“Good idea,” he agreed. “Then what?”
“Once they’re gone, I want to put one large freestanding cooler along the length of the back wall,” I explained, motioning with my arms.
“How big are you talking, and for what?”
“I’m thinking eight by eight would suffice, or several of the more display type coolers would work too. As long as we can keep the product cold, it works.”
“What product? We don’t have any product. Do you keep honey cold?”
I motioned him over to the counter where my computer sat. “No, it’s not for honey. Neither one of us knows a damn thing about honey farming or beekeeping or whatever the heck you call it. Say it with me. We. Know. Nothing.” I clapped my hands along to the rhythm in my head until he started laughing.
“Okay, I know, but I couldn’t pass up the house. I don’t even care if we just use this garage for storage. The business hasn’t existed for years. It’s not like anyone is expecting us to start it up again.”
“No, but it would be good to offer a new way to stimulate the local economy, right? With a product that people would buy anyway?”
“Stimulation is good,” he agreed, his gaze traveling down the length of me and back up to meet mine. I was more than flustered by the expression he wore. “Stimulation is very, very good.”
Was he baiting me? Was he waiting to see what I’d say? Was he asking for permission? Was he telling me he wanted me without coming right out and saying it? When I stared into his sapphire globes of goodness, I knew the answer was all of the above.
Oh, my God, it was all of the above.
Reality snapped into focus, and I had to grasp the counter to stay upright. His kisses had nothing to do with curiosity. He wanted me. Mathias Jørgensen had the hots for his best friend! I swear I could hear angels singing at the realization. I wasn’t the only one feeling this way! Now all I had to do was figure out why he was holding back.
I cleared my throat and tapped on the computer to break eye contact with him. I was going to have to stick a pin in that thought for now, or I’d never be able to form another sentence without sounding like the needy virgin I was. “I’m glad you agree.” My voice was far huskier than I intended, so I cleared my throat again and kept my gaze averted. “Which is why I think you’ll like my plan.”
“I’m all ears.” I brought the spreadsheets up, and he lowered the screen until I had to move my fingers to keep them from getting smashed. “Tell me in your own words, Honey. I don’t want to see spreadsheets.”
“Spreadsheets are where the money is, Mathias.” I fought with his hand to open the computer again, but he kept a firm grip on the lid.
“Honeybee, I already have more money than I can spend in one lifetime. I’m not concerned about the money. I want to know what the idea is and if we can make a difference in the community with it.”
I led him back to the patio table and sat under the umbrella in the cool shade. He grabbed some water from the fridge and rejoined me, handing me one. I gulped it down. I was hot from my time in the garage, but I was also nervous. If he hated this idea, then it was a lot of work wasted and I didn’t know where I’d go from here.
“Spill it.”
“Well, it might be dumb, but hear me out,” I started, and he dipped an eyebrow to his nose again.
“You don’t have dumb ideas. Your ideas are always spot on.”
“Sure, when I know what the hell I’m dealing with, but you bought a honey farm!” I exclaimed, my arms going up at the same time his lips did.
“I love it when you get all riled up. Have I ever told you that?” he asked, then swigged down some more water.
I stuck my tongue out at him and moved on. He was using the wordlovea lot lately, and while I could comprehend that he meant it in a platonic and natural way, that didn’t make it any easier to hear over and over.
“It’s not just the honey farm we’re dealing with,” I explained. “We’re also dealing with a restaurant that needs to stay in the black. I plan to combine them.”
“Combine them? Sell honey at the restaurant?”
“That’s it! You guessed my plan. What do you think?” I asked, my words dripping with sarcasm. He didn’t answer, which meant he was finally ready to listen to me. “The orchard is yours now, right?” I asked, and he nodded. “So we have all these apple trees with apples that will need to be picked, stored, peeled, cooked, sauced, or whatever you do with that many apples at once.”
“Laverne always let school groups pick apples after she took what she needed. In case you didn’t know that.”
“I did, and we could still do that, but what I’m thinking about implementing means we’d need more apples than they’re using now. This idea will take some planning, and it will probably be next fall before we can go full-bore, though we can do a trial run of it this fall if we can find suppliers for the—”
“Honey.” He called my name quietly, and I glanced up. “Slow down.”
I pursed my lips and nodded. “Sorry, I get excited easily when I’m talking about business.” He snickered and shook his head, something I’d expected, which was why I said it.
