I smiled. “Thank you so much for being there for me and never pressuring me for answers. And thank you for getting me out of the house and back into the real world again, Willa. If it wasn’t for you, I’m not sure if Hunter and I would have found our way back to each other.”
“You would have,” Willa said. “I know that for a fact.”
Bree nodded. “That man is so madly in love with you, Arabella, it’s not even funny. I think eventually he’d have done something to win you back.”
“So, what happened this morning?” Greer asked as we all went back to eating.
“He asked me to move into the farm house with him. He’s been waiting to move in…and I said yes.”
They all stared at me with shocked expressions.
“I think we’ve wasted enough time being apart. I’m going to tell my parents today that I’m moving out of the cabin and into the Wickerman place with Hunter.”
Willa nearly bounced out of her seat. “You’re moving in together? Oh my gosh, Arabella! This is huge!”
“Well, I say it’s about damn time!” Bree said before she popped a grape into her mouth.
“What about the apiary, the store, and the café?” Greer asked. “I mean, I’m over-the-moon happy you’re moving in with Hunter, but what about the life you’ve made at the apiary?”
I chewed on my lip, then put my sandwich back down. “My folks have been hinting about retiring, and I don’t blame them one bit. My mom has been taking care of the bees almost her entire life. I know they both want to step down, but haven’t done so because they’ve been worried about me. And I won’t give up the bees. I’d be lost without them.”
“So what will you do with the bees at your folks’ place if you move to the farm with Hunter?” Bree asked.
“Move them.”
Greer’s eyes went wide. “You can do that?”
I nodded. “Yes. As long as I’m moving them more than three miles it’ll be fine, and Hunter’s farm is well over that.”
Willa asked, “Why more than three miles?”
“They won’t recognize their surroundings and will learn their new location. The nice thing about moving them to the farm is…well, Abby, your folks’ flower farm butts up against Hunter’s land.”
“What about all that lavender you’ve planted? Will you leave it there?” Abby asked.
“Can we transplant it?”
Abby’s eyes lit up. “Yes! We can’t divide them since they’re a woody shrub, and if you split them down the middle they’ll die. But yes, we can totally transplant them to the new apiary in late winter or early spring.”
“Perfect! I’ll most likely move the bees soon, since it would be best to do it in the winter while they’re all in the hives. I just need to talk to my folks and Hunter about it all.”
Greer started to laugh. “This is all so wonderful. Now we just need to find you a man, Bree!”
Bree’s head snapped to the side, and she gave Greer a horrified expression. “Come again?”
“We need to find you a man,” Greer repeated.
“The hell we do.” Bree pushed her plate away. “The last thing I’m interested in is a relationship. Been there, done that.”
Willa leaned forward. “Are you going to tell us how you just so happened to have a wedding dress laying around that I could use to marry Aiden?”
Greer pointed her fork at Bree. “That’s right. Spill the beans.”
Bree let out a nervous laugh. “This isn’t about me right now, ladies. We’re here this afternoon to talk about Arabella and all the hot sex she got last night that’s left her looking rather flushed and well-fucked.”
I nearly choked on my chicken salad sandwich. “What!”
“You do look well-fucked, not gonna lie. I’m a little jealous,” Bree said as she shrugged one shoulder.
I blinked, looking around at each of them. “We’re done talking about me and how…well-fucked I am.” The three of them started to laugh, and I fought to hold my own smile back. “I think we need to hear more about this wedding gown.”
Bree sighed and leaned back in her chair. “Fine. If I tell you, can we drop it?”
We all nodded.
“I met this guy shortly after I started at the law firm. We hit it off, things moved quickly, we thought we were madly in love, and he asked me to marry him. I stupidly said yes, because I thought I wanted to be married, and to him. Then, life got in the way. Both of our careers really took off, and we worked long hours and hardly saw each other.
“He left the office early one day, and I thought I’d surprise him. The surprise was on me, because he was at his house—which I had the key to—and in his bed…with his secretary riding the hell out of him. The crazy thing was, I wasn’t even upset. I just turned, walked out the door, and tossed the key on the table on my way out of his place.