“Poor Anna.” Cooper’s mouth twisted to one side as she studied her phone. “But I still wonder why the bees left. Doyou think I did something wrong, Mom? I hope the hive doesn’t have a disease. And I don’t think it’s lack of water. I give them water every day.” Her tears were gone, but her eyes were still troubled.
“I have absolutely no idea what went wrong, Coop, but Miguel’s friend Walter is an expert. Maybe you can ask him.”
She nodded. “Yeah. I do want to talk to him. I’m going over to the Oroscos’ right now. Even if Anna’s locked up, I can still go out and see the swarm. Maybe take pictures. I bet it’s big.”
“Okay.” Jewel cringed inwardly to imagine an aggravated bee swarm. “But please, be careful.”
“Don’t worry, the bees know me.” Cooper was already sprinting toward the alfalfa field.
Jewel took a deep breath and silently prayed that all of them would remain safe from the swarm of bees. It was one thing for Dad and Cooper to act so casual around the hives where the bees were mostly contained, but a loose swarm of agitated bees sounded terrifying. What if they were angry about something?
Honey
By the time Honey got CT back to the new house, he was still fully aware of his missing bees but had already forgotten that Miguel was working to get them back.
“My bees,” he lamented. “Where are my bees?”
Honey attempted to explain again. Then directing him to their old kitchen table, she pointed at his breakfast of scrambled eggs and peanut butter toast and helped him sit down. She knew the eggs would be cold by now, but she also knew CT probably wouldn’t notice that. She refilled her coffee mug, then sat down across from him, but seeing how upset he still was, she decided to get one of his relax pills. Thankfully, he never protested taking one. Maybe he thought it was one of the many vitamins she was always shoving at him.
She returned with orange juice and the pill, waiting for him to take it. “Looks like a nice day,” she said as she sat back down.
“Why did they leave?” he asked as he chewed on a bite of toast.
“The bees?”
“Uh-huh. Why?”
“Like Jewel said, they wanted a field trip.”
“In my field?”
“I guess they got lost,” she added. “But they are all together.”
“Together?”
“Yes. You know how bees stay together?”
“Uh-huh.” He nodded as if this made sense.
“And Miguel is bringing them home.”
“Now?” He started to stand.
“No.” She put a hand on his arm to stop him. “Later. I’ll tell you when.”
“Okay.” His hand trembled as he picked up his fork. “Okay.”
They ate breakfast in silence now. Not unusual for them these days, but for some reason Honey missed the friendly little chats they used to have more than usual today. Maybe it was the new house. Honeymoon Cottage. The sweet name seemed to hold so much promise. Promise that it could never deliver. Yet CT had been in such good spirits last night that she’d almost imagined they were their old selves again and actually on a real vacation. Drinking champagne to music that she had put on, playing a game of cards where she let CT win, and going to bed happy and enjoying the old familiar snuggles that CT never seemed to forget.
But in the light of day, the stressful upset over the missing bees and eating a cold breakfast, well, it was a letdown. Not that she would tell anyone. CT obviously wouldn’t understand, and she didn’t want to hurt Jewel’s feelings. And really, it seemed silly to even feel this way. So trivial. After all, she was here in a new house. With fewer responsibilities than before. She should be grateful. And she was. But still... She glanced across the table where CT was sitting with his mouth hanging open, like it so often did nowadays. His plate was mostly empty, and it lookedlike his relax pill was working. That was something. She stood up and smiled.
“You know, CT, I bet if you watchTrue Grit, the bees will be back before you even know it.”
“Huh?” CT looked confused, and she realized that she’d used too many words. That and he’d probably temporarily forgotten the bees.
She picked up their empty plates and tried again. “You can watch your movie.” She stopped herself from adding that he should rest until his bees came home. Let sleeping dogs lie.
“Oh, yeah.” He slowly shoved himself to his feet. “My movie.”
