Mad Honey: A Novel (49 page)
Read Mad Honey: A Novel Online
Authors: Jodi Picoult,Jennifer Finney Boylan
“You can’t really blame him.”
“I can be very persuasive.”
I stop walking. “I look forward to that.”
It feels strange to flirt. It’s like being dropped into a foreign country when you are not fluent in the language. But even then, you can get by on gestures. On nods and shakes of your head. You can build your own language, until one day you dream in it.
Asher is not the only one starting over.
Mike snakes one arm around my hips. With his free hand, he peels my hair away from where it’s stuck to my face, and he kisses me.
“Mmm,” he says softly. “You taste like candy.”
I look down at the streaks of dirt on my shirt and pants, the sticky honey patching my forearms. “I’m a mess.”
He shakes his head. “Aren’t we all?”
Maybe this is true. Maybe we are nothing more than the confidences we keep, plastered over with a distraction of skin and bone and shadow.
“Does Ava know? About Maya?”
Mike nods.
“She must be crushed that there won’t be a trial.”
“I don’t think so,” he says carefully. “I feel like she knows she wouldn’t survive another one.”
“How come the prosecutor decided not to move forward?”
“It’s a funnel,” Mike says. “Not every bad thing that happens is a crime. Not every crime can be prosecuted. Not every prosecution results in a conviction. Not every conviction results in jail time or whatever the victim’s family may want.” He meets my gaze. “Some bad things that happen are just accidents, Liv.”
I imagine Asher on a fall day, driving toward his future. I picture Mike standing beside me, as I watch him go.
So are some good things,
I think.
SEPTEMBER 28, 2019
Ten months after
According to natural selection, bees should not exist. Although workers construct the comb, tend to the queen, and feed the larvae, they’re sterile themselves, and don’t pass those productive genes to the next generation. Plus, stinging is suicide, and passing on a suicide gene makes no biological sense. And yet, the species has been around for a hundred million years.
Why?
A biologist will say it’s because of group selection. Worker bees share seventy-five percent of one another’s genes, which is more than they’d share with their own offspring. That means it’s in their best interests to take care of their future sisters rather than reproduce.
If you ask me, it’s because they’re survivors.
In late September, the trees turn vain, wearing their fiery tiaras. I’m getting my hives ready for the brutal winter—storing the cleaned supers for next year, cutting lengths of Styrofoam to screw around the Langstroth boxes, boiling down pounds of sugar into syrup for feeding. One afternoon, as I finish checking on my hives, I hear a car pull into the driveway. I cannot see it from where I am, but I start walking faster.
Mike’s supposed to be coming over, with pizza and cider. I turn the corner of the farmhouse, shading my eyes, a smile on my face.
Ava Campanello steps out of her car.
I have not seen her in the months since Asher’s trial. We have
not crossed paths, although this is not unusual. She works in the White Mountains; I circulate through local orchards and farms and weekend markets. Her car is packed to the gills, and several small pieces of furniture are strapped to the ski rack on the Subaru’s roof. A black dog with a gray muzzle leans out the open window, tongue lolling.
I stop a few paces away from her. My heart is beating so hard that I can feel it in my throat.
She draws a line in the dirt between us with the toe of her boot. “I don’t know what I’m doing here,” she admits.
I wait, because I realize that even though Asher—against all judgment—got to have his say…Ava never did.
“I’m on my way out of town,” she tells me. “For good.”
I nod. I think about Lily’s ashes, on the table at the funeral home. I wonder if they are in the car. Where, or if, Ava will scatter them.
She scratches behind the dog’s ears. “Boris and I are going to hike the AT for a bit,” Ava says. “And after that, I don’t know.”
“I’m sorry,” I blurt out. “I know it’s—”
“You
don’t
know,” Ava interrupts, but her voice has lost its bite. “No one really does. At first, people say that all the time—that they’re sorry for your loss. Then a few weeks go by, and only a handful of people check in to make sure you’re still functioning. Then you only hear from them on birthdays, holidays, all the things you won’t be celebrating. Or they forget, completely.”
“I haven’t forgotten Lily,” I say.
Ava stares at me. “Where’s Asher?”
“He’s not here.” I realize, too late, that I sound defensive. “He’s at Plymouth State.”
She nods, chewing on a sentence before she opens her mouth. “I’m glad you didn’t have to lose your child.”
Ava could not have surprised me more if she’d smacked me. I had assumed that the impetus to arrest Asher had come from her, born of a need for closure and answers.
Her eyes shutter. “I lost a son once, but that was okay, because I gained a daughter. But now…” She shrugs. “Now I have nothing.”
Sadness orbits around Ava, the very atmosphere she breathes. I wish I knew what to say to her, what to do.
“Well,” Ava says.
“Wait,” I beg. “Just a minute?”
I jog up the steps of the porch, and into the kitchen. On the table is an army of jars, filled with the second harvest of honey. I pick one up and bring it outside to Ava.
Because honey never spoils, it was considered an immortal food, fit for the gods and those who’ve returned to stardust.
Ava takes the jar and turns it over in her hands. It looks like sunlight trapped inside the glass. A laugh huffs out of her. “I’ve always hated honey,” she says.
But she carries it to her car and turns the ignition. I watch her pull out of the driveway. Her taillights are like eyes, red from crying.
One day, maybe, when Ava has settled in a new home, she will need a sweet substitute for baking, a remedy for a sore throat, some flavor for her tea. She will stand in her pantry, and her hand will close around that jar. Maybe so much time will have passed that she will not remember where it came from. But in all those years, it will never go bad.
It will keep, until she’s ready.
FROM OLIVIA'S MOLESKINE NOTEBOOK
32 ounces Bob's Red Mill GF Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
½ cup pumpkin seeds
1
cup sliced almonds
½ cup honey
½ cup canola oil
Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Spray a large baking sheet (2
1
x
1
5 inches) with cooking spray. In a large bowl combine the oats, pumpkin seeds, and almonds. Pour the honey and oil over the mixture and toss lightly, making sure the oat mixture is covered. Spread on baking sheet and bake for 90 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
Granola keeps for several weeks in a sealed container.
(Serves 4)
1
¼ cups granola, divided
½ cup bourbon, plus 2 teaspoons, divided
3 cups raspberries, plus 8 whole berries for garnish
1
teaspoon honey, divided
2 cups heavy cream
4 parfait glasses or martini glasses
Combine ¾ cup granola and ½ cup bourbon and let sit for several hours before assembling dessert. The granola will absorb the alcohol and become soft but not mushy. Meanwhile, chill a mixing bowl.
Lightly crush raspberries with a fork, add ½ teaspoon honey and
1
 teaspoon bourbon. Toss to combine. You want a puree texture.
In a chilled bowl, start whipping the heavy cream. When it begins to thicken, add remaining ½ teaspoon honey and remaining
1
teaspoon bourbon. Continue whipping cream until it is slightly firm.
Fold soaked granola into the cream.
To assemble, sprinkle a bit of the reserved granola into each glass. Spoon a layer of the cream mixture over granola and then add a layer of the raspberry mixture. Repeat until you have a few layers, finishing with a layer of the cream. Sprinkle remaining granola and a couple of whole raspberries on top.
1
½ teaspoons honey simple syrup (recipe on
this page
)
Club soda
1
½ ounces bourbon
1
teaspoon lime juice
Sliced lime, for garnish
Fill a large glass with ice.
Add honey simple syrup.
Fill glass with club soda.
Add bourbon.
Squeeze in lime juice and garnish with a lime slice.
DO NOT MIX!
½ ounce honey simple syrup (recipe follows)
1
ounce lemon juice (about ½ medium lemon)
2 ounces gin
Lemon peel
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add ingredients (except peel) and shake; strain into a martini glass. Twist the lemon peel and set inside glass.
In a small saucepan combine â
cup honey and â
cup water. Over low heat stir the mixture until honey starts to dissolve. Let cool and pour into a squeeze bottle or glass container. Will keep for several weeks.
(Serves 4)
Juice of two limes
¼ cup honey
¼ cup olive oil
1
garlic clove, grated
1
teaspoon hot sauce (you can use red pepper flakes for less heat)
Pork tenderloin, trimmed (
1
pound)
Whisk first five ingredients together. Pour half of marinade into a ziplock bag and add pork tenderloin. Marinate for at least
1
hour. Preheat gas or charcoal grill for indirect grilling.
Brush grate with canola or vegetable oil. Cook pork indirectly 4 to 6 minutes per side until a meat thermometer registers
1
45 degrees. Remove from grill and brush with remaining marinade. Let meat rest
for
1
0 minutes before slicing.
1
bunch kale
½ lemon, reserving other half for vinaigrette
Pinch of sea salt
Wash and dry kale, tear into small pieces. In a large bowl, squeeze lemon over kale, sprinkle the sea salt over kale, and gently massage the lemon and salt into the kale. This will slightly soften the kale.
1
tablespoon honey
Juice of ½ lemon
Pinch of ground pepper
¼ cup olive oil
In a small bowl combine honey, juice from remaining lemon, ground pepper, and oil. Whisk gently and pour over kale.
Sliced almonds and sliced pears
Crushed walnuts and sliced apples
Goat cheese and pine nuts (honey pine nuts recipe below can be used)
2 tablespoons honey
½ cup pine nuts (any nut can be substituted)
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. In a small pan stir honey and nuts until honey becomes liquid. Spread mixture on baking sheet and let it set for 30 to 60 minutes.
Break into small pieces and use on top of salads or ice cream. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
(Makes a dozen)
1
¾ cups flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1
teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon ginger
1
teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
¾ cup honey
4 tablespoons melted butter
¼ cup oil (vegetable or canola)
1
cup milk (buttermilk can also be used)
1
½ teaspoons vanilla
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
In another bowl, whisk eggs, honey, butter, oil, milk, and vanilla.
Fold dry ingredients into wet and stir until just combined.
Grease a donut pan or cupcake tin and fill halfway with batter. (If you do not have a donut pan, use a cupcake/muffin pan. Create small cylinders of tinfoil, place one in the middle of each cup, and spray each cylinder with cooking oil. If using the cupcake tin with aluminum foil cylinders, transfer batter to a ziplock bag and cut a hole to pipe batter around cylinders.)
Bake for 8 to
1
0 minutes.
¼ cup melted butter
1
cup confectioners' sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
â
cup hot water
1
teaspoon honey
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Dip warm donuts in glaze.
You can omit the glaze and just drizzle honey on top and, if you like, sprinkle with sea salt.
(Requires an ice cream maker)
5 to 6 egg yolks
½ cup sugar
½ cup honey
1
cup milk
2 cups heavy cream
1
½ teaspoons vanilla
In a stainless steel bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, and honey until light and fluffy.
In a saucepan, heat milk and cream until it starts to bubble (5 to 7 minutes), stirring occasionally. Temper the egg mixture with a small amount of the milk/cream mixture so that you do not scramble the eggs. Add the remaining milk/cream and whisk to combine. Pour mixture back into the saucepan and return to a low heat, stirring until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a clean bowl and pour mixture through the strainer. Chill until completely cool, about 4 hours. Freeze according to your ice cream maker's guidelines. Store in a plastic container.
6 egg whites at room temperature (out of the fridge for at least an hour)
1
cup superfine sugar, divided (if you don't have superfine sugar, you can pulse regular sugar in your food processor)
1
teaspoon cornstarch
Squeeze of lemon juice
1
teaspoon vanilla
1
cup whipping cream
1
teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons sugar
Sliced strawberries
Honey
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and draw a circle 8 to 9 inches in diameter.
In a medium bowl, whisk together egg whites and ¾ cup of the sugar until light and fluffy (3 to 5 minutes).
In a small bowl, mix together remaining sugar, cornstarch, lemon, and vanilla. Add to egg whites and continue beating until glossy peaks form.
Spread mixture in the circle on the parchment paper. You can also pipe the mixture to create a fancier look.
Place in the oven and reduce heat to 250 degrees. Bake for 75 minutes and then turn off the oven. Remove from oven after
1
5 minutes.
Let cool.
In a clean mixing bowl, combine whipping cream, vanilla, and sugar. Beat until soft peaks form.
Once pavlova is completely cool, top with whipped cream and strawberries and drizzle with honey.
1
cup fresh strawberries, sliced and slightly crushed
1
teaspoon honey
Bread, four slices
Handful of arugula
Mix strawberries and honey in a bowl.
Toast bread. Top each slice with 2 tablespoons of strawberries and sprinkle with arugula.
(Makes 2 loaves)
3½ cups sifted flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1
½ teaspoons baking powder
1
teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
â
teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ginger
4 eggs
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons canola oil
2 cups dark honey
½ cup brewed coffee
1
½ cups walnuts, chopped
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. In a large bowl, beat eggs, gradually adding sugar, until light in color and thick. Beat in oil, honey, and coffee. Stir in flour mixture and nuts.
Oil two 9-inch loaf pans and turn batter into them. Bake for 50 minutes or until browned, and when tester comes out clean. Cool on rack before removing from pan.
2 tablespoons butter
8 ounces cream cheese
3 bananas
1
teaspoon vanilla
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs, refrigerated
3 cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1
tablespoon flour
â
cup brown sugar
1
cup butter
½ cup nuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a big baking pan with butter.
In a large bowl, mix together the butter, cream cheese, bananas, vanilla, and white sugar. Add the eggs.
Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, mixing all the while. Pour the batter into the pan.
To make the topping, in a medium bowl combine flour and brown sugar, then mix in the butter and the nuts.
Using a fork, gently lay the topping on the batter.
Bake in oven for 40 minutes, or until an impossible thing comes true. Whichever comes first.
