Page 21 of Hot Tea & Bird Calls (Kissing At Work #2)

Skye – 11:09 am

Cool. We can map out the details when you’re back.

“Map out the details,” Skye mocked herself over diced apples sautéing on the stove. What did that even mean? Origin stories? Made up inside jokes? Detailed timelines? A rundown of their imaginary intimacy?

Celene’s cunning smile as she’d teased, I’ll show you what I want if you take me home, floated to mind, and Skye shook a big pile of cinnamon into her mixture. In the cloud puff, she coughed, “Shit.”

“Skye! You’re spacing out,” Luce shouted, head still down as she capped a tube of adhesive. “Are you seeing Celene? Invite her over so I can learn more about her people.”

“The relationship’s very, very new.” Skye spooned goopy excess cinnamon into the metal sink in quick, messy swipes. Adding oatmeal will salvage it. “Maybe we can give her some time before you interrogate her about her family?”

Luce cawed out a laugh dripping in sarcasm. “Me? You must’ve forgotten who you’re dealing with.”

“Right,” Skye grunted through unscrewing the sticky maple syrup cap.

It always glued itself shut. “Celene won’t be in town until tomorrow.

I’m hanging out with June and Zini tonight.

Which reminds me...” She poke-checked the thawed packet of chicken breasts in the fridge.

Her meat-eating days were long behind her, but she didn’t mind throwing something together that Luce wouldn’t forget. “I’ll make you chicken stew.”

“Mm, would you? Walter loves your stew.”

One of Luce’s versions of ‘I love you.’ Invoking Granddad. Sadness brushing her smile, Skye brought their extra cinnamon-y breakfast to a low boil.

Functioning at Luce’s beck and call had Skye grinning her most exhausted hours later, as Zinnia handed her a wineberry Moscow Mule—a virgin, since she’d be driving back.

June set out skewers pulled hot off the grill, a delicious contrast to the crisp air on their gigantic patio deck.

With someone from the Gertrude dynasty living there, no one would expect anything less than two swings, a long handcrafted table, and rows of wooden chairs.

Their dinner spread outmatched the appetite of their small party, but June named it a celebration.

“Zini, I’m blown away,” Skye gushed at six copies of a local lifestyle magazine spread out on the table, bearing Zinnia on the cover. “I’m taking one home, right? Luce will probably frame it.”

“Then, take two,” Zinnia offered, her cheek dimpling in a self-assured smirk. Apart from teaching budding illustrators, June’s fiancée had a background as a plus-size model, side hustling for publications around Pennsylvania. “Anything for my loyal supporters.”

Skye produced a marker from her ochre bag, cherishing these moments for her friend. “Autograph them, too.”

An unserious groan fell from June, who’d dropped a stack of metal cutlery in the middle of the table. “Her head’s not gonna fit through that door. She’ll have to sleep outside.”

“Sounds like you want me to sign one for you, too, miss,” Zinnia said without missing a beat. She inked on signatures with brief, heartfelt messages underneath each. “Please stand in line.”

June rounded the table to squeeze Zinnia close, pressing a loud kiss to her cheek. Skye fanned the marker dry as the couple squealed. Opposed to Skye, Zinnia did everything out loud. One of many reasons June fell so eagerly.

Securing a chair beside Skye, Zinnia peeled foil off a platter.“I can’t wait to meet Celene. June’s impression of her and your sexy Nell’s date tell two different stories.”

“Celene’s scary.” June scooted into a chair across from them, enacting a shudder. “Gotta respect her speaking up for herself, though. I get a little eager with my suggestions when it comes to Yielding.”

“I believe it.” Skye plucked out a vegetable skewer and tugged a mushroom off with her teeth. Luce wasn’t a fan of takeout, so a break from cooking eased her on a spiritual level.

Zinnia fed a piece of grilled carrot to Dr. Kibble, Medical Dogtor, their border collie lying across Skye’s feet. Dr. Kibble’s tail beat the floor like a white feather duster. “Celene’s going to pose as your girlfriend, then. And only June and I know?”

“You, June, and I think a couple of Celene’s friends in New York.” They had to keep the numbers down to pull this off. Then, Skye spoke what’d been lurking in her gut. “Is this pathetic?”

June and Zinnia responded equally supportive.

Zinnia a lot more energetically, saying, “Not to me! One minute, you could be driving to the post office, and the next, logs break free from a truck and smash through your windshield like that scene in Final Destination 2 . Life’s too short to second-guess. ”

“Zini, god.” June’s jaw hung loose, aghast. Quickly recovering, she rolled her chicken wing into a pool of sauce on her plate. “Uh, anyway. If it gives you more time away from Luce working you like a dog, do it.”

“She doesn’t work me like a dog ,” Skye muttered, blinking at remnants of the extinguished grill smoke. The real dog under the table whined, not big on these canine sayings, either, she assumed. “Luce lost her husband. Her partner in business and life. It’s growing pains.”

“Mr. Walter died over a year ago. It’ll take time to heal, but how long will these growing pains affect you?”

Zinnia intercepted potential discord, clapping hands that jingled with jewelry as much as Thalia’s. “Personally, I think Celene wants your body.”

June held out the charred tip of her wing. “Agreed.”

Suddenly sweltering within her long-sleeved top, Skye flapped her arms to her sides for some air. “Stop, she doesn’t.”

“June didn’t touch my leg until our fourth date,” Zinnia murmured, stirring a straw into her cup. “Celene’s a professional office kinda lady, yeah? She’s all about transactions. Nobody agrees to be a fake love interest without personal gain.”

Hair shining from the patio lights, June nodded, wiping her fingers clean.

“Mean ass Mrs. Locke goes to my mom’s church, and she hasn’t spoken a damn near peep about your date.

Her not gossiping is unheard of. Can you and Celene silently take down any other evil closet cases, one flirty gesture at a time? ”

Skye almost expired when Celene’s tongue had lapped at that spoon in faux seduction. Any indication of her wanting to use that tongue on Skye would ruin her. She gulped straight from her mocktail, needing its ice. “Give me a list and I’ll see what we can do.”

June laughed loudly, swatting away a gnat. “This isn’t true dating, but it’ll put you outside your box. Instead of being packed into boxes for your grandma, marked with Xs.”

They veered onto safer topics, like old classmates visiting Yielding, the process of Zinnia’s last photoshoot, and Dr. Kibble’s new herding ball. June chronicled her team’s improvements on the Vale house so far, giddy at the magic of restoration.

Skye listened to Zinnia and June talk, mostly. Their typical dynamic for hangouts. She held her covered wrist still for a sweetfern moth to trail closer, then flap on top. Its wings, though a dull tan, revealed patterns and swirls she only wished she could replicate in future sculptures.

Conscious not to scare it off, Skye gingerly tapped her phone, which vibrated with new text messages.

Celene – 7:59 pm

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 a sensual conversation 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.