She leaned her hip against the counter. “Yes. They’re so amazing, Arabella. The way you gear them toward what the event is for, and the care and personal touches you put in them. I really think you could sell a lot more if folks other than your close friends and family knew about them.”
I chewed on my lip as I thought it over. “It sounds like a great idea. But to be honest with you, I’m so busy with the apiary, the store, and the café now—and with Hunter being back in my life—I don’t know where I’d find the time to do them. I love doing them. So much… It’s just about finding the time.”
A wide smile erupted on her face. “And you’d like to spend more time with Hunter?”
“Yes, I would like that.”
She winked. “I hope you kept the outfit Bree gave you.”
I felt my cheeks heat. She didn’t need to know I most certainly had kept it. “Don’t you have quiche to make?”
She scoffed. “Please, I can make quiche and talk about fashion, makeup, sex—you name it. I can multitask like no one’s business.”
I laughed. “I’m sure you can, but Hunter and I are taking things slowly.”
Candace paused what she was doing and turned to me. “Okay, I get wanting to go slow. But, girl! How can you keep your hands off a man like that? Have you seen him? The man is hawt!”
I folded my arms over my chest. “Yes, I have, thank you very much.”
“And you don’t want a piece of that?”
I huffed, then awkwardly said, “Of course I want…a piece of that.”
She arched a single brow. “Why does that sound so precious coming from you?”
I laughed. “Things are…complicated.”
It was her turn to huff. “All I know is if a man looked at me the way Hunter looks at you—like he’s jealous of the sun and moon rays for getting to touch you—I’d be making things less complicated.”
I smiled. “The last time Hunter and I made love was in the back of his truck.”
Candace dropped the spoon she was using to mix with. She sat on the stool at the island and prompted me with her hand. “Keep talking.”
A nervous chuckle slipped free. “Oh, Candace. Hunter was—no, he still is the most romantic man I’ve ever met. He told me we were going to a movie and picked me up in his daddy’s old truck that he’d given to Hunter to take to college. Anyway, he pulled into this open field on the back side of the orchard. It was Christmas break, so it was cold and had been snowing nearly all day. He parked and told me to wait in the truck and not to peek.”
She propped her chin up on her hand. “Did you peek?”
“No,” I said with a laugh. “I kept my eyes closed. He had bought this tent that fit over the bed of a truck. Inside it, in the back of the truck bed, he’d set up all these blankets and pillows. He even had a little heater going. He had popcorn and Milk Duds—they were my favorite at the time—and his laptop. We snuggled up under that tent and watched Steel Magnolias because he knew it was one of my favorite movies.”
Candace let out a sigh, waving at her face as if cooling herself off.
“Then after the movie, he made love to me…and I knew in the depths of my soul that I would love him forever and a day. He asked me to marry him that night. I don’t think he meant to,” I chuckled. “But he did, and I said yes.” My smile faded and I closed my eyes. “Little did I know that a few months later, my world would be shattered.”
A serious expression crossed over Candace’s face. “Bella, I apologize if I’m about to step over the line or assume something, but were you raped?”
I snapped my eyes open and stared at her. “What?”
Candace reached across the island for my hand. “If I’m wrong, I’m so sorry to have assumed.”
For a good thirty seconds, I wasn’t able to say anything. “How did you know I was raped?”
She shrugged. “I saw a lot of trauma in the few years I was in medical school. And I have a habit of noticing things about people. I put two and two together.”
All I could do was nod.
“I won’t pretend to know what that’s like, Arabella. But I do see the way the two of you look at each other. And I can only imagine that when he touches you, that night in his truck isn’t the memory popping into your mind.”
I pressed my lips together tightly.
Candace smiled, and Lord, there was something about that smile of hers. It radiated love and peace. She squeezed my hand gently. “So, what you need to do is draw that memory up, and not the bad ones. You’ve given them enough space in your head, don’t you think? It’s time the good memories moved to the surface and the old get buried where they belong.”