Page 30 of True Honey
“It’s not about the business for Silas,” Ella said quickly, “it’s about what the business does for the rest of Harbor. They have their hands in everything, especially the sports at the college. They don’t just fund the baseball team. It’s all of the teams. The majority of the money that goes into the Harbor Sports program is Shore money.”
“Oh,” I looked down at the binder again. All of this information was overwhelming but good to know. At first I thought Silas was just being greedy, thinking over the deal sitting in my bed wondering if I should take it just to help a rich man get richer. But it clearly was never about that, Silas just wanted to protect what he had built. “This is very generous, Ella.”
“It’s what we do,” she responded easily.
“Did Silas really break his hand punching Arlo when they were fifteen?” I gasped at the sheet.
“I learned about that last night and you don’t want the details,” she said, shaking her head.
By the time we got through the entire book I felt like my brain was screaming for a break. The crash course on the Hornet family was endless. It felt like every page we flipped there were ten more to follow. Over the last two years their lives had drastically changed, mostly for the better but they had all gone through so much.
Ella had me fill out a small sheet to give Silas some insight on my past but I stared at the previous relationship part of her cute highlighted format in terror.
“I…Do I really need to tell him about that?” I chewed my lip and set down the pen. “My last relationship…”
“Why don’t you tell me and I’ll decide if Silas should know?” Ella offered, “I’m a little better at keeping secrets than Ar,” she said with a cute nose scrunch.
“You promise not to judge, I don’t know if I can really handle that today,” I confessed and she shook her head gently.
“Trust me, if anyone here has a sordid past it’s me.” Ella leaned forward on the counter and tapped it with her finger nervously. “We talked about Cael, but the reason he and I got so close was because I’m also a recovering addict. A few years ago there was an accident, it killed my twin brother and my parents leaving me a guilt ridden orphan.”
“Guilt ridden?” I asked.
“I was driving,” Ella said and my heart broke for her.
“I’m sorry,” I said, reaching out to tap her hand with the back of mine.
“I’m working on forgiving myself, so there's that. Now, what’s so upsetting that you’re afraid to tell him? Did you accidentally kill your last husband?” she asked, raising her eyebrow with a smile. “Did you kill him on purpose?”
“No, no,” I chuckled softly, “nothing like that.” Ella waited patiently for me to find my voice. “August’s early years were difficult. I got diagnosed with postpartum depression and… my husband at the time wasn’t equipped to deal with it. I barely was.”
“You make it sound like he was a zookeeper, and you were an ornery lion.” Ella stared at me, her brown eyes narrowing slightly. “Is that the worst of it? He never…”
“No, it was never physical like that. It was more… mental warfare,” I sighed, rubbing my chest.
“I do that too,” Ella noted, “it’s hard when the one person who is supposed to be in your corner falters. But maybe give Silas a chance?”
“It’s fake Ella, I don’t have to give him anything. I just don’t think it’s relevant tothis.” I explained and she sighed, but nodded in understanding.
“I hear you,” she said, “Silas isn’t going to though.” She shifted on her stool, standing like she was getting ready to leave. “He’s a fixer, and a watcher. He’ll figure it out before you can tell him—and sometimes fixing something without all the facts just makes it worse.. So when he eventually makes a mess of it, don’t be too hard on him.”
COURTNEY
“There’s leftover pasta and some fruit in there,” I said as he shoved the paper bag into his backpack. I tried to be one of those moms who left cute sticky note messages, but always chickened out last minute.
For the first time in a while August looked like he’d actually slept. He’d showered too, his hair was brushed back off his handsome face and he wasn’t blocking me out with his music. I hadn’t slept, I just couldn’t find a comfortable spot in the bed so I’d gotten up and done laundry and unpacked the only box I kept of my own belongings.
“I’ll be okay Mom,” he said with a small smile.
“Have a better day,” I said and he nodded before climbing from the car.
I was halfway to Hilly’s for the day shift when my phone rang and the screen lit up with Silas’s name.
“Hello,” I said, shoving it between my shoulder and ear as I pulled over onto the side of the road.
“Hey, can you meet me at the stadium?” He asked, I could hear the chaos on the other end of the receiver as he shuffled around.
“I have work at Hilly’s today.” I put the car in park and waited.
