Page 83 of The Burbs and the Bees
My heart jumps into my throat. “What are you talking about? Why would you do that?”
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that.” He looks a bit cagey as he turns back to me. “How about that offer?”
“My uncle loved this farm. I’m not giving it away,” I say, digging my heels into the ground.
“Sounds to me like you do want to sell. Fine then, I’m willing to go a little higher.”
He pulls a piece of paper from his pocket and puts it in my hand. I read the number. It’s a better offer, but the farm is worth a lot more. A sound comes from behind, a scraping of sorts, and I turn to see Jay standing there, watching the exchange between the two of us. Honest to God, maybe I should just take the offer. How the hell can I stay here and face Jay every day, knowing he can never be mine? He literally just told me he wasn’t into serious relationships, and I came here to get my life in order. Now it’s more chaotic than it’s ever been.
I don’t see an easy solution to any of this.
Chapter Sixteen
Jay
As Alyson drives us out of town in her Tesla, I adjust the radio to a local rock station and angle my head. She’s hugging the steering wheel tight and concentrating on the dark road ahead. With the smell of skunk cleared, she moved her stuff back into her house earlier today, and I hate how lonely my cottage feels without her. Even Capone seems to be missing her.
“How long are you planning on keeping this rental anyway?” I ask.
Beneath the dashboard light, her fingers tighten on the steering wheel. “I’m not sure.”
I nod at that. Yeah, if she was planning on staying longer, she’d have sent the car back already and purchased some beater more appropriate for farm country. It’s not cheap to keep a fancy-ass car so long, so she must be hanging on to it for a reason—like a quick getaway.
I should be happy about that. I should also be happy about the fact that she took the paper Bryce handed her today and didn’t seem too upset by the number. He stepped up his game after she said she wasn’t giving the farm away. Her choice of words alluded to the fact that she’d consider selling it, for the right price.
“So where exactly are we going again?” I ask.
She grins as she looks at me, her hair a bit of a mess after putting my friends and me through the dance routine earlier. I have to say, she’s really helping Colin out, and she knows what she’s doing. She beamed with confidence as we learned the moves. Now she needs to find the confidence in other aspects of her life and accept the consequences if she fails. And goddammit if she doesn’t need just one friend who will catch her if she does.
After the dance routine, all the guys hit the pub for a beer, but Alyson asked if I’d come with her. She has something she wants to show me, apparently. I have something I want to show her, too, but we’re driving away from our farms, not toward them, meaning wherever we’re going, I probably can’t get her naked.
“You’ll see when we get there.” She drives longer, taking this turn and that and glancing around, a little lost.
I stretch my legs out. “If you told me where we were going, I could tell you how to get there.”
“I can figure it out.”
“Always so stubborn,” I grumble, as she takes a right on Fletcher Street. Understanding dawns. “We’re going to the drive-in?”
“Yup.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re all work and no play, and I thought you needed a night out.”
I reach across the seat and touch her leg. “A night in would be just as fun.”
She laughs. “One-track mind much?”
“Pretty much.” But the truth is I can’t seem to get enough of her. Can’t get her out of my thoughts for one single second. I’m consumed by her.
“You know, I’ve never been to a drive-in before,” she informs me.
I sit up a little straighter. “You’ve got to be kidding me?”
“Nope, been to Broadway, off Broadway, opera houses, but never to a drive-in.”
“I guess you can only find them in redneck country now,” I say, and for some reason I want her to vehemently defend that. Need for her to tell me she doesn’t think farmers are all dumb as stumps and that we do important work. In fact, what I really need is for her to prove she’s not like Juanita—despite the fact that my future depends on her following in my ex fiancée’s footsteps and bailing.
