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Stella

Siren Song, Maine

S tella held the treat in her left hand and extended her right palm. Newton licked it, then sank to the floor.

“Come on, buddy.” She bounced her hand, “This is shake .” She turned her palm to the floor and lowered it. “This is lie down .”

Newton placed his paw on her forearm.

Stella laughed and gave him the treat. “I think you’re fucking with me.”

His tail thwacked the floor.

“Stella?” Ginny knocked on the door.

Dusting her hands on her jeans, Stella walked to the front door and opened it. Ginny stood with a plate of cookies.

“Hi, Ginny. Come in.”

“Can’t right now. I’ve got to run these down to Marjorie’s daughter. I bumped into her last spring at a baking competition in Boston of all places, and she wants the recipe for these babies.” Ginny held out the plate, and Stella helped herself.

“Oh, my God, Ginny, these are amazing.”

Ginny beamed. “Oatmeal, white chocolate, and cranberry. My second husband married me because of these cookies.”

Stella stepped out under the portico and took another treat from the plate. “Did you win?”

Ginny was looking at the sky. “Hmm?”

“The baking competition,” Stella clarified.

Ginny looked annoyed. “Honorable mention. I think it was fixed.”

“Definitely fixed. That’s a blue ribbon cookie for sure.”

“You’re a good kid, Stella. I gotta get going before this storm hits.”

Stella looked toward the Atlantic; sure enough, a phalanx of black clouds shrouded the horizon. She turned with Ginny toward the Ford SUV. “Well, Marjorie’s daughter is lucky you’re sharing the recipe.”

“I don’t like sharing it, but during a weak moment at the event in Boston, I told her I would. I never see that girl in town, but I come across her a hundred miles away. Funny the people you run into when you’re traveling.” With a half-wave, Ginny walked to her car.

With a mouthful of cookie, Stella thanked her neighbor, turned back to the house, and froze. Slowly, she rotated back to the driveway and stared at Ginny’s Ford Escape, the words repeating in her mind: Funny the people you run into when you’re traveling .

Stella raced into the house and messaged Twitch.