Queen Bee (Lowcountry Tales #12)(91)

“You’ve got some imagination,” I said. “You should write a book!”

“What? You don’t think that’s a plausible scenario?” Mark said.

“I wouldn’t know. But I do know that if I was Sharon, I wouldn’t be taking on almost two hundred thousand bees with one little spray gun.”

“Two hundred thousand? How many hives you got?” Mark’s jaw was somewhere in between the table and the floor.

“Three. The real number is probably closer to one seventy,” I said. “But there’s not a doubt in my mind that she didn’t know that. She probably thought that maybe there were a thousand or so in the hives. Most people do.”

“Just so you know, we’re not entirely out of the woods yet. While I know there’s not a judge that would hear the case of you telling the bees to kill her, to some people you’ve got something potentially dangerous in your yard, and there’s still the civil suit from her parents.”

“Let them sue me. What I really cared about was Archie and his little boys, and I’ve lost them now. It’s not even my fault.”

“That doesn’t seem right,” Mark said. “I’ll bet they come around. Give them some time.”

I looked at Mark, and I hoped I didn’t seem ungrateful, because he had gone to an awful lot of trouble on my behalf.

“Mark, I hope you know how much I appreciate what you’ve done for me. For my whole family, really. I just wish we could make the rest of this nightmare go away.”

“Well, we got rid of the criminal piece of Sharon’s death, and I’d call that a good start.” He winked at me. “My grandmother was a beekeeper. Kept bees for probably fifty years. So I know how it is with honey bees. Around here, anyway. But I never realized she kept that many bees, I gotta say.”

So he knew.

“Maybe it was just a coincidence. And I don’t think they would’ve swarmed her—if they did, that is—unless she provoked them, which she did. In any case, she shouldn’t have been sneaking around in my backyard.”

“Agreed. So, I’ve got to push on. I’ve got depositions all afternoon. Nothing as colorful as this, however.” He stood to leave. “Now, should anyone from the press or television call, tell them you’re not talking except to say it’s a great relief to know that the bees had nothing to do with Sharon’s death and that you offer condolences to her family as well as Archie’s. And not one more word after that, okay?”

“Okay. Come on. Let me cut some flowers for Darlene. I’ll give you a container of water to put them in.”

“That would be awfully nice. Thank you.”

I sent Mark away with dozens of roses and dahlias and he couldn’t get over the fragrance. He said they smelled like heaven. I had to agree.

I looked over at Archie’s house. I couldn’t understand the silence. At this point he had to know the truth about what really happened. Why didn’t he want to talk to me? Maybe he was freaked out that he had to go through another funeral. Maybe he was unhappy that the boys weren’t mourning Sharon. Maybe he was embarrassed that he hadn’t done enough to protect his boys. Maybe, maybe, maybe. The fact was that their curtains were closed, and I only saw the boys as they ran to and from the house.

Hunter had finally healed well enough to be back on his bicycle and tearing down the street with Tyler in his wake. I called Maureen to give her the update and see what she might know.

“No kidding. A heart attack! Wow,” she said.

“Yep, and she was the one trying to kill my bees, not the other way around.”

“I’ll be darned. Well, the boys have been over here a lot, swimming and playing with Matthew. They seem to be fine. In fact, they seem the happiest I’ve seen them since Tyler’s birthday.”

“I’ll bet so. Now, there’s going to be a funeral, and I’m sure I’m not welcome there, even though she was the one trespassing with bad intentions.”

“That’s nonsense, Holly. You should absolutely go to the funeral. If you don’t, you’ll look guilty.”

“Maybe,” I said. “You know what? This might sound crazy, but in some really weird way, I feel like I’m being punished for Sharon’s bad behavior. Is that my imagination or does the world just have to have someone to blame?”

“I know what you mean, but I think that once the truth gets around, people’s suspicions will go away.”

“I hope you’re right.”

I was working on convincing myself of my complete innocence and doing a so-so job of it. I wondered what would happen if I tried to enlist the bees’ help with Archie. Maybe I’d just go sit with them for a bit and calm myself.

I felt a little shaken that the boys transferred their affection for me so quickly into a friendship with Matthew, but then I knew in my heart that all those little boys ever wanted after they lost their mother was to feel normal again. Sharon in their lives was a thousand steps backward, but a friendship with a classmate who had a nice family was a much-needed leap forward. Still, when I should’ve been congratulating myself on a job well done—that is, helping the boys survive their hideous stepmother and their useless father—I couldn’t help missing having them around. Or being needed.

Leslie and Momma came in around four o’clock.