by Jenna Mindel
Adam watched as she gently coaxed the bee back into the hive’s opening. “What if they all come out?”
She took the hive from him, her eyes shining with amusement. “That’s the goal. But not tonight.”
Larry doused the remaining hives on the truck with smoke to calm them down. Adam had to admit the novelty of tonight’s work had worn off. He was tired and not in the mood to get stung. Still, he couldn’t help but enjoy watching Eva, who acted like a kid placing presents under a Christmas tree.
“She really loves this, doesn’t she?” Adam said to her uncle.
Larry agreed. “Bee time has always been her favorite. Eva’s not short on determination, that’s for sure. Growing up with two older brothers has a lot to do with it.”
Adam suspected her drive grew from something else. Something that also made Eva vulnerable. He’d catch glimpses of that vulnerability every now and then. It made him work that much harder, hoping to protect her from his potential loss.
“Why bees, Larry?”
“Bees have order and follow a system of orders. I started beekeeping as a hobby, but after I retired from the military, I grew it into a business. There are not many of us around here.”
Adam nodded. Now he understood Larry’s no-nonsense approach and the controlled way the man carried himself. “Where’d you serve?”
“Eighty-second Airborne Division. I wasn’t interested in farming like my brother, so I joined the army and made a career out of it. My son has followed my footsteps and is stationed in Afghanistan. But I hope to leave the beekeeping business to him.”
“Does he want it?” Adam knew what it was like to disappoint a father’s expectations. But Larry’s pride in his son’s military prowess wouldn’t fade no matter what Larry’s son did with the bee business. Adam envied the guy.
Larry shrugged. “It’s here if and when he wants it.”
“Well, if he doesn’t want it, keep us in mind.” Adam hooked his thumb to include Eva, who’d moved ahead to talk with her aunt.
Larry’s eyes narrowed. “Eva’s already on the list. She’s sharp. My brother was too set in his ways to try some of the things she’d suggested. You couldn’t have picked a better manager. Eva knows her cherries, but baking with them is what drives her.”
Adam kept his eye on Eva’s back. A B and B was the perfect showcase for her freshly baked goods. “I know.”
“She’s a good girl, the kind you keep.”
Adam looked up at Larry, sitting on the side of the flatbed. “I know that, too.”
“See that you don’t forget.” Larry’s eyes shimmered with protective intensity.
“Forget what?” Eva came back for a hive.
Larry grinned and handed her a hive. “Where you got your start making pastry by helping your aunt Jamee.” He looked at Adam. “My wife’s a caterer.”
“Eva mentioned that.” Adam took a hive, too, nestling it near the one Eva had placed.
Why had Eva chosen a culinary path over agriculture? He wondered if her father had ever considered leaving the farm to Eva. Bob Marsh had been candid about the financial position of Marsh Orchards before he agreed to sell. Bob had been up to his ears in debt just like his father before him. Eva’s dad said he didn’t want to pass those headaches to his daughter.
But if Bob Marsh’s finances had been in better shape, Adam might never have met Eva. Never had the chance to do something he’d always wanted to do. The old saying that God moved in mysterious ways rang true.
Adam let loose a noisy yawn.
“Just a few more and we’ll be done,” Larry said.
Adam scanned the half-dozen hives still on the flatbed and laughed. “Good to hear.”
“What’s the matter, Peece? Tired?” Eva rested glove-clad hands on her hips.
Adam’s eyelids might as well have been lined with lead. “We put in a full day today.”
Fortunately, Eva’s brother lived within a few miles and he’d invited Adam to stay over. Adam wouldn’t have made the hour-long drive home without falling asleep on his bike. Now that the weather had turned warm, Adam drove his Harley to work. Tomorrow morning, he’d be back to inspect the orchard and make sure the bees were buzzing in and out of the blooms like they were supposed to.
“Today’s one of many yet to come,” Eva said.
Did she still think he was a city boy playing grower? More than anything he wanted this to work, he wanted to keep the orchard intact. Feeling like someone watched him, Adam glanced at Eva’s aunt through the opened window of the truck.
“Eva wants you to do well.” Jamee gave him an encouraging wink.
Adam wondered if she expected him to give up, too. “So when’s this honey going to be ready?”
“I gave Eva a jar from last year’s batch. Make sure she shares it with you,” Jamee said.
Adam looked at Eva. “Hey, maybe you can practice your breakfast skills with that honey tomorrow.”
“You got it. Breakfast tomorrow morning at nine so we can sleep in a little. Aunt Jamee, you and Uncle Larry are welcome to come.” Eva stifled a yawn of her own. “Let Ryan know he can come, too.”
“Sounds good.” Right now all Adam could think about was his pillow. And how much he liked the warmth of Eva’s family. They looked out for each other.
Adam and Anne stuck together, but they were too wrapped up in their own stuff to take care of each other like Eva’s family did. In many ways it was the same with their father. Their futures may have been set, but Adam and Anne hadn’t been coddled. They came from their father’s first family, from the first wife Leonard Peece tried so hard to forget.
Eva’s family was yet another attraction for him. If he got involved with Eva only to lose the farm, he’d alienate the whole lot of them. The expertise of her father, who remained a phone call away, and the friendship he’d forged with Ryan. Adam couldn’t risk losing those connections.
Oatmeal griddlecakes infused with bananas and dried cherries doused in cherry blossom honey, and a side of link sausages. A hearty meal, but would it work to her advantage in becoming his partner?
Eva, dressed in her standard jeans and a T-shirt, surveyed her work while the coffeemaker chugged. She’d met with her loan officer about a home equity application and it looked promising. She’d also gone to several appointments with a volunteer business group that helped first-timers develop strong business plans. She was almost ready to approach Adam with her proposal.
“Morning.” Adam peeked his head in from the porch.
“Come in,” she called.
He entered the kitchen dressed for the day’s work in the field. He grabbed a coffee mug and helped himself to the pot.
“Where’s Ryan?”
“Couldn’t make it.” He looked around. “Where’s your aunt and uncle?”
“They decided to stay home.” Eva lifted the lid of her chafing dish filled with hot food. Great, a big breakfast made with only her and Adam to enjoy it. Beth had already left for school. “I hope you’re hungry.”
Adam peered over her shoulder. “Always. Smells good.”
He did, too. His aftershave had a woodsy scent she liked. Rich yet unassuming. A lot like the man who wore it. Before she offered to fix Adam a plate, she noticed that his damp hair looked shorter. She openly stared.
“What?”
“You got a haircut?” Eva couldn’t keep the amusement out of her voice when she noticed it wasn’t quite up to Adam’s style.
Adam’s eyes narrowed. “My stylist is downstate, so I went to the barber in town. He butchered it.”
“You have a stylist?” Eva’s eyes must have bulged with shock considering the sheepish expression that flitted across Adam’s face.
“Well, yeah. You don’t think this just happens by itself, do you?” He recovered quickly enough and gave her an insolent wink as he took the plate from her hand and filled it with food.
Eva burst out laughing. Her father and brothers had always used the barber in town with no complaints.
She’d given them trims in between. She still cut Ryan’s hair when he was either too lazy or cheap to make the trip into LeNaro.
She’d never met a guy who went to a salon on purpose. Failing to keep the giggle out of her voice, Eva managed, “I’m sure Beth can give you pointers on who to use when she gets home from school.”
“Nice. So, where do you go?”
Eva shrugged. “Wherever. Sometimes, I cut it my self.”
He gave her head a quick once-over. “Maybe next time you can cut mine.”
She forced herself not to squirm under his intent perusal.
Eva wouldn’t mind sinking her fingers in that raven-dark hair of his, but she believed in playing it safe. Cutting Adam’s hair promised to be anything but. “I don’t think so.”
“Why?”
“I’ll do it wrong and you’ll hate it.”
“Chicken.” Adam slipped into the chair.
Got that right. Eva didn’t voice her thought. She’d been afraid of a lot for too long. But maybe it was time to change that. Starting with Adam.
He lifted the decanter of warmed honey. “Is this it? Cherry blossom honey?”
“It is.”
He held it under his nose as if it were a fine wine. “Nice.”
“There’s maple syrup if you don’t like it.” Eva watched as he poured the honey over a portion of his stacked pancakes.
He took a bite and nodded. “It’s good. Very good.”
Eva smiled. “Marketable?”
He looked at her. “For your bed-and-breakfast?”
“Packaged griddlecake mix that guests can buy to take home.”
“With a pretty bottle of cherry blossom honey. That’d be a nice touch.”
“I think so, too.” Eva bit her tongue before she blurted out a partnership offer right then and there. Instead, she filled her plate and sat next to Adam and ate.
Adam had polished off two helpings by the time Eva finished her one. She didn’t know where the guy put it. He was slender, wiry even, but he could pack away enough food to rival her brothers.
She could get used to making breakfasts for Adam. Like caring for him when he was ill, the truth of how much she’d grown to care for Adam didn’t surprise her. But could she trust him with her heart?
They finished in silence, until Adam picked up their plates and headed for the dishwasher. “I’ll clean up.”
“Thanks.”
Yup, she liked hanging out with Adam in the kitchen. In the field, the barn, church. Eva liked being around him. A good thing considering the long work days ahead. But what about after that? Could she be his reason to stay?
She stashed the leftovers in the fridge and then checked the thermometer on the porch. Sixty-five and only ten o’clock. The weatherman predicted low seventies and sunny. A perfect day for pollination. “Ready to check the bees?”
Adam wiped his hands on a dishtowel. “Sure.”
Once outside, Eva tipped her face toward the warm sunshine. Spring was her favorite season. And May was her favorite month because the air smelled sweet and the bees bobbed and weaved in the cherry blossoms.
Walking the orchard lanes filled with newly opened blooms transported her to when she’d been a kid and walked with her dad. It wasn’t easy to accept someone other than a Marsh owning such beauty. But she’d change part of that if Adam agreed to her plan.
Despite her distance from God, Eva couldn’t help but thank Him this morning and offer up a small petition. Please, Lord, let this partnership work out somehow.
“This is amazing. It’s like the blossoms burst open overnight.” Adam’s voice interrupted her silent prayer.
Eva recognized the awe in Adam’s voice. His eyes held the same unbridled pride as her father’s when they’d take this walk. Checking blossoms and bees. It didn’t get much better. “I know.”
Their steps slowed and Eva reached out for a branch of a nearby tree. Holding a blossom between her fingers, she gestured for Adam to come close. “This is what we’re looking for. Nice healthy blooms with no evidence of damage from bugs or rot.”
He stood close enough behind her that she felt the warmth from his body. “I see.”
She fought the sudden urge to lean into him. For a moment they both stood still, pretending to study the bloom, but Eva knew better. If Adam felt the same pull between them as she did, then he was soaking up the closeness, too. Would he do something about it? Would she?
“Come on. There are more blooms to check.” Her voice came out a ragged whisper.
Adam followed Eva all over the sweet cherry orchard. They checked the trees, the opened blooms and closed ones. They watched bees flying from one blossom to the next doing their thing. The morning was quiet but busy with the perpetuation of life. The Eden-like setting combined with the knowledge that birds and bees were pairing up heightened the draw he already felt toward Eva.
It didn’t get more basic than walking through paradise with a woman named Eva. She seemed so right for him. But what did he know? He didn’t have a track record with commitment. He didn’t have a good example to follow either.
He’d catch Eva watching him, as if she might be thinking the same kind of things. But as soon as he nudged close, she’d shy away.
They walked deeper into the back fifteen acres of mature sweets and checked on the hives. Bees came and went in a flurry of activity. There were so many flying around that Adam waved away a couple buzzing near his head.
“Keep swatting and you’ll make them mad,” Eva said.
He ducked. “That one dive-bombed me.”
“They’re honeybees. They don’t dive-bomb.”
“Ow!” He slapped at his neck, swiping away a bee. “Oh, no? I just got stung.”
Eva rushed forward and flipped over the dead insect lying on the ground. “You killed one of Uncle Larry’s bees! If you’d have stopped flailing, he would have gone on his way.”
“They were all over me.”
She stepped toward him. “I counted only two.”
Adam scratched his sore neck.
“Let me see.” She stood on tiptoe.
Adam never thought himself tall. At five foot nine, he was barely considered average height, but Eva was petite. He leaned forward so she could see where the bee had left its stinger. “Do you see it?”
Her fingers prodded his skin. “Tiny, tiny, tiny things. Wait, hold still.”
He liked the way she bit her bottom lip when she concentrated.
“Got it. See?” She showed him the stinger before brushing it from her fingertip. “All better.”
It wasn’t though. His neck ached. “It still hurts.”
“You’re such a baby.” Eva bent down and scooped up some soil.
He watched her spit into the dirt and then stir it in her palm until she formed a paste. He had to ask. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to make it all better. This mud will help with the swelling.”
He laughed. “Whoa, hold on a minute. I was hoping for a simple kiss to make it all better.”
Her eyes widened with surprise, and then she laughed. “What are you, nine?”
He stepped closer, curious. “Sometimes.”
She hesitated, but Adam saw the spark of interest in her eyes. She considered kissing him. She even looked like she might welcome it. “The mud will do a better job.”
“Why don’t we try both and then let me decide.”
“Because mud’s the best bet.” She wiped the dirt paste on his neck.
Adam couldn’t decide if he should be relieved or disappointed. But he doubted one kiss would be nearly enough. And that’d put him right where he shouldn’t go.
Eva stared at Adam and tried to fill in the blanks. She expected that she’d want to kiss Adam Peece. What startled her was how badly she wanted to. Thank goodness she’d remembered the spit and dirt remedy she’d learned from her dad. It had given her an out and much-needed space.
“So how long do I have to keep this mud on my nec
k?”
“Till it dries.”
“Nice.”
She giggled. “Come on, Peece. We might as well check the tart cherries, too. Their blooms should be close to opening.”
“They bloom later?”
She glanced at his neck. He was already brushing the caked-on mud away.
“Usually a week later, sometimes less, sometimes more.” Eva breathed a sigh of relief when Adam slipped back into his normal role. Adam was still her boss.
Now that he was a man of faith he wouldn’t toy with her affections, but that didn’t mean he wanted something permanent either. And right now Eva wanted that partnership more than she wanted a boyfriend. At least, she should.
Not watching where she was walking, she tripped over an exposed tree root and fell forward. Adam caught her arm and tugged her toward him. She landed against his chest. A surprisingly rock-hard mass of muscle for a former paper pusher.
“You okay?” He smiled.
She licked her lips. “Yeah.”
His gaze turned intent, and his head moved closer to hers.
Eva knew what was coming. He’d kiss her if she didn’t do something. She’d kiss him back if she didn’t do something. And that’d ruin everything.
She took a deep breath and said, “I want to be your partner.”
He reared his head back with wide eyes. “My what?”
The look of dismay on his face almost made her laugh until she realized that his reaction confirmed that any hint of marriage shot fear into Adam Peece. If that wasn’t proof positive that he wasn’t interested in anything long-term or lasting, she fooled herself.
But he hadn’t let her go. She felt the warmth of his hands on her back through the cotton fabric of her shirt.
Eva quickly clarified her intent. “Your business partner.”
Wariness crept into his eyes. “Why?”
“We can help each other build the business shared by both of us eventually. Plus, I’d like a say in the orchard.” She shook off the temptation to wrap her arms around Adam’s neck. It wasn’t easy keeping up a logical conversation when wrapped in such a pleasant embrace.
