“Or here,” Corinthia murmured, before realizing she’d spoken aloud.
“Pardon?”Stevie said.
“Nothing.”
“I think there could be aliens,” Stevie said, in her mostI’m-open-mindedvoice.Stevie was indeed very open-minded to crystals, but not so much to things that required biological proof.She cracked open the cupcake box in an attempt—transparent to Corinthia—to change the subject.“Would you like a cupcake?”
Drew thanked her and added the dessert to her plate, then continued with the topic.“There’s a million planets out there, right?So even million-to-one odds are good.”
“Still better odds than finding a date here on planet Earth,” Stevie said.Then her gaze went to Drew, who apparently ate cupcakes by licking off the icing first.Stevie cleared her throat.“Although sometimes we get lucky.”
Drew met Stevie’s gaze with a smile.The smidge of frosting that had ended up on her cheek like a beauty mark made it an even better smile.“Sometimes.”
Corinthia didn’t know how they made it look so easy.Sure, Stevie had needed a little push to get going, but once she was going… look at her!Bantering, laughing; no doubt they would have each other’s phone numbers by the time Drew got back in her truck.
Corinthia, on the other hand, felt as bewildered as she had the first time she walked the Refuge.She wasn’t effortlessly funny, or vivacious, or capable of slinging double entendres around like a handywoman with a pile of two-by-fours.
“So, what happened to your fence, anyway?”Drew asked.“Storm blow it down?”
“Yes,” Stevie said, at the same time as Corinthia said, “No.”
They looked at each other.
“No,” Stevie said, at the same time as Corinthia said, “Yes.”
Drew propped her chin on her hand and looked from Corinthia, to Stevie, and back again.
“You believe in aliens, right?”Corinthia said.
Drew nodded.
“How about unexplained phenomena?”
Drew leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.“Try me.”
Despite Corinthia’s many rules of self-conduct, she was not a mistrustful person.Thoughtful, yes.Prone to judgment, certainly.But she judged Drew to be unlikely to be ruffled by the story, and so she shared the details of the strange occurrences that had taken place in and around the Refuge: the lost and found book, the mysterious appearance and disappearance of Rosemary, the forest versus the fence, and the lost and found author.
“Whoa,” said Drew.“That’s…
“Weird?”said Corinthia.
“Awesome,” Drew finished.“And this Rosemary chick,” she added, “what’s she got to do with it?”
Corinthia did not necessarily approve of calling women “chicks,” but decided to allow it on the grounds that Drew was clearly well-intentioned, if a bit prone to casualness.Also, Stevie would probablylikebeing called a chick.“Dowith it?”Corinthia echoed.“Nothing, I suppose.”
“I mean, she always seems to bearound, right?”
“She hasn’t been around my fence.”
“You know what she means,” Stevie said.
Corinthia felt suddenly protective of Rosemary.If she had been standing in the room, Corinthia might even have considered putting an arm around her.“Rosemary,” she said, “did not vandalize my fence.”
“Notvandalize,” Stevie said.“But maybe she knows something.Because she’s in the Refuge so much.”
“You should go back in there,” Drew said, pointing at Corinthia with what was left of the cupcake.
Stevie lit up.“You should do the forest bathing activity tomorrow!”
