Authors: Marcia C Brandt
Bee Happy (20 page)
The next month evaporated before them. Brent bought the paper, Jim made plans to move to Germany and the girls pl
anned the wedding. On the second
Saturday in September the church was filled with friends and relatives from across the country. Calli was dressed in the most beautiful white wedding dress, and she had her best friend right besid
e her. When she took her father’s arm for him
to walk her down the aisle she looked to the front of the church and there
standing
beside the minister was Jim, just like in her dream and right beside him was Brent. Sally
laughed as she took her father’s arm
; and
they followed Calli down the aisle.
The laugh was on all of them, t
he double wedding was the most beautiful the county had ever seen.
Five Years Later
Calli was driving their bright pink golf cart to the orchard to see Brent. She had their two children strapped into their special seats. Whenever Emily, who was almost two, rode in the cart she called it ‘bumpy’. Kyle, their fair haired four year old, thought he was big enough not to be strapped in, but Mom knew better. Brent was working in the orchard planting more dwarf trees. They were expanding the varieties they had; he was excited to be adding peaches and cherries to the established apple trees. Brent loved the fact that when the bees pollinated the blossoms, he knew that they were coming from Calli and Roger’s hives. That seemed like a perfect cir
cle of life, the work that they did with the bees benefited everyone in the surrounding community
.
Calli was bringing Brent lunch; she had iced tea in a quart jar for him, sandwiches, and special cookies that the kids had helped decorate. They were going to have a picnic together under the shade of the apple trees. Calli also wanted to check on the nettles she had planted behind the orchard. She
purposely had them as far away from the road as she could, not want
ing
the county to spray her crop of herbs. Most people avoided the stinging nettles, afraid of being ‘stung’ and itching for days. But she had learned how to work with the herb and harvested it safely without getting stung. Nettles infusions were one of her favorite herbal remedies. Her monthly meetings at Gwen’s shop had given her a community of like minded people and the best herbal education you could want. Calli was now the proud owner of ‘Natural Herbals’, her very own business. She was specializing in herbal preparations for children. Emily and Kyle would never have to use commercially prepared remedies. Her sunscreen was all natural and so was her bug spray. There were several other potions she was developing, this fulfilled her love of nature and inspired her creativity. Their home library had shelves of herbal books, some very old and out of print and some just newly published.
“Dada, out.” Emily was ready to be released from her seat. She was very clear in her communication, even though most of the time it was only one word. Kyle on the other hand talked a mile a minute and asked thousands of questions every day. Calli decided she was an encyclopedia with two legs, and two arms, but sometimes she needed at least four hands to manage everything. Brent pulled Emily out of the seat and tossed her in the air, squealing she said ‘more’.
Calli spread out the checkered table cloth that had been her grandmother’s, they used it on special occasions, not wanting to ruin it or destroy the happy memories that it contained. With everything ready for lunch, Brent put Emily back in her seat and strapped her in so she would eat instead of roam the orchard. She was okay with the arrangement as long as there was food on her tray.
“Have you talked to Sally today? I know that she is getting anxious for our visit.” Calli put more food on Emily’s tray. “No, I was too busy getting lunch ready for us and making sure Emily didn’t climb up on the table. She’s full of energy and wants to be included in everything. I will Sk
ype her this afternoon while Emily
’s taking her nap. Thank God, she still takes one. I’ll get Kyle to watch a movie and hopefully I can have a little time to catch up with them.”
Jim and Sally had moved to Germany right after the double wedding five years ago. Jim was now head of the project there and Sally had loved traveling with him all over Europe. They spoke at conferences about the communication with life on other planets, Sally adding the spiritual pieces to the puzzle. Living in Germany had been perfect for them.
They loved learning about the other cultures in Europe and traveling to all the places that they’d only read about in books. Jim had won several awards for his research and was a prominent scientist once again. Sally knew that the ten years that he’d spent in Evergreen as a gardener had given him the right balance between the earth and the stars. They traveled back to Evergreen to visit once a year, being the Godparents of Emily and Kyle was the perfect excuse for them. Now, they were going to stay put for awhile. Sally was six months pregnant with their first child. It was Brent
and Calli’s turn to visit them in Germany.
Hopefully their scheduled visit in a few m
onths would be after Sally’s baby was
born. Jim was hoping to have a little girl who looked just like her mother. Being the scientist, he knew that the chances of that were 50/50.
Jim loved visiting
his farm and seeing all the changes that Brent and Calli had made. His biggest concern had been who to sell his farm to. He had spent ten years rebuilding the house and barn. The appl
e orchard that had been neglected for so long
was
now
producing bumper crops. Roger had been the one to suggest to Brent that they purchase Jim’s farm. Calli had
been concerned about leaving Roger
alone. They had spent most evenings together reading books, watching movies or playing checkers. Roger was
still bragging about being the checkers king, the tally was Roger 584 wins to Calli’s 248. Unbeknownst to Calli, Roger had a plan in place that wouldn’t leave him alone at all. He and Margaret had been dating for a number of years, enjoying each other’s company and when Brent and Calli returned from their honeymoon, they were married at the court house with the two of
them
as the witnesses. The entire neighborhood helped move Margaret’s possessions into Roger’s home.
“Delicious. Did you help Mom decorate the cookies?” Brent knew that the overload of sprinkles on top of the sugar cookies had to be Kyle’s contribution. “I helped Mommy do everything. I’m a big boy now.”
Brent was so proud of his family and so in love with his wife. Even though he never wrote the story about Jim, he knew that coming to Evergreen had been the best decision of his life. Now he was the owner, editor, copywriter, accountant and publisher of the Good Newspaper of Evergreen. The community loved his paper, especially because he only printed the ‘good news’. There were columns written by the local residents that shared the wisdom and humor of living in a small town. Calli wrote a weekly herbal column and Roger added information about bees and honey. Margaret’s contribution was her amazing family recipes from her great gra
ndmother’s collection
. No one could get Mildred to share her kolache recipe, no matter how much they tried. There wasn’t a prize big enough for her to reveal the secret.
That evening was the peak of the August meteor shower. T
he display of shooting stars were
brilliant in the clear night sky. Roger and Margaret were sitting on the front porch, watching the
stars, Roger continuing his stories
about the constellations and their meanings. “Look, there’s another one, make a wish!” Margaret closed her eyes and wished, “What did you wish?” Roger wanted to know. “I’m not telling
;
if I do it won’t come true.” Roger leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “You are my wish come true. I don’t need any more than that.”
Only five miles away, on the front porch of their farm, Calli and Brent relaxed after giving the kids baths and putting them to bed.
Watching the shooting stars Calli remembered the nights her grandfather had told her all about the constellations. “There goes another one. Make a wish!” Brent never got tired of watching the sky, there were so many stars here, millions more than he saw when he lived in the city. “I already have my wish. I don’t need any more. You are my wish come true and I’m living my happily ever after dream. I love you.” Brent leaned over and kissed her, “Let’s go upstairs and make my
next
wish come true.”
Several hours earlier, under the clear night sk
y in Germany, Jim and Sally had been
watching the same meteor shower. “I
love watching the sky
and shooting stars, even though I know that they are meteors.” Jim was being his scientif
ic self. Sally leaned over and
nudged him, “What if I told you that those supposed shooting stars were really angels flying in formation in the night sky?” Jim smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek, “I am a man of science believing only what I can see with sophisticated instruments.
” Laughing at his own declaration he continued,
“Honey
, I am blessed to have you as my wife, for you have given me
what was missing in my world. I now am a spiritual scientific man who knows the deeper meaning of life, and from you I have discovered the answer to all my questions.”
Sally paused and teased him, “
…and what might that be?”
Jim replied with a twinkle in his eyes,
“When you make a wish on a shooting star-angel your dreams come true.” They cuddled closer toget
her, watching the night sky. T
he brilliant display
of stars
twinkle
d
in agreement.
I hope that you enjoyed reading ‘Bee Happy -- The Adventures of the Wayward Gardener. If you have a moment, I’d appreciate if you’d take a minute to leave a review on Amazon.
Thanks, Marcia.
If you’d like to read more of my books and for more information about my newest books and future books, please visit
http://marciabrandt.com/books-by-marcia/
and sign up for my mailing list. Thanks again!
Marcia C. Brandt lives in the country and enjoys walking to get inspirations for her books. Her hobbies include playing the piano, writing and reading, gardening and making jelly and herbal remedies. You can visit her website for more information about
her other interests and classes
that she offers.
www.marciabrandt.com
If you love chocolate you’ll love this series of books!!
The Ladies on Honeysuckle Road Series
‘Step Away from the Chocolate’ Book 1
‘The Song of Chocolate Dreams Come True’ Book 2
‘The Love of Chocolate’ Book 4
‘Chocolate Cake and Angels’ Book 6
All are available on Amazon.com
Feel free to leave feedback and suggestions for other topics of interest.
You can email Marcia at marcia.c.brandt@gmail
.com