Stevie abandoned the baby carrot she had been about to bite.“Youwhat?Where does she live?And how did you end up there?”
“I slept there.”
Stevie’s mouth fell open.
“Not like you think.She helped me sleep again.”
“I’ll bet she did—”
“Not like you think.”
Stevie shrugged and traded her carrot stick for a chunk of cheese.
Satisfied that her beloved but altogether overheated friend was done insinuating, Corinthia continued.“She lives here.”
“At the library?”
“In the Refuge.”And before the questions could begin, Corinthia told the entire story, from her late night on the back porch, to the fallen fence, all the way to the green cottage, the bird conclave, and the mossy bed.
“But I’ve never seen a green cottage,” Stevie protested, when Corinthia was done.
“No one has,” Corinthia said.“I think that’s the point.It’s hidden.”
“I feel left out, frankly.All these years, and none of the birds turned into a human and slept with me.Why you?”
Corinthia shrugged.
“I know why,” Stevie said.“Because shelikesyou.”
“Don’t start.”
“And you like her, too.”
“By the way, have you asked Drew on a date yet?”Corinthia said, changing the subject with more blunt power than finesse.
“Of course I have… not,” Stevie said, poking at the M&Ms like they might do something interesting.
Corinthia sighed.
“We’re hopeless,” Stevie agreed.
“Stevie,” Corinthia said.“You need to stop batting your eyelashes and just ask Drew on a date.”
“What if she says no?”
“What if the sun becomes a red giant and engulfs the Earth?”
“Dark—but okay, point taken.”
“How about the next concert at the Outdoor Amphitheater?I’ll ask Rosemary to come, too,” Corinthia added.
“Are you asking her on adate?”
“I’m helping her get used to being outside the Refuge.”
“Oh, that’s a new one.”
“Look, if what she says is true, all she knows of people is what she’s learned from discarded books, passing hikers, and bits of TV.She has to take this at her own pace.I can’t go…wooingthis person.”
