Page 14 of Hot Tea & Bird Calls

“Hey, baby.” Zinnia sounded distracted, probably grading submissions from her online illustration students. “What’re you up to?”

“Riding back from the plant nursery with Skye.”

“Skye! Hello, my love.”

Zinnia was a delight the moment Skye met her. The relationship with June had been days old, and Skye knew they were a lock. “Hi, love.”

June drummed her fingers, checking every direction to turn the van. “I’m gonna drop Skye back off at the collective. Do you want me to bring you something to eat? A burger?”

“We had burgers yesterday.”

“Is that a no?”

“Are you on Main? Stop by the little market that sells horseradish cheese and the pretzels I like—sticks, not twists.”

“A cheese-and-cracker dinner. I’m marrying a mouse,” June muttered as she changed lanes. To Skye, she asked, “Mind if I run in real quick? It’s on the way.”

Skye allowed it, sending a text to check in on Thalia. Being the manager and Luce’s live-in grandchild gave her a ton of benefits, but she didn’t want to take advantage too much.

June pulled into a parking space, unclipping her seatbelt before stopping the van. “’Kay, what brand of ch—whoa, um, who’s that?”

The skin on Skye’s arms sizzled; her fuchsia fluttered under her touch.

She just knew. Yielding’s 9,500 population wasn’t minuscule, but their community was small enough toknow.

“Zini, there’s an extremely good-looking woman outside the store, browsing the flower stand,” June said, her burnt cheeks shining.

While some couples fought through jealousy, June and her fiancée compared notes. Zinnia practically sang, “Reeeally? Who, who, who? Ask her name.”

June rolled her window down, then tutted. “She’s too far away.”

Skye’s eyes bugged atdefinitelyCelene in mid-thigh workout shorts and a loose athleisure tank, holding a white checkout bag. The woman looked like a movie star on the go.

Zinnia barked like a drill sergeant. “Back that fuckin’ van up and park next to her!”

“What about your food?”

“We’ll figure that out later. Time is of the essence, and we need more friends.”

“Maybe she’s into women. That’d help her fit into our group,” June said, eagerly three-point turning. Then, she pressed at her console, effectively ruining Skye’s life by lowering the window onSkye’sside. “Move your head.”

Celene stepped back, alarm clear in her eyes as the big gay van parked precariously close, nearly tipping over a row of metal buggies. If Skye could sprout wings and flap out the window, she would.

“You’re not a Yielder,” June hollered, putting on some nonspecific home-grown accent. “You live here now?”

Yielding’s hospitality wasaggressive.

Celene braced herself in her trainers, on edge from questions from residents all day.

“What brings you here?”

“You from the city?”

“Is this your first visit to Yielding?”

“It’s boring here, isn’t it?”

If this town’s diversity didn’t relieve her, she’d tally those up as identity-based or you-don’t-belong conjecture. She’d answered vaguely, anyway, as these types of interactions were nosy. Dull, too. But small talk had been inevitable on her outings today.