Their voices faded away. It didn’t sound like they loved each other, but if they did, they should stop fighting. They should realize what a blessing it was to have a partner and be with someone you cared about.
“One more time, Sullivan. Are you sure?” Nina asked.
It felt like a fairy tale where you had to say no to the poison apple three times before the curse broke. No one ever got it right in fairy tales. And baby-queer Kia had preferred the frog over the prince (despite her feelings about nature). That was so sweet and innocent. How could Sullivan betray Kia?
“Yeah.” Sullivan felt calm and sick to her stomach at the same time. “I’m sure.”
“Okay.” It sounded like Nina had something else to say.
“What is it?”
“You know love is just propaganda to hide the fact that romantic”—Nina spoke the word in quotation marks—“relationships are economic agreements based on survival and self-interest.”
“You’ve said.” The tiniest smile tugged at Sullivan’s lips. Nina was nothing if not consistent.
“As an attorney, I think you’re making the wrong choice. If Mega Eats makes Kia the same offer, she’d be smart to take it. And as your friend, I wish you hadsomesense of self-preservation. And I will perjure myself before I admit this.” Nina’s voice softened, and she became someone Sullivan only glimpsed in split-second moments separated by years. “But as a person… just a person who wants to think there’ssomething worth saving in this world, I’m glad you said no.”
With that Nina hung up. Sullivan didn’t call back. If she had, she knew Nina’s voicemail would have picked up before the first ring.
Kia arrived home the next day, desperately hoping to see Sullivan, but Sullivan’s sedan was gone. A note on the table read,I hope you had a good trip. I’ve gone camping. Miss you.Themiss youwas a good sign. The silent house wasn’t. Finally, Kia worked up the courage to call Sullivan instead of sending intentionally casual texts. Sullivan didn’t pick up. She was probably out of cell range. Maybe she’d climbed some mountain and fallen in a ravine and broken her leg. No one would find her, and she’d have to crawl down the mountain, and her leg wouldn’t heal right, and she’d never stand in a kitchen again, and it’d all be Kia’s fault. Everything bad in Sullivan’s life was Kia’s fault, and she hadn’t even invited Sullivan to go to Grants Pass with her. At least if Sullivan had been there when Kia realized her accounts had been canceled, she wouldn’t have to agonize over whether to tell Sullivan.
If Sullivan was communing with nature, maybe Kia should try that too. She put on a light sweatshirt, one of Sullivan’s that hung by the door for quick jaunts to the mailbox or to check on whatever Sullivan checked in her vegetable garden. Kia walked into the Bois, which was looking ridiculously lovely. Where was the rain when it would’ve fit Kia’s mood? Today, she wanted to beg Sullivan’s forgiveness, then burst into tears and pour out all her fears and disappointments while Sullivan held her.
She felt something touch her neck. Something had fallen from the forest canopy. It was touching the collar of her shirt. It was—
“Fuck!”
Something had gone down her shirt. It was slithering downher back. She knew communing with nature was a bad idea. She flung off her shirt. What if it went down her pants? She almost stripped those off too. But the thing was off her. She looked around. A movement caught her eye. A green ribbon had come to life, graceful as a coil of light. The miniature Oregon tree snake! She shuddered, the memory of its body still slithering down her back. The snake that only lived in the Bois and was seen once a year had fallen on her. More accurately, the hand of karma had plucked it off a branch and dropped it on her. The snake was probably pissed. Kia had ruined its day too.Why doIhave to fall out of a tree becauseshemesses up everything she touches?What were the chances?
Slim. As slender as the now-disappeared snake. The board should put it on their liberal water bottles. Save the whales. Save the Redwoods. Save the miniature Oregon tree snake from Kia Gourmazing’s bad karma tossing it out of a tree.
“That’s it! I’ve got it!”
And with that, Kia was flying over the roots and rocks and jumping over blackberry vines like a hurdler.
chapter 35
Sullivan felt exhaustedafter talking to Nina. She crawled back inside her tent and lay down. She didn’t know how long she slept for. It was still light when she woke up. The ATVs were still blaring classic rock as they roared up and down the beach. She’d slept the dead-deep sleep of a woman trying to escape her life. Her throat was dry. She felt slightly oxygen deprived. And someone was shaking her tent.
“Sullivan! Sullivan?”
“Kia?”
A shadow crossed her tent, then Kia was unzipping the flap. She looked flushed, and her hair was a collection of nests and springs and wisps. It was a one-person tent, barely tall enough to sit up in, but Kia crawled in, nonetheless. She wrapped her arms around her knees, rocking back and forth.
“I figured something out.” She looked like she was going to bubble over with excitement and cry at the same time.
If Sullivan had been angry at Kia, her anger would have drained away. But she didn’t feel angry. Sullivan drew her into a hug.
“How did you know where I was?” Sullivan murmured.
“Opal has an app,” Kia said tearfully.
Right. Sullivan and Opal always shared pins on their hiking app.
“Then I asked around if anyone had seen a hot woman with curly hair who looked like she wanted to murder someone.”
“I don’t want to—”
