The Beekeeper

by S.M. Shade

I don’t own a gun. I have a knife and pepper spray.” “Well if anyone is there, cut and season their ass before asking any questions, you hear me?”

“So, you met him?” “If throwing the peaches at his feet and running off counts as meeting, then yes.” Laughter fills the fragrant kitchen. “I panicked! It was getting dark, and he stepped out of the woods like Slenderman. I almost peed myself.”

“Do you want to come with me, and I’ll show you? It’s a beautiful view.” His invitation catches me off guard. “Now?” “Unless you’re busy. I’m pretty sure there’s another sunset scheduled for tomorrow night if this isn’t a good time.”

This banter is freaking amazing!

“I texted my friend that I’m with you so if I’m being lured as a human sacrifice or dinner for zombies, you’ll be the main suspect. I’m just saying.” He glances down at me with a flash of a smile. “Don’t worry. The corpses don’t reanimate until midnight. We have plenty of time.”

I’m not typically hanging out with dead folks at night.” “They aren’t bad company if you don’t mind doing all the talking.”

“Will you take back that broody remark?” I tease. Her lips press together as she pretends to think about it. “Mm, quiet introspective beekeeper doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, but I’ll think about it. It’s an upgrade from where you started at Graveyard Creeper.” “Okay, Peach Bandit.”

“Peach Bandit looking for severed limbs in a cooler is probably a little intense for a kid’s book.” “Everyone’s a critic,” she giggles, getting to her feet.

“Maybe if you’d paid more attention to him instead of spending all your time at the diner, he wouldn’t have needed to look somewhere else.”

“You’re lucky I can’t afford to pay bail again.” “I can,” Calli declares and abruptly punches Sandra in the eye.

“We’re just friends.” “Save that bullshit to fertilize your garden, my dear.

Silver turns and crosses her arms, leaning against the bumper of her truck. “Imagine seeing you here.” “I found him abandoned on a doorstep. In the Arms of an Angel was playing on his phone. It was pitiful,” I tell her before Lee can speak.

Through the swirl of emotions that I’m trying to wrangle, a mirthless chuckle escapes me when I realize why the cupped hands drawing in front of me looks familiar. “I watched you start on this. The first week I moved in.” It’s his turn to be surprised. “You follow me?” “Well, not through the fucking woods like you did me, but online, yeah,” I scoff.

“That’s why you want to be around me?” I clarify, fighting to keep my voice even. “Because it helps you draw?” He walks toward me with an adamant shake of his head. “No, I want to be around you because you’re amazing. You’re sweet and smart and fun. I love talking to you. The way we can spend an entire night talking about everything and nothing, I’ve never had that sort of connection with anyone before. You don’t just shine, Calliope, you blind me with it.”

“I’m falling in love with someone who doesn’t feel the same way.” Her face softens and she nods, pulling a tissue out of her bag to hand to me when a tear leaks out. “I’m sorry.” “Happens all the time, right?” I ask, trying to keep my voice light as if that might change things. “So why does it feel like the world is ending?” “Because love is a world all its own and the end of any world is tragic.

“I think love is what we are at our core before the world puts its hands on us. I don’t know if it’s negative or positive or somewhere in-between, but it’s human. It’s what we do, what we’re best at.”

She’s so fun to tease. I never get tired of it. “Look, it’s nothing to be ashamed about. I’m very irresistible.” “Get in the bed, dumbass.”

We move from room to room, taking our time while we’re both in our element, discussing art. The last drawing is the one of Calliope, draped over the log, staring up at the stars. A full minute ticks by as he stares at it in silence before he turns to look at me, his eyes shining. “You’re in love,” he says softly. The remark catches me completely off guard. “What?” His gaze returns to the drawing. “You’re in love with her. Christ, Arlow, this is a masterpiece. Don’t sell it.” His

It’s so unfair that someone like that—as beautiful and special as her—could want me, maybe even love me when I can’t accept it. Insult to injury a thousand times over.

love doesn’t come along every day. I’ve never met anyone who makes me feel like your mother does. If you find that, do whatever is necessary to keep it. It’s worth it, son. It’s worth everything you have.”

It’s nice to read about love that always somehow finds a way. It’s too bad real life isn’t like that.

Arlow walks out just as I’ve finished a particularly scorching scene. My mouth dries up at the sight of him and my words fall out without a moment’s thought. “Oh, you’re doing that on purpose.” His brows dip in confusion and he freezes in place, looking down at me. “What?” “Gray sweatpants and bare chest? Have some mercy. Your parents are right down the hall.”

“How’s your mom?” Calli asks. “Sitting in her wheelchair in the office right now. She was getting cabin fever, and it was either bring her to work with me or push her into the road.”

Wait until I introduce you to peanut butter and syrup sandwiches.” “Well, now you’re just making shit up.”

“Someone’s coming.” I’m not proud of the thought that hits me in the first few seconds, before I recognize who it is. We’ll have to dig a deeper hole.

“This frail thread that connects us to our lives can be cut so easily. You never know how much time you have. Don’t waste it.”

She looks down at the body of her mother slumped a few feet in front of her, then back at me. Wide blue eyes washed to silver under the bright light find mine as she says, “We’re going to need more bushes.”

I’m not speeding. I just need to get around this guy out here taking his car for a walk.”

Love isn’t what it’s portrayed to be, a soft fragile thing draped in flowers and hearts and sweet words. It’s gritty and painful and terrifying. It reveals truths about our nature and shows us we’re capable of things we never imagined doing before.

Love exposes us. Like a swelling sun, it illuminates us from the inside out, its light revealing every intimate corner and vulnerability to each other. We shine with it. Nothing remains hidden.