by Rachel Hanna
As she stormed down the hallway of their home and slammed the bedroom room, Jack stood there, his suitcase in his hand and wondered what to do. The right answer was eluding him tonight, so he walked out the front door and climbed into his truck, heading off down the highway towards Sweet Tea B&B.
Chapter Two
Kate walked out onto the back deck, the morning air still quite cold. She couldn’t wait for spring. The beautiful weather, the gorgeous flowers and her new beekeeping and honey business would hopefully be flourishing. One thing was for sure, she never thought she’d be learning so much about bees.
“Good morning, hot stuff,” Cooper said from around the corner. He was often hanging around the backyard these days, working on her beekeeping area and a new greenhouse that Mia had requested. Thankfully, they had plenty of land to work with.
“Hot stuff? I like it,” she said. He leaned down and kissed her head.
“When are the bees coming in?”
“Hopefully, next week. I ordered nucleus colonies so I’ll get the bees and the whole box setup.”
“Good. We’ll be ready.”
“Also, I already ordered the labels for the honey.”
He smiled. “Planning for success, I see?”
“Is there any other way? This has to be a success. This B&B can’t make more money than it’s making without a new revenue stream. And I have to send Evie to college at some point.”
“Did she text her dad?”
Kate sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know. She left for school early this morning, and I didn’t want to press her.”
“How are you feeling about it?”
“Like I want to order murderous hornets to attack him when he arrives. Is that too dark?”
Cooper laughed and sat down next to her. “Maybe just a tad.”
“Well, it’s how I feel today. Maybe tomorrow will be better.”
“Any new guests arriving today?”
“We had a check-out this morning, and I think we have a new guest this afternoon. I didn’t even look at the name, but I managed to get room three set up.”
He reached for her hand and squeezed it. “You know this whole thing with Evie will work out, right?”
She sighed. “I hope so. As much as it has pained me over the years to see her struggle without a father figure, if I’m honest, it was easier for me. Brandon wrecked our lives, and I never wanted to see or hear from him again. I guess that was selfish on my part. Maybe I should’ve tried harder to make him have a relationship with her.”
“I’m not a dad yet, but I don’t think that’s how it works, Kate. He should’ve wanted to be with her. He should’ve needed his daughter in his life. A dad doesn’t have to be forced to be with his kid. There’s something wrong with him, not you.”
She smiled at him. “You’re very sweet.”
He stood up and shrugged his shoulders. “I’m sweet like ‘Sweet Charlene’s Honey’,” he said, pretending to do a commercial.
“Get back to work!” Kate said as she stood up and headed back into the house.
“Hey, Kate?”
“Yeah,” she said, turning back to him.
“You’re not alone in this. You know that, right?”
She nodded. “I know. And thank you.”
As she walked back into the house, she felt grateful for Cooper’s support. And for Mia’s. But, in the end, the showdown would be between her and Brandon. She knew him well enough to know that he was up to something, and he had an ulterior motive. To protect her daughter, she had to figure out what it was.
Mia sat in the rocking chair on the front porch and stared out over the lake. It was very still today, like a mirror reflecting the mountains surrounding it. Off in the distance, she could hear a hawk squawking at something. She pulled the wool blanket around her tightly and held a cup of coffee in her hands, trying to keep them warm.
As cold as it was this morning, she wanted to be outside. She loved being out there, watching nature in full force, hearing all of the sounds that went with it.
Kate had gone upstairs to work on the accounting numbers, something Mia hated to do. She decided to take a moment before the new guest arrived to just enjoy some time alone. Plus, she was trying not to think about the fact that Travis was currently meeting his friend, Sam, about some business opportunity.
She wanted him to pursue his dreams, of course. But, the last time he’d pursued those dreams, she’d gotten left behind. Having that happen all over again would be devastating, as much as she hated to admit it. She liked to think of herself as an independent woman who didn’t need a man, but she felt like she needed Travis as much as the air she breathed. It was uncomfortable to care about someone that much, and it often felt too vulnerable.
He’d promised her he would never leave again, not without her, at least. But could she keep him from pursuing some big dream? What if he was getting a job offer in New York again? Or Paris? Could she stop him and live with herself?
For her part, she never planned to leave Sweet Tea B&B. It was her home and in her blood. Now that Kate and Evie were there too, it felt more final. It was their heritage, and that was something her mother would’ve loved. She felt her momma’s presence every single day at the B&B. She was in the smell of the lavender potpourri in the guest baths. She was in the softness of the blanket thrown over the arm chair by the fireplace. She was in the thick oak wood that made up the bannister that she gripped as she walked down the stairs during those last few months of her cancer battle.
She was Sweet Tea B&B.
There were days when she woke up crying because she’d dreamed about her. There were nights she went to sleep crying because she needed her. Grief was a funny thing. It meant you loved someone, but it brought some of the worst pain a person could experience. Love meant grieving one day, and that was a difficult trade-off to make.
She felt her eyes swell with tears, but the moment was broken by tires moving down the gravel driveway. Deciding it must be her new guest, she wiped away the stray tears, took a deep breath and stood up to greet the new arrival. Then, she realized that she recognized the truck. It was her father.
Jack parked and jumped out, stretching his tall, lanky limbs a bit before walking over to the porch with a smile on his face. “Hey there!”
“Dad? What’re you doing here?” She loved saying ‘Dad’. It was something she never thought she’d do, but Jack had made it so easy.
“Thought I’d come surprise my girls for a few days. That okay?”
She walked down the steps, slinging her much-needed blanket over the railing, and hugged him. He was so tall, she had to get on her tip-toes and he had to lean down just so they could embrace.
“Where’s Sylvia?”
He cleared his throat. “Oh, well, she’s busy at the moment. Working on some stuff for the volunteering she does. Besides, I needed some time alone with you girls.”
“So, you’re the new guest?”
“Yeah. Sorry, I made up a name. I just wanted to surprise y’all.”
She laughed. “You’re always welcome, Dad. You know that. Come on in!”
He grabbed his bag from the back of his truck and followed her up the stairs. Mia retrieved her blanket. She turned back to him.
“Are you sure things are okay with you and Sylvia?”
He smiled. “Of course, darlin’. Everything is just fine.”
For some reason, she didn’t believe a word he was saying right now.
Kate stood in the kitchen, stirring the massive amounts of sugar into the warm tea. Mia had shown her how to make it “the right way” so many times. First, she had to put hot water in the plastic pitcher with several large tea bags. Then, she had to set it in the window so that it got plenty of sun for a couple of hours. Finally, she poured tons of sugar into it, stirred and then topped it off with cold water.
Sweet tea was the name of the B&B, but she still hadn’t developed a taste for it yet. It didn’t gag her as much now, but being from up n
orth, she’d never drank the thick, sugary beverage until recently. Mia assured her that she’d be a regular sweet tea drinker in no time.
“I still can’t believe you’re here, Dad.”
Jack smiled as he sat at the breakfast bar watching his daughter. “I just needed a visit with my girls. Is that so wrong?”
“Of course not, but I just hope things are okay with you and Sylvia. She’s a lovely woman.”
“She sure is,” he said, taking a sip of his coffee. “You girls never need to worry about me. I’m the father. I do the worrying.”
Kate laughed. “I wish that was how it worked, but I do my fair share of worrying.”
“Mia told me about your ex-husband. What’s his name? Brandon?”
“Yep,” Kate said, holding the pitcher under the water filter. “And he’s a louse.”
“Need me to have a word with him?”
Kate thought he was joking, but Jack had a look on his face she hadn’t seen before. A protective, fatherly look. It gave her a warm feeling inside.
“No. But, thank you.”
“Don’t let him push you around. If you don’t think Evie should have a relationship with him…”
Kate stopped him. “I do think she should try.”
“Really?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Well, I’m trying. Brandon was an awesome dad when Evie was younger. But, when we divorced and he took off with Kara, it’s like he just left her behind without a thought. I never would’ve imagined it.”
“I hope he doesn’t hurt her like that again. I can’t promise what I might do,” Jack said, his jaw tightening. “I mean, I just met my granddaughter recently, but I love her, and no one is going to mistreat her.”
Kate struggled not to burst into tears. She wasn’t sad. She was thankful to finally have a real father. A dad. “Thank you.”
“For what?” he asked, reaching over and touching her hand.
“For finally being here and for stepping up to be my Dad. And Mia’s. And Evie’s grandfather.”
“I would’ve stepped up long ago…”
“I know. It’s all in the past. I’m just glad you’re here now, Dad.”
“Me too, Katie.” He sometimes called her Katie instead of Kate, and she loved it. It made her feel like a little girl again.
“School sucks!” Evie called as she walked in the front door. She flung her backpack onto the sofa and groaned.
“Well, welcome home to you too, kiddo,” Jack said with a laugh.
“Grandpa? You’re here! I didn’t know you were coming!” She ran into his arms and gave him a big hug.
“It was a spur of the moment thing.”
Evie looked around. “Where’s Grandma Sylvia?”
“She’s at home. Just took a quick solo trip to see you girls.”
“Oh. Okay. Good. Maybe we can fish after dinner?”
“Of course. I never say no to fishing.”
“So, what was so terrible about school?” Kate asked.
Evie walked to the refrigerator and took out a cold bottle of Coca-Cola. Mia loved getting the old-time glass bottles when she could find them.
“Well, Mrs. Gennison gave us a pop quiz in history, which I didn’t do well on…”
“You didn’t study?” Kate asked.
Evie stared at her. “It was a pop quiz. You can’t study for something you don’t know is coming.”
“Go on…”
“Then, I had a science project I forgot was due today so I get ten points off even if I turn it on Monday. Oh, and then Lyra Kameron told the whole PE class that I couldn’t climb the rope, so I did to prove that I could. And look what I did to my leg.” She pulled up her shorts and revealed a burn on her inner thigh.
“Evie! Good Lord! Did you go to the school nurse and get any ointment for that?”
She laughed. “The school nurse is a joke. I swear the woman is as old as these mountains and all she has are cheap bandages and a thermometer.”
“Come upstairs so I can put something on that,” Kate said, walking toward the stairs.
Evie groaned as she followed her mother. “I’ll be down later, Grandpa. Get that fishing pole ready!”
Mia kneaded the dough, preparing the biscuits for dinner. They had two new guests at the B&B, but both of them were there for a relaxing getaway, so she hadn’t seen much of them yet.
There was a man, Dennis, who was just traveling through on his way to Tennessee to see his family. He said he needed a couple of quiet days fishing on the lake before he had to deal with his crazy relatives.
Then there was a young woman, Tabitha, who was there for some quiet time away from her husband and three young children. The kids, all under five years old, were apparently driving her crazy.
Mia often wondered how that felt to have a husband and kids. She hoped to know what it felt like one day, but she didn’t want to rush things with Travis. Having just reconnected, they both preferred to take things slow. But, sometimes she heard her biological clock ticking so loud that she couldn’t sleep at night.
She wanted to be a mom. She wanted to rock a baby, make bottles, change diapers. She wanted to be the room mom in her child’s classroom. She wanted to make school lunches and put little notes in them like her mother did. She wanted to cut sandwiches into the little shapes, help with homework and go trick-or-treating again.
When she thought too hard about it, her heart started to ache. And it was a weird ache because she was missing a person who didn’t exist. Or maybe they did exist out there in the world beyond this one, waiting for their soul to be put into just the right body. Her mother used to tell her not to rush so much. She said that the perfect things would come into her life at the most perfect moments because that’s how God worked. But, lately, there were times she was afraid that God had forgotten her.
Of course, she was more than grateful for the blessings in her life like her new sister, niece and father. She was blessed beyond measure to have Travis back too. But she wanted to be a mother, and there was just no getting around that.
“Need any help?” Travis asked as he walked through the front door. She loved seeing him at the end of the day. It felt like they were married, so comfortable with each other from years of knowing one another.
“Nope. Just about to put these biscuits in the oven and then wait for the chicken to finish cooking.”
He walked into the kitchen and put his arms around her waist as she was cutting the biscuits with the old tin can her mother had used. “Somebody is in a good mood?”
“I’m just happy to see you is all,” he said, pressing a kiss to her neck.
She turned around and faced him, kissing the edge of his jaw where the stubble had grown over the last few hours. “Staying for dinner?”
“Actually, no. Sam got to town early, so I was going to meet up to discuss that project…”
She crinkled her nose. “No dinner with you tonight?” They had developed a tradition, of sorts, by always having dinner together each night no matter how busy the day had been.
“Are you going to be mad at me?”
She laughed. “Of course not! I want you to be happy, and if this project turns out to be something to make you happy, then I’m all for it.”
“Thank you. It means a lot that you want me to do what I love.” He pulled her into a tight hug.
“As long as you never leave me again,” she added softly. He grunted and pulled her closer, as she wondered what this project might change about their relationship. For some reason, she had a really funny feeling about it.
“Mom?” Evie said from the door of the office. Kate had worked for hours after dinner, adding numbers to the accounting software and working on her business plan for Sweet Charlene’s Honey.
“I thought you were already asleep,” Kate said.
Evie shook her head. “I couldn’t sleep. Can we talk?”
“Of course. Sit down.”
Evie sat across from her mother, holding her favorite st
uffed animal she’d had since she was three years old. Tattered and dirty, the plush teddy bear had seen better days. But, Evie refused to give it up and still slept with it every single night. Kate often wondered if she’d still sleep with it when she got married one day.
“I want to talk about… Dad.”
Kate had known this conversation was coming. She’d tried to stay out of it unless Evie brought it up, and now was apparently the time.
“Okay. What’s going on?”
“We’ve been talking a little, just on text.”
“Good. I’m glad you’re reconnecting with your father, Evie.”
“Really? Or are you just saying that?”
Kate sighed. “I really am. A girl should have her father. I know that better than anyone.”
Evie looked rattled, almost scared. “He says he’s sorry.”
“He should feel sorry.” She said it before she could stop herself and then instantly regretted her words. Kate had long believed that kids should never be in the middle of parents. They shouldn’t carry those burdens.
“Mom…”
“Sorry.”
“Anyway, he um…”
“What, Evie?”
“He wants to come visit.”
Kate struggled to breathe. “Here? He wants to come here?”
Evie looked at her for a long moment. “I live here, Mom. Where else is he supposed to see me?”
In that moment, she realized she would be seeing Brandon again. It hadn’t really dawned on her that he’d come there, although she didn’t know why. She would never send her daughter to stay with him after so many years apart. The safest situation was for him to come to the B&B, as much as she hated the thought.
“When?”
“Next weekend.”
“Wow. That soon. Okay… I’ll have to check the schedule.”
“I… um… well, I already asked Aunt Mia to look.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I wasn’t sure if you’d tell the truth about whether we were booked or not.”
Kate was in shock. “You thought I would lie to you?”
