“Because it’s a little silly,” Ellie replies, a smile crawling onto her face. “That’s what the people in my old class used to say.”
“They just don’t know how fun it is.” Sonny runs up and down the front lawn and mimics the sounds of crescendoing planes.
I sit on the porch with a heavy heart as I watch them play.
“Hey.” Caleb cracks a smile, stepping out onto the porch with disheveled hair and an incredibly handsome face. The fine lines seem to be indented further into his skin today.
I offer him a smile and decide to take off indoors before he brings up his hatred for insurance fraud again. It’s the coward’s exit, excusing myself to the bathroom, but I need to get my emotions in check before they explode right out.
“I’ll be back,” I say to Caleb, not giving him a time frame because I don’t know how long I plan on festering in the depths of despair for.
I lock myself into my room, shut the curtains, and finally give myself permission for the tears to stream down my face.
Fuck. This is bad. It was only supposed to be a small fire.
And now it’s turned into a whole-ass investigation.
James Taylor definitely goes above and beyond at his work.
I crash on the bed, still haunted by last night. The orgasm helped, but seeing Caleb’s face as I reached my peak definitely didn’t help. Earlier, in the kitchen, we had been only inches away from falling back into our old ways…
This insurance investigation means that I’ll have to stick things out here with Caleb a while longer.
Sonny will be happy about that.
But it also gives him more time to bond with the father I don’t want either party knowing about. And I can’t have that.
It’s only ever been Sonny and me. I can’t introduce a man into his life, let alone his own father, when he has a track record of leaving.
I throw my head into the pillow and scream my frustration into it. Sonny and I are fucked if this fire is ruled as intentional.
It shouldn’t be. The fire managed to spread to the roof, so it’s more than capable of burning down a stove.
Unwelcome memories surface from the past.
My father leaving with a new woman.
“It’s the first I’m hearing about this.” I laugh even though it’s not funny.
His two suitcases are lined up by the door. Shame he can’t fit the beehive in there.
“I only decided a week ago.”
“Ah. Plenty of time to notify your daughter.”
He stares blankly into my eyes, his features kept neutral.
As always.
He could tell me that a bomb’s about to go off and remain indifferent to the situation. He’s always been like this. The only time he shows any sign of emotion is when he’s beekeeping.
More fascinated by flying insects than he is with me.
Perhaps I should turn into a bee…
It means I’d finally have his attention.
“What about the bees? You’re just gonna leave them?”
