Page 42 of Hot Tea & Bird Calls

I’ll be in Yielding around 9am.

Do you read for fun?

Immediately woozy, Skye rubbed a calf onto Dr. Kibble’s furry side to anchor herself. Indeed, she owned books. Mostly reference texts on nature and art. One would think a daydreamer like herself provisioned hundreds of novels for an insatiable reading habit.

It was the opposite. She floated off into her own fictional worlds too much to pay attention to narratives.

Skye – 8:04 pm

Sure, sometimes.

Celene – 8:05 pm

I’m stressed, so I’ll read out front tomorrow afternoon. You can join me if you have time.

She tilted the phone for Zinnia, a silent ‘help.’ Zinnia’s face lit up—rather gorgeously, someone should’ve captured it on camera.

“She’s proposing a date. This is a fucking date.” Zinnia went serious in time for June to run around to read the screen, too. “What book are you bringing?”

“Nothing with bugs on it,” June suggested, nodding at Skye’s little buddy who’d fluttered off in their commotion.

Zinnia had already stood, hand on Skye’s shoulder. “It must be a conversation starter. You need asensualconversation starter.” She snapped a wooden skewer in two; Skye and June recoiled. “You need a romance novel!”

June moved out of her partner’s way, eyes twinkling. “That’s your solution for everything.”

Hearing none of that, Zinnia bid Dr. Kibble to scamper off so Skye could follow her. And a minute later, they gazed upon a staggeringly robust home library. Built by June.

A woman on a mission, Zinnia swept her striped summer dress to the darker side of her color-arranged selection of sapphic fiction. She picked out a paperback—its cover of a simple DNA helix—with the sanctity of guiding a mentee to holy scripture. “This book is a solution to all your troubles. Are you offended by a bit of sex?”

Skye flipped through the middle pages, brain moving too sporadically to register the text. Naturally assertive or not, in no reality would she have expected Celene to reach out and get the ball rolling. She imagined them sitting on the questionable deck, reading in companionable silence. “I like sex, sure.”

“My girl.” June held a hand up in proud friend fashion.

Skye stretched for the high five. Well, the vibe would be in good spirits for the rest of the night. She eyed the time on her phone, allowing herself another hour until she’d be back on the mosaic grind. And she’d get sleep tonight, so she wouldn’t nod off reading tomorrow.

Realizing they’d been sidetracked, Skye finished off the exchange.

Skye – 8:23 pm

I’ll be there. I’m starting a new book.

Celene answered quickly, which put Skye’s mood through the roof.

Celene – 8:24 pm

Great. See you then.

11

As the silver necklace bounced against Skye’s chest, nestled under the collar of her top, she grinned at how Thalia would squeal, proud to have a participant in her almighty stones and crystals. Pulling into the Vale driveway on her bike, she knew to search the front yard.

Her nerves hadn’t received the memo, though, as she shrank again at the sight of Celene reposed in the cotton hammock. The sight of a relaxed, carefree Celene was jarring, and Skye couldn’t decipher why. Either way, she propped her bike onto a side of the deck and waved. She probably looked cheesy as hell, oh well.

The woven rope hooks swayed as Celene rose, e-reader resting in her lap. By routine, she didn’t offer a wave or verbal greeting. She gazed from Skye’s legs to her straightened hair, in swift flicks. A could-be, could-not-be smile of reserved proportions barely changed her face.

Lightheaded already, Skye examined the staining on the house. The darker gray with a warm undertone brought out a whole new charm, a brilliance to the exterior. It complemented the trees around it, as if it’d always been like this. She reached to stick her hands into her back pockets, instead feeling her ownass because her knit top went longer than her shorts. Did...did she look pants-less?

Fastening a hand on her messenger bag, she observed, “Beautiful. June’s team works quickly, don’t they?”