The Sweetness of Honey (A Hope Springs Novel) Read Free

Oliver’s brother, Oscar, who’d spent the last decade unresponsive at the Hope Springs Rehab Institute. Sierra had been the passenger in the car Oscar had been driving when he’d lost control and the car had plunged down a ravine.
    The couple had been accomplished cellists, both studying at St. Thomas Prep, Sierra on a scholarship to the elite private school. Luna’s goal was to give more children than those who could afford the St. Thomas tuition the same opportunity to study music and art. Oliver had originally mocked the idea. He’d mocked a lot of things in the ten years before learning the truth of the accident. Now he served on the academy’s board, though he wasn’t sure his involvement wasn’t too little too late.
    “Saw her where?” Tennessee asked.
    “Here.” Oliver returned to the present and gestured over his shoulder toward the door. “Out front.”
    “Was she looking for me?” Ten’s gaze moved beyond Oliver as if he expected to see Indiana enter the room.
    Interesting that Ten hadn’t made the connection between his sister, Hiram Glass, and the big “For Sale by Owner” sign she hadn’t yet removed from the property’s edge. Which meant he had no idea she’d taken the house and land off Hiram’s hands. “She was looking at the acreage across the street.”
    Frowning, Ten tossed the tape measure into his toolbox, then set his hands at his hips. “Hiram’s place?”
    “It was.” Ten’s frown deepened as Oliver crossed the newly sanded hardwood floor and headed for the adjoining kitchen. “It’s her place now.”
    Ten followed, the thud of his work boots echoing through the rooms. “What are you talking about?”
    “Then you didn’t know,” Oliver said, finding a clean latte mug in the dishwasher and turning on the espresso machine.
    Ten braced a hand on the kitchen counter. “I knew the property was for sale. I didn’t know Indiana bought it. If that’s what you’re saying.”
    Oliver nodded, popped a coffee capsule into its slot, and hit the start button. The machine steamed and groaned as it forced water through the tightly packed grind. “It is.”
    “That doesn’t even make sense.” Ten crossed his arms, leaning back, his frown now trained in the direction of the front door. “Her farm is in Buda. She lives in Buda. Why would she buy that much land in Hope Springs?”
    “I can tell you what she told me. Or you could walk across the street and ask her yourself.” Oliver knew which Ten would choose. Though he’d reconciled with his sister after what Oliver understood to be a lot of years, Ten had yet to give up his loner mentality. Even his relationship with Kaylie Flynn hadn’t quite socialized him. Probably why he and Oliver got along so well. Their conversations required no more than a verbal shorthand, and each knew to respect the other man’s space.
    “Unless it’s something I should hear from the horse’s mouth, why don’t you run it down?” Ten’s response was exactly as predicted. “I’ll walk over when I break in a few for lunch.”
    Oliver returned to the table, his tablet PC, and the financial software he was using to keep track of the arts center’s expenses. He snapped the removable keyboard into place and sat, pulling the sheaf of receipts to be recorded in front of him. “She told me she was a friend of Hiram’s, and that she’d bought the place. She also remembered seeing me at Luna and Angelo’s reception.”
    “And?”
    “That was it.” Oliver brought his mug to his mouth to sip, and used it to hide the smirk he couldn’t quite help. Ten always took himself so seriously, but then Oliver was no better at lightening up.
    “That doesn’t answer my question.”
    “I never said I could answer your question.”
    Ten muttered several choice words that turned Oliver’s smirk into a smile, then returned to the cabinets in the living room, leaving Oliver alone with his coffee and his spreadsheets and his musings about Indiana