Sweet, just like honey

When a writer travels to interview a handsome beekeeper on his farm, she never expects to stumble upon romance

- Stacey Weeks

Erin Evans stepped out of her car and shielded her eyes from the afternoon sun. Fields of wildflowers unfolded before her, bobbing their heads in the gentle breeze. They stretched toward the horizon, where neat rows of wooden bee boxes stood like tiny houses.

The air hummed with nature’s background music—chill, gentle and, if she were honest, a bit nerve-wracking. Erin wasn’t exactly afraid of bees, but she wasn’t used to seeing or hearing so many in one place. Her experience with the insect was more panic-at-the-picnic than admire-in-a-meadow.

A man she assumed was Adam Hayes emerged from a nearby barn. With the sun behind him, it looked like a scene from a cozy countryside romance novel. Erin wasn’t sure what she’d expected when she accepted this feature article assignment on local beekeepers, but it certainly wasn’t this rugged, early-40s man with a bright smile.

He looked every bit the part of a storybook hero—faded jeans, a plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled just right and boots that had seen some serious dirt. Except this wasn’t a movie. She wasn’t the heroine. And there was no reason at all for her throat to dry up or her stomach to flip. She wasn’t trying to fall into a rom-com moment, yet here she was, licking chapped lips and willing her belly to settle.