Page 8 of Must Love Bees
Halley sighed. “Not Monopoly.”
“Agreed.” Charlie could take a break, not the afternoon. “How about Clue or Sorry?”
“Sorry.” Nova went running into the house.
Charlie glanced at Halley from the corner of his eye. There were times, like now, when she looked so much like her mother.
Every time he tried to fix things, he wound up making a bigger mess. Yasmina’s girls were counting on him.
My girls, now. It should be the three of them against the world. But, most of the time, it felt like the two of them against him.
“What do you think of the town?” he asked, picking as neutral a topic as possible.
“The Hill Honey Boutique was okay.” Halley waited until they were inside to murmur, “That and the grocery store is all we’ve seen. I know you’re too busy to take us to look around.”
Charlie swallowed back his immediateMy job is importantresponse. The girls were important, too. He had to make time. “No. We’ll do it. This weekend.”
Halley didn’t look convinced but she gave him a slight nod before following Nova into the family room.
Most of his memories of Honey revolved around Rebecca and her place. In a world full of judgment and criticism, this was a sanctuary. If only he could tap into that now—the peace and freedom he’d had when he’d been a boy here.
Instead, he’d find something to do with the girls. Fishing or hiking or swimming at the lake, there’d be something they could enjoy together. He’d look over his schedule, move things around and make a day of it. But first, he had to play Sorry, get his bike home and try to reschedule the call he missed.
CHAPTER TWO
“AREYOUSUREthis is a good idea?” Aunt Camellia paused in tallying the day’s sales to choose her next words carefully. “He didn’t strike me as the most... sociable of fellows.”
Astrid made a noncommittal sound as she flipped the Open sign to Closed.
Tansy shifted on the honeycomb-print tufted chair and smoothed her jean overalls down. “Has anything ever been stolen in Honey? Like, ever?” Tansy always wore something with a bee on it. Today it was her boots, covered with embroidered bees.
“Cute boots,” Astrid murmured, before turning back to the matter at hand. “It’s not about that. You have a truck.” For her, delivering the bike seemed the neighborly thing to do. Plus, it wasn’t like it would inconvenience them. They had to drive right past Rebecca’s place on the way home. “He doesn’t have a truck.” She remembered his multiple failed attempts to shove the bike into Rebecca’s old car and the frustration rolling off him when he’d set the bike back against the shop. Astrid couldn’t shake the feeling that Charlie Driver, in all his grumpiness, needed a break.
Tansy was watching her. “Aunt Camellia said he was a real charmer.”
Astrid shrugged. “The girls are precious.”
“They were.” Aunt Camellia nodded. “There’s no arguing that.”
“And they were interested in bees.”Sort of.Still, a spark of interest could easily grow. “I thought I could bring them by the observation deck when it’s ready?”
“Of course you can,” Tansy gushed—she always gushed about her project. “Too bad you hadn’t turned them into bee lovers a few weeks ago. We would have had two more sets of hands for the honey flow.”
Astrid laughed. Honey flow—or harvest—usually happened around the first week of July. “I’m honored you have that much faith in me.”
Tansy rolled her eyes. “If anyone can get someone excited about bees fast, it’s you.” She pushed off the chair, her gaze wandering to the shop’s front door. “You want me to go with you?” She sounded a tad distracted.
Because Dane Knudson, Tansy’s sweetheart, was heading for the door. Dane’s teen brother, Leif, walked along beside him. They were laughing at something and Tansy was grinning like the lovesick woman she was. It made Astrid happy when her sisters were happy. Tansy and Dane were blissful together and had all sorts of plans for the future. Her other sister, Rosemary, was off following her dreams participating in an important bee genetics study in California. They were happy. In turn, Astrid was. No matter what, the three of them had each other’s backs and always picked up right where they left off.
“I think I can drop off the bike by myself.” Astrid and Aunt Camellia exchanged a smile.
“I’ll head home and get dinner started. Mags and Shelby won’t be back from their museum excursion until tomorrow. So, who should I expect around the dinner table?” Aunt Camellia picked up a pen and tablet, waiting. “The three of us.”
The jingle of the doorbell rang out and Dane and Leif walked in.
“Good afternoon, you two.” Aunt Camellia smiled. “You guys are eating with us.”
“Isn’t that a thing now? Dinner and lunch and...food, with y’all.” Leif adored Aunt Camellia—and her cooking.
