Like Bees to Honey | gxg

22. All Your Hopes and Dreams

Mel was hungry, as usual, so they went to the mock old-fashioned diner for burgers and sat on the warm hood of Sabina's car to eat them. Even though Sabina hadn't planned to talk about it, it seemed like she couldn't help it: the whole story spilled out, about the farm's financial troubles, cousin Wyatt, and Riley's betrayal. When she ran out of words, she reached for a french fry and found they were all gone.

"Hey!"

"Too slow." Mel popped the last greasy wedge of potato into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. The moment stretched out long enough that when she finally spoke, Sabina expected some wise proclamation.

But Mel just said, "That's a bummer."

"That's it? I tell you that my whole life is falling apart, and all you can say is bummer?"

The burger wrapper crinkled as Mel folded it back. "I mean, I don't think you need me to tell you that you fucked up with Riley."

Sabina wrinkled her nose. "Do you practice those supportive affirmations?"

"It's a natural talent." Mel flicked a sesame seed off the top of her bun. It got caught somewhere in the folds of Sabina's ruffled skirt. "Otis is annoying, but is a dumb hundred-year-old family feud worth losing your best friend over?"

"It's not-" Sabina started, but she had just taken a bit of her own burger and when she spoke, bits of bun sprayed out over her knees.

Mel burst out laughing. "Hot."

"Shut up." Sabina chewed furiously and swallowed the whole lump down. Primly, she brushed damp crumbs off her freckled knees. "The feud isn't ancient history."

"Didn't it start with like, your great grandad?"

"Well, yeah, that's how it started. There's this stream that used to run down the property line between our lands and the Verger lands. But it was your great grandpa who moved the fence so that my family couldn't use the water anymore."

Mel's eyebrows popped up. "Wait. You're telling me this all started over a stream? Like... a tiny, itty-bitty amount of water."

"It's dry here." Sabina pointed at the brown grass at the sides of the parking lot, wilted in the heat. "Go half an hour south and it's literally a desert. Fruit trees are thirsty. Water is important."

"But, like... A hundred years of hatred important?"

Sabina crumpled her burger wrapper and threw it at the trash can. She missed. It hit the sizzling pavement with a pathetic flop. For a moment she considered hopping down to pick it up and throw it away properly, but in a flash of defiance, she didn't. "That's what I'm saying. The stream was just the start. The Vergers destroyed our orchards. When my grandpa got elected mayor, your family spread horrible rumours about him until he had to quit."

"What kind of rumours?"

Sabina frowned. "That he was embezzling town funds. It wasn't true. They made the whole thing up to ruin him. He had to sell most of the Engberg orchards to pay the legal fees. And then, when I was a kid, your family was upset because we refused to rent hives to them, and they retaliated against us. They poisoned all the hives we had rented to competing orchards."

"That's pretty extreme. What did those innocent bees ever do?"

"I told you. Our families hate each other."

"Okay, but... Why?"

"What do you mean, why? I just explained why!"

With a thumb, Mel dug a stray piece of lettuce from between her teeth. "You told me why your family hates mine. But you didn't tell me why my family hates yours."