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“Oh, uh, I don’t know.” Her face fell and I wish I hadn’t said anything. I didn’t want to be the reason she wasn’t smiling anymore.

“Sorry. That was rude. Forget I said anything. It’s been a long weekend.”

God, I was so tired. In mind and body.

I closed my eyes and wished I was back home. By myself.

When I opened my eyes, I found Honey giving me a worried look.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You look a little pale.”

I snorted. “Yes, that is my regular complexion.” My foundation shades were always called Porcelain or Ivory or something like that.

Honey appeared to be someone who spent a healthy amount of time in the sun. I appeared as if I was likely to haunt an old dusty home.

Honey made a little huffing noise. “No, I mean, paler than usual. And your complexion is fine. Better than fine.” She fumbled a little bit over the words and her cheeks blushed a pretty pink. Fuck, she was gorgeous.

“I’m sorry,” she blurted out, going redder.

“Honey, darling, it’s time to pack up,” a voice said, and her mom wandered over. She wore a flowing dress that looked like it might have been handmade, and her hair was braided back from her face. She and Honey didn’t look much alike, which had puzzled me since Honey didn’t resemble her father much either. Though she did share features with her siblings. Genetics were interesting.

“Nice to see you, Bren,” she said, her voice and smile warm. “Have you had a good weekend?”

“Oh yes, sure,” I said as Honey pressed her lips together and looked like she was trying not to laugh.

As a result of talking with Honey so much, I now knew her parents were Sharon and Bill. Such ordinary names. Maybe that was why they’d gotten creative with their children. With the exception of Ellie, who had chosen her own name, but had decided to fit the vibe of everyone else.

“Well, we should get packed up. Honey, why don’t you give Bren a hand? We’ve got this here.”

Honey opened her mouth to argue, but Sharon squeezed her arm and then said something in her ear.

“I don’t need any help,” I said, but Sharon had already twirled away, singing, Bill joining in while Ellie skipped around, and Ember sat there on her phone. Archer was slowly putting jars of honey back in their crates as if he’d rather be doing anything else. Must be hard with so many sisters and singing parents.

Honey looked at her family and sighed.

“I should help them. We’ll never get out of here if I let them handle things.”

“I can handle my stuff if you need to go,” I told her. It would take longer for me if I had to supervise someone and tell them what to do.

Honey bit her bottom lip as if she couldn’t decide.

“Go. Be with your family. I’ve done this every week. I have a system.”

“Just give me ten minutes,” she said, touching my arm and then going to wrangle the rest of the Holloways.

I looked down at my arm where she’d touched me. Obviously there was no visual evidence of her touch. But that didn’t stop my arm from tingling.

Chapter Sixteen

Honey

I wanted to help Bren.Well, I wanted to be near Bren, at least. I knew she had her system and I didn’t want to mess with it or annoy her if I did something wrong. Bren was the kind of woman who was particular about the way she did things, I had noticed.

Once I managed to get my family moving in the right direction, I stepped beside Bren, who was packing up her book sleeves.

“Can I help? Or should I not distract you?” I asked.

She looked up and it took a moment for her eyes to focus.