Chapter Five
Fiona was startled awake by a commotion outside her tent. She was surprised to find it already light outside. She usually slept poorly the first night or two in the woods, waking up on and off and getting up at first light. Judging by the sunshine inside her tent, she’d managed to sleep well past dawn. She fought her way out of her sleeping bag, slipped off the fleece skull cap she wore when she slept, and unzipped the tent flap, struggling to get out of her tent and into her boots without touching the ground with her socks.
The commotion was coming from the far end of camp. Roz and the others were standing close together, and she could hear Jill’s tone from here, though not her words. Her voice was raised, angry, and Roz stood in front of her, a foot or two away, hands on her hips—defensive and angry herself. Carol and Sarah were standing nearby, so close to each other their arms were flush on one side. Fiona leaned down to tie her laces and then hurried over to them, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Jill said. Her face was mottled red, her body tense.
“I mean I have no fucking clue what happened,” Roz said. Unlike Jill, the anger in her tone was quiet, cold.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Exactly what I just said. I have no idea where they are.”
“How is that even possible? Didn’t you hear them?”
“Did you?”
Fiona touched Sarah’s arm. “What happened? What are they arguing about?”
Sarah’s eyes were dark and scared. “They’re gone. All of the guys are gone, and so are the horses.”
“What?”
Sarah pointed at the spots where the men’s tents had been, and at the area where they’d tied the horses last night. Both were empty.
“But—”
“Shhhh!” Sarah said, holding a finger to her lips. “I want to hear this.”
“So let me get this straight,” Jill was saying. “All your employees managed to pack up camp and disappear with ten horses, and you didn’t notice?”
Roz threw her hands in the air. “None of us noticed! I don’t know about you all, but I didn’t hear a fucking thing!”
“How is that possible? Explain it to me—I’m all ears.” To emphasize this point, Jill cupped a hand over one of them.
Roz let out a restrained groan. “How can I explain it? I don’t know what the hell happened any more than you do.”
Jill took a step toward her, fists clenching. “Some leader you are! What fucking use are you?”
Carol stepped between them and held out a palm to each. “Guys, hold on a second. Yelling and swearing at each other is getting us exactly nowhere.”
“She’s incompetent!” Jill screamed.
“Jill, cut it out.” Sarah’s voice was dark, furious but quiet. Jill opened her mouth to object, and Sarah held up a single finger. “I mean it, Jill—shut the hell up.”
Everyone stood still, Jill and Roz breathing heavily. Fiona’s heart was double-timing, anxiety squeezing her chest and throat, vise-like.
Roz and Jill had calmed a little, so Carol let her hands drop and backed up so the five of them were standing in a loose circle.
“Okay then,” Sarah said. “Let’s approach this situation logically and take it a step at a time. Just to clarify, Roz, you didn’t ask the guys to leave—they left on their own?”
“That’s what I’ve been saying!”
Sarah touched her fingers to her forehead. “I’m clarifying for everyone, okay? No need to jump down my throat.”
“Fine. Sorry. No. I didn’t ask them to leave.”
“Okay. So the guys left on their own for some reason. Can anyone think why they might have done that? Or why they took all the horses?”
Fiona read equal amounts of fear and confusion on everyone’s face. All of them were quiet before everyone shook their head or muttered no.
“So again,” Sarah said, “to be crystal clear, no one heard them talking last night? None of them said anything about leaving early?”
More negative responses.
“Who was up the latest last night?”
Again, they glanced at each other before Jill raised her hand.
“Me, I think. Roz—you went to bed right before I did, right?”
“Yes.”
“What were you doing, Jill?” Sarah asked.
“One of the guys—Mark—had some whiskey. We all had a little before turning in. Barely anything, really—a mouthful or two.”
“Did they stay up after you left?”
Jill shook her head and then shrugged. “Not exactly. I mean, technically yes. They were still up when I got in the tent, but they were all putting out the fire, that kind of thing, getting ready. I’m pretty sure I remember one of them going into his tent about the same time I did, but I can’t be sure. I guess it’s possible he was pretending for some reason, but I don’t know.”
Everyone was quiet again as they digested this information. Fiona’s heart was doing that funny skip again, her chest still tight and hot.
Sarah sighed. “So I guess we can all agree that sometime in the night they packed up camp, tied up the horses, and left, and they did it entirely on their own for unknown reasons. Now think back to yesterday. Even if they didn’t mention leaving, exactly, did anyone hear them talking about anything else? Something they wanted to do when they got back to town, maybe? Something they were worried or excited about, maybe?”
More silence before Carol said, “Jon mentioned missing his girlfriend.”
“Mark said something about a river-rafting trip he was going on later this week,” Jill offered.
“I think I heard Ben say he has a sick grandma,” Roz added.
All of this seemed inadequate, and Fiona assumed the others were thinking the same thing. Even a dying grandmother wouldn’t merit abandoning them like this, especially without saying something to one of them first. Anyway, no one had any way to receive this news, this morning or otherwise.
“I don’t get it,” Fiona said.
Sarah nodded. “Exactly. It doesn’t make any sense.”
After a long pause, Roz spoke again. “And even if we knew why they left, that would solve only part of the puzzle.”
“What do you mean?” Fiona asked.
“None of us heard anything.”
“No shit,” Jill said. “I can’t imagine how that’s even possible.”
The five of them were quiet and, like Fiona, probably hoping someone would offer an explanation. None would be coming, but she hoped for it anyway. A light sleeper even in the best of circumstances, she couldn’t even imagine how she’d slept through all the noise they would have made. Ten huge animals and three men packing up camp would never have been a quiet affair. Even if they’d done everything in their power to move quietly, they could never have kept the horses silent. Yet they had.
“It’s just not possible,” Roz said.
“But it is,” Jill said, her voice low and angry again. “They did it, so it’s possible.”
Roz barked out a bitter laugh. “But how? Explain to me how the five of us slept through a three-ring circus out here without hearing a damn thing. Explain to me how I managed to sleep three hours later than I have for most of my adult life.”
Fiona glanced up at the sky, suddenly recognizing that it was long past dawn, well into mid-morning. She’d never once slept this late camping, let alone the first night.
“What time is it now?” she asked.
Roz stared up at the sky for a long time. “At least eight or nine—maybe closer to ten.”
“You don’t know?” Jill asked.
Roz shrugged. “No watches, remember?”
“Jesus,” Jill said, suddenly speaking in a quiet voice. Although Fiona hadn’t liked her anger earlier, she liked her fear even less.
“Do you guys think…” Carol shook her head.
“What?” Sarah asked. “What were you going to say?”
Carol hesitated again, staring at her wife, her lips twisted in a kind of grimace. “Do you think we were drugged?”
“Oh, come on,” Jill said, letting out a false laugh. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it?”
“Of course it is! How would we have been drugged without noticing it?”
“The water?” Fiona suggested.
Jill shook her head. “The guys were drinking it, too.”
“Maybe they had some kind of antidote.”
Jill laughed again. “Do you hear yourselves? This isn’t a spy novel, for Christ’s sake.”
“Anyway,” Roz said, “I don’t feel like I was drugged. I feel good. Rested, alert—no hangover.”
“So we’re back to square one,” Sarah said. “No one knows anything, and no one heard anything.”
“Exactly,” Jill said. “Maybe we need to let it go for now and move on to the next thing: what to do about it.”
Everyone seemed to relax. Even Roz, who had been bunched up like a fist, unwound a little, her posture now more natural and less threatening. It was true, after all—they had a problem to solve that involved them, first and foremost. The other mysteries could wait.
Roz spoke first. “Okay. Let’s check the supplies. Jill, Fiona, make sure the food is still hung in the trees and bring it back here. Carol, Sarah, check the rest of the gear while I get the maps and scout out the trail a little, too, see if I can find anything.”
No one argued, each of them setting off at once. Fiona was relieved to have a task—anything to take her mind off what had happened. The men had hung the food about a hundred yards from camp, hidden by the trees around it. As she and Jill walked together, neither spoke. Jill was visibly upset, chewing her lip, her brows knit, and Fiona didn’t prompt further discussion. One thing at a time, she told herself.
Four bear canisters hung in the trees, and she and Jill shared a long, relieved glance before they moved to grab the tall, hooked pole someone had propped up on a nearby tree. The canisters had served as counterweights to each other to avoid a trailing line to the ground. Three of the containers held only food, and the fourth had a little food, their lotions, sunscreen, soap, and toothpaste, and the rest of the cooking utensils—anything with an attractive smell for bears.
Jill, a couple of inches taller, managed to snag one canister with the hook. She dragged it down, pulling its counterweight over the branch it hung on. She did the same with the others, and each of them grabbed two to carry back to camp.
In camp, Carol and Sarah had made a small pile of the other gear in the middle of the clearing near the fire pit. Jill and Fiona set the food next to it, and Roz walked over a few minutes later, holding an open map. She reviewed the pile and nodded, clearly relieved.
“Okay—so that’s something. They didn’t take any food, at least. Things aren’t quite so dire if we have the food and the rest of the supplies. Everyone still have their backpacks?”
Fiona had noticed her backpack in the vestibule when getting out of her tent, and she and the others nodded.
Roz let out a long, whistling sigh, closing her eyes. “Okay. So that’s something. Things aren’t quite as fucked as I thought.”
Jill let out a little huff, and Fiona threw her a warning glance.
Roz continued as if she hadn’t heard. “I checked out the trail going back toward home a little and found some fresh horse manure—warm, not hot. It was pretty cold overnight, or at least it was getting that way before I turned in, so they must have left sometime in the last three or four hours, or it would be colder. Some of the horse tracks lead that way too, so I think we can safely assume they used the trail to leave, probably right after dawn. With three of them, especially with all the horses, they’ll beat us back to the trucks no matter what we do.”
She paused and set the map down on top of the pile of supplies, then motioned for them to gather around her to look at it. “We’re going to have to get back and find some help. I’m assuming the trucks will be gone, so that means hiking back to the main road and flagging someone down. There should be plenty of traffic on the weekend, even late in the day, so it shouldn’t take long to get someone’s attention.” Fiona leaned down closer to the map as Roz traced her finger along the route.
“How long will that take?” Sarah asked.
Roz considered. “Longer than it took to get here, anyway. We might make it by six, seven tonight if we really book it. I don’t like to leave anything here, but we could lighten our loads a little for speed—leave most of the food, maybe. That could cut it down to maybe five or six o’clock.”
Fiona and her friends shared a silent exchange. Faced with the obvious choice, Fiona could tell that none of them were happy about it. Beyond the fact that they would be cutting their trip short, the idea that they would probably end up spending the night talking to the police or some other officials was entirely unappealing. Still, what choice did they have?
“There has to be another option,” Carol said, clearly frustrated. “Couldn’t we just keep going?”
“Yeah,” Jill said, nodding vigorously. “Fuck them. We’ve got our gear. I’m with you, Carol. Let’s move forward, not back.”
“What?” Fiona said. “That’s crazy. What about—”
“Those guys abandoned us!” Sarah said. “It’s not like they’ll be waiting for us at the end of the trail like nothing happened, ready to take us home. We’d be in the same situation we are now, but two weeks from now and with fewer supplies.”
“Anyway, someone needs to tell the police, or whoever, what happened,” Fiona said. “They left us here. Someone should do something about it.”
“Fiona’s right,” Roz said. “I’m sorry, guys, but we have to go back. Something’s seriously screwed up here.”
Jill waved a hand at her as if dismissing this point, turning to face them. “Think of it this way: why let them ruin our vacation?”
“Exactly,” Carol said, nodding.
Sarah stared at her, clearly shocked. “Are you kidding me?”
Carol shook her head. “Nope. I want to keep going. Fuck those horse-thieving bastards.”
Everyone laughed, though it took Sarah a few seconds to join in. She relaxed a little, Fiona saw, but she was shaking her head.
“What about the marks on the trees? Isn’t Fred supposed to come back here by tomorrow?”
Like her, Fiona guessed from their expressions that her friends had forgotten all about the marks on the trees in the turmoil of the morning.
“We have to assume the guys are all in it together,” Jill said. “Hell, maybe they even made those marks themselves, had a partner or something yesterday to throw us off.”
“How can you possibly assume that?” Sarah was almost shouting.
“Sarah’s right,” Roz said. “That doesn’t sound like them. I know these guys—I trust them.” Fiona could hear the dark anger in her voice again.
Jill shrugged, either ignoring or dismissing her tone. “Just a hunch. Anyway, even if they didn’t make those marks, we don’t know whether Fred was part of this other plan to leave us out here for whatever reason.”
“What the hell do you mean?” Roz said, raising her voice.
“None of this matters, Jill,” Sarah said. “Even if what you’re saying was true, are you seriously saying you’re going to let them leave us here? You must be crazy!” She turned to her wife. “How on earth could you be on her side? Back me up here.”
“It’s not about sides, hon. It’s about dealing with the situation. Those guys tried to screw us, but we don’t have to let them. We have food, supplies. We can move on.”
Sarah was visibly stunned. “I can’t believe you. Can you hear yourselves?
“Look,” Jill said, holding up her hands. “Maybe this isn’t a big deal. Maybe I was too drunk last night to remember what they said. They probably just decided to roll out a little early—no biggie.”
“They wouldn’t do that,” Roz said again.
“What are you even saying?” Fiona asked. “Five seconds ago you were claiming it was some kind of big conspiracy—now you want to pretend it’s all some big misunderstanding. And you weren’t drunk.”
“How would you know?” Jill asked.
“It sounds to me like you’ll say anything to get what you want,” Sarah said.
“It’s not happening, Jill,” Roz said, still clearly struggling to contain her anger. “We’re heading back. Now. Get packed so we can beat the dark.”
She turned as if to do that, but Jill grabbed her arm, clenching it with her fingers. Fiona was sure Roz would swing around and hit her, rage flashing in her eyes so black and hot Jill immediately let go and backed up a step, holding up her hands.
“Jeez, chill. We’re not done discussing this, Roz.”
“Like hell we’re not!” Roz said, finally shouting. She jabbed a finger into Jill’s chest, pushing her back slightly. “You don’t get to make the decisions here. I do. That’s why you hired me.”
“Exactly,” Jill almost screamed. “We hired you. That means you work for us .”
“What the hell are you saying?”
“Ladies, ladies,” Carol said, stepping forward and forcing them apart. “Let’s keep our cool here. Calm down.”
“She pushed me!” Jill said.
“Walk away, Jill. Take five, would you, Roz? We need to talk, just the four of us.”
Roz stared at Jill, still breathing heavily, and Fiona was certain she’d go after her again. She finally stormed off, pounding the ground as she walked away, her posture so rigid she was almost hunched over. Fiona had to fight not to chase her, wanting desperately to explain away Jill’s stupidity. But there was nothing to say.
“She can’t stop us,” Jill said.
“What the hell does that mean?” Sarah asked.
“Exactly what I said. We can go on without her.”
Sarah laughed. “And get lost in like a day.”
“Sarah’s right, Jill,” Carol said. “We need her.”
“It’s impossible without her,” Fiona said, feeling desperate now.
“Not if we get the map.”
“Can you hear yourself, Jill? Honestly.” Sarah shook her head. “And you,” she turned to her wife, “what on earth are you thinking? We have to go back.”
“But do we? I mean, really, what’s the harm? This is supposed to be the chance of a lifetime. We’ve been excited about this for years now, hon. We have to keep going.”
Sarah stared at her for a long, quiet pause. She and Carol were facing each other, almost squared off, like two gunslingers in a shootout. Carol’s eyes were open, almost pleading, and Fiona recognized the second Sarah’s resolve slipped away.
Sarah sighed. “Fine. But just so you know, I’m still not excited about it. I’ll do it only if Roz agrees to come with us.”
“What?” Fiona said, incredulous. “You’re on their side now?”
Sarah lifted her shoulders. “Not really. But I’m not leaving my wife. Let’s all agree, now, guys. I’m sick of fighting. If we can get Roz to agree, yes. If not, then we go home.”
Jill opened her mouth as if to argue, but Carol held up a warning hand. “No, Jill. Sarah’s right. It’s the only way. Roz has to be with us.”
Jill finally nodded. “Okay. But who’s going to convince her?”
The three of them turned to Fiona, like she’d expected them to, and once again, she was reminded of the afternoon at the brewery four months ago when she’d been bulldozed into all of this. After a while, no one had even asked her if she wanted to go, least of all Jill. They all assumed that, decision made, she’d go along with everyone else. Then, like now, no one cared what she thought.
“So will you?” Carol finally asked. “Go talk to her?”
Fiona had a wild image of herself finally putting her foot down, of telling them all to go to hell. Forcing them, somehow, to listen to her for once in her life. As if that was something she could ever, would ever do.
“Okay. I’ll try.”
“Try hard!” Jill called after her. Fiona didn’t respond.
After a few minutes of searching for Roz, she finally found her. She’d wandered a good distance away from the main camp into the meadow, but Fiona caught a glimpse of her black hair against the rolling green grass. It took her a few minutes to walk over to her, not masking her footsteps so the other woman would hear her coming.
“Hey,” she said when she was finally close to her.
Roz was sitting on a log, her back to Fiona. “Hey.”
“Look, I’m sorry about Jill earlier. She can be a real—”
“Pain in the ass.”
“I was going to say bitch, but you’re right, too.”
Roz turned around, eyes narrowed. “And let me guess. You’re here to do her bidding.”
“Everyone’s, actually. They all want to keep going now.”
Roz sighed and broke eye contact. “Well, that’s not going to happen.”
“How would you stop them?”
Roz jerked around again and stared at her, clearly incredulous. “How can you say that?”
Fiona held up her hands. “I’m not trying to argue with you. I’m asking you, honestly. I should have asked how we could stop them. I mean, if they start walking, what are we going to do? Tie them down?”
“It would be a start,” Roz said, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “Especially your friend Jill.”
Fiona laughed. “She might enjoy it too much.”
Roz grinned then, getting to her feet. She walked closer, hands on her hips. “So what do you suggest? What can I say to convince them how stupid they’re being?”
Fiona had no response. As a matter of fact, she hadn’t thought much beyond coming over here to fill Roz in. She tried to come up with something to say, her mouth opening almost of its own accord, and she blurted the first thing that came to mind.
“Isn’t there some kind of compromise?”
Roz huffed. “Like what?”
Fiona spun her hand in the air. “I don’t know—maybe like hiking somewhere closer? I mean, instead of going the whole way, maybe going for a week? A few days, even? That might work.”
Roz stared at her in silence for a long beat. Some of the anger in her eyes died away. She looked tired, beaten. Finally, she shook her head.
“Why do you let her do this to you?”
“What? Who?”
Roz sighed and grabbed Fiona’s shoulders, squeezing them gently. Their eyes met, and Fiona couldn’t ignore the flush of heat that swept through her. When Roz finally spoke, her words were quiet, almost a whisper.
“Why do you let her bully you like this?”
She didn’t have to ask who she meant. It was Jill. It was always Jill.
“She’s my friend. She’s my best friend.”
“Is she, though? Would a good friend treat you like this? Make you do something you don’t want to?” Her tone was still gentle, not accusatory, her eyes deep pools of concern. “You deserve better than her, Fiona. You really do.”
Fiona said nothing, unable to meet her eyes anymore. She stared at her shoulder, her emotions suddenly choking her. Roz stepped a little closer and tilted Fiona’s chin up to meet her eyes again.
“Do you really want to keep going? Even for a few days?”
Fiona shook her head, her eyes suddenly filling with tears. Now, finally honest with herself, she realized that what she wanted more than anything in the world was to follow this woman anywhere she wanted to go. They were close enough to kiss, and for a wild, hysterical second Fiona almost expected it to happen.
But Roz dropped her hands, stepping back. “That’s what I thought. But you still want me to offer it? A compromise?”
Fiona sniffed and nodded. She would never be able to explain why, but Roz seemed to understand. Roz closed her eyes, breathing deeply for a minute before letting her breath out in a long sigh. When she opened her eyes again, she shook her head slightly as if disappointed—whether in Fiona or not, it didn’t matter. Fiona’s stomach twisted with shame and self-loathing.
“Fine,” Roz said. “Give me a few minutes to check out the map. Go tell the others.”
Fiona was still disappointed in herself and wanted to make it better, but Roz was no longer paying attention to her. Instead, she was staring up at the mountains, grim and pale.
Realizing she had no way to fix this right now, she walked back to her friends, moving slowly to give herself enough time to compose herself. She wiped her eyes, grateful for the sunglasses in her pocket that would hide her emotion. The others were where she’d left them, sitting on various logs in a loose bunch around the pile of food and supplies. Jill had arranged her expression into something like casual interest, but Carol and Sarah looked anxious.
“She agreed to a compromise.”
“What?” Jill said, leaping to her feet. “We never discussed—”
“Jill, quiet,” Carol said. “Let’s hear it, Fiona.”
Jill huffed in anger, crossing her arms across her chest. “Fine. So what’s this compromise?”
“A couple of days or so instead of—”
“Nope,” Jill said. “Not happening.”
“Would you can it, Jill?” Carol asked. “Jesus. Let her finish, for God’s sake.”
Fiona waited to see if Jill would fight back, and when she didn’t, she continued. “That’s it, really. That’s all I could manage. A few days—no more.”
“Well, it’s not good enough,” Jill said, shaking her head. “Nowhere near good enough.”
“No—I think it’s a good idea,” Sarah said. “It’s better than nothing. We’ll still get to see some of these woods, and everyone gets something they want.”
“Didn’t you hear me earlier?” Jill said. “She can’t stop us! We can keep going without her.”
Carol laughed. “Yes, and like we said—we’ll get lost. You know that as well as I do, Jill, especially if she doesn’t give us her map.”
“Why would she?” Sarah added.
“Exactly.”
“So that’s it?” Jill asked. “You guys are giving up? Carol—what happened to the chance of a lifetime?”
“Give me a break, here,” Carol said.
“And stop making everything so dramatic, Jill,” Sarah said. “You know as well as the rest of us that this is better. And really, I was only half-convinced it was a good idea to keep going at all. If it weren’t for Carol, I’d probably be heading back right now—on my own, if necessary.”
“But—” Jill said.
Everyone turned at the sound Roz’s approach, Fiona’s stomach fluttering with pleasure at the sight of her. Roz seemed calm, sure of herself again, her earlier anger gone now, or hidden. She was holding the map loosely folded in her hands. She opened it in front of the four of them, pointing down at it.
“About three days from here, there’s a side trail we could take out of the forest, toward Old Roach.”
“Old Roach? What’s that?” Carol asked, bending close to the map.
“It’s a ghost town, but it gets a lot of traffic this time of year—four-wheelers, off-roaders, mountain-bikers, that kind of thing. We probably wouldn’t have to wait long to ask someone for help. There will probably be people there already.” She looked up from the map and stared at Jill. “This is literally the only option. Everything else is too far away. Either we head there, or we go back right now.”
Everyone watched Jill to see how she’d take it. She was frowning, her face slightly mottled, but she kept her lips pinched tight. Fiona could see her visibly shaking with her effort to hold back. Finally, she nodded, clearly unable to speak without fighting.
Everyone seemed to sag with relief, and after a few brief words, they moved away to start packing.
Fiona held back and approached Roz, who was bent over the map again, studying it closely. She touched her shoulder gently.
“Thanks. And I’m sorry about them.” She meant Jill in particular, but that was implied.
Roz nodded and lifted her shoulders. “Like you said earlier—what can we do? At least this way we’ll get back to civilization sooner. It’s a shit compromise, but it’s all we have. Thanks for helping me, even if it’s not the best choice.”
“Will you get in trouble—with the forest service or whatever? If we wait, I mean? Don’t you have to report crimes right away?”
Roz tilted her head back and forth. “Yes and no. It would be the responsible thing to do in one way, but on the other, I’m obligated to guide the four of you in these woods. Technically, if I leave you alone, I would also be in trouble.”
Fiona smiled. “That seems like a reach, even to me. So why do it? You could just leave us here with the map. Why back down now?”
Roz took a step closer, meeting her eyes. “Because you asked me to,” Roz said, almost whispering. “No other reason.”
Fiona’s mouth went dry. Roz’s presence was forceful, almost overpowering, and it was all Fiona could do not to take a step closer to her and wrap her in her arms. She caught a faint whiff of sandalwood coming from the woman—warm and natural in this setting.
Fiona swallowed and then nodded. “Okay. I’m with you—wherever we go.”
Roz’s answering smile was broad and genuine, pleased for the first time since this started. Fiona was suddenly breathless. They were barely more than a foot apart at this point. All she would have to do is lean forward—
“Hey!” Jill called from behind her. “This tent won’t take itself down. Get over here and help, you lazy bum.”
Fiona couldn’t help a little groan of frustration. She turned toward her and yelled, “Just a sec!”
By the time she turned back, Roz was already walking away, and Fiona’s stomach dropped with disappointment. She didn’t think she was fooling herself, but she’d never been very good at knowing whether someone liked her. Still, she guessed Roz liked her more than anyone else at this point, and that was a start.