Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 137131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Christ, what am I getting myself into?
Colt walks in as I’m still processing how best to deal with this level of crazy, and when I pick up my phone, he gets a good look at the screen and stops cold.
“Dad, why are you looking at potassium permanganate?
“Potassium perma-what now?” I stare at him.
“It’s an oxidizing agent. They use it a lot in hospitals for sanitation. It’s bright purple like that.”
Have I mentioned how much my little mad scientist scares me sometimes?
“No, Colt, this is honey. Apparently.”
“Honey—what? Does honey get purple?”
“Supposedly, yes. I’m going to find out in person.” I pinch the bridge of my nose again. Odds are good I’ll regret this tomorrow, but I’ve already committed. “I’m headed out there now to take a look. Do you want to come and get some fresh air?”
“Hell yeah!” He punches the air. “Uh, sorry.”
If he’s this excited to leave the house for purple honey, I guess being grounded is getting to him.
Good. That’s the entire point.
It also means there’s an extra pressure in my chest as we head out together, back to the place where all our latest troubles started.
When we get to Solitude, Winnie’s waiting for us.
She throws the door open the second we pull up in the driveway.
“You brought Colt along? Nice!” she says, her eyes shining as she sees him. “Come on in, guys.”
“Hey, Winnie,” he says almost shyly.
“It’s good to see you again. Your dad treating you okay?”
“Could be better.” Colt grins up at me.
“His dad is right here,” I say dryly.
Her smile is infectious as hell, I’ll give her that, bright-green eyes dancing as she leans closer to Colt.
“Blink twice if you need help,” she whispers, loud enough for me to hear.
Colt laughs.
I press my lips together so my amusement doesn’t show.
Gone is the broken, lost bird from before. In her place, there’s this fairy creature whose energy is palpable.
She beckons us to follow, her fingers fluttering, and Colt takes a seat by the island, just like before.
I lean against the counter, not wanting to get too comfortable.
“So,” I say. “Purple honey, huh?”
“I did some investigating before I called you. You saw the pictures, right?”
“Yes, I saw the pictures.”
“Right, well, that says it all.” She beams at me. “I checked out the woods around your property to see if I could find anything obvious that might explain it. There’s a rare crop of kudzu and black locust trees about half a mile in.”
“That’s what’s causing it?” I ask, unsure I’m following her.
“Yes! Probably, I mean. It’s unusual this far north—the purple color—and I’ve never seen this exact shade before. I can’t find a good match looking online.” Unable to keep still, she starts pacing. “It’s crazy, though. I never thought I’d find anything like this here.”
I glance at Colt, but he’s just propped his head up on one hand, watching her movements. If she’s not careful, she’ll burn a hole through the wood flooring.
“Do you have more land?” she asks suddenly.
“What?”
“More acreage? Do you own any of the forest?”
I fold my arms. “What does it matter to you?”
Although my property line extends generously into the woods, I’m not just leasing it out to bee-obsessed wackos.
“You could expand the hives and sell this stuff like crazy.” She stops pacing and stops in front of me, staring up, all big green eyes and fierce dreams.
I have to take a step back. I’ve never seen this much passion before.
“I’m not surrounding this place with bees, Winnie. They’re upscale rentals, and most folks in our demographic like their getaways bug free.”
“Okay, okay. That’s fair.” Striding off again, she rubs her temples like she’s trying to think, to find just the right words to convince me to join her next crazy scheme.
Instead, I scope out the place.
The black trash bag is still crumpled on the floor where she left it. I wonder if she’s having second thoughts or if she needs some help getting rid of it.
Leaving everything behind on your wedding day must be damn hard. If her tears the other day were any indication, she’s definitely struggling. At least, she was before the enchanted honey showed up.
Fucking bees.
Of everything that might have pulled her out of that slump, I never expected it to be bees and their weird purple goo.
But this is a place made for rest and relaxation. Surrounding the property with busy hives doesn’t exactly give those vibes. I’ve already had to add a clear disclaimer to the bottom of the property about the bee presence just in case anybody with a serious allergy ever tries to rent it.
Something I don’t think she read before she showed up.
Hell, judging by how she behaves, she didn’t bother reading through the website fully—she checked if it was available and booked it on the fly.
“Are you going to collect it?” Colt asks Winnie.