Page 135 of Hot Tea & Bird Calls

Mama – 10:08 pm

Solid harvest today. We’ll preserve the grapes and cook up the rest. Should we save you anything?

Skye – 10:09 pm

Eat up. We can always get more.

She lowered the brightness of her screen before holding it for Celene to blink slowly at. “My parents went foraging today.”

The amusement she’d envisioned from Celene went in another direction. To restlessness, eyes searching Skye’s more than the image. “You should’ve been there with them—being wholesome and one with the earth—instead of dealing with my family’s gravy and dysfunction.”

Tightness spun uncomfortably through Skye’s stomach. She tossed her phone behind her to lie on her side, centering the guilt clearly in Celene’s features. “I miss my parents, yes, but we always keep in touch. They’ll be home for a month, time enough to attend June and Zini’s wedding.”

Celene’s eyes flicked as they often did, and within minutes, Skye could see them softly brighten. “Will they record new videos?”

“No. They actually relax in Yielding, so they’ll post previously shot episodes to make up for the break.”

“Smart. They seem like a breath of fresh air.”

“You’ll see for yourself. My parents are two of the chillest people you’ll ever meet. Cosmo, too. My granddad...” Her skin warmed where Celene stroked beneath Skye’s jaw. “He took me foraging, gave me tons of in-depth lessons so I wouldn’t, you know?—”

“Poison yourself alone out in the woods?” Celene asked, her upper lip peaking for a smirk.

“Scary, right?”

“Did you two forage for blueberries?”

Picking up on the reference to their meet-up, Skye kissed Celene’s cheek, then her lips. “They were his favorite.”

Celene used the following silence to pull Skye’s hand between them. Their brown skin contrasted with the comforter sheets, fingers interlocking loosely. She intoned, “I hope June and Zini have clear weather on their wedding day.”

Naturally, Celene had been invited to June and Zinnia’s outdoor ceremony, though Skye could tell it meant even more to her when they brought it up at the cake-tasting. Skye simpered, all tingly at the prospect of seeing Celene in a similar light one day. “If not, we’d make it work.”

“Do you have any duties? Bridesmaid stuff? Helping out?”

“June’s family is huge. She told me to just show up, get tipsy, and have a great time.” Skye held up a finger the way June had at the addendum: “As long as I buy the spice rack they want.”

Celene sighed in playful grimness. “No responsibilities beyond that? We can show up and enjoy the wedding?”

“That’s it, that’s all.” Skye mimicked as Luce, loving how little by little, they’d learn each other’s history in full. Her heart pounded. “The spice rack can be from both of us. We can throw in some companions—like an herb garden kit.”

“I like that. And a spice grinder.”

“We have a plan.”

“‘We,’”Celene emphasized as a lilt, more awake than before. Returning a kiss, she said, “Mom pulled me aside. I don’t know what you told her, but she trusts you for now.”

“Is that hard to do?”

“She raised me. What doyouthink?”

Skye laughed lightly, interest swelling about the talk with Byron and Elise. Though she’d let Celene dictate when, as they probably required sleep before they swapped notes on their respective meetings. “She should trust me. I’m in it—inthis. I’d never leave you behind.”

Celene stared after that. For so long that Skye’s eyes grew heavy.

Until Celene murmured, “Dragonfruit?”

Skye perked up. Pulse racing and not knowing why. “Dragonfruit.”