Page 98 of The Reason I Married Him
“And what would that threshold be?” she asks.
“Anything embarrassing in public.”
“Makes sense. I’d probably be the same way.”
“Do you have any love interests or fake love interests?” I ask. “Possible marriage of conveniences in the works? You know, something so I don’t feel so alone here?”
She chuckles. “Uh, no. I’m still trying to settle in. There is absolutely no room for love at the moment.”
“But maybe something interests you here in town? There are some single men, you know. Like . . . Ryland or Abel.”
“Are you trying to marry me off so you’re not the only one?”
“You know it wouldn’t hurt for you to step up here, ensure a friend’s less lonely.”
She leans forward and places her hand on the desk between us. “I like this friendship, Aubree, but I don’t think we’re at the place of taking a groom for one another.”
“Damn,” I say with a laugh, feeling much lighter. “Had to try at least.” I let out a sigh and meet her eyes. “Thank you for the chat. All of this felt pretty heavy on my chest, especially with having to keep this a secret from my family, so I appreciate you being an outlet for me.”
“Anytime.” She clasps her hands together. “Actually, can I talk to you about something?”
“You mean the reason you came in here in the first place?”
She smiles. “Yes, but I do appreciate what we did talk about. I’m glad I could be there for you.”
“Oh, I know. Is this about work?”
“It is. I was thinking this weekend about how we can best use every bit of the bees’ hard work. I know we spoke about candles and lip balm, but what are your feelings about making beeswax food wrap?”
“What’s that?” I ask.
“An eco-friendly version of cling wrap. I’ve seen some hype around it recently, and I thought that it might be something we can sell in the honey section of The Almond Store. I don’t mindmaking them. It would keep me busy between my adventures of going out to different properties to take care of unwanted beehives and maintaining the garden and whatnot. I know a place where we can get some discounted fabric, and I can easily build an extension to the bee house where I could make the wraps, dry them out, and package them up.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” I say. “People around town would easily buy them, and I feel like tourists might find them a neat and unique gift, especially grandmas. You know they love the kitschy things.”
“They really do.”
“I can help you extend the bee house if you want.”
“That would be great. I have a few appointments this week to take care of some hives, but maybe we can at least map it out later in the week?”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Great.” She pats her legs. “I need to go make some more bee boxes. The owner of the house for one of the appointments today sent me a picture, and it’s an enormous hive under the floorboards of their barn. They just found it and have a wedding this week. I’m hoping we can grab a big stock of honeybees from them.”
“Well, be careful.”
“I always am.” She stands from her chair. “Thanks for the chat, and don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”
“I appreciate it, Echo.”
She waves and takes off. I lean back in my chair and pick up my phone, where I see a text from Wyatt. A picture. Confused, I open it and see him with Hayes and Rodney, all wearing the same hat, a very generic hat with the number 576 on it. Odd.
Aubree:What’s with the hat?
After I text back, I stare down at the picture and take in Wyatt’s smile. Straight white teeth, he must have had bracesgrowing up. Scruff gracing his jaw—didn’t bother shaving this morning. And a few crinkles in the corners of his eyes, showing off his mid-thirties, something I hate to admit I like about him.
Not that I should be admitting anything I like about him, but I do like that.
