Surrender to Me (Boggy Creek Valley 4)

“He called me that night, and I told him it was a godsend that I’d left work early and found them. And it was. He ended up marrying her a few years later; she got pregnant and then quit the firm. He, of course, cheated on her with one of our boss’s daughters.”

Everyone gasped.

“Yeah, it all made for some serious office gossip. Needless to say, he got fired and I never saw him again.”

I slowly shook my head. “Wow. That was…some story, Bree.”

She shrugged. “I was a young, foolish girl who loved the idea of being married. I bought the dress almost immediately. We never even set a wedding date.”

“Did he give you a ring?” Greer asked.

“No,” Bree said with a laugh. “Looking back, I think he was kidding when he asked me, and I took him seriously.” She frowned for a moment. “I think I liked the idea of buying the wedding dress more than the idea of actually marrying him.”

I laughed, and Willa and Greer joined in.

“Well, it turned out good for me, because I had a wedding dress to wear!” Willa stated.

Bree pointed at her. “See? I’m sorry it wasn’t a juicier story.”

Tilting her head, Greer studied Bree. “Why do you not want to date anyone though? Someone else must have broken your heart for you to be so opposed to relationships.”

Bree paused with her fork halfway to her mouth and looked at Greer, then Willa, and finally at me. She set it down and sighed. “Christ Almighty, you’re like vultures waiting for the roadkill to die before you dig into it.”

“Isn’t roadkill already dead?” I asked.

Bree shot me a dirty look.

“So someone did hurt you. Who was he? I’ll kill him!” Willa nearly shouted.

“Calm down, Calamity Jane. No one’s killing anyone.”

Ciara started to cry, and Bree flashed a smirk. “Saved by the crying baby.”

Willa stood and pointed at Bree. “Oh, this is far from over, Brighton Rogers.”

Hunter

James and Sharon stared at me and Bella, wrapping their heads around the bomb we’d just dropped.

“Moving in together? So soon?” Sharon asked.

“Mom, it’s not like we just started dating,” Bella said with a nervous laugh.

James cleared his throat. “No, but you’ve been through an awful lot in the last few days, Arabella. Are you sure this is something you want to do? Maybe you’re acting on…emotion.”

Bella reached for my hand while James pierced me with a stare that said he was not happy.

“I am acting on an emotion. It’s called love. Dad, I’ve pushed Hunter away long enough. I want to move on with my life, and that means moving on with Hunter by my side.”

“I understand that, sweetheart, but moving in is such a big…well…thing,” Sharon stated.

Bella let out a soft breath and closed her eyes. My heart started to pound in my chest. Was she going to agree with her folks and decide not to move in with me?

After what felt like a million years, Bella opened her eyes and smiled at her folks. “Mom, Dad, I love that you’ve been there for me the last ten years and that you’ve never pushed. If it wasn’t for you and the apiary, I’m not sure where I would be right now. But what I need, more than anything, is Hunter. I need the life we planned together years ago. And I want to start that life now. I still plan on going to therapy, because I’m not naïve enough to think that everything is suddenly okay. But with Hunter by my side, things are already so much better. I…well…I need to do this.”

“What about the store? The café?” James asked.

Drawing in another breath, Bella peeked at me. I squeezed her hand. “I know how much you and Mom have been talking about retiring lately. You can’t deny you’re both burned out, and let’s be honest, I’ve pretty much been running the business side of things for the past five years anyway.”

They both nodded. I wasn’t even been aware I had been holding my breath until I was forced to take one.

“It’s winter, and Hunter bought the old Wickerman farm. There’s about one-hundred acres and plenty of room to move the bees over there.”

Sharon frowned. “Move the bees?”

I looked over at James and saw him nod his head ever so slightly. He must have already been thinking seriously about retirement. Whereas Sharon had always had the apiary right here, where she’d grew up her whole life.

“I was talking to Greer at lunch, and she said there’s a little storefront on Main Street that would be a perfect place to move the store and maybe open up a bigger café.”

“Oh goodness, Arabella Adams,” Sharon said. “You do not have time to run the apiary, a store, and a café!”

Bella laughed. “I know, especially if we want to start a family right away.”