Sweet as Honey

by Jennifer Beckstrand

  “I hope you’ll let me come back sometime.”

  “It’s unavoidable,” Aunt B said.

  He chuckled as he opened the door and glanced at Lily. “Then I’ll see you later.”

  The dimming light of sunset offered him enough light to see by. He stepped onto the porch, paused briefly, and caught his breath. Without warning, he turned and pulled the door toward him. Holding it as if it were a shield, he stuck his head back into the house, grabbed Lily’s hand, and pulled her outside with him. Lily gasped as he practically yanked her onto the porch.

  “I really want to talk to Lily in private for a second,” he said, before slamming the door, no doubt leaving Aunt B and her sisters wondering what in the world had come over him.

  What craziness was this?

  He pulled her toward him so that their faces were mere inches apart, and her heart jumped into her throat. Was he going to kiss her? Why would he ever dream for one minute he had the right to kiss her?

  Her gaze involuntarily traveled to his lips. Did she want him to kiss her?

  Absolutely not. No matter how many somersaults her heart did or how warm her cheeks felt, Dan was not her boyfriend. Number eight mesh was not a good enough reason to expect a kiss.

  “Dan Kanagy,” she said, trying halfheartedly to pull her hand out of his. “What do you think . . . ?”

  He put a finger to his lips. “Shh.” There was no glint of a tease in his eyes or even an I-want-to-kiss-you look she might have expected. His eyes glistened with something deep and troubled.

  “I didn’t want to alarm Rose,” he whispered, his voice sounding even lower and deeper when he made it soft like that. “But you have to see this.”

  He pointed across the lane to where the barn stood facing the house. Someone had painted black, ugly letters on their red barn door: YOU WILL BURN IN HELL.

  Lily clapped her hand over her mouth. A wave of nausea attacked her like a charging bull. “Dan, what . . . what does it mean? Who would do such a thing?”

  He squeezed her hand tighter. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. It must have happened while we ate dinner. It wasn’t there when I arrived.”

  Lily’s skin crawled. Someone had been sneaking around their property while they had been just a few feet away? Terror gripped her, and she grabbed on to Dan’s arm like a lifeline.

  Dan rubbed his hand up and down her arm. “Lily, I’m going to go have a look around. Can you stay right here and wait for me?”

  “Is he . . . is he still here?” The thought that he might be lurking anywhere near made Lily light-headed.

  He cupped his hands gently around her arms. “I don’t think so, but that’s what I want to find out. Are you going to be okay if I leave you? I’ll only be a few minutes.”

  The panic rose in her throat like bile. He was going to leave her alone on the porch? What if the man came back and attacked her?

  The concern on his face deepened in the lines around his mouth. “Maybe you should go back in the house and wait for me. It’s just that I don’t want to frighten Rose if we don’t have to.”

  If she was this panicked, Lily could only imagine how something like this would affect Rose. She took a deep breath and nodded slowly. “I’ll wait here for you.”

  His hand traveled down her arm, and he found her hand again. His touch made her feel safer. “If you see anything or hear anything, call for me and I’ll come running, okay?”

  “Okay,” she said, nearly choking with fear.

  He released her hand and bounded quietly down the steps. Clutching the porch railing, she watched him disappear around the side of the barn. The irrational thought that he might have disappeared forever stole her breath away. Was something sinister waiting for him in the orchards?

  With her eyes trained into the gathering darkness, she counted to sixty again and again. She flinched when she thought she might have heard rustling to her left but talked herself out of panicking. If she burst into the house trembling and pale, as she surely was, Rose would never sleep in her own bed again.

  How many times had she counted to sixty? Where was Dan? She’d never forgive herself if something horrible happened to him.

  She nearly jumped out of her skin as she heard something stirring to her left. For certain this time. “Lily?”

  She thought she might faint at the sound of Dan’s voice. Willing her heart to slow to a gallop, she looked to the bushes that stood between the lane and the house. They rustled again, and Dan squeezed through a gap. She never would have believed that she could welcome the approach of Dan Kanagy, but right now he was the most comforting sight in the world. He seemed to glide over the flagstones and up the porch steps. Relief overcame her, and she finally let out the breath she’d been holding.

  He must have seen something in her eyes he didn’t like—maybe the glassy stare of someone who would surely faint any minute. He gathered her into his arms and held her tight, as if she might fall to pieces if he let go. In the back of her mind, she knew she shouldn’t, but she melted into his embrace and let his warmth seep into her brittle bones.

  “You’re shaking,” he said.

  “I was afraid you wouldn’t come back.”

  She heard the smile in his voice. “Your aendi Bitsy would have liked that. I trampled some dandelions out there.”

  Lily giggled in spite of her fright. “I promise I’ll never tell.”

  “I might have to plant a tree to placate her.”

  His light tone helped Lily regain some of her composure, at least enough to know that she should not be swaddling herself in Dan’s arms like this. She nudged away from him.

  He seemed reluctant to let go. Maybe he felt as shaken as she did.

  “Did you find anything?”

  “Whoever it was is gone. There was a half-empty can of spray paint behind the barn, but it’s too dark to see footprints.”

  She shivered involuntarily as ice threaded up her spine. “Who hates us this much?”

  The muscles of Dan’s jaw tensed as he gazed toward the barn. “I don’t know. But right now, they seem to be bent on making mischief but not doing any real harm.”

  “Our bees might disagree with you.”

  He gave her a half smile. “I was trying to make you feel better.”

  She rested her hand on the railing. “I know. Denki.”

  He brought his hand on top of hers. He really shouldn’t do that. “We’ve got to make sure Rose doesn’t find out about this.”

  “What can we do? She gathers eggs at five thirty.”

  “Can you keep her in the house the rest of the night?”

  She knit her brows together. “Jah, we don’t usually go out this late.”

  “I can paint over it before she wakes up. She’ll never know.”

  Lily felt giddy with gratitude. “That is so kind. I don’t know what to say.”

  His smile came back with full force. “Anything for the Honeybee Schwesters.”

  She frowned. “It could take some time.”

  He thumbed his suspenders and looked away. “I’d be up late reading about bees anyway.”

  “Okay,” Lily said. “I will go in and distract Rose and tell Poppy and Aunt B what happened.” She turned to go into the house and then turned back. “What reason am I going to give them for your strange behavior? You pulled me out of the house as if it were on fire.”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “You could tell them I had the overwhelming urge to kiss you, and it couldn’t wait.”

  She widened her eyes in mock indignation. “I’m not going to lie to them.”

  The way he looked at her made her forget how to breathe. “Who said anything about lying?” He took a step closer. Too close. She could smell fresh-cut hay and leather. “If you’d rather be completely truthful with your family, we should do a little kissing right now.”

  He stood too close. Though she couldn’t meet his eye, she was sure he wore that teasing smile on his face. The heat traveled up her face clear to the tips
of her ears. At least he wouldn’t be able to see her flaming red ears in the dimness.

  He didn’t back away, not one little bit, as if eager to talk her into it. “Your story would be more believable if we actually kissed.”

  More believable? None of her family would ever believe Dan Kanagy would kiss her. He’d made it clear that he thought she was homely and unappealing. She was homely and unappealing.

  Her heart stumbled over itself and fell in the mud. Paul was the only person who would ever consider kissing her, and that was only because he’d have to someday.

  She took a giant step back. “I’ll . . . I’ll think of something to tell my family.”

  She must have mistaken the look in his eyes for disappointment. Surely he didn’t really want to kiss her. He’d only been teasing.

  Whatever she saw in his gaze disappeared, replaced by that irrepressible smile, gentle and accepting. “Do you have paint?”

  She nibbled on her bottom lip. “Oh dear. Not a bit of red. Rose’s paints are on the workbench in the barn, but if she has red, it’s not much.”

  “Luke Bontrager lives close. I’ll see if I can borrow paint from him.” He rubbed his hands together. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. And try not to worry. That painter, whoever he is, is long gone.”

  “Okay,” she said. She would do her best not to worry. She didn’t know if she would succeed.

  “And be sure to tell your aunt what I’m up to. I don’t want her to see me lurking in the shadows and load her shotgun.”

  Lily grinned. “She doesn’t believe in guns, remember?”

  “I don’t know if I’m convinced of that.”

  He stared at her until she had to say something to break the silence. “I . . . I don’t know how to thank you. Words don’t seem enough.”

  He winked at her. “Your smile will always be enough.”

  That grin of his would not make her faint.

  Even if it killed her.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Dan, Luke Bontrager, and Josiah Yoder regarded the barn door by the light of Dan’s flashlight.

  “Who would do something like this?” Josiah asked.

  “I don’t know,” Dan said. “Somebody out to play a prank.”

  Luke took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. “Somebody who knows there’s no man here to protect them.”

  After he’d left the Honeybee Farm, Dan had gone to Luke’s house and then Josiah’s to borrow paint. Both of his best friends had insisted on coming back to the farm with him. Looking at the vandal’s work, Dan was glad he hadn’t been able to talk his friends into staying in bed. Painting the barn door would be a bigger job than he’d anticipated.

  Dan glanced at the seven paint cans at his feet containing various shades of leftover paint. Four cans from Luke’s house, three from Josiah’s. “Unless we match this color exactly, we’ll have to paint the entire door. Both panels.”

  Luke nodded. “And they still might notice.”

  “Rose will worry herself sick if she suspects,” Josiah said.

  “We’ll just have to do our best in the dark.” Dan picked up a can of paint and shook it hard. “Let’s test a patch of each of these. Lord willing, this can contains the exact same color on the barn.”

  Luke smirked. “That would be too easy.”

  It was harder to tell in the dark, but the first can they opened seemed nowhere near red. It looked more like a lovely shade of pink. Luke shoved Josiah in the shoulder. “Pink? What kind of barn color is that?”

  “Hey!” Josiah said. “It’s mauve, and my sister’s always fiddling with the paint colors. All these are supposed to be red.”

  Luke grunted. “I’ve never heard of mauve. Must be one of those girly colors.”

  Josiah chuckled. “If you lived next door to your sister, you’d know a lot more than what mauve looks like. You’d also know how to burp a baby and change a diaper.”

  “I can safely promise you that I will never change a diaper,” Luke said. “It’s bad enough that I now know what mauve is.”

  “That’s why you’ll never get a wife,” Josiah said.

  Luke shoved him again.

  Dan squatted next to the remaining six cans. “Do you think you two could concentrate long enough to help me find some red?”

  Luke pointed to one of his paint cans. The dried paint on the outside of the can looked red enough. The label even had a picture of a barn on it. “This looks promising.”

  Dan shook the can and pried it open with a flathead screwdriver. He grabbed one of the smaller paintbrushes, also supplied by Luke, dipped it in the paint, and swiped it over the top of the black spray paint. Luke’s cherry-red paint was about ten shades too bright for the country red of the Christners’ barn.

  “It’s closer than mauve,” Luke said.

  While Josiah and Luke opened the rest of the cans, Dan slipped into Lily’s barn and found a small can of black paint. Maybe they could darken the red a little.

  They mixed black with the bright red plus another red from one of Luke’s cans and came up with something they hoped was pretty close to the barn color. At least it looked that way in the dark. They each picked up a wide paintbrush and started painting. Luke and Josiah each took one end and Dan started in the middle. It would need at least two coats.

  Luke made long vertical strokes with his brush. “How did you see this? The Christners’ house isn’t exactly on the way to your house.”

  Dan smiled to himself. In spite of how the evening had ended, Lily Christner had smiled at him more than once. And the touch of her hand had felt like a jolt of pure energy. “I brought over some beehive mesh for Bitsy.”

  “What is beehive mesh?” Josiah said.

  Luke narrowed his eyes. “And why did you bring it?”

  Dan painted like a madman. “I . . . just, well . . . you know.”

  Both Josiah and Luke interrupted their painting to stare at him. Surely it was too dark for them to see the light dancing in his eyes.

  “In case you didn’t notice, Lily Christner has a boyfriend,” Luke said.

  Josiah drew his brows together in concern. “The same boyfriend she had when you liked her in eighth grade, Dan.”

  Luke shook his head. “I hate to break the news to you, but you’re not good-looking enough to change her mind.”

  It was always the same way with his friends. Josiah was the thoughtful and serious one. Luke was flippant and realistic. Neither of them wanted him to get hurt.

  “Paul Glick thinks he owns her,” Josiah said.

  Luke scowled. “I hate that guy.”

  “We’re not supposed to hate anybody,” Dan said, clenching his jaw.

  Luke huffed out a breath in surrender. “I don’t hate him. I just can’t stand him.”

  The feeling was mutual.

  Josiah dipped his brush in the paint can. “I thought you’d given up on that two years ago. You went to Pennsylvania to find a wife.”

  “I meant to give up. Even when I came home I was going to leave her alone. But my mammi died, and Lily was there and it hurt too much when I thought about not trying.”

  Josiah glanced at him between paint strokes. “It’s going to hurt even worse when she marries Paul.”

  Dan scrubbed his hand down the side of his face. “I know.”

  “So why go to all the trouble?” Luke said.

  Dan’s lips twitched upward. “Because it’s going to feel really, really gute if she chooses me.”

  Josiah lost that stricken look and smiled. Luke laughed out loud before remembering that they were supposed to be quiet. “All you have to do is show her what a dumkoff Paul is.”

  “Nae,” Dan said. “I can’t get Lily to love me by putting Paul down.”

  Luke filled his brush with more paint. “Then what are you going to do?”

  “I’m sort of sneaking up on her.”

  Luke smirked. “Were you sneaking around her barn tonight? Is that how you discovered the spray paint?”


  Dan raised his eyebrows. “They invited me to dinner.”

  Luke looked mildly impressed. “Gute work.”

  “I took the sisters home from the gathering Friday. Even Poppy was nice.”

  “I don’t believe that,” Luke said. “Poppy would just as soon smack you as look at you.”

  Dan flashed Luke a smug smile. “You maybe. Not me.”

  “Ha,” Luke said.

  Josiah dabbed at the same spot over and over again as if he were concentrating real hard on painting. “Does Rose ever talk about me?”

  Luke snorted softly. “Have you and Rose ever had a conversation?”

  Josiah lifted his chin. “Three months ago at a gathering I said, ‘Your honey cake is delicious,’ and she said ‘Denki.’”

  Luke rolled his eyes. “You two are pathetic.” He motioned toward Josiah with his paintbrush. “Rose doesn’t even know you’re alive.” He tilted his head in Dan’s direction. “And Lily has a boyfriend.”

  “Only a true friend would kick a guy when he’s down,” Dan said, smiling as if Luke’s teasing hadn’t made him feel about two inches tall.

  Lily had a boyfriend, and there wasn’t much Dan could do about it. What a depressing thought.

  Josiah dipped his paintbrush in the bucket. “Well, Poppy despises you. So you’re in the same boat as the two of us.”

  Luke looked as if he’d swallowed a bee. “Poppy? Why would I be interested in Poppy? I’m glad she despises me, because I can’t stand her.”

  “I don’t think so,” Josiah said. “I saw the way you looked at her after gmay last week.”

  Luke swatted at Josiah like a fly. “I was not. She may be pretty, but she’s got the temperament of a badger. I want a wife who’s soft and feminine. Someone who has never given me a bloody nose. Is that too much to ask?”

  “I’ve always pictured you with someone a little feisty yet,” Josiah said.

  Luke pinched his lips together. “Nope. Soft, gentle, and sweet. Not Poppy.”

  “It’s not like anyone is going to have you, Luke,” Dan said. “You’re a grump. Girls don’t like grumps.”