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

she showed the world to the truth of all that festered. Months later, and she’d yet to smooth out what had been disturbed.
    Having lost Will somewhere on their tour around the cottage, she pushed aside a tall bunch of weeds and stepped into the clearing where he’d parked, only to find Tennessee standing there instead. “Hey, you,” she said, feeling her smile to her toes. “What’re you doing over here?”
    “Looking for you,” he said, nodding beyond her shoulder toward Will, who was just emerging from the jungle that had been Hiram’s backyard. “And him.”
    “How did you know where I was?” Indiana ducked away from a bee buzzing her face, then answered her own question. “Oliver told you he saw me, didn’t he?”
    Tennessee pulled his gaze from Will, who’d said nothing as he’d stopped at her side, and frowned down at her. “Yeah, and I’m glad he did or I wouldn’t have known you’d bought the place.”
    “I had every intention of telling you.” She’d missed her brother so much during their estrangement, though he was the one who’d removed himself from her life. But this Tennessee, stiff and severe and ready to pass judgment, was not exactly her favorite person. “I wanted to wait until everything was settled. I wanted it to be a surprise.”
    He didn’t even give that time to sink in, but said, “You didn’t want me talking you out of it, you mean?”
    That was when Will stepped forward. “Why would you want to talk her out of it?”
    Her brother bristled. “Your business is across the street, Will. Not here.”
    Really? Did they have to do this today? Indiana reached up to push her hair from her face. “Actually, he has business here, too. I asked him to stop by this morning.” Though only if he had time—an instruction he’d obviously ignored.
    “To do what?”
    It was tell-all time, whether she was ready or not. “I wanted Will to walk the property with me, and to look at Hiram’s cottage. I’m going to set up a greenhouse annex here, with Keller Construction’s help, I hope. I’ll grow heirloom vegetables to sell at local farmers markets, along with the honey from the bees.”
    “What happened to IJK Gardens?” Tennessee asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the rear quarter panel of Will’s truck. “You get tired of selling produce to local grocers?”
    “No. I didn’t get tired of selling produce to local grocers. That’s my bread and butter.” She didn’t need to be defensive. She’d done nothing wrong; in fact, she was finally doing everything right, involving Tennessee in her life, insisting he allow her into his. “If you’d like to hear about my plans, I’m happy to take you and Kaylie to dinner and share.”
    “And Will?” Will asked.
    “You just heard most of my plans,” she said, brushing him off to get back to Tennessee.
    But her brother didn’t miss a beat. “So you told him before you told me.”
    “Uh-uh. Don’t even . . .” Head canted, she jammed her hands at her hips and considered the man and his attitude. “Dinner or not?”
    “Sure. When?”
    “What’s good for you and Kaylie?”
    “Tonight?”
    Did that mean he was anxious to hear her out, or that he wanted to shoot her down as soon as he could? And why did she automatically jump to such an uncharitable conclusion where Tennessee was involved?
    She hated feeling as if she needed to defend her life—or her actions—to her brother. Because that’s what this was: Tennessee trying to keep her safe, if even from herself, while she proved to him she didn’t need a keeper. It wasn’t rocket science, figuring this out, what with the history they shared.
    “Tonight then,” she told him, which earned her a nod. “Malina’s? Or one of the places out on the freeway?”
    He cocked his head while considering his options, a gesture so similar to hers that emotion choked her. “There’s a new steak house just south of the Hope Springs exit. I’ve been wanting to give