A Bee in Her Bonnet (30 page)

“No shenanigans in front of or behind the honey house.”

Luke fingered the stubble on his chin. “I'll think real hard on that, cat lady.”

Poppy giggled at the look on Aunt B's face. Luke refused to be intimidated.

Billy Idol followed them to the porch, where Luke shut the door behind them and paused to put his arms around Poppy. “I love you with everything I've got, Poppy Christner.”

“I love you back.”

“And I promise to always keep you safe.”

Poppy laid a swift kiss on his lips. “We'll keep each other safe.”

“All the better,” he said as he tugged her in for another kiss. Her heart did a cartwheel across her ribs. The fireworks had already begun.

Billy Idol sat on the mat and watched the shenanigans with that permanent sneer on his lips. He adored Luke. He wouldn't think of tattling to Aunt B.

Poppy always forgot that Aunt B had a sense about these things. The door swung open and startled Luke and Poppy apart. Luke cleared his throat and tried to act as if he hadn't been caught doing anything wrong.

It was too late. Aunt B had seen everything. She stood just inside the door with a scowl on her lips and the cat formerly known as Fluffy in her arms. “Luke Bontrager, you have been warned. Stay away from Poppy's lips, or I'll throw you off our property.”

Luke did his best to stifle a grin. “You're right, Bitsy. Poppy is always safe with me. I promise to behave myself.”

“You'd better,” Aunt B said, holding the kitten up as if she were Aunt B's eyes and ears. “Leonard Nimoy and I will be watching.”

Recipes

* * *

Shy, skittish Rose Christner is more comfortable tending
to the beehives on the family farm and keeping her aunt's
unruly cats in line than attending social gatherings with
the rest of the
die youngie
. A childhood trauma and secret
shame keep her heart under lock and key, and Rose just
can't accept the sweet attention she's receiving from a
handsome neighbor. But the more she shies away from
Josiah Yoder, the more their families sneakily plot to
bring them together. And when a vandal who's been
plaguing the Honeybee Farm starts targeting Rose,
Josiah's steadfast protection—and patience—
just may lead her into his waiting arms ...

* * *

 

 

 

 

Chapter One

Josiah Yoder's heart pounded so hard, they could probably hear it in the next county, and it made him kind of disgusted with himself. He'd been to the Honeybee Schwesters' farm at least a dozen times. The mere thought of possibly, maybe, hopefully seeing Rose Christner shouldn't make him feel like he was going to have a heart attack.

Just because he had been completely and hopelessly in love with Rose for four long years didn't mean he couldn't be perfectly calm when he saw her. He had never managed to be perfectly calm before, but surely he could muster his levelheadedness today. He'd scare Rose away if he drove onto her farm jumpy and agitated like a spooked horse.

His chicken heart only beat faster as his open-air buggy passed the sign on the road that stood at the entrance to the Christners' property.
BEWARE THE HONEYBEES,
it said. Every time he saw that sign, his pulse raced out of control—not because he was especially afraid of honeybees, but because Rose had painted that sign herself. With her own two hands. It was almost as if she were standing there at the entrance to their property greeting him with a smile and a wave.

Almost. It was almost like that.

The sign had Rose's touch all over it. She'd painted red roses and bright yellow daisies, pastel tulips and spiky dandelions. Bees and butterflies frolicked among the flowers—kind of like the ones making a home in his gut at this very minute.

His heart knocked into his ribs like a sledgehammer and smashed all the butterflies in his stomach.

Oy
, anyhow. He was hopeless.

No matter how
ferhoodled
, he was determined not to mess things up with Rose—not when he had already made a connection with her. And by “connection,” he meant that she didn't cower like a nervous bunny rabbit when he said hello.

With a light tug on the reins, Josiah guided his horse Max onto the small wooden bridge that marked the entrance to the Honeybee Schwesters' property. He caught his breath and nearly choked. Rose and her sisters Lily and Poppy were but thirty feet away tending to their beehives. Each of them wore one of those beekeeper hats with netting draped over the top plus a long-sleeved jacket and jeans tucked into long stockings. The outfits weren't strictly Amish, but the sisters couldn't wear Plain dresses while tending the bees or they'd be stung for sure and certain. Josiah pinned his gaze to the shortest of the three beekeepers. Rose looked pretty no matter what she wore.

All three sisters turned to see who was coming over their bridge and waved to him, even Rose. Surely his heart couldn't beat any faster.

He raised his arm and waved back but tried not to look too eager. Eagerness tended to make Rose nervous. Once after a fellowship supper, Josiah had watched Benji Kauffman follow Rose around like a lost puppy looking for a scrap of food. Benji was persistent and wouldn't leave her alone until Rose had planted herself firmly between her sisters for the rest of the day and Poppy had given Benji a very dirty look. Benji had slouched home like he was going to his own funeral.

Josiah's gut clenched. He couldn't make any mistakes. He'd been to enough funerals to last a lifetime.

The sisters turned back to their hives. He slumped his shoulders. All he needed to do was deliver his little bag to the house. He had no
gute
excuse for talking to Rose whatsoever.

He realized he had an iron grip on the reins when Max veered onto the grass and started trampling dandelions. Josiah quickly pulled the horse up and pointed him in the right direction. Rose would be unhappy if the dandelions got trampled.

He guided Max to the end of the lane where the Honeybee Sisters' house stood to his right and their red barn with the pink door stood to his left. Josiah, with his friends Dan and Luke, had come in the middle of the night a few weeks ago to paint that door. In the dark, they hadn't been able to get the color quite right.

A ragged-looking black-and-white cat sat on its haunches not three feet from Josiah's buggy guarding the farm from intruders. The cat scowled at Josiah as if daring him to set foot on their property. Josiah raised his eyebrows. That cat looked mean enough to halt a whole herd of charging bulls. He didn't know if it would be wiser to ignore him or run away as fast as he could.

Rose probably wouldn't like it either way.

Rose had barely noticed him. She probably wouldn't even know.

He climbed from the buggy and stuffed his hand in his pocket to make sure the bag was still there. If he wanted to talk to Rose, he'd have to make his own chances, like Luke Bontrager was always telling him. Luke said Josiah was as slow as a turtle. Would it hurt to pick up the pace?

Even though he was risking a finger or two, Josiah bent over and reached out to smooth his hand along the ragged cat's head, partly to impress Rose with his love for animals and partly to try to make peace so the cat wouldn't bite off his arm.

The cat bared his teeth and hissed as if he were trying to set Josiah on fire. Wanting to keep both of the hands he had, Josiah pulled away and glanced in Rose's direction. He'd have to impress her some other way. She didn't need to witness his failure with a cat.

When he stood up straight and tried to walk away, the cat threw himself at Josiah and hooked his claws into one of his trousers legs. “
Ach
!” Josiah said, as the cat's sharp claws pierced his ankle. The animal was trying to kill him.

The warning at the front of the property hadn't said anything about cats.

They should probably add that to the sign as soon as possible.