Page 9 of Honey Bee Library
I could hear Jasper’s excited noises behind me. I twisted a bit more so I could peek back at him. He was staring at the interior of the car with his eyes wide and his lips parted.
Every so often he whispered, “Wow.”
This kid was pretty awesome.
Once I was safely on the road, I settled back into my seat with my wrist resting on the steering wheel. I glanced back at Jasper through the rearview mirror to see that he had settled in as well. He was leaning against the door’s armrest so he could stare out the window. The only person who hadn’t relaxed was Willow. She hadn’t moved an inch. She was stressed, and I was curious as to why. Did she really dislike me that much?
“There’s some pancakes and eggs in the container back there if you want something to eat, Jasper,” I said, flicking my gaze up to the rearview mirror to make sure he heard.
He glanced around. After wiggling a bit so he could reach, he grabbed the container and set it on his lap.
“Do you think it’s a good idea to let him eat in your car?” Willow’s voice was quiet and panicked. I could feel her gaze as it bored into me.
I glanced over at her before I focused back onto the road. “It’ll be fine. Leather can be cleaned.” I slowed as the stoplight turned from yellow to red.
My response didn’t do anything to dissuade Willow’s stress. Instead, she just sighed as she glanced out the window. I peeked back at Jasper to see that he’d rolled up a pancake and was happily eating it.
“There’s enough food for you, too. If you want some,” I said as I glanced over at her before returning my attention to the light.
“I’m not hungry.” Her arms were folded across her chest, and she didn’t bother to look over at me. Instead, she kept her gaze straight ahead.
There was no reason this reaction should surprise me. After all, she never hid her distain for me in the past. She’d made it apparent that she didn’t like me from the moment I stepped into the diner. But for some asinine reason, her cool reaction was bothering me. We didn’t have to be buddy-buddy, but we could be cordial, right?
“Do you have Jasper’s school’s address?” I asked, deciding to avoid personal topics and just stick to the task at hand.
“Um, yeah,” she said as she opened her purse and pulled out her phone.
She rattled off the address, and I asked my car’s GPS to start the route. Ten minutes later, I was pulling up to the entrance of Jasper’s school.
“I have to walk him in,” Willow said as she moved to unbuckle her seatbelt.
Jasper was already out of the car and onto the sidewalk by the time she’d exited. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I stayed and waited for Willow to return. I got quite a few curious glances from people coming and going. Their gaze would land on my car before they peered into the windshield.
When Willow finally emerged, she had her head down as she hurried over to the passenger door and pulled it open. “Can we go?” she asked before she even had the door shut.
“Sure,” I said, waiting for her to buckle up before I drove off. The click of the tongue engaging filled the silence between us.
“Let’s go,” she whispered as she sat back in her seat like she was trying to hide herself.
When we were back on the road, I glanced over at her. “It’s safe now. No one can see you.” Instead of dancing around her embarrassment, I decided to address it head-on. Besides, her reaction felt like a good ol’ karate chop to my ego.
Her cheeks flushed as she glanced over at me.
“I didn’t realize it was that embarrassing to be seen with me.” I knew I shouldn’t say anything, but I was offended. If this were Miami, women would be lining up for a chance to get photographed with me by the paparazzi.
She cleared her throat as she smoothed her slacks over her thighs. “It didn’t look good, me showing up in your car.” She peeked over at me. “People in this town talk. If we’re seen together before nine in the morning, they’ll assume we…” She glanced behind her toward the back seat before she leaned closer to me like she was scared someone was going to overhear her. “We were together the night before.”
Ah. One of the curses of living in a small town. In Miami, no one cared who you came and went with.
“And you think people are going to assume we were…together?” I asked, flicking my gaze in her direction before I turned down Main Street.
“Yes. And I really”—she blew out her breath—“reallydon’t need people talking. Not when I’m already such a mess.”
I couldn’t fault her for wanting to stay off the gossip train. I didn’t have any personal experience with it here in Harmony, but I was certain it was alive and well.
I slowed and took a left. The diner was just down the road on the right.
“I’m sorry,” I said. I didn’t mean to make things uncomfortable for her. “I’ll be more aware next time.”
