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Brexley
Rhyett wants to know if it’s the spruce trees.
Noel
Hell if I know. But the haze is so thick over the trees it looks thicker than smog. Or fog. Or smoke. It makes Florida look like heaven.
Brexley
Psh. Receipts?
I grinned, pulling my cell up to snap a picture through the shop window, overlooking the channel and the trees beyond, where a thick yellow cloud had descended on Mistyvale. Sending it off, I watched the dots appear and vanish twice before Vallie’s came through.
Vallie
Dude. Wtf is that.
Noel
The last frontier.
Josie
It’s like War of the Worlds.
Noel
War of the BEES.
Josie
Have you actually seen fornicating bees, or are you just assuming they’re celebrating like it’s 1999?
Noel
I’ve yet to witness a bee orgy, but it’s a healthy assumption.
Vallie
Okay, okay, enough bee butts. What the hell is going on with you? Has Eric left yet?!
Wincing,I glanced at the time, and then to Kara where she was re-stocking tumblers on the wall a beat before Brexley’s face popped up on my phone. I hadn’t exactly been…entirelyforthcoming with her when she and Rhyett got home from their trip. There’d been an incident in the airport that involved Brexley slipping on a tile floor and a very over-protective pair of adorable soon-to-be-parents insisting on derailing their flights to take her to the nearest urgent care to ensure nothing had impacted future baby Rhodes.
It seemed…selfishly unnecessary to add my stress to her stress. Especially when she was thousands of miles, and thousands of dollars, away from physically being able to do anything. And due to her compulsive need to protectively hover like a feral mother bear, I opted not to tell her that Eric had rolled into town.
“Hey Kara, I’m going to hop into the back. I’ll be right out.”
“You got it, boss!”
Max, laptop open in his favorite seat by the window, quirked his head. I shook mine, giving him what I hoped was a convincing thumbs up before ducking outside and sliding over the touch screen button, mustering my best smile in hopes of disarming her. Judging by the terrifying silence that greeted me, and the sheen of water over familiar sky-blue eyes, it wasn’t particularly working.
“Hi, honey! How are you feeling?” I asked, too cheerily.Sheesh, tone it down, Noel.She looked closer to tears and my stomach bottomed out.
“What in God’s name did Vallie mean by that?”
“What? They’re beekeeping! Ain’t it great?”
“Don’t be a smartass, Noel. What aren’t you telling me?”
