Chapter Four
Mel
"Are you sure you're okay with us staying here?" I asked Aunt Dorrie, looking between her and Mattie. At thirty-two, it felt incredibly weird to be imposing a long-term stay on her, even if she was family.
"Of course, of course. I'd be offended if you stayed anywhere else. After all, if you weren't staying here, who would help me feed the bees at midnight and again at three in the morning?"
"Three in the morning?" I asked, surprised. I couldn’t think of a single time growing up around her and her bees when she’d ever mentioned nighttime bee feedings.
"Yeah, midnight feedings and three am feedings. They eat every 3 hours. I'm so glad you'll be around to help."
My excitement was quickly evaporating, but I could deal with it for a couple of months. Aunt Dorrie had been doing it for years and needed the help. I could suck it up. How bad could it be?
Aunt Dorrie's laughter cut through my thoughts. Through her laughter, she managed to say, "I'm just messing with you."
"Seriously?" I asked, rolling my eyes. It'd been a while since I'd seen her, but apparently some things didn't change.
"I know you’re rolling your eyes."
Mattie was laughing loudly as I just stared at her before pointing at my sunglasses still on my face. “How? You can’t even see my eyes.”
She grinned, "Don't have to, I know you."
Mattie elbowed me in the side, saying, "She's not wrong."
After a moment, I had to laugh. "Glad you're happy to have me here."
"Of course I am!" Aunt Dorrie said and turned to Mattie. "And you too, dear, I wish you were staying longer, though. Cammie's going to be so sad to see you leave again."
"You didn't tell her I was coming, right?"
"No, no, I kept it a secret. She's going to be so excited to see you. I don't really know how you're going to hide from her until dinner tomorrow, though."
"Should be easy enough. I can just nap and help Mel with all those every three-hour bee feedings."
We all laughed at that.
"I promise they're not that much work, but if you both want to suit up tomorrow, I can show you guys how it's done."
"Sounds like fun!" Mattie said happily.