Page 80 of The Beekeeper

I smiled, forever impressed by how smart she was. “If she has to.”

Her brow creased. “What if she doesn’t want to? What if she wants the old queen to come back?” Her eyes welled again. “What if she doesn’t know what to do?”

“Sometimes, nature doesn’t give her a choice,” I said softly. “But the old queen made her. She made sure she knows what to do.”

“Because the old queen was her mom.” That last word cracked on the way out.

“Exactly,” I said even though it didn’t sound like a question. “Her mom gave her everything she needs to become the new queen.”

For long seconds, Paisley stood there, processing what I’d told her. The distant thoughts in my mind started to creep closer. Was Blaze okay? Was I wrong to tell her about the dead queen? Should I have lied?

Sometimes, it was so hard—nearly impossible to know what was the right thing to do when every option felt wrong. But I had to believe that in the end, it was gentle truths that made hard things a little easier.

“Harper,” Paisley whispered, and I turned my attention instantly to her. “Did your mom give you everything you needed to become a queen?”

I drew a quick breath as my heart clenched. “She did,” I told her, my voice thick. “She was the one who loved bees—who taught me about them when I was little. She showed me it’s not one bee that’s most important, it’s the whole hive working together.”

“Even when the queen is gone,” she whispered, and as much as I admired the deep understanding Paisley seemed to have at only six years old, I still hated that she had to have it. I wished more than anything she still had her mom—her queen.

My own grief, long processed but still present, swelled in my chest. “After my mom died, my whole family came together. My dad, my brothers, my aunt, my cousins, and Gigi. We got through it because we had each other, just like you have your dad and your grandparents, your Uncle Wade and Aunt Lou, your cousins and your other aunts and uncles here⁠—”

“And you.”

My throat tightened. “Of course, me.” I managed a watery smile.

“So, you’re…my hive?”

A quick breath pushed through my lips. “Exactly,” I told her and reached out, took her hand. “Even when the queen is gone, the hive doesn’t give up.”

Paisley dropped her eyes, staring for a long second at her feet before wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand.

Movement on the trays caught my eye. The bees were waking up.

“Pais, I have to put the medicine in the hive so the bees can get better, okay?” When she nodded again, I asked, “Do you want to go inside with your dad and get some ice cream?” I tipped forward and whispered. “I hid a new carton in the freezer.”

That earned a smile, but it didn’t stay.

“I want to help you,” she said, nervously swaying on her feet. Her eyes darted up and down to Blaze and then to me like she was afraid he was going to be upset with her for panicking. “Please.” Her little hand tightened on mine and she looked about to cry again. “I don’t want to give up on the hive either.”

Oh, Paisley.

For the first time since she’d melted down, I looked over my shoulder. Blaze was staring at me with an intensity that felt like a lightning bolt as it went through me and nailed me in place. There was definitely pain there, seeing his daughter so devastated by the loss of her mother and feeling helpless because of it, but there was also something else. Something I wished I didn’t see because it felt wholly out of bounds.

His jaw flexed and then he let his chin dip, a wordless agreement, before he turned and headed back to the house alone.

“All right, let’s put these guys back to sleep and I’ll show you how we put in the medicine.” I picked up my smoker and, with Paisley standing behind me, went back to trying to save the failing hive.

I rinsed the last bowl from the sink and placed it in the dishwasher, adding a detergent packet, and then starting the cycle. Only once I could hear the chug of water in the machine did I let out what felt like my first full breath all day. My emotions had felt like they’d been walking on a tightrope for hours. Between Paisley’s breakdown, my real concern for the survival of the hive, and finally, worrying if Blaze was upset about what I’d told his daughter, I’d been on edge for too long and all I wanted right now was to take a hot shower and crawl into bed.

I glanced up at the ceiling, swearing I heard a sound coming from upstairs, but then convinced myself it must be the dishwasher. Blaze had taken Paisley to bed almost an hour ago; she would definitely be asleep by now. She could hardly keep her eyes open when he carried her from the kitchen—not even the sugar from our ice cream sundaes could keep her awake.

Paisley might’ve spent the rest of the afternoon with me at the hives, but when we came back to the house, Blaze had prepped all of Paisley’s favorite things for the rest of the night. First was homemade pizzas, Paisley wanting both pineapple and pepperoni on hers. And then the ice cream sundaes. Blaze ran to the store and picked up every ice cream topping in existence and his daughter was more than happy to try them all: sprinkles, crumbles, syrups, marshmallows. It was over the top—and she loved it.

The way Blaze looked at her though, that was over the top, too. Like if he could just give her all the good in the world, it would take away all the bad. It was an almost childlike attempt to fix things—one made of purely desperation and hope. One that broke my heart to see.

I headed for my room, craving that hot shower. I paused midway and peeked down the hall, swearing I heard footsteps upstairs. Even if I did, it would only be Blaze going from Paisley’s room to his; once she was in bed, he never came back downstairs. No matter how much I’d wanted him to, I knew he wouldn’t. He never wanted to be far enough away from her that if she woke up and needed him, he would be there.

In the bathroom, I flipped on the shower and turned it all the way hot, my mind working its way back to the hives. I knew that one was struggling but I didn’t expect the varroa mites to be so bad—bad enough that they’d killed the queen.