Page 24 of Honey Be Mine
“Didn’t mean to scare you. I was trying to keep it quiet—so I wouldn’t interrupt you, but man, that bee looks like it’s about to fly off the wall and out to one of y’all’s bee yards.” He leaned forward, his blue eyes inspecting her work. “That’s awesome, Rosemary.”
“Thanks, Leif.” She smiled, wiping off the tip of her paintbrush. “I’m finished with all the bees upstairs. And the flowers and vines, too.” She stretched. “I didn’t realize how late it was getting. How was school?”
“It was...school.” Leif shrugged.
“I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not?”
The expression on the teen’s face made him look exactly like his big brother had looked back in high school—back when Tansy and Dane hated each other. “I mean, I’m glad it’s Thursday.” He yawned. “Plus, there’s a Junior Beekeepers meeting tonight. Tansy said you might be coming?”
“That’s the plan.” If Rosemary was going to consider Everett’s job offer, it wouldn’t hurt to get familiar with some of the clubs and classes that would fall under her oversight. According to Tansy, the Junior Beekeepers were pretty self-sufficient and wouldn’t need a lot of hands-on supervision. Mostly, they required an adult present to track hours, keep up with club requirements, and be at the meetings in case of an emergency. Since the club was a joint venture between the school district and the parks and rec office, the club was well funded and had plenty of community support. “I should probably start getting myself together.” She headed for the kitchen. “First, I need some tea. Want a snack?” From what she’d witnessed, Leif was always hungry.
“Sure.” He grinned and followed her into the kitchen. “Dane’s not around? I wanted to talk to him.”
“Sorry, no. I think he and Tansy are over at Viking—working in the new honey house y’all are building over there.” That Tansy and Dane were working together on the Knudson family’s neighboring honey farm still made her smile. She paused, noting the concern on the teen’s face. “Can I do anything?”
“I don’t know if there’s anything to be done. I just...” He shrugged. “I overheard some kids talking at school today about the [email protected]—”
“Who?” Rosemary turned on the electric kettle.
“Oh, whoever is paintballing everything is posting it all online. That’s their account [email protected].”
She blinked. “You’re kidding. That doesn’t sound very smart.” She pondered this information as she pulled a plate from a cabinet, opened the cookie jar, and pulled out several cookies. “Why post for the world to see? They were breaking the law, weren’t they? What good could come from making their antics public?” She put the plate of brown sugar honey cookies and honey raisin oatmeal cookies on the counter beside him. “If they’re posting everything, who is it, and why haven’t they been stopped?”
“Thanks.” He took a cookie. “They’re wearing masks. And they don’t talk.” He shrugged. “They’re not smart, but they’re not completely stupid.” He ate another cookie. “Kerrielynn’s been watching all their stuff—I think she’s hoping to figure out who they are.” There was pure adoration all over his face. “She’s eavesdropping on everyone, hoping to hear something.”
She smiled and put a tea bag into her teacup. The electric kettle pinged, so she poured the boiling water into her cup. “You want some tea?”
He shook his head. “No, thank you.”
“You’ve got my full attention, now, Leif. What did you overhear?” She was more than a little curious.
He finished his brown sugar honey cookie before saying, “Donny Dwyer was talking to someone—I didn’t see who—about how it’s supposed to rain tonight, so Clay, Donny’s older brother, said they were going to hold off on going to Glendale. He was probably talking to his little brother, Eddie, but I’m not certain. The brothers don’t have a lot of friends.” He took another cookie. “Anyway, Glendale and Honey are the two towns that haven’t been paintballed yet. And the Dwyers are always doin’ stupid things so—” He broke off and shrugged. “Believe me, the brothers are bad news. I know.”
Rosemary didn’t want to disappoint Leif, but there wasn’t a lot to go on there. Leif was right that Glendale and Honey hadn’t been vandalized—yet—but automatically linking the Dwyer boys’ visit to Glendale to [email protected] like a stretch.
“I figure I should tell Dane so he can tell Everett. Just in case.” He ate another cookie.
It can’t hurt.She knew how heavily this was weighing on Everett. It was weighing on everyone. “Just in case.” She nodded, sipping her tea.
“Sorry.” He stared at the now-empty plate.
“It’s okay. I just wanted tea.” She smiled. “I was planning on going by Everett’s office before the Junior Beekeepers meeting. I can tell him, if you want.”
“That’d be great. Thanks.” Leif nodded. “I should probably head out. I’m supposed to pick up Kerrielynn. We’re doing snacks for the meeting and have to set up.” He nodded and headed out of the kitchen.
“See you later.” She took a deep breath. All she had to do now was get cleaned up and go to Everett’s office. “Time to grow a backbone,” she murmured. It would help if her stomach wasn’t roiling, there wasn’t sweat beading her upper lip, and her hands would stop shaking.Ugh.
She didn’t normally put a lot of time into her appearance—the bees didn’t care. But she wasn’t going to spend time with the bees, she was going to see Libby Owens. And she was going to go looking like a woman, not the awkward teen girl she’d been. Once she saw that her high school bullying was over, all the sweating and shaking and nausea would go away.
She showered, dried, and made an attempt at styling her long hair straight, and even put on a little lipstick.Nope.She wiped the red off and turned to her closet. Something she felt comfortable in, yet confident. Her favorite green button-down shirt, a denim pencil skirt, and her calf-high leather boots. Perfect.
“Rosemary?” Tansy’s voice carried up the stairs, followed by footsteps. “Rosemary? Are you—” She peered into Rosemary’s bedroom. “You look nice. What’s happening? Where are you going?”
“I figured I’d go into town and talk to Everett.” She rubbed her hands against her thighs. Her palms were sweaty.
“Oh?” Tansy’s brows shot up. “You got dressed up to see Everett?”
If Tansy knew what she was planning to do, she’d probably try to stop her. Or worse, she’d want to go with Rosemary and be overprotective and make things even weirder than it was going to be. Thats why she said, “Yep.”
