Plan Bee Read Online Free Page A

to firepower. Stanley loves weapons, and the rumor is he’s got a buried stash of them just in case our federal government decides to outlaw certain makes and models. He’s also been known to carry, but that’s inside information. It’s a miracle our police chief hasn’t busted him yet.
    “Really, thanks,” I said to Noel with heartfelt gratitude.
    “Anytime,” he muttered, and I could tell by his eyes that he was back inside his skull, mixing and matching potions. He slipped a notebook out of his back pocket and began scribbling away as he walked off.
    I looked around. Everything looked to be going as planned. Helen Fischer (aka Mom) might have a brisk, tactless, no-nonsense approach to life, but she sure knew how to organize an event. This one promised to be the best yet.
    My job during the two-day festival, as assigned by my mother, was to make sure nothing “upset the applecart.” I was pretty sure that was meant to be another personal zinger, but I intended to follow through by making sure the cart stayed upright. None of us wanted trouble or bad press.
    Besides, how hard could it be? After all, this was Harmony Fest. The whole point of it was fostering goodwill.
    Aurora Tyler’s flower booth was right next to my store. It was crammed with bouquets from her business, Moraine Gardens. Besides the bouquets, some of which were bunches of colorful dried flowers, she had potted native plants like swamp milkweed, catmint, and coneflowers. A few honeybees had discovered them and were working the pollen. A cheery sight.
    Although not everyone agrees with me.
    Moraine’s residents are divided on the benefits of honeybees, even after all the efforts I’ve made to educate the locals. Preconceived ideas die hard. I really hoped ourbeehive display helped dispel lingering doubts. We need more people on our side, supporting our efforts to save the honeybee’s diminishing population.
    Dinky growled from down below. Following her glare, I spotted Grant Spandle marching my way. In addition to being my archenemy, Lori’s husband, and the town board chairperson, he’s also a land developer. Which should have been a huge conflict of interest regarding a position on the board, but small-town politics are unbelievably lax, mostly from lack of any education in the fine art of legality.
    Lori has played around on Grant at least once, a solid indisputable fact, since I had caught her red-handed cheating with my ex-husband before the sleazebag left town.
    “Your mother is extremely upset,” Grant stopped to tell me. “And I’m sure our liability insurance doesn’t cover bee attacks if we knowingly and irresponsibly put our residents in harm’s way.”
    “Harm’s way? Oh come on. Do you see bees attacking anybody?”
    “Let me rephrase that, then:
potential
bee attacks
—potentially
in harm’s way.”
    “No way would that happen,” I said, while Dinky continued to quietly growl. She knew the difference between steak and roadkill, and she sensed exactly where Grant fit into the food pyramid.
    “Only one sting,” Grant said, holding his index finger up in case I didn’t know what
one
was. “Just one allergic reaction, and we’d have all kinds of trouble. The consequences could be devastating for the town’s finances.”
    “Look over there.” I pointed to Aurora’s potted flowers where honeybees buzzed from petal to petal. “Honeybees. They aren’t inside an observation hive. They’re free to fly wherever. We can’t control nature’s creatures; they have free will. Besides, these aren’t yellow jackets. In another month, wasps will be all over the place, landing on our food and stinging plenty of us. But honeybees, as I’ve saidover and over, don’t attack unless they’re defending their hive from intruders.”
    How many times have I had to remind people? Hundreds? Thousands?
    “Nevertheless, they have to go,” Grant said, crossing his arms and putting as much authority into his voice as he could