Page 142 of Lovebug
“I was thinking that would make the perfect location for a dozen or so hives. It’s time you got to spread your wings beyond our two little hives next to the house, yeah? You ready to really let The Bee’s Elbow soar? I figured that building would make a great honey-making sugarshack for us.”
“A honey-making sugarshack?” I laugh, a little bit confused.
“Yeah, you harvesting honey on one side, me processing syrup on the other? Sounds like some sort of homemade heaven to me.”
“To me too.” I smile and shake my head in wonder at how this has all come together.
“Oh!” he startles me with his excitement. “And I finally came up with the name for my syrup business. Wanna see?”
“Of course,” I say. He fishes in his parka pocket, pulls out a slim silver rectangle of sorts, and hands it to me. I pull off one of my gloves and crack it open with my cold fingers. “Mabel and Wally Sitting in a Tree,” I read the business card out loud. “Wallace Bieber, Sugarmaking CEO, Mabel McGonigle, Inspiration in Chief.”
“You like it?” he asks, his eyes wide and his breathing shallow.
“Nah. Iloveit.”
He presses his lips to mine, somehow still so warm and inviting despite the cold all around us. Then he takes my hand, and we start heading back toward the evergreens, my heart feeling full to bursting.
“Come on, Mabel Again,” he says. “Let’s go cut down our Christmas tree.”
I laugh as I walk alongside him. “Level with me. You’re never going to give up the Mabel Again nickname, are ya?”
“Not a chance, darlin’.” He squeezes my hand. “Because what on earth could be better than ‘Mabel Again?’ That’s all I need to be happy for the rest of my days: Mabel. Again and Again and Again.”
The End.
