Tansy took the steps two at a time.

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, her sister was making pancakes and Tansy had work to do.

And Burton will be there.

She tried to push the thought aside, but it was no use. The dream had given root to her crush. She was going to have a hard time ignoring their mutual attraction today.

“Hey, would you carry these out to the picnic table?” Sage asked as Tansy arrived at the bottom of the back stairs.

“Good morning to you too,” Tansy teased.

Sage just rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, of course,” Tansy said. “Thanks for cooking.”

“I’ve been having fun with it,” Sage shrugged, a little smile tugging up the corners of her mouth.

Tansy grabbed a platter of pancakes off the table. They were chocolate chip, and the chips in each cake formed a smiley face.

“Nice,” Tansy said. “You’re a regular Martha Stewart.”

“Ha,” Sage said. But her cheeks were pink with pleasure.

Sage was a numbers person - all business, all the time. It was nice to see her let her hair down a little.

Tansy carried the platter outside.

No matter how many times she stepped out the back door, Tansy was always taken by the beauty of the land. The bright green foliage of the berry fields stretched out to the woods that separated their farm from the Strickland’s. The same woods she had dreamed about last night…

Before the thought took hold, she saw a figure in the berry fields, heading for the trees.

“No way,” she whispered.

But it was definitely Burton, she could tell by the wide set of his shoulders and his dark hair.

Her feet carried her toward him before she had time to decide. She remembered to place the platter of pancakes on the table before following the center row between the strawberries.

The rich scent of the soil was intoxicating. The plants still glistened with morning dew. The farm was as magical as she remembered it being when she was a little girl coming here to visit.

More magical, if you counted the man just ahead of her.

She wondered what Burton was doing. The idea that he’d had the dream too and wanted to return to the scene was too ridiculous.

But there weren’t a lot of other explanations.

Tansy moved purposefully, but didn’t let herself break into a jog.

When she had almost caught up Burton stopped suddenly.

“Oh,” Tansy said, nearly bumping into him.

He turned to her, the strong planes of his cheekbones even more pronounced than usual in the shadow of the trees that loomed ahead. A hank of his too-long hair covered one eye. He looked like the dark prince in a fairy tale.

For an instant she was taken aback.

Then he broke into a sunny smile. “Tansy,” he said.

“Hi,” she replied, feeling a little embarrassed about sneaking up on him. “What are you doing out here?”

“I was following her,” Burton explained, gesturing to a strawberry plant.

Tansy looked closer and saw a honeybee working away at one of the delicate blossoms.

“I thought she might lead me to her brothers and sisters,” Burton said.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Tansy said. “But I don’t think they normally return to their hive until dark.”

“I see.” Burton sounded disappointed.

“It’s okay,” Tansy said. “I’ve got another plan for bees.”

“You do?” Burton asked.

“Hey, Tansy,” Sage yelled from the house. “Can you wake the others?”

“Come on, let’s walk,” Tansy said, setting off.

Burton walked by her side. She tried not to notice the pull of his big body.

“What is your plan for bees?” he asked.

“We’re going to rent them,” Tansy said.

“You can rent bees?” he asked her.

“Yes, there are companies that will ship them,” she explained. “I researched last night and it’s not that expensive to rent a hive. I already put in a couple of calls this morning.”

“You are very resourceful,” Burton said. His deep voice sent a shiver of pleasure down her spine.

“We’ll see if it works out,” she said. “It’s a busy time of year for bees. Most of the places are probably booked solid. We might have to hope for a cancelation.”

They walked on in companionable silence. By the time they reached the barn Riggs was already headed out the door.

“Good morning, Tansy, Burton,” Riggs said politely. But his eyes were already searching the hillside behind them for Sage.

“She’s bringing breakfast out,” Tansy told him softly.

He grinned, looking a little embarrassed.

“Did you sleep well?” she asked.

“Oh, yes,” Riggs said. “I always do. The loft is very comfortable.”

“Good morning,” Sage called from the backdoor of the farm house.

Riggs jogged off in her direction.

“He likes your sister very much,” Burton said.

“I think she likes him too,” Tansy mused, watching her sister’s face light up as Riggs approached. “But she’s not exactly the romantic type, so don’t tell him I said so. I’d hate for him to be disappointed when she shoots him down.”

“Shoot him?” Burton sounded horrified.

“What? Oh. No. No, no, no,” Tansy said. “It’s an expression - for when a woman tells a man she doesn’t want to date him.”

“I see,” Burton said.

“She would never shoot anyone,” Tansy said.

“I did not think so. It was only that…” He trailed off, an awkward expression marring his handsome face.

“Oh,” Tansy said again. “You’re remembering the night we met.”

He nodded.

He was right. When Arden and the three aliens from the lab next door had snuck down the hillside in the middle of a storm, Tansy had come to the door with Grandma Helen’s shotgun.

“We were afraid,” she said simply. “You were sneaking toward the house, out of nowhere, in a big storm, wearing those creepy lab coats. And we were here alone.”

“I understand,” Burton said. “You were trying to protect your sister.”

As usual, the sweet-natured hunk had nailed it. Tansy hadn’t thought of it that way, but she had been trying to protect her sister. The look of sheer terror on Sage’s face had been enough to send Tansy to the gun safe.

Tansy and Sage didn’t see eye to eye on everything, especially not the most important thing to Tansy - holding onto Grandma Helen’s farm.

But when push came to shove, Tansy would do anything to protect her big sister. And she knew Sage would do the same. That’s what family was all about.

“I am glad you did not shoot us,” Burton said.

“Me too,” Tansy agreed.

“Why would Sage not want to go on a date with Riggs?” Burton asked.

“It’s complicated,” Tansy said. She hadn’t ever tried to articulate her sister’s reluctance to date. “I guess I would say she’s very particular. She likes to know what to expect. And Riggs is… unexpected.”

“We are not like human men.” Burton admitted.

She thought she detected a hint of melancholy in his voice so she decided to tread lightly.

“It’s not like human men are perfect,” Tansy said. “Far from it. It’s only that Sage doesn’t like taking a lot of risks or trying new things. She’s always been that way - even when we were kids.”

“What about you?” Burton asked.

She glanced up at him, wondering how he could ask that question.

He was observing her earnestly, as if her answer mattered to him.

“Uh, no,” Tansy said. “I’ve always liked trying new things.”

“I’m glad,” Burton said, grinning at her, his brown eyes twinkling.

Suddenly it hit her that he might have been asking about more than just her personality type. She felt blood rush to her cheeks

“But I don’t have time for adventures right now, I’ve got to save the farm,” she said quickly, willing herself to be more like Sage, just for a little while.

They had nearly reached the picnic table. Sage was pouring out orange juice into mason jars for everyone. Riggs gazed at her as if she were pouring liquid gold into a chalice for him.

Drago had his arm draped around Arden’s shoulders. Happiness seemed to radiate from the two of them.

Tansy was surprised to feel a momentary pang of jealousy. It wasn’t like her to covet someone else’s joy, and she was happy for her friends.

“Morning, Tansy,” Arden chirped.

“Good morning, Arden,” Tansy replied, glad to find the feeling was as fleeting as it was out of character. “Breakfast looks great, Sage.”

“Eat it while it’s hot,” Sage advised, piling pancakes onto Tansy’s plate.

“So what’s the plan for today?” Arden asked. “Are we going to try and borrow bees from another farm?”

“Nope,” Tansy said, taking a swig of orange juice. “We’re going to rent them.”

“Tansy, we don’t have a lot of money,” Sage said.

“We can get all the bees we need for about five hundred dollars, according to the internet,” Tansy said. “I already made some calls.”

“Who did you call?” Sage wanted to know. “Is bee rental really a thing?”

“Yeah, it’s a thing. I emailed a couple of companies last night and called a few more this morning,” Tansy said. “Beehive Yourself, Sweet Bee’s, Don’t Worry Bee Happy, there were a bunch more, I can’t remember now.”

“Cute names,” Arden said approvingly.

“Hopefully at least one will call back and we’ll be back in business,” Tansy said. She debated giving voice to her fear that it was already too late for any of the firms to have an extra hive of bees available.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, saving her the trouble of deciding.

“I’d better get this,” she said, hopping up and putting the phone to her ear. “Tansy Martin.”

“Hey, Miss Martin, this is Janelle from Bee My Guest,” the voice on the other end said.

“I’m so glad you called, Janelle,” Tansy replied.

She caught Burton’s smile out of the corner of her eye as she headed into the house for pencil and paper.