Page 31 of Honeycombs & Homecomings

“What are you talking about?” He scowled at her.

She turned from him, walking up the street. “Every creative idea we’ve ever had has all been her.”

He grabbed her arm and pulled her off the sidewalk, toward the curb, and away from prying ears. “That’s a load of bull.”

Great, first he made her a liar and now he was calling her one. Oof, the nerve! “It’s true!”

He stepped closer until his boots were flush with the toes of the heels she’d borrowed from her sister. She had to yank her head back to look him in the eye.

“Sticky and Sweet was your idea,” he said. “You may have forgotten, but we went to high school together. We were good friends, even. And I was there the day you said you were going to grow up to make a honey store. You even said you were going to call itSticky and Sweet.”

She furrowed her brow. “That never happened.”

His eyes tightened in the corners. He looked . . . hurt. “You and me and Allie were in your kitchen after school. Allie was digging through the fridge trying to find something to eat while I made honey and peanut butter sandwiches. You jumped up on the counter while I cut your crust off. Allie was going on about some boy at school she wanted to go to prom with. You took a big bite of your sandwich, rolled your eyes and made this cute little yummy noise . . .”

Jo’s eyes went wide as the blurry edges of the memory cleared.

That’d been one of those times when Cash hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her. In fact, it’d been the one time out of all the others that she couldn’t just brush off like she had something stuck in her teeth.

He’d quirked a grin, slow chewing his own sandwich all while never tearing his eyes off her. “You like that?” he’d asked, and moved closer to her, his arm resting on the counter next to her thigh.

“I love your honey peanut butter sandwiches,” she shoved at his shoulder, hoping he’d step back as a nervous excitement whirled around in her stomach. Cash grabbed her hand, threading his fingers through hers. He made eye contact and leaned forward until he was so close . . . too close for her unexperienced ways.

This was Cash! What was he doing? Jo’s eyes fluttered and . . .

Allie popped out of the fridge. “Cash, make me a turkey sandwich?”

Jo flinched back, dropping her sandwich on her leg and smearing it with peanut butter and honey. Had Cash almost kissed her? Had she almost kissed him back?

And then Cash had lost it, throwing his head back and hooting with laughter.

In retaliation, she grabbed the spoon from the honey jar and flung it at him. It stuck to his forehead. That’d been the best thing ever. His expression, a mix of shock and awe, had been priceless.

It quickly spiraled out of control after that, the three of them flinging honey, peanut butter, jams, pickles, eggs, flour, sugar, and water from the hose in the sink, all over the place.

That’d been one of the last times their small trio had laughed that hard.

It all came back. After the near destruction of the kitchen, the three of them had sat on the floor, backs to a cupboard covered in gunk. Jo sat in the middle with her sister’s head rested on her shoulder, and Cash leaning into her from the other side. She had what was left of the honey in front of her and was using her finger to scoop out the inside so she could eat it. She’d always loved honey.

And at the moment, in a happy haze, sitting on her kitchen floor covered in sticky and sweet stuff between her two-favorite people in the world, she’d thrown out an idea for a honey company. She said she’d call itSticky and Sweetin honor of their food fight. A company that had been nothing more than a silly fantasy—a joke because she’d been covered in it.

Her dad found them. He came in the kitchen, took one look, stepped over their legs to the fridge, grabbed a can of coke, and left without a word. They sat frozen, waiting for judgment to fall, and when the door had swung shut behind him, they’d lost it in a fit of giggles once again.

Cash was right. That had been a highlight of her high school years. That specific moment. With Cash and Allie and her dad.

Shehadcome up with the company idea and the name. And she’d forgotten. She’d forgotten all of it. How could she do that? “Oh, Cash. I didn’t remember. I’m so sorry.”

He grabbed her then, pulling her into a tight hug. A hug she’d been craving since the very first second she’d seen him at the festival two days ago. She grasped his shirt at his sides, holding tight, and buried her head into his chest, breathing in the spicy scent of him that was so familiar and comforting.

After a moment, he pulled back and made eye contact. “If you want to get these people to invest, you’re going to have to remember who that girl was. Your company needs her. It needs you.”

Chapter 11

Cocoas in hand, the group made their way through the booths. Cash’s little pep talk had done the trick. He’d been right, and she’d been so flustered, so worried about all the ways this could’ve gone wrong, that she’d been sabotaging herself. So, as they’d made their way in, she’d grabbed his hand. She’d been fully aware of the knowing eyes of townsfolk who knew them, but ignored them as best she could, telling herself she’d deal with that later.

Cash took her hand, squeezing it tight, giving her a little thrill that she also tried to ignore.

They wandered for a few minutes, finally reaching the row with her shop. She pointed it out. “The booth with the line the length of the row,” she said. “That’sSticky and Sweet.”

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