Page 56 of The Dysasters

Foster ran her tongue along the inside of her teeth and thought about what Finn and Sabine had said. Cora trusted them. But did Foster really believe that? AndifCora trusted them then Foster should, too, right? But without asking any questions? This wasn’t like the letter Cora had left that, what they could read of it, detailed, at the very least, something way too suspicious to overlook and at the opposite end something that could end up getting her, Tate, and six other people killed. This was a guy Cora hired and his maybe girlfriend possibly using Cora’s name to gain her trust.

Foster crossed her arms over her chest. “Sabine, I need to talk to you. Alone.”

Sabine’s braids brushed her triceps as she nodded stiffly.

“We’ll be back,” Foster called over her shoulder to Tate and Finn as she led Sabine closer to the tree line.

“We’ll, uh, be here.” She didn’t have to look back to know that the two of them were still standing there awkwardly staring at each other.

Out of earshot from the guys, Foster asked, “What happened between you and Cora? How did she help you?”

Now it was Sabine’s turn to cross her arms over her chest. “You don’t waste any time, do you?”

“This is too important, and I’m not the sugarcoating type.”

“Neither was Cora.”

Foster swallowed.

“I was pregnant,” Sabine blurted after a long pause. “Now I’m not.”

Foster shook her head, confused. “Isn’t that usually how it goes?”

“In this country, the babies usually survive.”

There was another long, stomach-clenching pause.

“But Cora… she…” Sabine’s voice didn’t waver as tears shined against her cheeks. “She made sure our baby had a fighting chance. And Cora was there with us in the end—holding her with us—helping us say good-bye.”

“I’m sorry…” Foster trailed off, the words seeming meaningless and hollow as an offering to ease such despair.

“Me too,” Sabine whispered. “And about Cora. I loved her.”

“I loved her too” wasn’t big enough to contain the way Foster felt about her mother, so she said nothing and let the tears fall.

There was a whole part of Cora’s story that Foster didn’t know. That she would never know. But Foster had figured out one part—that her Cora truly did care about and trust Sabine and Finn the same way she had with Foster’s biological parents and all the other parents she’d sat awake with and comforted as their babies fought for life, and sometimes lost that fight.

Cora had witnessed the hardest and worst part of Sabine and Finn’s life. A time that could have infected them, growing as dark and toxic as black mold. Instead, Cora had trusted them with Foster’s life and Tate’s. In Foster’s eyes, that was the highest stamp of approval a person could ever obtain.

She dabbed her cheeks with the sleeves of her shirt and stepped closer to Sabine. “Would you like a s’more? They’re the peace food of my people.”

Sabine’s purple-painted lips parted in the beginnings of a smile. “And what people would those be?” she asked, brushing tears from under her eyes.

Foster sniffled away the last remnants of her current sadness. Cora would be proud of her for making such a grand attempt at acquiring a friend. “Redheaded introverts who might sometimes be mistaken for being semi-bitchy.”

“Hmm.” Sabine’s full smile was dazzling. “Can’t say I’ve ever had a fellow introvert invite me to do anything in real life, but there’s a first time for everything.”

And Sabine couldn’t be more correct. About both points. Foster couldn’t think of the last time she’d asked someone who wasn’t Cora to do something. She’d asked a lot of people to go away or stop talking or leave her alone, but she was pretty positive that wasn’t the same thing. And this wasn’t just a regularHey want to grab a coffee? Or go to Powell’s? Or go silently judge people in yoga?No. This was huge. This wass’mores. She’d yelled at Tate for eating naked graham crackers and couldn’t even bring herself to open the bag of marshmallows much less roast one and make it into a dessert sandwich, but Sabine and Finn and Foster and Tate had been through so much—had lost so much. Maybe this new friendship, this new family, could be the silver lining of all that pain.

“Then let our s’mores be in honor of new beginnings,” Foster paused. “And telling new friends the truth instead of erasing their memories.”

17

FOSTER

Between her fingers, Sabine twirled and untwirled one of her long, thick braids while narrowing her upturned eyes at Foster. “You’re avoiding.”

“I’m not avoiding.” Foster piled a bag of chocolate chips atop an unopened bag of flour before closing the pantry door. “Can’t a woman just want some cookies?” she asked, setting the items on the kitchen counter.