Bella had terrible morning sickness, but Abby—pregnant herself and ahead of Bella by a few months—was a huge help, offering her tips for how to fight it.
“Have you thought about what you want to do for World Bee Day?”
A brilliant smile appeared on Bella’s face. “I have! I think it would be fun to offer a couple tours of the farm, then have everyone head over to The Queen Bee Café. Candace plans on having a soft grand opening that day. We could do an early tour for lunch, and another one for dinner. Abby will have fresh bouquets of flowers for everyone to take with them, and seed packets to plant for the bees.”
“I love that idea. Plus, it’ll give the café some traffic, which will make Candace happy.”
The Queen Bee Café was really Candace’s dream. It was mostly a café, but there was a small store in it, as well, that supplied items from Adams Apiary. Bella had decided to keep the family name for the apiary, and since it was so well known and already established, I’d agreed. Bella kept the store side of the café stocked with items like honey and bee products that she made or had made locally. There were also numerous books on bees and how to start your own apiary, as well as children’s books. Bella’s main priority was to educate people on the importance of bees in order to help save them.
A smaller section of the store housed other goods from local spots like Boggy Creek Orchard, Boggy Creek Seed Farm, and Wonderland Tree Farm.
“Did you see the tile Candace picked out? It looks like a beehive.”
“I haven’t been in there yet, but I’ll be sure to swing by soon. Do you have all the products you need for the store?”
Bella shut the tailgate of the truck and laced her fingers with mine as we walked down the path back toward the house. “I do. And Candace and I interviewed a few people, and I found a couple of girls who are so excited about working in the storefront area of the café. They’ll also help with the café, if needed, but I think you had a good idea to keep the employees for the storefront and café separate. Since I’m handling the retail side, and the café is Candace’s thing.”
Nodding, I said, “I’m so happy for you and Candace, Bella.”
She smiled. “What brings you back home so early? Do you have time for me to make us some lunch?”
“I do have time, and I’d love to have lunch with my girls.” Bella smiled. I had gotten into the habit of calling the baby a girl.
“Well, your little girl is rather hungry this afternoon. I made a salad, and also planned on having a turkey and Swiss sandwich, if that sounds okay to you?”
“That sounds perfect.”
Jack, who had quickly learned he wanted nothing to do with the beehives, sat patiently on the front porch chewing on a bone. He saw Bella and ran toward her.
“Hello, my handsome boy!” Bella said as she bent down and hugged Jack. “How has your workday been today, buddy?”
Jack barked, then took off back to the porch.
“I take it that means good.”
Laughing, I nodded. “It’s been slow.” We walked up the steps of the house, and I pulled Bella to a stop.
She turned and looked at me…and her smile instantly faded. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. It’s just…I need to tell you something, and I’m not sure how you’re going to react.”
Chewing on her lip, she looked away and then back up at me. “Do you think I’m going to be upset? Mad?”
“You might get mad at me because I, um… I lied to you.”
She took a few steps back.
“Wait, it’s nothing like that. Let’s go in and get our food, and we’ll talk while we eat.”
Bella nodded, and we made our way into the house with Jack at our feet.
We worked together in a comfortable silence while Bella made our salads, and I made the sandwiches.
“No mayo. I want avocado, please,” she said.
I nodded and internally gagged, but made her sandwich the way she wanted. I swore Bella put avocado on everything now. Her toast. Her eggs. Even in her yogurt, which nearly had me running to the bathroom to throw up the first time I saw her eat it.
“Want to sit on the back porch? It’s beautiful outside,” Bella suggested.
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
We headed to the back porch and sat at the small table we’d placed out there.
“Okay, so tell me what you lied about, and I’ll decide if I should be mad or not.”
I wanted to laugh, but honestly wasn’t sure what was about to happen. “I found something out today, and I wanted to tell you about it. It’s connected to what I lied to you about. But to be fair, I wasn’t the only one who lied. Kyle, Bishop, and Aiden lied too.”
The corner of her mouth twitched with a hidden smile as she nodded and waited for me to go on.
“Colby Wilkins is in jail for multiple counts of rape.”
Her face drained of all color. “What? How did you know…”
When her voice trailed off, I cleared my throat. “I found out through Lori Dexter. She told me his name and where he lived.”
Bella blinked a few times, then put her sandwich down and leaned back in her chair. Without saying a word, she waited for me to go on.
“I hired someone to follow him for a bit. Do you remember back in March, when we all went on that ice fishing trip? The day before you told me you were pregnant?”
She slowly nodded.
“Well, we didn’t just go fishing. We stayed at Kyle’s cabin…but we also made a trip up to Maine so I could confront Colby.”
Her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped. “Why would you do that?”
“I was angry, Bella. I wanted to beat the shit out of him. Truth be told, I wanted to kill him, but with Aiden, Kyle, and Bishop there, kicking his ass was about all I could have done.”
She closed her eyes, and I could tell she was attempting to remain calm. Then her eyes snapped open. “Did you?”
Confused, I asked, “Did I what?”
“Kick his ass?”
I nearly laughed. Christ, I love this woman. “No, we didn’t get that far. We interrupted him trying to rape another woman.”
Her eyes went wide, and she brought her hand to her stomach. She looked white as a ghost. “Oh God!” Bella glanced down, and for a moment I thought for sure she was going to faint. She buried her face in her hands and started to breathe rapidly.
Jack was instantly up and at her side, whining as he pushed his snout into her hands.
“Arabella, are you okay?” I asked, jumping up and rounding the table before dropping to my knees. When she moved her hands, I saw that she was crying.
“Oh God, Hunter! If I had reported the rape… If I’d just had the courage to stand up to him… How many other women has he raped?”
I took her hands in mine. “Don’t do that. Please don’t do that. It is not your fault. You’re not the only woman who’s never reported a rape. Remember what Christina said? You are not at fault for anything he did or has done since.”
She nodded and wiped her tears. “Have there been others?”
Exhaling, I said, “Since his arrest, four other women have come forward. One of them was a girl he raped in college, the year before he raped you. She was also too afraid to report it. Afraid of him. He threatened her family and said he could have her father put in jail.”