by Mindy Steele
“But if I block her in below, the workers will try to squeeze through the extractor and risk damaging their wings. Plus she might swarm, if she thinks it’s too crowded. I already lost two hives.”
“True, but a virtuous queen shouldn’t be so selfish. She should leave room for everyone to work,” she returned. Adam eased the frame back down and placed the lid back on top. He moved on to the next hive.
“I’m not using the slotted extractor to trap my queen,” he said firmly, putting an end to her thinking. “How many hives have you robbed so far?”
“Nine. I can average three a day myself, but no more—it’s peak season for our greenhouse plants and vegetables.”
Adam pulled the first frame from the super with the hiving tool.
“This one is really full,” he said, carefully sliding the frame back into place. Handing her the tool, he lifted the full super and carried it to the wagon. Belinda pried the top from the next one and began lifting it.
“Whoa now.” Adam hurried to her. “I told you I will do the heavy lifting.” She gave up the weight and moved to the next super, clearly biting her tongue to keep from protesting his orders. She pried the next super free from the one below it and soon they had a solid rhythm going.
“Mia said she wanted to talk to you about some lavender, and something else. I can’t remember,” Adam grunted as he loaded the last super into the wagon.
“Can’t she just tell you?”
Removing his veil, he wiped the sweat from his brow. A few bees danced about but they seemed more concerned with hurrying into another workday than they were about being robbed.
“You really should meet her. Mia is very nice. I think you two would have a lot to talk about. She has been asking if Mamm has a recipe for rhubarb. I know you and Tabitha make the best rhubarb pie in Havenlee.” His frown lifted slightly. “But don’t tell Mamm I said that.” He winked.
He shouldn’t wink at her like that, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. Unfortunately, Belinda didn’t seem at all moved by it. “That wasn’t part of our partnership,” she argued. “We shook hands. You agreed to deal with customers if I took care of things here.”
“I keep my promises. I just thought I should mention it. It won’t happen again.” He shot her a glare and she stubbornly held it there with one of her own. Clearly, he had touched some wild nerve.
“You know your passion here is no less important than mine, over there.” She pointed in the direction of home, a full mile away.
Her vehemence baffled him. When had he said her work was unimportant? Or was she saying that his was? “I protect bees, use what they make to earn a living, and it’s not easy work,” Adam said.
“I do too, and you have no idea what it takes to raise a thousand flowers for your bees to forage through,” she retorted.
“And my bees do love that sunflower field, but sunflowers don’t need constant watching over,” he argued. “You dig in the ground, drop seeds, and walk away.”
“How dare you! Your bees need my flowers.”
“And your flowers need my bees.”
Belinda opened her mouth to deliver another sharp remark, but changed course. “You have no idea how to talk to others.”
“That’s funny, coming from you,” he shot back. He watched her recoil, saw the look of total devastation in her eyes. Why was he being so hard on the one person in his life who least deserved it?
“I’m sorry your life is so busy and complicated,” she said. “I’m sorry Susanne left you for another and Atlee was hurt, but I did nothing but help you. You don’t have to be so sour—all you seem to do is stand there and growl hurtful things, and...” She sucked in a breath and tears pooled in her eyes.
“Stop,” Adam said quickly, and reached out to her. Belinda jerked back. “Please, don’t cry,” he said, head hung in shame. “This is not like either of us. You aren’t cruel and I shouldn’t be, either. Let’s just stop now before we say something we will regret. I’m sorry. You’re right. Tell me.”
“Tell you what?” Belinda still held on to a harsh tone.
“Tell me about what it takes to grow a thousand flowers from seed. Teach me.” He hoped that she could tell he was sincere, trying to make right after the heated exchange. “Distract me from everything else.”
“Not all flowers come from seeds,” she began, starting slow but gradually warming to the topic. “Some come back year after year, and some are bulbs that must be dug in the late fall and stored in the cellar until spring.”
“See, I know nothing,” he admitted. “I’m truly sorry. Can we put it behind us, forget what a fool I have been today and every day before it?”
“That would take a lot of forgiveness,” she answered all too quickly.
“But you’re capable, as you are with everything,” he complimented. How had he got so lucky to find a woman like her—as a business partner, that is? She was quick to forgive, quick to move on. He listened to her describe soil and care, amazed by the attention she gave to every detail. Even the trees and vines around her family’s property were used to sell in arrangements. She was unaware she had let her guard down, and as she prattled on about lilies and roses, Adam let himself be mesmerized by the beautiful woman who had already put aside his harshness as if nothing had transpired between them.
“So is lavender edible too?”
“Jah.” She blew out a breath.
“Huh, I thought it was just to make you smell good.”
“I make lavender lemonade. It’s wunderbaar good.”
“I would like to try that sometime.” She stared at him, watched him load another super in the wagon.
“I can give the recipe to Ada.” Did partners make each other lemonade? She would have to ask Tabitha about that.
“She would like that, and it’s okay if you don’t want me to try yours.” But even as he said it would be okay, he sounded wounded, gave her a slow look, and then moved to the next hive. She let loose her lip, the soreness growing there, and brushed a few loose hairs from her face.
“So you can eat daisies, dandelions, pansies, and lavender?” Adam asked as he loaded the last two supers into his wagon.
“And violets, lilacs, and hibiscus,” Belinda added, as she bent to retrieve the smoker, still warm with a slight stream of smoke escaping its tip. She liked that he seemed so interested in learning about her flowers.
“Ouch!” Adam jerked. “That’s the second time today,” he said angrily. He turned to face her and Belinda couldn’t mask her amusement.
“You don’t even wear gloves, and yet you never get stung. I don’t get it. Ouch,” he yelled again, swatting at his backside. Before they knew it, more than a dozen bees found Adam’s rear end to be a perfect place to sit a spell. “Smoke it. Smoke me!” his voice cried out.
Between uncontrollable laughter, Belinda tried pumping cedar-infused puffs of smoke toward his rear. It was a chicken dance. His high steps and deep growls, and her trying to rescue him between giggles.
Adam was literally on fire, and not in a place he could tend to easily. When the bees finally lost interest, they both stood, laughing.
There was that rare sparkle in his eyes, birthed from laughter. It was purely appealing. “I must have sat in a whole pie by the way they attacked!” He winced, rubbing his rear end. “How do you never get stung, and I do under two layers of clothes?”
“Well, I am the queen,” Belinda said, and spewed out a rare cackle. “And you smell like Ada’s blackberry jam. I can smell it from here.” She couldn’t remember ever feeling so happy, so playful.
“You smell like a flower patch.” He said it too quickly, both brows lifted.
“That wasn’t a compliment, was it?” She cocked her head to one side and smirked.
“Nee. Bees love flowers; you should be screaming right now. It wonders me how you never get stung.”
He smiled, showing her he was kidding.
“You’re getting circles under your green eyes today. Maybe you should let me finish here. I can get everything done, boxed, and ready before you wake.”
“This is our last day to work together for a while. I want to be here.” His gaze held hers for a moment, a sheepish smile on his lips.
She didn’t respond, only gave him a half-hearted smile.
Chapter Nineteen
Adam pulled his buggy up to the barn. Five days had elapsed since he and Belinda had last worked together. The five days since had been spent depending on another person to see his work done. But there was no spare time to be had each day, no matter how many clocks he owned.
A door across the road slammed shut. Belinda strolled across her yard and headed his way, carrying something in her hand while keeping her eyes trained on her feet. He jumped down and began unharnessing Honey. She said nothing as he went through the motions before turning Honey out to pasture. She just stood there, waiting, with that stoic patience he respected.
“Hi,” Adam said as he walked up to her. She was dressed in a brown faded chore dress that made her eyes brighter. Adam couldn’t help but smile. She could wear a feed sack and still make his heart skip a beat. “Do you need me to carry your flower buckets over?”
“Nee,” she muttered, and chewed on her bottom lip, a habit he’d noticed she tended to fall into when nervous or scared. He couldn’t have her feeling either with him.
“Okay,” he said. “What do you have there?” He eyed the plate in her hands.
“I brought you something. They’re Mica’s favorite, but he was so busy he barely ate any.” She lifted a plate full of soft brown kichlin. Adam reached over and snatched one. He hadn’t had much of an appetite these days, but it wasn’t every day a man got homemade cookies from Belinda Graber.
“That is delicious, Belinda. So delicious I don’t mind eating Mica’s favorite,” he teased, swallowing the rest in one bite. She lifted the plate again. He wasn’t one for turning down free cookies, but he had a sneaking suspicion she was softening him up for something.
“Have you been talking to my mamm?” he asked. “She thinks I’m getting thin.”
She shook her head again, still chewing her lip. Something was certainly troubling her. At last, she spoke. “Don’t be mad, but I did something,” she confessed.
He had been mad when Susanne had dumped him, and was tired of being angry. No way was Belinda capable of making it worse.
“So you figure to sweeten me up first.” She lifted the plate again. He couldn’t help but chuckle at her antics. “These honey kichlin might work.” He wished she would smile. Instead she looked about ready to cry. “Come on, it can’t be that bad,” he assured her.
“It is.” She winced. “Follow me.” Like a child sent to fetch their own whooping stick, she walked as slow and sluggish as a body could. It was adorable.
“Whatever it is, I promise not to be mad.” The very thought she had worked herself up over the idea of his anger made his heart ache. Had she truly baked those cookies for Mica, or him? He had his suspicions, and they warmed his heart. When they rounded the house and neared the hives, she stopped, head down as low as it could get without snapping off her shoulders.
“Belinda, you’re worrying me.” Adam reached out and touched her shoulder. She pointed beyond him and when Adam focused his gaze on the hives, three had been decorated with drawings of the prettiest flowers he had ever seen. Adam strolled over for a closer look but she didn’t follow.
“Bee, these are...”
“I know. Mica said it wasn’t right to do it without talking to you first. He came over to help carry two supers today and saw the drawings. I wanted to mark them so you would know they were finished...” She hung her head. Adam nearly broke into a laugh. She truly was innocence and goodness. He could never be good enough for someone so perfect.
Adam went to her and wrapped her in his arms. He probably smelled like sawdust and sweat and nothing she’d want anywhere near her, but he had to hold her. “Nee, I like them.” She fit right there, head and heart connected, and smelled like heaven. He lifted his eyes to the sky, prayed for strength. “I must say I’m surprised, but I like them.”
She looked up with those big blue eyes, and it was all he could do to not kiss her. He quickly let go. “Sorry.” But she didn’t look at him as if he was someone who had crossed a line. It was enough to make him wish he hadn’t let go.
“Mamm calls me that sometimes,” she murmured.
“Huh?”
“You called me Bee.”
“Bee Graber.” He reached out and tucked a loose lock of her hair behind her ear. “Queen of the apiary. It suits you.” One corner of her lips lifted. She really had beautiful lips. He took another defensive step back.
“So you’re not mad at me?”
“About drawings? No. And there is nothing I can think of you could ever do to make me angry with you.” That was, unless she finally decided to take skinny Noel Christner up on his offer.
“So the kichlin really were to sweeten me up,” he added with a wink, making her cheeks flush. “I’ve never had honey kichlin before.” She lifted the plate again, but this time offered a soft smile.
Adam reached in his back pocket and pulled out the paper. “Here’s your flower order for tomorrow. I want to help you fill your next order and anything else you need before we finish the orchard hives and maybe get a start here.”
She stared at the paper. “I still can’t believe you haven’t eaten honey kichlin. Susanne should have...” She threw a hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned her.”
“I made a horrible mistake with her, ignoring what was important. A mistake I won’t repeat.”
“What was important?” Adam just shook his head.
He could tell her that their friendship was important. That being around someone who enjoyed the same things as him was important. That he’d had no idea was love was, before. Real love, he was learning, was far easier, more fulfilling, scarier. Wanting more for another than yourself was important. But he couldn’t tell Belinda any of that.
By the following afternoon, Belinda couldn’t feel her arms. Lifting supers, cranking the extractor, and spinning frames all week had left her spent. But her legs, like her mind, were restless. Today most of the community had gathered for Susanne and Jerimiah’s wedding, but Belinda couldn’t bring herself to attend. She spent the day like any other, tending the greenhouses, hoeing the vegetable gardens. It wasn’t the crowd that deterred her, just the man whom she knew was hurting. Susanne had chosen another, and Belinda knew what being second felt like. So she wouldn’t attend, in silent support for a friend.
After washing off the dirt of the day and putting on a fresh dress, she wandered out to her flower rows. The sunflowers were in full bloom and she wandered into the small patch to walk among them. The earth felt soft under her bare feet, despite the lack of rain. A whippoorwill called, testing the silence, spurring a few cicadas into song. She loved the evening air, anticipating moonlight on her flowers, and the sound of humming of a few thousand worker bees heading back inside so they could start early.
“Did you just get back from the wedding?” His voice jerked her to attention. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I thought you saw me walk over.” Adam was there, standing at the edge of her sunflower dream, as if summoned by her thoughts. His damp hair told her he had just recently showered. He looked tired, a shadow of the man she had spoken with just days ago.
“I’m not much for such events.” She looked away, trying not to let the fresh look of him bother her. Who was she kidding? Adam bothered her no matter how he looked. But this was business, their time together, nothing more.
“Who has time for such things?” he said, offering a good-humored grin.
“Not you, obv
iously,” she countered with equal playfulness. She liked it when they could be civil, tease without bruising. “So why are you not resting? You wouldn’t be so tired all the time if you took advantage of your time off.” She waded back out of the sunflower patch, toward him.
“Too much dust in the attic,” he pointed to his noggin. “You?” Adam reached out, brushed a lone sunflower, rough fingers tracing the edges tenderly. Was he melancholic, feeling a fresh tear in his heart knowing his one-time intended was marrying another? She took out her scissors, clipped a few near blooms, gathered them into a small bouquet.
“Not so much dust, but a little fresh air does save on dusting.” Because you keep getting in my thoughts. Belinda lifted the bouquet, and smiled.
“Nice,” he said, then lifted his eyes to her again.
“Nice,” she repeated. “Nice is kittens and marshmallows in your cocoa. These are beautiful.” She said it wistfully.
“Jah, they are.” But his eyes did not turn to see what she was holding, just her. “Well, want to take a wal,k then? Listen to the bees and watch that big old moon rise?” He pointed toward his side of the road.
A walk with Adam Hostetler in moonlight, listening to the hums of nature. Was she dreaming? “Jah. I would like that.” They walked in silence across her yard and when they reached the road, Belinda ran across the warm pavement.
“So why don’t you ever go to the singings or volleyball games?”
“Gatherings are for friends. They’re for one to meet a potential husband or wife.” She fingered the flowers’ stems delicately as they walked side by side toward the hill, glad to have her hands full.
“You don’t want friends or a husband?” She pondered her answer as she listened to the evening’s buzz of life. Ribbons of chicory blooms swayed in a breeze. Adam carelessly snipped a few wild daisies, chicory blooms, and black-eyed Susans growing free throughout the pasture, offered them up to add to her bouquet of tamed blossoms.
