But, she hadn’t been thinking clearly. She’d been under the influence of mega-charming Dane, his exceptional kissing skills and her all-time favorite eighties teen romance.
Dane had said the honey competition wouldn’t impact what was happening with them. Tansy should do the same about the expansion. At least, she should talk to him about it. Not storm onto his property and confront him, but more of a sit-down-and-talk sort of thing. Not via text or over the phone, but in person.
She pulled out her phone and opened his texts.I hope your meeting goes well. Save the bees.She hit Send. She took a deep breath, typed out,We need to talk, and hit Send.
MONDAY, DANETEXTEDHER. He didn’t respond to her initial request to talk. Instead, he’d typed,When do bees get married?Tansy didn’t have a chance to respond before he replied.When they’ve found their honey.
Tansy replied with,Dork.
That night, her dreams were full of Dane—smiling at her, laughing with her. Holding her.
Tuesday, Dane was on a roll. He sent her a handful of bad bee jokes and a picture of Leif suited up and working with the bees. Tansy sent him a pic of the lavender fields at sunset. He sent her aSweet Dreamstext after dark—and all of Tansy’s dreams were about Dane.
Wednesday—nothing. Tansy turned her phone off and on and checked the volume several times. She tried to tell herself that it had nothing to do with Dane’s lack of texts but what was the point. It wasn’t just that she missed his stupid bee jokes, it was the lingering concerns she had over the expansion. Finally, she texted,Dane, we really need to talk.She wound up tossing and turning most of the night, anxious and on edge and, dammit, missing Dane.
Thursday, he started texting in the wee hours of the morning and proceeded to text her every thirty minutes or so—all day long. Nothing serious, just a stream of bees being bees working.
Tansy rolled her eyes and texted,If you’re too busy to talk, why are you sending me texts?But she was smiling all the same.
“Who is that?” Astrid asked, clearing the dinner table.
“No one.” Tansy rinsed and loaded the dishes into the dishwasher. She turned her notifications off and looked up to find Astrid staring at her phone.
She took a quick look around the kitchen before asking, “What is going on between you two?”
“Nothing.” Tansy shook her head. “Nothing at all.”
“Nothing?” Astrid wasn’t buying it. “But he’s been texting you all day.”
She nodded.
“And the reason you’ve been on edge all week?” Astrid stepped closer to her.
“Have I?” Tansy frowned. “Worrying about the honey contest—”
“And Dane.” Astrid shook her head. “Tansy, you know you can tell me. Something is going on. You’ve never snuck a boy into your room before.”
“You knew?” She froze, then leaned forward to whisper, “Do the aunts know?”
“His truck was parked out front.” Astrid wrinkled up her nose and shrugged. “They haven’t said anything but...” She paused. “Did something happen between you two?”
It all came out then. The kiss in the barn. The weirdness between them. More kissing and clearing up the past. Even more kissing. And the wake-up call expansion text.
“Maybe he’ll listen to you now? He knows it’s important to you and, if things have changed between you, then maybe it will be more important to him.” Astrid covered Tansy’s hand with her own. “I think you’re right to talk to him in person. Read his body language and facial expressions, that sort of thing.”
“I guess so but... I’m scared.” She clasped her sister’s hand. “I want to trust him, Astrid. I want to, but there’s a part of me that can’t. It’s like some self-defense mechanism. What if he still doesn’t care? I can’t be with someone that doesn’t understand this plan is bad for the bees.”
“But, if he did get it, you’d want to be with him?” Astrid was staring at her. “If you could trust him?”
“One hundred percent.” She felt sick to her stomach. “What is wrong with me? Aunt Mags is right—I know better.” She ran a hand over her face. “And right now is the absolute worst time to deal with this. Tomorrow is the first day of the Honey Festival.” She squeezed Astrid’s hand. “That’s all that should matter right now.”
Astrid squeezed her hand back. “I have faith in you, Aunt Camellia, the honey and our bees.”
Astrid seemed so confident, Tansy couldn’t help but feel better. About the Honey Festival. About Dane? Not so much.
That night, Tansy was more restless than ever, picturing everything that could go wrong with the honey judging. She felt miserable when she stumbled downstairs for her coffee the next morning. Aunt Camellia was in a panic—though she insisted she was fine—and Aunt Mags had taken the dogs for a walk. So she and Astrid made sure they had everything they needed and drove the Honey Hill Farms van into town.
“Good morning. Happy Friday—and the first day of the Honey Festival.” Astrid was all enthusiasm, scanning her phone. “Nicole said she’s heading to the fairgrounds now to help me get set up. I guess Benji is one of the helpers in the Bee Education Station?”
