Page 40 of Lovewell Lane (Honeyfield Dreamers #1)

Derek

“Big day,” Margo whispered.

My eyes fluttered open at the sound of her voice. “Happy birthday,” I slurred.

I was half asleep, but I’d been waiting weeks to tell her that. She giggled in my ear and turned over to roll out of bed. I swung my arm up and around her waist to drag her back to my chest.

“Not so fast,” I murmured.

She wiggled to turn around to face me. “We have to get ready. It’s a big day.”

“The day can wait. This is the best part.”

I watched her face flush pink before she grabbed a pillow that wasn’t being used and shoved it in my face. “It’s too early for sap. It’s the day of the Honey Festival! We’ve been waiting for this for months. Get up!”

“Okay, okay,” I placated. “I’m up.”

“Let’s go. I’m so excited,” Margo gushed.

I wondered if we’d overhyped the Festival when telling her about it, because she was up and ready like it was Christmas morning. She rushed to get ready and was out the door after a quick kiss from me.

Tessa was just as eager once she was awake.

We got in the truck and I had to pick my jaw off the ground as we drove closer to the park.

The Festival didn’t even start until ten am.

Yet, it was eight in the morning and people were parking their cars and getting out to see the booths unpack their goods.

The town looked different when it was so full of life.

It reminded me of when I was a child and went to the Honey Festival with our whole family.

Mom loved big events like this. Jack and Calli were too little to do anything, but Sam and I would run around the whole Festival looking for things to get into.

Booths lined the circle loop of the park with colorful signs and flags hung. As the day went on, the smell of baked goods filled the air as people walked around with concessions and giant cartons of strawberries. Banners waved in the breeze. Kids ran around with sticky fingers and paper crowns.

There were more people than I could have ever hoped for.

I was starting to get anxious.

We’d pulled it off, that much was clear. People were showing up in droves. I reminded myself to thank Margo’s friend Scarlet later, whenever Margo found her way over to our booth. I nearly made Tessa pinch me when another giant crowd of people filed in to look at our tables filled with produce.

No, I wasn’t nervous about that .

I was nervous about what came after.

About Margo, and the way she looked at me last night when I asked if she wanted to tell Tessa about us. Like maybe she was starting to believe this thing between us was more than just ‘taking it slow’.

And fuck, it had been six months of knowing her, and I was tired of taking things slow.

Tessa came barreling out of the bounce house with Lila’s daughter, Sienna, not far behind. They were both laughing, cheeks pink and hair flying. Tessa had a balloon tied to her wrist and a flower with a swarm of bees painted on her face.

Luckily, our booth was situated across from the bounce house. I could watch Tessa and our business at the same time.

“Daddy! Can we go see Margo’s booth next?”

“Sure,” I said, grabbing her hand. I was tired of waiting for Margo to come to me. “Let’s walk around. I haven’t had a chance to see everything yet.”

I gave Sam a quick look after I helped cash out the next person. Then I looked behind me to see Jack sitting in a lawn chair on his phone. “Hey, cover for me will you?”

He groaned. His sunglasses covered his eyes, which hid giant eye bags that I’d seen earlier that morning when he’d moaned and complained about helping us set up. He stood up despite his complaints. “Fine.”

“Tessa and I are going to walk around. We’ll be back in a little bit.”

We wandered through the booths, stopping at the beaded bracelet station, the homemade soap corner, and one booth run by an old high school friend of mine that just sold paintings of owls. But eventually, I found her.

I spotted Margo in her corner booth, hair pulled back, apron tied tight, and her smile glowing. She looked more like herself than I’d ever seen her. Grounded. Present. Happy.

The woman I didn’t recognize next to her must be her friend, Scarlet. She was helping cash people out with a smile while staying close to Margo.

When I approached, Scarlet looked up first.

“Ohhh,” she said, nudging Margo with an elbow. “This must be the hot farmer.”

“I hate you,” Margo muttered. Then she straightened. “Hey, Tessa.”

Tessa pushed up on her tiptoes to see Margo over the table filled with stuff in front of her. “Hi! We wanted to come see you. Can I come around?”

“Of course,” Margo said to Tessa. While Tessa ran around the sea of tables, Scarlet leaned in to tease Margo.

“You love me.”

“I tolerate you.”

Scarlet turned to me and held out her hand. “You must be Derek.”

I shook it and gave Margo an amused grin. “And you must be Scarlet.”

She grinned. “Seems like we’ve heard a lot about each other.”

Tessa ran up behind Margo and gave her a hug. She picked out a cookie for Tessa to have while I turned my attention to Scarlet. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Margo pretend not to eavesdrop.

We talked for a few minutes, and I discovered Scarlet was nothing like Margo. She was blunt and reserved, but clearly cared a lot about Margo. Eventually, someone needed help on the far side of the booth, and Scarlet excused herself with a wink.

“She used to be an introvert believe it or not,” Margo muttered.

“She’s good for you.”

Margo looked at me, almost shy. “You’re not... overwhelmed by all of this?”

“Are you kidding?” I looked around, gesturing to the crowd, the booths, the buzzing life of the town. “You pulled this off. It’s amazing.”

She smiled, and I could see her mask slip off. Just for me.

“I’d like to do this again next year,” I said, quieter now. “With you.”

Her lips parted like she wasn’t sure what to say.

So I added, “If you’re thinking of sticking around. I know it was kind of left in the air. You only rented my place for six months.”

She tilted her head. “Are you asking me to?”

“I’m telling you,” I said. “You can stay with me. If you want.”

Margo didn’t blink. “That’s a big offer.”

“You have to stay!” Tessa said. “We really like having you around. Daddy smiles a lot more, and we get to do fun things together.”

Margo laughed at Tessa’s sweet reasoning before turning back to me. “You sure?”

“I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t sure.”

She was quiet for a beat. “I’ll think about it.”

I nodded, slow and even, like my heart wasn’t already racing at the thought.

“Meet me at the gazebo?” I said. “After all this?”

Her eyes softened. “Yeah,” she said. “Okay.”

“Alright, Tess. We have to get back before Jack gets grumpy and scares everyone away.” Margo gave Tessa another hug before letting her go. I reached for Tessa’s hand and walked away before quickly turning back around. “And Margo?”

Her head raised up to look at me. “Happy birthday.”

She smiled a cheek-splitting grin. I’d told her this morning, but I wanted to be able to say it hundreds of times to her in my life. The thought of being able to tell her that every year was exhilarating.