Page 53 of Honeycombs & Homecomings

E. Morrison drew up and took a deep breath. “Have you seen Jo?”

Cash slouched. “No, unfortunately.”

He pulled his phone from his pocket. “Jo just signed a contract with her new investors, but she got a call that looked like it upset her or freaked her out, and she wasn’t really paying attention. Anyway, before I stamped it, I skimmed through and took pictures.”

How thorough. Right, small town Harvest Ranch. That’s just how people were here. He chuckled, though he couldn’t understand the concern. Jo was meticulous with this kind of thing. Plus, she’d told him she’d gone through it with a fine-tooth comb.

E. Morrison held out his phone. “There’s a cleverly worded couple of paragraphs in here that one, state thatSticky and Sweetis turning over all rights of the royal jelly face, body and hand creams immediately, and, second, that if the honey company does well over the next year with the help of their investments and marketing, that they can become the sole proprietors and keep Jo and Allie only strictly as the faces ofSticky and Sweet.”

Cash’s eyes bulged, and he grabbed the phone, skimming over the document within. He had to read the paragraphs in question a couple time before he really understood what was being said. And he’d been making and signing contracts for years now!

“See what I mean?” E. Morrison said. “I had to read through it half a dozen times before I really got it. Everything I’ve had to notarize until now have been clear and concise. Jo and Allie can’t possibly know about this.”

Cash gulped. How was this possible if she’d read it?

Ethan zoomed in on the corner where it’d been stapled. “And look at this. You can barely tell, but the staples were removed and replaced. It could be nothing, but if I had to guess, I’d say someone swapped out documents hoping Jo wouldn’t be smart enough to reread it. And she was rereading it before she got that call. I tried talking to her after they’d signed, but she ran off and I haven’t been able to find her since.”

Cash’s mind started going a hundred miles per hour. He had to find her. He had to tell her what had happened, and he had to help her fix this. She’d worked so hard for this place, had dreamed of it since she was a teenager. He couldn’t let her lose it. He wouldn’t. “We have to find her.”

“Sheriff Chris has everyone keeping an eye out for her, but the parade is tonight, and we have to get ready,” E. Morrison said. “I’ll do what I can and if I see her, I’ll call you.”

Cash extended his hand. “Thank you.”

Ethan shook it, then headed off.

Cash threw what was left of his honey crisp apple into the nearest trash can and marched up toSticky and Sweet. He didn’t know where to go or what to do now, but she’d come back to the store, eventually. She’d have to.

He made his way around the line, opened the door to a whoosh of warm air, and froze.

“Cash!” Through the throng, a flash of red zoomed toward him.

Jo threw herself into him, almost knocking him back against the door. He got his balance as she wrapped her arms around him, the apple in his pocket pressed painfully between them. She didn’t seem to notice.

He rested his hands on her arms and tried to look down at her. “Jo, what is it?” Had she figured out what’d happened?

“Look, they really are engaged!” One of Jo’s cousins squealed, sending the other into a fit of giggles.

Everyone in the store stared. If news of their impending engagement had reached everyone in town by now, they’d know before the night was over. Cash felt his cheeks warming at the wide-eyed stares, then glared at the cousins. He couldn’t remember which one was which. These two had been in middle school, maybe even elementary when he’d left, and they were just as silly now as they’d been then.

Jo glanced up at him, her face paler than the little ghosts he’d seen marching up and down main street all day. She grabbed his hand, and tugged him through the store toward the back, a chorus of congratulations and more giggling leading the way. They entered the office, and Jo shut the door firmly behind them.

***

Jo paced the floor in front of her desk, where Cash had leaned back to wait for some kind of explanation. Her mind was a whirl of worry and guilt. Worry for Allie and her safety, and guilt that she’d inadvertently made a huge splash in the town’s gossip pool by running into Cash’s arms like she had. She pushed the latter aside. She could only deal with one problem at a time, and right now that problem was Allie.

She faced Cash.

He stared at her through wide hazel eyes, almost the color of honey, his hands resting on the desk next to his hips as he waited patiently. She knew this stance—he’d taken it many a time in high school while waiting for her to work up the courage to confide in him. She’d trusted him more than almost anyone back then, and it still always took her time. And he was always, always, unfailingly patient with her.

He never pushed. He never prodded. He never had to. All he had to do was wait.

Like now.

She couldn’t tell the deputies, but there was no way she was counting on herself and her sister to deal with loan sharks on their own. Especially if one of them had a gun. Or more than one! All she had was Cash, and he’d never intentionally let her down before. She paused at that thought and wondered if the same were true of the night he’d left. He’d ditched her on prom night. She’d been so mad about it she’d never paused to wonder if there’d been some reason for behind it.

She swallowed the thick lump in her throat. Of course there’d been a reason. He’d been talking of escape for months. He had it rough at home, and that night, he’d finally done it. He’d gotten away. Then she realized something bad must have happened if he fled like that.

She blinked rapidly at the thought, then felt guilt ease its way through the cracks of her crumbling wall. She’d never considered that he’d left because something bad had happened, and now that she had, she knew it was the only reason he would’ve done it. She looked at him, waiting patiently for her to tell him what was happening. He wouldn’t let her down now.

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