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laid a fresh home baked peach cobbler on the table for dessert, the whole incident was gone from her mind. It might perhaps have lingered there a little longer had Haley not been so busy dropping hints about the fun date she had planned for Akala and Nashoba the next day. When Akala insisted on helping with the dishes, she was so caught up in wondering how her next meeting with Nashoba would go that she completely forgot about her encounter with the intense man who’d ordered her off his land.
     

C HAPTER FOUR
     
    The door opened softly just as Akala was popping the last bit of a buttery flaky scone in her mouth. Nashoba walked into the room and smiled, nodding politely at her before taking a seat at the breakfast table and pouring himself a small cup of coffee. He didn’t add  milk or sugar, and sat there sipping at the dark black liquid until Haley burst into the room practically beaming with excitement.
    “ Are you kids ready for the first part of your date?” Haley didn’t wait for a reply before continuing. “Nashoba, I know you live too much in your head and have always been fond of puzzles, and Akala, I don’t know you that well yet, but I can see you like a challenge and hate having things handed to you without having to work for them, so I’ve set up a little treasure hunt for the two of you. Here is your first clue.”
    Haley removed a small object from her apron pocket and set it on the table between the two of them. Akala and Nashoba both reach for at the same time, their fingers brushing lightly before he pulled back and allowed her the chance to pick it up and observer it.
    “It looks like a honey comb,” she said, turning it over in her hand. “Does this mean something to you?”
    Nashoba nodded. “It does, but not what you might be thinking. Come with me.”
    They rose from the table and went outside to get into Nashoba’s truck. He started the engine and turned off the radio with a quick flick of his wrist before pulling out onto the road.
    “ When Haley and I were kids we used to love riding our bikes out to the Wilkinson farm to beg for honey cakes. The actual apiary is down the road a bit, but the Wilkinsons have some sort of arrangement that goes back to our grandparents, and they always get free honey for their baking. No one even remembers what happened to put the arrangement in place. It’s just one of those things that’s always been this way and seems like it always will be.”
    Akala was amazed to hear so many words from Nashoba all at once. She didn’t want to stare at him, but she even though she saw a wistful smile cross his lips at the mention of venturing out to the Wilkinson farm with his cousin. Haley had been confident that she could plan something to bring Nashoba out of his shell, but Akala hadn’t expected it to work this fast. Nashoba was already behaving much more like a normal person instead of someone so reserved that they were uncomfortable to be around.
    “So you think we’re supposed to go to the Wilkinson’s farm to get our next clue?”
    He turned and shrugged at her with a smile on his lips. “I don’t rightly know for sure, but it’s a good a place to look as any. Besides, I haven’t had a honey cake in almost ten years. Do you like honey?”
    “I love it,” said Akala, a hopeful smile spreading across her face. She rolled down the window and took in the sweet summery smell of the fields around them.
    They pulled into a long driveway marked by a sign that indicated the Wilkinsons sold fresh fruit and assorted baked goods. Akala didn’t get out to these sorts of places very often, but she had fond memories of going strawberry and blueberry picking with her family as a young girl. Just stepping out of the truck and seeing the big red barn and the John Deere tractor sitting in front of it made her smile.
    By the way the woman who approached them was grinning from ear to ear, Akala was pretty sure they were in the right place. She had a small plate