Chapter Eighteen Bee

Chapter Eighteen Bee

Saturday morning, December 16, 2023

Bee leaned her head back against the booth cushion and took a deep, steadying breath. Before she and Jimmy left the tree lighting

last night, Bee had quietly pulled Bob aside and asked if he might have any recommendations for a quiet place to work. After

her brief meeting with Taylor, she was entirely uneager to run into any familiar faces at the coffee shop again.

He recommended a Denny’s just a few minutes out of town, so she’d woken up early the next morning and hopped in the car as

soon as she was dressed. She didn’t want to lose the momentum she was so unused to having. Now she was in a corner booth tucked

away by the bathrooms, her notebook and pen laid out on the table in front of her.

She still hadn’t written anything, though. She supposed she was waiting for some of that magic from last night to seep back into her fingers.

“Well, if it isn’t Miss Bee first thing in the morning,” the waitress said to her as she approached.

Bee smiled up at Jimmy’s sister. “Good morning, Janine! I mean, Mrs. Mills—”

“Oh, that’s my maiden name, sweetheart. Technically, it’d be Mrs. Evans now, but you can go ahead and call me Janine.”

“Janine it is. I didn’t know you worked here.”

“I work down at the hospital, actually, but I’m picking up some shifts for the holidays. Christmas ain’t but nine days away,

and I’ve got a couple things on layaway for the kids.” Janine cocked her head at Bee’s notebook and pen. “You gettin’ some

work done?”

“Oh, not really.” Bee blushed. “Just jotting down some thoughts and ideas.”

“Well, don’t let me stop you. Can I get you anything—coffee? Cream and sugar?”

“That would be nice, thank you.”

“Of course, sugar.” Janine turned toward the kitchen, and then, seeming to think better of it, she turned back around. “By

the way, I wanted to thank you for getting Jimmy out of the house last night. I haven’t seen nearly enough of my brother these

last few months. And I like to think he really enjoyed himself, being around some friendly faces.”

Bee waved her hand politely. “I didn’t do anything. I just needed the company.”

“Don’t we all, baby.” Janine winked at her and then walked off.

Bee turned her attention back to her notebook. She had no idea what to write. Whatever chicken scratch she’d scribbled a couple

days before had a few nice lines, but she was determined to put something else on the page. Something a little more substantial.

She thought about writing about her childhood memories or the things that had hurt her in the past. She wrote, and then scratched

things out, and then wrote again. And then a new idea came to her, and her pen kept moving.

Bennie wasn’t like the other chickens on the farm. She had softer feathers and a whole head of fluff. But boy, did she love

to make friends.

Bee stopped herself. It was utterly silly and totally contrived. Where was she going with this? She didn’t know, but she supposed

the point was not knowing. The point was to keep going.

So, she did.

Janine came soon after with a cup of coffee, then another.

When her creative well stalled, Bee went ahead and started something else, some remnant of a story or start of a poem. She

let her mind wander, and each time she felt that trickle of doubt creep in, she pushed it away and made herself stay right

where she was, present and focused on the page.

When she finally felt like she’d made significant progress—none of it clean, hardly any of it linear—she packed up her things and made her way to the front of the restaurant to find Janine. She was standing behind the cash register, a corded black phone pressed to her ear. When she saw Bee, her eyes lit up. One minute, she mouthed.

Bee waited patiently until Janine hung up the phone. Then she handed her a twenty for the bill.

“Before you go, honey, do you have plans for Christmas Day?”

Bee blinked. “I hadn’t thought about it. I was just planning to enjoy the house, actually.”

“Well, we’d love to have you over at our place. We’re hosting this year, since my sister-in-law passed on, and I think Jimmy

would enjoy having you there.”

Bee considered saying no, but her heart was too full. “I would love to,” she said. “Thank you.”

Back at the Big House, Bee saw a familiar little chicken wandering around the grounds out front as Jimmy sat on the steps,

watching her peck at the ground.

“She doesn’t hang out much with the other chickens, I take it?” Bee asked as she closed the door of her rental car.

Jimmy laughed. “No, unfortunately not. They pick on her a little bit, the poor thing. But she’s got a friend in one of the

other animals around here, a horse we have named Tilda.”

“Oh!” Bee couldn’t hide the enthusiasm in her voice. “Knox mentioned that to me a few days ago. I haven’t had a chance to

meet her yet.”

“You haven’t?” Jimmy shook his head. “You ever ridden a horse before?”

“When I was younger,” Bee admitted. “I used to love it when I was a kid, but it’s been at least two decades.”

“Well, then, it’s about time you got back on one! Let me go and call Knox and see if he can help you out.”

Bee rushed forward to dissuade Jimmy as he stood and brushed off his pants. “Oh, no no no. That’s not necessary.”

“I know I’m still young at heart, but to be honest with you, I wouldn’t be able to take you around with Tilda for any decent

sort of ride. Plus, Knox’s family has horses of their own just around the way.” Jimmy bent down and picked Bennie up, then

set off toward the woods Bee had familiarized herself with just a few days ago. “He just passed by here about ten minutes

ago, running errands.”

“I really don’t want to trouble him, Jimmy.”

“It ain’t no trouble, girl, the boy is strong as an ox and always asking to do this and that around the farm extra. He won’t

mind. Oh, there he is. Knox!”

Knox was leaning against an old shed, a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other. He was wearing a thick parka and heavy

snow boots but no hat this morning. Instead, his dark curls fell into his squinting blue eyes. Without noticing them yet,

he raised the pen to his mouth in thought, and it was too late for Bee not to think about what it would be like if she were

the pen.

She rolled her eyes to the sky. So not the time, Bee, she scolded herself.

“Knox!” Jimmy called again as they got closer.

Knox stood up straight when he saw them and tucked the pen behind his ear. “Yes, Jimmy?”

“I was just talking to Bee over here about Tilda. I know you got work and rehearsals and whatnot before the talent show on Christmas Eve, but do you think you could squeeze in giving Bee a quick ride?”

Knox looked over at her with an eyebrow raised, and she shrugged a little helplessly. “He told me you’re the man for the job.”

“I guess I am,” he said. “What are you doing Sunday morning?”

Bee gave him a tight smile. “Nothing.” Jimmy looked between the two of them a little longer than Bee would have liked. She

cleared her throat and then clapped her hands together. “Anyway, that sounds great. I’ll see you then, Knox.”

She turned on her heel and began to walk away, but Knox caught up to her easily. “Hold on,” he said, chuckling. “At least

tell me when.”

She sighed, but tried to keep a smile on for Jimmy. “Nine? Or so.”

Knox looked back down at his clipboard and made a note. “I can do that. Oh, Fath—ah, Jimmy. Sir. I was about to drop off some

more firewood at my mom’s house and your sister’s. Do you need any?”

Jimmy nodded. “I would appreciate that, son.”

This time, Knox gave him a tight smile. Then he turned back to Bee. “Care to join me?”

She gave him a bewildered look. “Join you what?”

He shrugged. “You were getting pretty good at the axe before. Figured you might want to continue the lessons.”

Bee squinted her eyes at him. He was just being polite or, at most, frustratingly charming. It was annoying, if she was honest,

but also... hell. What did she have to lose?

“Five bucks says I can chop at least two pieces of wood without any help this time.”

“You’re on,” he said.

“Y’all have fun,” Jimmy called after them. She thought she saw him smile, but it could’ve just been her imagination. It had

been running wild lately, after all.

“What are you working on?” Bee asked as they walked together. Knox was still looking at the clipboard.

“Oh,” he said. “Just making sure everyone got their deliveries.”

“For the wood?”

“In addition to that.” Knox laughed. “Just planning a little something for the holidays.”

She followed him into the forest, but no matter how many questions she launched at him, he refused to answer her, though he

was just a little too amused by her admittedly highly piqued curiosity. Though she didn’t get any answers out of him, she did actually manage to win that five bucks, and she gloated to him about it all the way back to the Big House.

“You are mighty proud of yourself for cutting two logs in half,” he teased once the house was in sight.

“It starts with two,” Bee said, “but then—the whole forest.”

“Okay, slow down. We do need some of the trees to stay standing.”

“Fine,” Bee huffed. “I’ll contain my wrath. For now.”

Knox stared at her with an expression Bee couldn’t quite place, and then he laughed with an expression so confused, she couldn’t

tell if he knew what he was laughing at.

“What?” she asked.

“You,” he said. “I like you. You’re a special kind of different.”

Bee felt her cheeks grow hot. “I don’t know if that’s a compliment or not.”

Knox gave her a genuine smile. “It is. We need different around here. At least every once in a while.” He lifted the pile

of wood he had in his arms higher. “I’ll take this up for you and then drop off what Jimmy needs.”

“Okay,” she said.

“Thanks for accompanying me this afternoon, Bee,” he said, and she smiled.

“Trust me. The pleasure was mine.”