Tansy awoke from a dreamless sleep to Cleo rubbing her furry face against her ankles.

She opened her eyes.

The pink sunrise through the window seemed even more beautiful than usual, especially now that she knew it was one of the last times she would ever see it.

She sat up quickly, determined not to spend the day feeling sorry for herself. She would meet with Dolly, find out how much time they had left, and then make a plan for what to do with the rest of her summer.

Half the proceeds from the sale of the farm would be enough to get her back to school in the fall, and maybe even a shabby third floor walk-up just off campus for her and Burton. If it wasn’t too late to save what she had with him.

She pushed the depressing thought away, gathered her clothes and headed into the shower.

The hot water felt good but didn’t ease the ache in her chest.

She was going to miss the place she had always thought of as home.

And she missed the big alien for whom she had decided to let it go.

Her only thought yesterday had been to get back to the farm, to find him, to make things right. And to tell him that they were going to live the life he wanted.

But he had been gone when she returned to the farm and he hadn’t come home yet even when she finally turned in late last night.

He was just… gone.

And Tansy didn’t know if he would ever come back.

Sage and Arden had kept her occupied last night, drinking wine and sharing memories about the farm until she was ready to sleep.

Tansy had been surprised to see her sister looking a little sad when she had shared the news that she had met with Dolly. But Sage had recovered fast and made it known insistently that she was very glad about Tansy’s decision. But her initial resistance had already endeared her to Tansy.

Tansy dried off and dressed, then padded down the hall to the kitchen.

“Good morning,” Sage said, holding out a mug of coffee.

“Thanks,” Tansy said, taking it.

Arden and Drago sat at the kitchen table, poring over a sheet of notebook paper. Riggs was at the sink, washing dishes.

“Hey, Tansy,” Arden said sympathetically.

“Hey,” Tansy replied, wondering how obviously pathetic it would be to ask about Burton.

“We have not seen Burton,” Riggs said, as if in answered to her unasked question. “He was gone all night.”

There was a knock at the door before Tansy could respond.

She met Sage’s eyes.

Sage raised her eyebrows as if to ask if this was what Tansy really wanted.

Determined, Tansy marched to the door and opened it.

On the other side, Dolly Strickland held out a tray of fragrant muffins.

“Good morning, dear,” she said kindly.

“Thanks for coming,” Tansy said.

“I’m glad to be here,” Dolly said immediately.

“My sister made some coffee,” Tansy said. “Shall we sit out at the picnic table?”

The last words stuck in Tansy’s throat and she tried to cover it up with a cough. She couldn’t believe they would never eat another meal under the big sycamore looking out over the fields.

“That sounds lovely,” Dolly said. She turned and headed back onto the porch.

Tansy and her friends followed.

The sun was a golden ball, just visible over the crest of the peach orchard now.

Tansy spread a cloth over the picnic table and watched as Sage set down a tray with the coffee things.

Dolly deposited the tray of muffins and began to dig in her enormous purse. She produced a clipboard with a set of papers on it.

“Now, girls,” she said, clearing her throat. “This document is your legal agreement to sell the farm to me. You can see the sale price here.” She pointed to a figure.

Tansy’s eyes were blurred with tears, but Sage nodded.

“There’s a right to inspect but I’ve waived all that, see right here.” Again she pointed and Sage nodded. “Same thing with financing, I’ll pay you cash, no contingency.”

“You don’t have to leave right away,” she said. “I put ten days in here for you to pack up and say good-bye to the place. I waived the empty-and-broom-clean clause, so you can leave anything you don’t want to take with you and there’s no need to clean. Okay?”

“Thank you,” Sage murmured.

“On the eleventh day we’re all required by law to meet with the notary at the town bank. The deed will be signed over and the money will be yours,” Dolly said, pointing to the bottom of the last page with a flourish.

Tansy bit her lip to keep from sobbing and clenched her hands into fists so tight her nails bit into her palms.

“What if we change our minds?” Sage asked suddenly.

“Once you sign this, you really can’t, dear,” Dolly said. “I’ll have to move money out of my retirement accounts this week, arrange for the bank’s title company to expedite the search, and do everything else that needs to be done to make this happen. It’s all at my own expense, you understand. That’s why this is a legally binding document.”

“Of course,” Sage said, nodding. “We understand. Tansy?”

Sage indicated the document.

“Oh heavens,” Dolly exclaimed, her eyes twinkling. “Let me find you a pen.”

She began rummaging around in her purse again but Sage didn’t seem to be paying attention to her anymore. She was looking over the woman’s shoulder, an expression of wonder on her face.

Tansy followed her sister’s gaze.

A cloud of dust rose over the gravel driveway.

Someone was coming up to the house. She could just make out the shape of a man on horseback, followed by a pick-up truck.

“Is that… Burton?” Sage asked.

“Peanut Butter,” Tansy breathed, recognizing the horse.

“Here we are,” Dolly said brightly, emerging from her purse with a shiny silver pen.

“Don’t do it, Tansy,” Burton yelled to her from the driveway. “Don’t sell Grandma Helen’s farm!”

Tansy’s feet carried her down the front lawn to meet him, even as she tried to figure out the reason for his dramatic entrance.

He pulled Peanut Butter up short as they reached the yard.

“Burton,” Tansy said.

“You didn’t sign anything, did you?” he gasped.

She shook her head in amazement.

“What’s all this?” Dolly huffed as she trotted down the hill to join Tansy.

Sage and the others were trailing behind as well.

“You,” Burton said accusingly to Dolly.

“Me?” Dolly echoed, her eyes wide with innocence.

“You tried to trick Tansy and Sage,” he said darkly. “But it’s not going to work.”

“I’m an elderly person on a fixed income,” Dolly sniffed. “I’m trying to be a good neighbor to my old friend’s granddaughters at my own expense.”

“Then why is there a second sale set up at the town bank for right after your purchase?” Burton asked, dismounting the horse like he’d been born to it.

“A second sale?” Tansy breathed, horrified.

“That’s none of your damned business, you uppity farm hand,” Dolly said. She turned to Tansy, composing her features into their usual grandmotherly smile. “But, Tansy, I will tell you why. I can’t really afford to run your farm, not at my age. But I knew you wouldn’t sell to anyone else, and your whole life would be ruined trying to hold on. I’m trying to make it easy for you, child. I was going to buy it from you and then sell it to someone who can afford to keep it.”

“Is that why you stole our bees?” Burton demanded.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Dolly shot back at him. But she eyed the familiar man in the pick-up truck behind him, who was moving to the back of the truck with a hand trolley.

He emerged a moment later carting a huge wooden crate with Bee Our Guest written on the side.

“H-how did you find them?” Tansy asked.