk at her feet.
He and Halley’s relationship had grown more fragile since they’d arrived in Honey. She barely looked at him. She had every right to be angry with him, but she didn’t getangry. She cried. A lot. Tears rendered him absolutely useless. He didn’t know what to do about it. What was he supposed to do? What was he supposed to say? Their mom would know. Yasmina should be here to handle this whole teen thing. He wasn’t equipped for this. Not in the least.
“Prolly. You always dosomething.” Nova nodded, imitating Halley’s long-suffering sigh to perfection.
Great.
“What did Halley do, Charlie?” Nova whispered loudly—so loudly there was no doubt Halley heard.
Charlie swallowed.Be careful with your words. Yasmina’s warning echoed in his head—over and over. It took effort, a lot of effort. He wasn’t the talker. Words always tripped him up.
“Something really bad?” Nova asked.
“I didn’t know you two were planning to ride into town.” He eyed the bike, then the car, and wanted to throw something. Throwing the bike sounded pretty damn tempting. “It’s a long ride. On a road with traffic...” A dangerous road.Calm, stay calm.
“Halley wrote a note.” Nova hugged Scorpio close. “I saw it. She did.”
Halley was staring at her nails. “After I tried to tell you and you did your one-minute thing.” She held up her index finger—what he did when he was in the middle of something and just needed a few more seconds to finish the line of code.
“It took a little longer than I’d anticipated,” he murmured.
Halley went back to staring at the sidewalk but her voice wobbled when she said, “It was on the kitchen table.”
He hadn’t been looking for a note. He’d been too worried about all the horrible things that could have happened to them. They could’ve gotten lost or hurt or, he swallowed hard... The bottom line was, bad things happened all the time. He knew that. The girls knew that.
Not so long ago, a very bad thing took Yasmina away from them. Since then, worry had been constant. Protecting the girls had him by the throat every second of every moment of every damn day. As long as he could see them, he could keep the fear at bay. But that wasn’t the sort of thing he could admit to a thirteen-year-old.
