Page 11 of Honeycombs & Homecomings

“—in the lake?” He laughed. She used to say that to him in high school all the time.

He remembered the first time she’d said it being totally flabbergasted, as was her sister and her mom. She’d been thirteen, and he was at their house for dinner. He’d said something to tease her he couldn’t even remember now, and she said it, hands fisted around her silverware. She’d gotten a scolding from her mom and a chuckle from her dad.

Cash had loved it. It was the first time he’d ever seen her lose her cool, and he’d taken pride that it’d been with him. From that day on, she always told him exactly what she was thinking, even while keeping her impeccable reserve with everyone else.

“See, just like old times,” he said.

She stared at him, hard and intense, in that way she used to do when she wanted to figure something out. After a long moment, she shoved a lock of thick hair behind her ear. “Fine, one royal jelly face cream, and one mango body butter.”

“Your wish is my command.”

Chapter 4

Alice wiped her eyes on a hankie that her father had given her years ago. She’d always kept it close, but since his death, she kept it with her always. She closed the door to her aunt’s house, leaving Honey whining inside. He and Tony never got along, and Tony was due any minute. She sat on the large porch swing, pulling her cream wool coat tight about her shoulders against the cool breeze.

Tony was supposed to pick her up at seven-thirty, but Tony was always late. She and Jo had named his tardiness Tony-standard time. If he said seven-thirty, that meant closer to eight.

After she and Jo had gotten the rest of their stuff out of their house and over to their aunt’s, Jo had rushed off to relieve their employee, Kathy at the booth, and Alice had spent the next three hours crying with her mother and Aunt Sophie as they’d gotten their mother adjusted to her temporary home.

She’d tried to stop crying over an hour ago, in an attempt to make the swelling around her eyes go down, but there was no hope for it. She was a mess. Thankfully, two of her five cousins, Caroline and Jessie, agreed to take shifts at the festival—though she suspected all five cousins would end up lending a hand if Jessie had anything to say about it. They’d work, and would hear nothing of compensation, at least not of the monetary kind. That’s just what family did. And they needed the help. They’d had to let go two of their employees last week, and with two weeks left of the festival.

She pushed herself back and forth on the large porch swing, taking calming breaths. This was all so much to deal with, and she felt so ill equipped to handle it. She tried. She tried hard to be more like Jo, but Jo was always so calm and put together. She was the face of calm and put together if ever there was one. Sometimes that irritated Allie. Sometimes she wished Jo would just freak out, throw something, scream or cry, but that wasn’t her. And, right now, Allie was sure they would’ve lost everything if it hadn’t been for Jo’s business sense and quick thinking.

Allie wished she was more like that. But she was the creative one, not the business minded one.

If they had the money, this was just the circumstance where she’d get away for the weekend. Go to Vegas or something. She so needed a break. But they didn’t have the money, and she wanted to show Jo, she could be responsible too. She could help more in this time of crisis. It’s why she’d enlisted the cousins. So, a date with Tony tonight would have to do.

That is, if she could keep herself from snapping at him for not being there for her today. He’d promised he would be, then last minute had to leave for a side job that he’d scheduled that morning. They were all hurting for cash these days, and while she wanted to begrudge him this, she knew she shouldn’t.

Her cell rang, startling her from her thoughts. It was Tony. Finally. She swallowed the hurt his absence today had caused. She’d talk to him about it when they were face to face.

She answered after the first ring. “He babe, where are you?”

“Where are you?”

She frowned, then pinched the bridge of her nose where a headache had formed and lingered all day long. “At my Aunt Sophie’s. Remember.” She’d told him no less than half a dozen times in the last couple of days.

“Oh, right.” He sounded frazzled.

“Where are you?”

“I’m at the store.”

She stood up and went to the door, reaching inside to grab her purse. She patted Honey’s head. “Oh, well, I can come to you then.”

“No!”

She lurched back, startled by his ferocity, and Honey pushed out onto the deck. “Tony?”

“No,” he said again, faking calm. She’d had his moods, his tones of voice pegged a month into dating him, and he was the same with her. There was nothing about this that was fine. “I’m closer to you now than the store. Just stay there. I’ll be there in five minutes.”

“Okay, is everything all right.”

“Of course!” he said, his voice just a little too high for her to believe him. “I have a little surprise for you, but I need you to pack a bag. Nothing big, just enough for two or three days.”

She frowned. He knew she’d never be able to pack a bag in so short a time. She had to prepare. And two or three days? That sounded like a packing nightmare, not a plan. “Tony, what is going on?”

“I’ll tell you when I get there,” he said, adding, “meu amor.” She used to like it when he spoke Portuguese to her, but now it just bugged. He was second generation American, for crying out loud.

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