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“I—”
“Ah, never mind. I’ll just use a paper towel.”
I sigh in relief because I almost had to confess that I didn’t have a broom, which would probably seem odd, as it’s one of the first things someone would bring into a new, dirty home.
“Will you give me a boost on this chair?” she asks.
I hold her hand while she climbs up and tackles the dirt. The feeling of her skin against mine is undeniably electric, and I wonder if she feels the same.
Chapter six
Mae – A Shared Meal
I wipe what I believe to be the last cobweb off the wall when Dylan and Mina come rushing in.
“Bees!” my daughter exclaims.
I immediately spring into action and grab her an EpiPen from the back pocket of my jeans. I’ve always carried one around for her, but I’ve been even more paranoid about it since we moved onto the farm.
“Don’t worry. I’m okay.” I pop the cap open with my mouth, and I go to stab her in the thigh.
“No, no. Mom, I’m fine. I didn’t get stung,” she explains. She puts one hand on my shoulder while backing the rest of her body out of my reach.
“Oh!” I go to close the pen again, but my adrenaline is so high that my hands are shaking wildly.
“Here.” Dean takes it from me and completes the task for me. Our hands brush, and I feel something electric shoot down my fingertips.
“Thanks.”
He goes over to a backpack on the counter and takes an EpiPen of his own out. “Peanuts.”
“Ah,” I say as I mentally scan the ingredients I used to make the casserole, but I calm down as I assure myself that no nuts were involved. In fact, I don’t know if we have any peanuts in our home at all. None of us have ever been PB&J people.
“Okay, so if you weren’t stung, what was all the commotion about?” I ask.
“We were at the very end of our property, and we found all of these wooden boxes stacked on top of each other,” Mina says excitedly.
“I recognized them as the kind where beehives are kept,” Dylan says.
“And you went to investigate further?” I was instantly mad at Mina for being so naïve.
“Oh, no. I backed away,” Mina assures me. I relax an inch.
“Okay, good. I was about to say you’re smarter than that.”
“But I’m not,” Dylan says with pride. I have to stop myself from rolling my eyes. Boys. I’ve forgotten how silly they can be, especially around a girl they like. “So, I went over there, and while I thought they were going to be empty because there weren’t bees flying everywhere, I was still kind of sad to see that they were. You know, with all of them dying around the world and stuff.”
“We were thinking that maybe we could bring them back to life,” Mina says.
“What? With your allergies? I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“It actually should be fine,” Dylan says.
“And how can you be so sure about that?” I realize I sound a little bit too harsh. But it’s my kid’s health we’re talking about.
“Well, as long as we keep them happy and at the very tip of the property, they likely won’t have any interest or reason to come anywhere near the house or the barn. So, I mean, the risk for her isn’t any greater than just being outside and in nature in the first place.” Dylan says it with conviction, but I can see the tips of his ears growing red. His dad must have raised him well if he speaks his mind so well, even in the face of a disapproving adult.
“I don’t know…” I say.
