Sweet as Honey (Aster Valley 2)

“It was the middle of the night,” I told her. “I was hardly of sound mind.”

She pulled back and studied my face, keeping a light grip on my upper arms. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “Bruised in spirit but not in body.”

“I was at the diner when I heard. Fair warning, I’m fairly sure half the town is on the road behind me. Everyone wants to know how you’re doing.” She flicked her eyes back over to Sam before adding, “And Mikey and Tiller were there asking about the sheriff’s pension fund. Seems like some shit is going down.”

Just then the sound of the gate buzzer blasted again. I needed to find a way to turn that down or I was going to go gray in my twenties.

I opened the gate and pressed the button that would keep it open if multiple people were coming. Besides, with Chaya and Sam here, I was plenty safe.

“Chaya, have you met Sam Rigby?” I stepped back to introduce the two of them. Chaya flitted her eyelashes at Sam which seemed to make him oddly nervous.

She grinned at him before reaching her hand out. “You were preoccupied when we saw each other at the diner the other day,” she teased. “Nice to meet you. Thank you for looking after my brotato chip.” She reached out and tousled my hair.

I tried explaining to Sam with my eyes that Chaya was an odd duck. He winked at me and reached to shake her hand. “It’s my pleasure. I love brotato chips.”

God, he was so fucking hot. And his voice was sexy enough to make me almost forget the Honeyed Lemon had burned down.

But not quite.

“Did you drive by the shop? How did it look?”

She frowned. “Not good. Except the brick looks solid. The windows are mostly broken. Part of the street is blocked off, and there were official-looking vehicles there. It looked like there might have even been a state fire investigator there.”

“Good,” Sam muttered. “Maybe a state investigator will be objective.”

I glanced at him, knowing he was bound to be upset about the note I’d just shown him. “Agreed.”

He held his coffee mug in one hand but used the other to reach for my hand, threading our fingers together and holding on to me as if we were boyfriends. Chaya’s eyes practically bugged out of her head, and I felt my face heat.

I didn’t want her getting any ideas. It wasn’t a boyfriend thing, just a comfort thing.

Tiller and Mikey’s SUV crunched to a halt outside next to Chaya’s vehicle and Pim’s Volkswagen. Mia and Mindy followed closely behind in their Subaru, and I spotted Nina’s ranch pickup truck behind them. Even though the reason for the meet-up wasn’t a good one, I was secretly a little excited to have everyone here. I felt cared for and supported.

Part of a community.

After stepping through the front door to wave everyone inside, I turned to put on another pot of coffee and see if I had any kind of food I could put out.

As soon as Pim and Bill came in, followed by their teenaged son, Solomon, I saw my worry over food wasn’t necessary. Solo was loaded down with trays of breakfast treats.

“Where do you want these, Mr. Sweet?” he asked. I’d told him to call me Truman a million times, but he refused. Since he worked for me part-time at the shop, he insisted on treating me like a proper boss.

My heart dropped as I realized I wouldn’t need him at the shop for a while, but then I quickly realized I could use his help here on the farm instead, if he wanted it. My face must have shown my roller coaster of emotions, because Sam squeezed my shoulder and asked if I was okay.

“Yeah. Just… adjusting, you know? It’ll be a new normal.”

He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “You’re strong as hell. You’re going to rock this.”

I turned to see my kitchen full of friends and neighbors, coffee and pastries, laughter and hugs, and gossip and teasing.

Within seconds, this kitchen had turned from a lonely reminder of the loss of Aunt Berry to a living memorial of the legacy she left and the hopes she’d had for me. By giving me her gift of healing and planting, by giving me the shop and the farm, she’d given me a sense of place, a community.

And now they were here in her kitchen surrounding me with the kind of friendship I’d always longed for but never thought I’d find.

I knew everyone in here because of my shop, because, despite my fear of rejection, I’d worked hard to be a quiet, contributing member of the Aster Valley community. Mia and Mindy owned the yarn shop a few stores down from mine, Bill and Pim owned the diner, and Nina owned a dude ranch on the edge of town. I noticed she’d also brought her friend Carlin, who owned the new tack store in town.