Bearly Christmas

by Becca Fanning

  “We’ll take six,” she said. She handed him two dollars.

  “How do I get this thing open?” Connor asked.

  Harmony looked at the stick. She didn’t see any place to open it. She tried squeezing the ends, but that did nothing. She looked over at the man. “Help?”

  He took the stick from her and pinched it in his thick fingers just below where she had tried to do the same thing.

  “You have to find just the right spot.” He winked at her.

  He looked like he would find just the right spot, indeed. Her face went warm at the thought and she looked away.

  Then Hunter and Connor, like they always did, started fighting.

  “That one is mine!” Hunter said.

  “No, I had the cherry one,” Connor said.

  Hunter pushed him. “You had strawberry. The cherry one is mine!”

  The man pulled another cherry honey stick from the display and handed it to her. “Here. Just take another cherry one.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to do that.”

  He waved it off. “No problem. Better than hearing them fight.”

  She handed the cherry honey stick to Hunter.

  But then Aiden said, “Hey! He got three! I only got two.”

  She closed her eyes and sighed. Of course it couldn’t be that easy. “Just charge me for three more.”

  Then Aiden and Connor went back to the display and pulled out two more sticks.

  “I guess they get to be a lot, huh?” the man asked. He looked like he was somewhat horrified at their fighting.

  “Yeah. They really don’t pay me enough. Some days I can’t wait to get home.” Maybe if she made it clear that it bothered her, too, it wouldn’t ruin her chances with him.

  He pulled his eye brows together. “They’re not yours?”

  “No.” She chuckled. “Thank goodness. I’m their nanny.”

  “Oh.” He laughed, too. “I thought you looked too young to have three kids that old.” He looked relieved, which made her feel relieved, as well.

  She smiled. “Thank you.”

  Harmony kept her head facing the boys, but she could feel him watching her. She needed another reason to talk to him, to keep things going between them.

  “So, are you having one of your own soon?” he asked.

  Her face went hot and she looked down at her top. It was loose fitting. Did it make her look pregnant? “No, why? Do I… look like I am?”

  “Oh no,” he said, shaking his head. His face went pink. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

  “Oh.” She let out a relieved sigh.

  “I just meant, umm…” He scratched the back of his neck. “Is there someone in the picture? Someone you’re seeing? Like a boyfriend?”

  “No, there’s no one.” Not yet anyway, but if he wanted the job, she’d gladly give him the title.

  “Harmy, I have to go pee,” Aiden said, holding himself and wiggling back and forth.

  “Sorry,” she said. Why did he have to go right now? If she didn’t get him to the bathroom soon, though, he’d wet his pants and she’d have even more of a problem on her hands. “I better get him to the bathroom. It was nice meeting you.”

  “Wait,” he said, following her a few steps. “Could I maybe get your number? Maybe you’d want to go out sometime? You know, without all the kids.”

  She smiled and her heart jumped for joy. “You wouldn’t want to help me wrangle these wild kids all night?”

  “Uhh…”

  “I’m kidding. I’d love to.”

  He took out his phone and she gave him her number.

  “I’m Harmony,” she said. Aiden tugged on her hand and she walked a few steps toward the door, looking back at the man.

  “Beck!” he called after her. “I’ll call you!”

  * * *

  Meeting Beck had been the highlight of the fair by far. By the time they got back to the car, the boys were tired, still fighting incessantly, and Aiden was covered in cherry water ice stains. Next time, it didn’t matter how much their parents gave her to take them, she wouldn’t do it.

  She wondered when Beck would call. There was the standard three-day wait, but was he that type of guy? Maybe he was so into her that he’d call sooner. She thought about what she’d say when he called and what she’d wear on their first date.

  After three days passed and he hadn’t called, she started to think he wasn’t going to. Had she done something to make him second guess getting her number? Maybe he’d met someone better after she’d left his booth. Disappointment filled her. It wasn’t exactly easy to meet guys as a nanny. Most days she was with a two-year-old and a six-year-old all day, then some evenings, when their parents had to work late, she watched Aiden, Connor, and Hunter.

  Unless she took the kids out, she didn’t meet anyone aside from whatever new imaginary friend had been created since last time she was with her charges. And when she did take them out somewhere, she was either too distracted to notice any guys, or she was so frazzled and disheveled that she was not attractive at all.

  So, when Beck still hadn’t called by the fifth day, she’d given up completely. By the next week, when it had been a full eight days since she met him and her phone rang, he was the last person she expected it to be.

  “Hello?” she said as she folded laundry on one of her nights off.

  “Hi, is this Harmony?”

  “It is.” Who was this guy calling her? She tried to place his voice, but couldn’t.

  “Hey, this Beck. I met you at the county fair?”

  It took her several seconds to realize who he meant. “From the honey booth?”

  “Yeah, that’s me.”

  “Oh wow.” She set down the towel she was folding. “I didn’t expect you to call. It’s good to hear from you.”

  “Oh. You didn’t?”

  “Well, I just mean that it’s been over a week, so I thought you’d changed your mind.”

  He chuckled softly. “No, I’m just sadly not very good with women.”

  “I find that hard to believe.”

  “Thanks, but it’s true. I had a girlfriend for a long time, so I skipped a lot of years of practice asking women out. Since we broke up, it’s been a struggle.”

  Oh no. Was he on the rebound? This could end up being a disaster. “Did you break up recently?”

  “It’s been almost a year now. But we were together for four.”

  That wasn’t bad, then. A year should be time enough. “Sorry to hear that. I guess it’s good luck for me, though.”

  He chuckled. “Right. So, about that. Do you want to get dinner or something? Is that too boring of a date?”

  “No, not at all. Gives us a chance to talk and get to know each other.”

  “Great. Umm, what kind of food do you like?”

  He was right. He sure wasn’t good at this. It was kind of cute, though. “There is a fabulous Mexican restaurant over on Green Street.”

  “Great. Let’s do that, then.”

  “Perfect.” Now, the day and time… She wished she could just tell him what to do next and get it over with. This was getting painful, cute or not.

  “So, umm, how was your day?”

  “Good. Don’t we need to pick a day and time to go out, though?”

  “Oh, right. Geez. Sorry. Friday?”

  “That works for me.”

  “I guess like 7?”

  She bit her lip to keep from laughing. “Perfect. Want to just meet there?”

  “Sure.”

  Good thing he was so cute, for all his awkwardness. Hopefully, he’d get past that soon. If he was like this every time he tried to ask someone out, no wonder he hadn’t had much luck.

  “What do you do, anyway?” she asked.

  “Oh, I take care of the bees. I’m a beekeeper and I do some of the household stuff. My business partners and I all share a house and that’s where our bees are kept and the honey processing plant is.”

  “You do it all right there on your
property?”

  “Yup.”

  “You’ll have to give me the tour sometime. I’d love to see all that.”

  “Sure. It’s kind of my passion in life.”

  She smiled. “That makes sense. I think the sweetness has rubbed off on you.”

  There was a bit of a pause. Then he said simply, “Thanks.”

  Hopefully in person, this would go much better.

  * * *

  Harmony found herself more nervous than normal for their date. Partly because he seemed so nervous. Was it just going to be completely awkward the whole time?

  The babysitter knocked on the door and Harmony let her in.

  “Thanks for coming, Rachel. This is a first date, so who knows how long it’ll be.”

  Rachel grinned at her. “I hope you’re out all night and he’s the man of your dreams.”

  Harmony sighed. “Let’s hope. I don’t know, though. He seems a bit unsure of himself.”

  Rachel scrunched up her face. “That’s never good.”

  Logan came running into the room then. “Rachel!” He jumped at her, and she stumbled back, but caught him in her arms.

  “Hey Squirt, you ready for a super fun night?”

  “I got the Xbox all set up!”

  “Awesome.”

  Harmony gave Rachel a quick hug, then squeezed Logan and kissed the top of his head. “Don’t wear Rachel out, Logan.”

  “I won’t!” he called from the hall as he ran to the living room.

  Harmony closed the door behind her and smiled. She’d met Rachel, a fellow nanny, at the park a few years ago. They were both there with their charges, trying to get some peace. They’d bonded over nanny-life discussions and had been friends ever since. They tried to get together with their kids every week. The kids loved it and it gave them adult time to talk. And Rachel was so awesome and loved kids so much that she babysat anytime Harmony needed her. Harmony would take her out for lunch next week to pay her back.

  Harmony pulled up to the restaurant and went inside, keeping her eyes peeled for Beck. She found him just inside the restaurant, sitting in the lobby, his feet bouncing. He looked up and got to his feet when he saw her.

  They were seated and sat across from each other. He fidgeted, twisting his fingers together and apart.

  “I’m not going to bite, you know,” she said.

  He let out a sigh. “I’m sorry. This is actually my first date in years. I’m not really sure what to do.”

  “Well, first, relax. We’re here to have fun. Second, be yourself. It’s that easy.” She smiled at him and he smiled back.

  “Thank you for understanding. I feel like a total idiot.”

  “Well, I’m sorry to say that I have plenty of experience dating. First dates, at least. I don’t seem to get much farther for some reason.”

  Well, not for some reason. For one reason. She tried to wait as long as possible before telling her date that she had a six-year-old son, but somehow, it managed to come up in conversation, usually by accident, and then she never heard from them again. As if being a single mother at twenty-four wasn’t hard enough, it also made her a social pariah in the dating world.

  At this rate, she’d probably have to wait a few years for the men she dated to have kids of their own. Someone told her once that when you got to your thirties and were dating, having a kid was much more acceptable. Only six years to go.

  “I can’t imagine why that would be,” Beck said.

  She shrugged. “Maybe after this date, we can talk and tell each other everything we did wrong.”

  “Or everything we did right.”

  “Whoa,” she said. “Let’s not get too optimistic.”

  They laughed, which helped relieve some of the tension. She couldn’t stop looking at him. He was just so good looking. His broad shoulders and muscular arms. Even the facial scruff he wore, which she usually didn’t like, looked so good on him. Once he relaxed a bit, he was funny, too. She found herself laughing a lot.

  “Having a kid that’s allergic to bees is the worst,” she said. “I had a charge one time that was so bad, she needed an Epipen. I was so terrified of using it that I never wanted to let her outside. I did a lot of puzzles that summer. And the worst part was, a bee got in the house and stung her, and I ended up having to use it anyway.”

  He shook his head. “Yeah, when bees get scared, they sting. They’re fascinating creatures, really. I’ve been stung so many times, I don’t even feel it anymore. But the allergy thing is scary. My brother, Knox, is dating someone who’s allergic. Except, no one knew until she got stung. That was a fun day. She started swelling up and he had to rush her to the hospital. Now she has an Epipen.”

  “Hmm,” she said. “That must be tricky. Dating a beekeeper when you’re allergic to bees.”

  “That’s not even the best part. She’s also our live-in housekeeper. Try living with beehives when you’re allergic. I don’t know how she does it.”

  “That’s crazy. Though, I’d love to see the hives in action. That’s why we came into the bee building at the fair. I like to look at the displays of bees and see them making the honey and everything.”

  “It’s a lot simpler and more complicated than it looks.”

  “I’m sure,” she said. “What made you get into bees in the first place?”

  “My business partners and I needed a business idea. Honey seemed like a good way to go, so it made sense that we’d get our own hives. Someone had to learn about the bees and take care of them, so my brother and I volunteered to be the ones. I didn’t want to get into sales like Dax, and I’m not great at office stuff, so it fit. I get to do the dangerous, physical job and they get to sit inside all day. It works well for everyone.”

  “Is that why you’re so built?”

  He pulled his mouth into half a smile. “We all work out, too. We do a lot of running and lifting.”

  She looked over his muscles appreciatively and felt the vibration of her phone in her pocket. She didn’t want to answer it, or even look, but anytime she was away from Logan, she felt obligated. Sure enough, when she glanced at the screen, it was Rachel calling.

  “Sorry, I have to take this,” she said.

  “Harmony, I’m so sorry to interrupt your date. Logan just threw up and it seems that he’s running a fever. It came out of nowhere. He was fine when I got here, then all the sudden he said his stomach hurt and he threw up. He’s okay now, but I wanted to let you know.”

  “Okay. I’ll be right there.”

  She hung up and put her phone back, then looked at Beck with a long sigh. “I’m really sorry. I have to go.” She chose her words very carefully. She didn’t want to lie, but she didn’t want to give anything away just yet. “One of the kids I care for is sick. I have to run.” There. That was true enough, right?