Leif rolled his eyes, taking his sweet time as he climbed out of the truck and slammed the door. Once Dane had the windows rolled up and the doors locked, he opened the back door of the van.
“Nicole.” Dane smiled. “How’s your day?”
“Better than yours.” She shrugged and clutched her knitting needles and blue-green yarn to her chest.
“Wasn’t your hair green last I saw you?”
“Yeah—last month.” She smiled, waited for them to climb in and pulled the sliding door shut behind them.
He and Leif sat on the third-row bench seat, the tinny crackle of the rear speaker reverberating with the strum of a mandolin. “What radio station are we listening to?” he asked his brother, moving aside a mostly empty box.
Leif didn’t acknowledge him or his question.
He poked his brother—who pulled out an earbud. “Nowyou’re listening to your earbuds.”
Leif glared, plugged his earbud back in, and went back to staring out the window.
“What are we listening to?” Dane asked, louder this time.
“Whatever the driver wants to listen to,” Tansy answered.
“Message received.” He held up his hands, the bright beam of a passing truck illuminating the contents of the box at Dane’s side. Namely, a glossy-slick brochure with a smiling woman in a bathtub on the cover.
Sensual Honey Tea? He glanced at the rearview mirror, feeling like a kid with his hand in the cookie jar as he skimmed the flyer’s bulleted list of benefits of this “all organic and sensually rejuvenating” natural beverage.
This was definitely not a standard Honey Hill Farms sort of product. This was how they were thinking of branching out? With sensual tea?
Dane sat back, smiling. As tempting as it was to tease Tansy Hill about Sensual Honey Tea the whole seventy-odd miles back to Honey, there was the distinct possibility he’d wind up walking home the moment he tried it. It might be worth it.
But Leif wouldn’t think so. And Leif was the one he had to live with so... Instead, he’d sit back, smile whenever she dared look in the rearview mirror and—since there was no other option available—keep the peace. For now. But next time they met, he and Tansy were going to have an in-depth and, hopefully, painfully detailed conversation about the Hill family’s potential venture into sensual health. Maybe he should bring Leif along. The kid didn’t laugh enough and that conversation was guaranteed to bring laughter. Well, he’d be laughing anyway. Tansy? Not so much.
CHAPTER FOUR
THEDRIVEFROMSan Antonio back to Honey took at least four months, or that was how it felt to Tansy. Almost everyone else had fallen asleep, so she was left alone with her thoughts and Dane’s smiling eyes each and every time she glanced in the rearview mirror. He didn’t fall asleep. No, he sat in the very middle of the back seat, directly in her line of sight, with Leif slumped into his side and resting his head against Dane’s broad shoulder. For a moment, she almost thought it was sweet. Until he opened his mouth.
“I’m surprised.” Dane’s gaze locked with hers. “You’ve got me cornered with no way out. I was expecting another anti-expansion lecture.”
Tansy bit into her lower lip. She had half a mind to give him what he wanted. After an hour, maybe she’d wear him down a little.Right. She almost snorted. He’d never listen. String her along?Yes. Test her patience with snide comments?Absolutely. But listen? “I’m driving.”
“Ah, right. Not great at multitasking?” He nodded. “Good to know.”
Her fingers tightened around the steering wheel.Don’t say a word. She swallowed.Not one word.
“I guess now isn’t the time to talk about the Junior Beekeepers meeting, either?” He barely paused. “Right, right. It can wait.”
She pressed her lips together. Today had been a good day—Dane Knudson aside. She didn’t want to end it on a low note. Otherwise she’d give in and pelt Dane with so many years’ worth of verbal artillery that she’d wake everyone up and make the rest of the drive miserable. She managed to sound calm as she said, “I can’t look at my phone and check my calendar—since I’mdrivingat the moment.” She paused, adding, “But, as I told Everett, I can handle it on my own. There’s no need for you to have to be there, too.”
Dane was silent for a few seconds. “Leif wants to join.”
Tansy didn’t buy it. “You can drop him off, like all the other parents and guardians. No need to stick around.”
“Maybe.”
That was it—then silence. She kept waiting, her gaze darting to his reflection, thinking he’d say something more. After the fourth intercepted glance, Tansy gave up and vowed not to use the rearview mirror again. She had two perfectly good side mirrors, she’d make do. It was only ninety miles. How hard would it be to pretend he wasn’t there?Not hard at all.
But rain started and a rapid succession of brake lights set Tansy’s nerves on edge. Driving at night was alwaysfun, add in the morons that insisted on going well over the seventy-five-mile-an-hour speed limit or the daredevils that liked to weave in and out of traffic and the increasing deluge and her grip went white-knuckled.
“Looks like we’re in for rain the whole way.” Even whispering, Dane’s voice carried in the quiet of the van.
