Marshall crouches to their level, serious as a judge. “Observation is very important. Especially when there’s hot stuff.”
That seems to satisfy them… mostly.
It turns out making honey infusions with three men and the twins is exactly as insane as you’d expect.
Marshall takes directions seriously. Too seriously. If I say “slow,” he moves like he’s defusing a bomb.
“This is bruising the mint,” I say gently.
He freezes. “Am I hurting it?”
“No,” I say quickly. “You’re just… intimidating it.”
Jesse snorts. “Same.”
Wyatt reads from the page in his calm, measured voice, translating Grandma’s shorthand like it’s scripture.
“‘Warm, not hot. If you rush, it will know.’”
Jesse squints. “The honey knows things now?”
“Yes,” I say. “It absolutely does.”
“I knew it,” he mutters. “Judgmental condiment.”
At one point, Jesse tries to taste test directly from the spoon.
“Donot…” I start.
Too late.
He grimaces. “Wow. That’s… sharp.”
“It hasn’t rested,” Wyatt says mildly.
Jesse points at him. “You sound like you’ve been personally offended.”
“I respect process,” Wyatt replies.
I laugh. Out loud. The sound startles me with its ease.
We move around each other in the small space, bumping shoulders, trading tools, arguing lightly over temperatures and timing.
Marshall steadies the pot. Wyatt adjusts the flame when I miss it. Jesse somehow ends up with honey on his elbow and no explanation for how it got there.
Time does what it always does when people stop rushing: it stretches.
The twins drift in and out, boredom giving way to curiosity and back again. Someone opens the door for fresh air. Someone else closes it when the scent gets too thick.
The honey warms. The herbs steep. We wait.
“Hold still,” I say, grabbing a cloth and reaching for Jesse’s messy arm.
“I feel like I should apologize,” he says.
“You should,” I agree, wiping him clean. “To the bees.”
When it’s finally ready, when the heat has done its quiet work and the room has settled into that deep, drowsy calm that only comes after patience, I ladle the infusion into a small jar. My hands are steady now.
