Page 51 of Beehives and Broken Heroes

Allie shook her head but chuckled. “Oh, I will take you down one day. Just you wait.” For such an even-keeled guy, he sure was competitive. And she loved it.

* * *

“Trust is the easiest thing in the world to lose, and the hardest thing in the world to get back.”

- R. Williams

By noon, Allie had made around fifty sales. The shop was booming today. Down the street in the fairgrounds, balloons in vibrant colors were preparing to lift off. She’d loved the yellow-and-blue-striped one, the American flag one, and the Carroll Family Farm ones the best. From a distance, they weren’t bad, and she could even admit they were beautiful … from a distance.

Luckily for her, Brandon hadn’t said anything about taking her up in his balloon again. He’d brought it up more than a few times since Ralph, his balloon guy, had dropped it off. She’d thought he might say something when she’d walked him outside and seen them in the distance behind the barn and the few that were already in the sky, but he hadn’t. He’d just given her a quick kiss, then jogged off to talk to Ralph.

Thankfully, the balloon had been at the fairgrounds since last Friday, and the canister that had been in the fire at the barn had been a backup. Allie headed back inside, where Jo stood behind the register ringing up some royal jelly face cream and a jar of their lavender honey to Mrs. Clayton, a neighbor of their aunt’s.

Mrs. Clayton thanked her as she left the shop. Allie leaned against the counter.

“How’s Brandon holding up?” Jo asked. “I didn’t get a chance to ask him.” Allie had filled her in on the fire last night before they’d gone to bed.

“He’s tired, but I think he’s okay,” Allie said.

“I still can’t believe the wiring in the barn was bad. It doesn’t make sense.” Jo bit her lip and glanced up, thinking. “Dad had the whole thing rewired five years ago. It should’ve been sound.”

“I’d forgotten about that.” Allie yawned.

Jo grinned at her. “You didn’t sleep last night, did you?”

Allie shook her head. “Not a wink.”

A ding announced another customer.

“Why don’t you take a quick break and go get us some eclairs, and maybe a piña colada Pepsi for you?” Jo said. “I want the chocolate, and you could use the caffeine.”

“Good thinking,” Allie said. “I’ll be right back.”

She ran up to Choco Latte and didn’t even mind the line. She stared longingly at the eclairs. Presley was a friggin’ genius with those things. They were like ambrosia or manna or some kind of magical explosion of flavor. Yummmmm.

The door opened, and a breeze wrapped around Allie, waking her up. Someone got in line behind her. She was almost to the front now.

“Excuse me,” a woman asked from behind her. “Can you tell me what’s good here?”

Allie turned. “Everything,” she said with a grin. “Everything is good.”

The woman who’d hugged Brandon that morning stood there. Allie had thought she was beautiful that morning, but now that she was right in front of her, she decided the word wasn’t sufficient—this woman was gorgeous. “That’s impressive.”

“Oh,” Allie chirped. “You’re Chris, right?” She’d been disappointed not to meet her earlier.

The woman tilted her head. “No, I think you have me confused with someone else. My name’s Alana.”

Allie’s stomach clenched. “Alana? Are you sure?”

The woman’s smile widened, making her positively radiant. “Yep, pretty sure.”

“Do you have a twin?” It had to be asked.

“No . . .”

Okay, maybe she’d just thought it was this woman she’d seen Brandon with, but it was really someone else. She opened her mouth to ask, then snapped it shut. She hadn’t mistaken her. This woman was not to be mistaken.

A wave of emotions flooded Allie, swirling, heaving, breaking against the walls she’d spent months carefully building up to control her emotions. Brandon had lied to her. Her upright, good-natured, honest boyfriend had lied.

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