by Mindy Steele
“Belinda, I didn’t know you had an interest in...honey.” Ivan lifted a brow, a grin begging to be let loose. Belinda felt her face warm.
“Stop teasing, Ivan. Atlee won’t be working for months yet, and Belinda is near and isn’t afraid of those bees. It’s what a decent Christian should do.” Tabitha defense of her made Belinda sit a little taller in her seat, as did the reminder that she didn’t fear bees while many others did. It was nice to not be afraid of everything. She had never thought about it before.
“Sorry. I was just teasing,” Ivan said to Belinda, then turned his attention on Tabitha. “A good Christian puts in his neighbor’s hay for free too.” He was fishing for a compliment, since Tabitha was gifting them.
“You eat more than you work,” Tabitha replied, and shoved the butter and pan of rolls his way. “Maybe Claire will feed your ego, but I won’t.”
Ivan surrendered and focused on Belinda again. “I heard your flowers are growing.” Lifting a roll, he began to slather it in butter.
“Smart one. Imagine that, noticing that flowers grow,” Tabitha sassed under her breath.
“Woman, Belinda knows what I mean.” Ivan shot Tabitha a look, but there was nothing unkind in it.
“You two are funny,” Belinda giggled. “Jah. And they are. Adam sells more to the florist than Tabitha does at the market. It is good business.” She took a bite of meatloaf, let the spicy flavors satisfy her.
“So you help him with the hives and he is selling flowers for you. That’s good. Maybe you should try feeding him too. Fellow looks to have lost a few pounds lately.” Belinda flinched. Was she making Adam’s life harder? “Some women can wreak havoc on the heart.” Ivan shook his head.
“That was a shock, I agree. Best to not give in to such foolishness, and it won’t make a fool out of you,” Mica added, pointing his fork across the table at Ivan.
“He just chose the wrong woman,” Tabitha defended, and speared a green bean. “Men tend to chase after what’s on the surface and forget to find out what makes a maedel worth having. That one has never lifted a hand to help another in her life. Adam should be grateful he won’t have to spend the rest of his life with a fraa like her.” Belinda bit her lip. Did Tabitha really believe Adam was better off? He was heartbroken, wasn’t he?
“It’s a partnership. We made an agreement, but now...” Belinda muttered. “Maybe I should—”
“What?” Mica had ears that could hear a bird’s wings cut through air. She wrangled her tongue.
“Never mind.” She filled her mouth with potatoes next. If she sold her own flowers, maybe Adam wouldn’t have to get up so early. But no. She couldn’t bring herself to do that. So what else could she do to cheer him up?
The rest of meal was a blur as Belinda pondered ways to make Adam’s life easier, or at least make him smile. Life is better with a smile. She mentally giggled at Atlee’s words.
“Let’s work off this meal with a game.” Ivan rubbed his middle as the table was being cleared.
“Can it be a manly one? I’m tired of board games,” Mica said, exasperatedly dropping both elbows on the table.
“Baseball,” Tabitha, of all people, suggested. Belinda loved baseball. She set aside her current thoughts and hurried to clean the kitchen.
“A woman after my own heart,” Ivan perked, resulting in a sharp reply from Tabitha, who assumed she was being mocked. If Ivan would stop teasing, maybe her sister would stop being so harsh to him. Then again, what did she know about anything?
Chapter Seventeen
Adam yawned wide enough to upset his balance and then shivered from head to toe. He’d survived another arduous day stacking pallets, filling orders, and loading trucks, and still managed three hours for Ivan framing a small shed while his crew worked elsewhere. It was enough to work up an appetite, yet, for once, the need for food came second to sleep. A hot shower and a pillow, that’s what he desired most.
He put Honey out to pasture, but before heading to the house, Adam stepped inside the honey house. The air smelled of summer heat and beeswax. Upon closer inspection he realized Belinda had been harvesting a lot of honey. He removed his hat, ran his fingers through his hair, and frowned. He hadn’t meant for her to have to do all the work alone, and without his assistance. It wasn’t her job to see to the whole harvest. Was he taking her away from her dream, claiming all her time so that she had none to give to her flowers? She wanted so little, and his situation was interfering with that. He wanted things too, but was smart enough to know he would never have all the things he wanted. He would help more, finish the harvest and free her from their partnership. One of them should have the future they wanted.
His mind was crowded, but only one thought surged to the forefront. It was Belinda, Belinda humming and buzzing in his head. Imagining her here, working on his honey by his side, helped him endure long days. Even now, it felt wrong not seeing her standing to his left. How quickly that had happened, her becoming something of a fixture in his life. The quiet girl next door was becoming the woman he couldn’t ignore.
Adam closed the door and strolled along the yard. Since when had Mudder planted a flower bed in front of the house? He really did like the flowers, and now that he was learning a few things about the different kinds, Adam could name most of them staring at him right now. There were marigolds, irises, lilies, coneflowers, and foxgloves. He struggled to recall the name of the large leafy plant boarding one side. “Hosta,” he said aloud, pleased with himself. He strolled back to the porch, shaking his head. Since when did a man concern himself with the names of flowers? Yeah, lack of sleep was messing with his thinking.
“Sit with me, sohn. It’s a nice evening.” Atlee said from a shadowy corner. Daed was getting around well with the crutches. A nurse had been coming twice a week for therapy and Adam could see it was doing his father good.
“It’s hot.” Adam replied, but took a seat next to him as the sun began its final descent. June had proven itself hotter than usual and the rising humidity was making the evening even more dismal.
He let his gaze fall on the new flower bed again. “Mamm must have taken all day planting that.”
“Your little bee charmer did that so I could see them from the window. She thinks I need some colors to admire to heal faster.” Atlee leaned closer. “I didn’t have the heart to tell her I couldn’t see them unless standing or outside, but your mamm is real happy.” Adam bet she was. He couldn’t help but smile as he looked down. Zinnias were in there too in various hued blooms, along with small red and white candy cane blooms, and bold violet blues on long stems he had no name for. Like their giver, they brought color to his life, a respite from the drudgery of the day to day.
Laughter rose from across the street. He narrowed his focus. Belinda and her family were playing a game of baseball. They did that a lot, he thought, sinking deeper in his seat. For once he had nowhere to be, and sitting here with his daed, watching her, was just fine by him.
Adam leaned back, listened, and held his gaze on the woman who liked bees and flowers and quiet. Her dress looked to be a richer purple than any he could recall her wearing before. He liked that, the bold color against the tan of her arms. He missed catching glimpses of her freckles, her bare feet in the grass, the way her lips curved when she tried on a grin.
Ivan pitched the ball and Belinda swung the heavy wooden bat. A firm crack split the air, indicating she had made contact. He lifted a brow, watching the woman, not the ball sailing into the air. She ran like the wind. She had always been athletic, winning races and outplaying most girls her age. That was before the nicknames came, before the age of self-awareness marred her childish innocence. Why hadn’t he been a better friend back then when she’d needed him?
Adam smiled as Mica threatened Belinda with the ball, chasing her around the yard as she crossed imaginary bases. Mica would never catch her, light on her feet as she was. Her laughter echo
ed across the road and settled warm in his chest. She had strong powers, that one, and he wasn’t sure how long he could hold his defenses against them. Beautiful, inside and out, that’s what she was. A man would be a fool not to see it, to want it for his own.
“They are a happy bunch.” Atlee said. “Makes me miss when you were little and we played ball and chase.” Adam hated that his parents weren’t blessed with more kinner, but when he was born, Mamm was told she should never have more. It wasn’t spoken of, but he knew there were times over the years when his father had sat on this very porch watching the Grabers run about, wishing they could have that, too.
“This time next year you might be starting a family of your own,” Atlee said, as if such was a possibility. “It would be good to have kinner around again.”
“We broke up. She’s marrying another,” Adam said bluntly. “You know this.” The whole community now knew this. He scowled, recalling all the faces staring at him like he’d just committed a crime. Belinda was right: Being stared at was unsettling.
“You think me forgetful?” Atlee scoffed. “You two weren’t a good match. The split was bound to happen.”
“You never said anything.” Adam gave his father a sidelong look. “A warning would have been nice.”
“Not a father’s job to tell his grown sohn such. It’s not as if you would have listened. You were too eager, then. Wanting something so bad you were willing to settle for it.” Adam sighed. His father was right. Adam didn’t want to be Tobias, forever courting, never settling, so he had in fact settled. Susanne had been the only girl to ask for his attention. “But I will say this. I think your match is closer than you think.” Atlee looked out across the road, smiled with both his lips and his eyes. Adam followed his gaze easily.
“I’m not interested in trying my hand again,” Adam said firmly, knowing he would always be a bystander to her. He would do well to put all such ridiculous thoughts out of his mind. No one wanted a beekeeper, a man full of responsibilities, unable to offer more than a future of hard work and responsibilities. His burdens were too heavy to ask another to share them. Even his bones were too tired to cooperate in keeping him vertical this evening.
“Your pride is hurt, that’s all.” His father didn’t mention his heart, and Adam reflected on that for a moment. He had been so ready to make the life he wanted that he had missed realizing he was making it with the wrong person. He’d thought he loved Susanne, but deep down, despite the bruising to his ego, he had to admit Susanne had been right. He cared more about his bees than her, and no marriage could stand strong on such a feeble foundation. He didn’t even miss her.
“She deserves someone better, and certainly not a bee farmer,” Adam murmured.
“You’re more than a bee farmer,” Atlee retorted, reading where Adam’s thoughts rested. “I think she’s the only one who can decide what she deserves, but I’ll say that you deserve a faithful fraa capable of charming bees, or mending old chicken coops. She might even let you win at baseball,” Atlee chuckled. “Your mamm could always outrun me. I think that’s one of the many reasons I married her.” Adam turned to him. “What man doesn’t like to chase, to pursue? It’s who we are. You just haven’t found one worthy of pursuing yet...or have you?” He winked. Adam didn’t have time to chase, or pursue, but he couldn’t help but recall how often Belinda left him tempted, forcing him to rush to catch up just to hear a whisper from her.
“She talks a lot more than she used to, but I don’t think she is interested in anyone. Belinda loves her life the way it is, and it’s too busy to add anything to it.”
“But she made room for the honey—and the chicken coop and this garden for us, ain’t so? She made room for you and you made room for her.”
“All I’m giving is twenty minutes a day toting flowers. That was the deal. Can’t build much on twenty minutes,” Adam replied. “What kind of woman wants a man who only gives twenty minutes?”
“A woman who can appreciate twenty minutes,” Atlee said. “She isn’t so shy, really. I think she was just paranoid about her face after getting teased as a girl. Years of hiding simply made her accustomed to being alone. Doesn’t mean it’s what she wants, who she really is.” That was true. Many people weren’t who they seemed on the outside.
“I think she wants more, but I think she likes things as they are too,” Adam said. He had never had such an in-depth talk with his father before. It was nice, this man-to-man time. It also felt surprisingly good to talk his thoughts out loud without fear of judgment or being teased. His friends were good men, but Tobias was not the one to seek for a serious conversation.
“Have you even asked what she wants?” Daed lifted both brows challengingly.
“I can’t,” Adam replied flatly. She wanted a flower farm, that he knew, but that wasn’t what his father was asking.
“You can. Love built on faith and friendship, on hard times, is something unbreakable.”
Adam choked on the word. “Who said anything about love?”
“My legs might not work so well these days, but my eyes are perfect.” Atlee chuckled before struggling to his feet. “Now let’s go inside before the skeeters eat me alive.”
Adam helped his father through the front door and glanced out across the road. Belinda stood under the failing sunlight, looking at him. She waved; she had never waved at him before. A better man would walk over, apologize for avoiding her and their partnership the last couple of days.
A better man he obviously wasn’t, he decided. He waved back, then closed the door behind him.
Belinda finished the last twist of her nightly braid and secured it with a thin band before crawling into bed. What could she do to cheer Adam up? It was clear something special was needed. He looked tired. Even at that distance she could see it in the slump of his shoulders and the way his head rested on his hand while he and Atlee sat on the porch. What could she give him to make him smile? She bowed her head, whispered a prayer for Dawdi, her parents, and for the man across the road who found a way into her every thought, and maybe even her heart.
Chapter Eighteen
Adam took Friday off work to help with the honey harvest. After delivering Belinda’s flowers, he pulled into his drive. There she sat, her face in a book that Adam couldn’t imagine her capable of seeing, much less reading, considering the sun was barely peeking through a dreary dark sky. She was dressed in her homemade bee suit. She must have had no trouble finding his note this morning. Adam had debated where to leave it, and concluded the flower garden was the best place, so he had secured it to the hoe handle he knew she worked with daily.
“You shouldn’t be doing that,” he said, approaching. She quickly tucked the book behind her back as if she’d just been caught stealing. He stifled a grin at how adorable she looked. “Not enough light. You could hurt your eyes.”
“Oh,” she relaxed. “I was almost finished last night and fell asleep. I hate starting something and not finishing it,” she shrugged, getting to her feet before brushing her pants nervously to wipe away any imaginary dirt. “I found your note.” Her cheeks warmed to a soft rose shade. “I can help the whole day. Mica says he has everything covered.” She bit her lip and asked nervously, “How have you been?”
“Fine,” he replied. She cradled her book, lowered her gaze to her feet. Gott had a way with things that often made Adam wonder if he was pointing a finger or encasing a portrait. Right now, He seemed to be doing both as the sun peeked through two darkened clouds, hitting Belinda in a kiss of light. She seemed to embody sunshine itself, and though Adam knew better than to stare into the sun, he couldn’t turn away from her.
“What?” She nervously checked her clothing to see if he was gawking at something amiss, then ran a delicate hand over her kerchief and honey gold hair.
“Your hair looks just like the honey.” He shouldn’t have thought so loudly. He clamped his lips shut.
“I got a bit of both my parents.” He reached the porch and saw his bee suit and veil sitting nearby.
“Jah, your daed has green eyes and Ada’s are blue. Are you ready?” She bounded off the steps as light as a feather, leaving a sweet flowery waft of breeze behind her. His heart did a little leap right with her. This was going to be a long day.
“I already put the tools in the wagon,” he said. “Go ahead and get in while I tell Mamm we’re leaving.”
“And sneak some breakfast. Take your time.” She waved him off. “I know you haven’t eaten. Besides, the light is better now.” She lifted her book with begging eyes. How could he ever say no to her? “Only three pages left. I really need to read the end or I will be in suspense all day.” Well, there was no harm in letting her finish her book.
“Okay then. Let’s not leave you in suspense.” He slipped inside, feeling like his life was in suspense and every corner held something new to endure or ponder over. Adam didn’t dare tell her that Mia had given him two pastries covered with icing, filled with cherries and cream cheese. He would give Belinda a few minutes to finish her book. After all, he did appreciate a person who finished what they started.
Belinda pumped the smoker across the top of the hive as Adam pried the lid off with his hiving tool. The flat crowbar had a hook at one end that served many purposes, including prying loose sticky frames before lifting them. Once the lid was removed, she pumped more smoke as he extracted the first frame.
“It looks like your queen is overdoing it. You might have to put in a queen extractor or she will lay it full of eggs and you won’t have honey this fall.”
He looked at her with his mouth open, shocked. Every time he thought he had a grasp on who Belinda was, she would surprise him more. Still, she didn’t know everything.
