AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Me: maybe I’ll get a chance to make it come true one day…
Even as I type the words, I know it’s a scenario I’m actually hoping for. As fun as this is to flirt and chat, not bothering to worry about the little shit like what we look like or what we do for a living, I know it’s not even close to being the same as the real-life event.
As strained and as broken as Caitlyn and I became, I enjoyed being in a relationship. I miss the warmth of another body beside mine in bed, the brush of fingers in the night and the appeal of waking up hungry and wanting, and being able to do something about it.
But a part of me is scared. Scared that what I wish for and what Wine Queen might want are two totally different things. Scared that if and when we do meet in real life, it won’t be the same. That part of the reason we can be so free and honest with each other is because we have the safety of not knowing who each other is.
My phone pings out with a new message and when I look down at the words that fill my screen, my mouth goes dry. Taking a swig of my cold beer, I settle back into my chair and read her words, my mind once again trying to picture doing all of these things to her, even as my brain insists on putting Penny’s face on this mystery woman I feel so drawn to.
Chapter Eleven
Penny
It’s been three weeks since Tommy sent me the text message with the picture of the finished pond we put together for the bees and it’s now become a regular thing. We are constantly texting each other updates about our bees. They’re like our babies and we get way too excited about what they’re up to.
Our hive has taken off and the number of bees in the orchard fields has decreased a ton. It didn’t happen immediately, and we began to worry our hive wouldn’t be viable. We jumped in feet first and didn’t really research as much as we should have, later finding out it can be difficult to move an already established hive. But we persevered; using lemongrass oil to entice them to set up residence in the awesome little houses Tommy had built.
We are by no means experts or would we even go around sharing advice, but I’d call us functioning bee parents.
We even had to build a few more little houses as our bees started to swarm, which is not a good thing. It meant they were crowded and would bail, using us for a place to stay and then flying the coop. We couldn’t have that happen, so we expanded their compound and now they live in what we like to call Melrose Hive. Tommy didn’t get the name and I had to fill him in on the old show from the nineties that I binged on Hulu, and even though he won’t admit it, I’m certain he started watching Melrose Place because he named some of the bees after characters.
“How are they doing?” I ask, walking up to find Tommy already checking on them. He’s decked out in his beekeeping hat and is puffing away at them. He looks completely ridiculous and I’m not sure it’s something I’ll ever get used to.
I start laughing and I can’t control it, belly laughs as I look at Tommy in that stupid hat. He looks like a cross between Smokey Bear and a sexy lumberjack, but it’s the shape of the hat and the netting covering his face that just looks so silly.
“What are you laughing at?” he asks incredulously, stopping what he’s doing to look over at me.
“You look so stupid in that hat. I don’t know why I can’t get used to seeing you in it,” I admit through deep breaths as I try to control my laughing.
“Seriously? What do you think you look like in it? The men certainly aren’t running to take you out on a date.”
“Same with you. The ladies aren’t falling at your feet,” I shoot back.
“Nope, only laughing at me.” He smiles behind the netting and I notice for the first time how strikingly handsome he is, especially when he smiles. His eyes crinkle up in the corners showing his age a little but making him look rugged with his suntanned face and the single dimple that appears when his smile grows wider.
I stand watching his face, studying him for a few seconds, feeling a shift in our relationship. There’s a comfort here that never existed before and it’s obvious it’s felt by both of us as we fall silent, letting the moment linger between us.
He pulls off his hat, smiling at me again, but this time it’s a smirk of cockiness that I’ve come to know pretty well. This is the smile he’s been giving me since we met. It’s for when he thinks he’s right or he’s about to put me in my place. It’s always been mixed with his grumpy personality, but today there’s something different about it, something playful and fun.
“Fine then. I won’t wear it,” he says with confidence, tossing it to the side as he lifts the top off the apiary, a few bees flying out.
“They’re going to sting you, you stubborn ass and I’m going to be the one helping you. Just put it back on. I’ll stop laughing.”
He just shakes his head, closing his eyes with an over confidence that’s about to get him in trouble. One of our bees, lands right on his forehead and stings him without a second thought.
He swats it away and quickly grabs his hat from where he tossed it, scrambling to get it back on before they get any angrier.
“They’re really quite ungrateful, aren’t they?” I tease, smirking at him. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, but you’re right. These little shits don’t know how good they have it.”
He pulls the top up again, setting it off to the side, he lifts the inner cover exposing the medium super. This is where the honey will be produced by our little bees.
“Come here,” he says, calling me over with a tilt of his head and I slip my hat on, meeting him on the other side of the apiary. “Look.” His eyes now leave my face and focus on what’s in front of us.
“Oh my god. They’re making honey!” I whisper-shout, filled with an intense sense of pride and excitement. My cheeks begin to burn from smiling and when I look up at Tommy, he’s doing the same thing.
“It’ll be a few more weeks before we can harvest anything, but how fucking cool is it? We did this.”
