Page 30 of Honeycombs & Homecomings

“Allie would just eat that up,” he said, glancing at her with a knowing stare. “Right, Allie?” This time he emphasized Allie’s name. The hint couldn’t be any clearer. She was playing Allie, not herself.

She forced a smile. “Definitely! We could be in ads and hold our honey and stuff like that.” Could she be any more ridiculous? “That’d be super fun.”

Cash wiped a hand down his face, erasing the smile that had popped out. If he hadn’t wiped it off, she would’ve done it for him. With a glass of water to his face.

Cash removed his hand from her knee and waved at their server, then made a little check sign. Jo breathed deep.

The server nodded and scooted off in her traditional navy-blue Swedish dirndl dress to grab the check.

The reprieve was short lived as Cash rested his hand on the back of her chair, and leaned forward, pressing his shoulder into her back. He lowered his voice as he spoke to the Warners, as though including them in some wicked scheme. “I say we leave this joint, walk up the street and grab a Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cocoa from Choco-Latte, then head down to the festival.”

Cynthia clapped her hands together. “I must admit, I had my eyes on that Ferris wheel the moment we drove into town.”

“And I’d love to check out the corn maze,” Ryan said.

Cash fist-bumped him. “There’s a pie vendor that sells the best pies this side of the Mississippi,” Cash said. “I know we just had dessert, but you don’t want to miss it.”

Jo straightened her spine. She needed to rein this in. And now. “Right, and I can show you my booth.”

Ryan grinned. “That too. You’re all business, aren’t you?”

An awkward silence dropped over them.

Seriously? Were the Warners here to go to the festival or invest in her company? “That’s where the samples are,” she added on, feeling totally lame.

Their smiles brightened.

Their server came with the check, and she thanked her lucky stars. The moment she’d met the Warners, she’d guessed they’d be more into the fun side of the business than the actual business itself, but until this very moment, she hadn’t realized just how accurate this was. Jo would never let Allie live this down.

The server delivered the check, her skirts swooshing about as she turned to leave. Jo reached for her purse and pulled out her credit card, but Cash grabbed her hand. He shook his head and gave a pointed nod at the card. It had her name on it, not Allie’s. Cash pulled out his wallet and several bills. It may have been years since they’d last seen each other, but by some miracle they still had a way of communicating full sentences, thoughts and ideas in a glance. It equal parts scared and thrilled her.

And if she was going to pretend to be her sister, she’d need that help. She’d need the backup. And not just to stop her from doing something so her and not at all Allie, but also to help show these fun-loving investors a good time. Show them thatSticky and Sweetwasn’t just about business, but that investing with them would be a fun decision.

She hated that. This wasn’t what business was supposed to be about. She shouldn’t have to go through this charade to get them to invest. The operation itself, and their books should’ve been enough. But they needed them. If they couldn’t figure out a way to fulfill all the orders Tony had made without checking their inventory, they’d be in a lot of trouble.

Bill paid, the four of them stood and made their way outside.

The sun had long since set, and a cool breeze wound up the street. Jo pulled Allie’s pretty plaid winter coat tighter about her, wishing it was her fluffy black winter coat.

Cash pointed toward Choco-Latte. “Head on up, we’ll be there in a minute.”

Ryan wrapped an arm around Cynthia and the couple strolled off.

When they were out of sight, Cash turned on her. “What was that, Jo-Jo?”

She frowned at his use of the nickname he’d bestowed on her when she was twelve and he was thirteen. She’d loved it then. “What was what?”

“You were like a zombie in there.” He signaled behind him to the restaurant. “I can only do so much. This is your company, and like it or not, you’re going to have to embrace that fun, creative side I know is inside of you.”

A lump grew in her throat. “I don’t have a fun, creative side.”

He scoffed. “Really, I’d saySticky and Sweetis creative and fun.”

“That was all Allie,” she said. “I just handle the business side of things. Allie’s the one from the queen jelly. I’m just a worker bee.”

He straightened his spine. “First of all . . .” He furrowed his brow. “What?”

“She’s the queen bee. I’m not,” Jo said. He knew that. Allie had always been the vivacious one.

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