Astrid took Tansy’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
“I best get back to my own tent, quick-like, or Waylon will get all sorts of grumpy and chase away our customers.” She paused. “If you see Willadeene or Corliss, you send them my way, won’t you? They missed the last Honey Bee Ladies Society meeting—going to some concert—and I need to catch them all up.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Astrid nodded, holding out a jar of their creamed wildflower honey. “I know it’s your favorite so I set a jar aside—in case.”
“Oh, Astrid, you are a thoughtful one, aren’t you?” Ida took the jar. “It is my absolute favorite. And I know there won’t be a jar left if I come back later.” She grinned, handed over a ten-dollar bill, tucked the creamed honey into the pocket of her apron and bustled down the aisle between the rows of vendor tents.
“Look at you making bank.” Nicole gave Astrid a thumbs-up. “You’re a natural-born salesperson, Astrid Hill.”
Astrid grinned. “I knew she’d want a jar.” She shrugged, turning to Nicole. “Your mom and Corliss went to a concert instead of the Honey Bee Ladies Society meeting?”
“Right?” Nicole shook her head, purple hair shaking, too. “Mom leaving Honey? Possibly missing out on the next big scandal? It’s unheard of, I know.”
Tansy and Astrid exchanged a look. Willadeene did love to gossip. Aunt Camellia said the woman had an uncanny ability to sniff out scandal wherever she went. Tansy thought it was more likely that Willadeene excelled at stirring things up and spreading the word. Either way, Tansy did her best to stay clear of the woman.
“But luckily, nothing big happened so she didn’t resent Corliss forcing her to go to Austin.” Nicole tucked a strand of purple hair back. “Somehow they scored tickets to some Pink Floyd laser show thing.”
Tansy paused and glanced at her sister, who was staring at Nicole.
So I’m nothearing things.“What?” Tansy couldn’t help but grin at the idea of Willadeene Svoboda and Corliss Ogden and her mile-high hair swaying in time to Pink Floyd.
“Oh, don’t let that Corliss Ogden fool you. She might be all buttoned-up and stacked hairpieces but,” Nicole whispered, “she’s a handful.” Nicole loved her mother but didn’t approve of all the gossiping.
“Corliss Ogden?” Astrid shook her head. “The high school secretary?”
“The very same.” Nicole grinned. “According to Mom, Corliss’s got quite a handsome fellow in the city, too. Mom says he was downright dreamy. Almost like Robert Redford. And he’s younger than Corliss.”
“Corliss?” Astrid looked more stunned than ever. “Corliss Ogden?”
Tansy giggled, trying to imagine Corliss Ogden and her Robert Redford–like younger boyfriend out on the town. “I’m going to need a minute to process this new development.” She shook her head, noting Astrid’s nod. “I wonder who else is living a secret life?” Tansy peered around the growing sea of tents and canopies with narrowed eyes.
“Oh, and Mom said something about seeing your aunt Mags’s doppelgänger at the gas station on the way out of town. Like she went on and on about how it was like looking at Magnolia twenty years ago or something. She was totally fixated on it. I mean, it’s weird, but not life-altering, you know. Everyone has one. A doppelgänger, I mean. What’s the big deal?” Nicole rolled her eyes. “But my mom is...my mom.”
Tansy chuckled. Talking to Nicole was always an adventure.
“Back to the secret life thing. If anyone had one and I knew, I’d tell you—you know that. Y’all know everything I know.” Nicole did overshare with Tansy and Astrid and the aunts from time to time, but she kept her circle of confidantes tojustthe Hill women. She said that, due to her mother and her mother’s friends’ constant need for drama, the only people she truly trusted lived on Honey Hill Farms. “Then again, I didn’t know a thing about this truce between you and Dane so I guess there might be some secrets to learn yet.”
“It’s not a secret.” Tansy didn’t want to make this into a thing. It wasn’t.
She hoped their handshake would prevent things from going horribly wrong during their Junior Beekeepers leadership turn. And, after the handshake, hehadbehaved. Actually, he’d been...quiet and broody. More like Leif than the Dane she was used to. By the end of the night, she’d been on edge and jumpy and scrambling, unsuccessfully, for a new way to convince him to let her handle the meetings on her own.
Astrid draping an arm over her shoulders gave Tansy a start. “I’m proud of you. I can only imagine how difficult it is—between his expansion plans and the way helivesto press your buttons.”
“Too bad he’s pressing the wrong ones.” Nicole twined a strand of hair around one finger. “Can you imagine? Pressing your buttons—therightbuttons, that is—with those giant Viking hands. Oh, hmm,orbeing squished against that muscled-up wall of a chest?” Her exaggerated wink was overkill.
“Nicole!” Tansy squeaked. Not only had she imagined it, she’d experienced it. She’d tried to forget, tried to keep all the tender memories of Dane locked away, for self-preservation. It hadn’t worked. His chest may not have been as wall-like back then, but she remembered being squished against him and how amazing it had felt to be held in his arms.
Thanks to Nicole, she was caught up in a tidal wave of heart-pounding Dane-memories. Like his large hands pressing her back or cradling her cheek. The tender look in his oh so blue eyes that had made her insides go soft and warm.
It was all too easy to imagine being held against him now, in all his brawny manliness. His touch. He’d smell good, he’d always smelled good... Considering how toe curling his kiss had been in the past, she didn’t want to consider how she’d respond to one of his kisses today...
Stop. What was wrong with her? Astrid and Nicole were right there, watching her. Her cheeks were flaming—they’d notice and jump to all sorts of conclusions.And they’d be right.An unexpected giggle slipped out. Between the increasing pressure on her chest and her inability to get him—and those images—out of her head, her laughter was beginning to sound rather unhinged.
“Heishot.” Nicole fanned herself, her grin full of mischief as she nudged Astrid. “Even you won’t deny that.”
So what? Hot or not, Dane was Dane.Just no.
The concern on Astrid’s face helped Tansy snap out of it.
