CHAPTER NINE

 

The storm continued to blast through the valley and lasted for two more days and nights. It rained so much, the main road outside the gates flooded and they couldn’t have left even if they had wanted to risk the high winds and low visibility. In that time, Shy surprised herself with how quickly she grew used to Thisbe’s company. It had long been her regular habit to spend the evenings alone with a glass of good wine and a good book. Now, she split the bottles of wine with Thisbe and exchanged quiet smiles with her over the tops of their respective reading choices.

It felt remarkable to Shy, how quickly the two of them had developed an easy routine. They woke up around the same time and made breakfast together—Shy always in charge of the coffee, but otherwise giving Thisbe free reign to create whatever delightful meals she wanted. Then the two of them would slip into rain parkas and go out to get the daily chores done until there was nothing left but the specialized tasks of managing a farm. At that point, Thisbe would go back to the shelter of the house and leave Shy to work in peace.

“Finally, some time to hear myself think,” Shy would grouse to herself after Thisbe had left, but each time it felt a little less like a good thing. Their evening reading sessions were, if she was honest with herself, the highlight of those days.

“For a rancher, you sure do have an extensive collection of murder mysteries,” Thisbe observed on her third night at the farm. Shy pretended not to hear the flirtatious tones in her voice.

“What are you implying? Ranchers are too salt-of-the-earth to enjoy genre fiction?”

“Hey, no critique here! I love a solid mystery. The more sordid, the better. I suppose I've just never thought about what a farmhouse library might look like until now.”

“Well, it’s not all goat herding textbooks and biographies of famous apple pickers. Sometimes we like to let loose and read stories about murder tractors or charming yet secretly deranged women that show up just as a storm hits.”

Thisbe smirked wickedly and raised her wine glass in salute.

“Ohh, that one sounds fun. I bet she’s irresistibly sexy, too. Seriously though, have any good recommendations? I’m almost done with this book I’m on.”

“Have you read A Thousand Lies Before Sunset? That's a good one. Lots of twists and turns to the mystery.”

Shy got up and found the book in question and handed it over to Thisbe just as a strong burst of wind howled overhead. The force of it shook the windows and sent leaves and small branches twigs clattering against the side of the farmhouse. Thisbe jumped a little at the sudden violence of the noise and Shy instinctively reached out a hand to steady her.

“This place was built to withstand winds ten times stronger,” she assured her. “We're safe.”

“Safe as houses,” Thisbe said. She quirked one eyebrow up. “I never understood that phrase, you know? Houses aren't that safe. Even the well-protected ones can be burgled or broken into. The old ones caught fire all the time, or fell apart in earthquakes. And that’s not even mentioning any hypothetical co-habitants. A bad domestic situation can make the strongest house the least safe place in the galaxy.”

“I know all about bad home situations, but that's a story for a not-so-stormy night. Safe as houses… yeah. Who came up with that saying, anyway? Had they ever actually lived in a house?” Shy laughed and tried to play off the conversation as an idle joke, but she wondered all the same. Whose house are you afraid of back on Earth, Thisbe?

“Hey, do you want something a little warmer than wine?” Shy asked. “Let’s go downstairs and take a snack break. I’ll make a pot of cocoa.”

Downstairs in the kitchen, Shy whisked at the milk in the saucepan and tried not to stare openly at Thisbe, who was wrapped up in one of Shy's oversized shaggy blue eyelash sweaters and looked like the snuggliest angel in the galaxy.

Thisbe watched the storm through the kitchen window while Shy whisked. The fragrant steam of milk and sugar and cocoa powder mingled with the warm glow of the kitchen lights, and for a moment Shy could so perfectly picture walking up behind Thisbe and wrapping her arms around her, that she almost thought she had.

“Shy?”

“What? What's wrong?”

Thisbe, still leaning against the counter on the other side of the room, gave her an assessing look.

“I was asking you the same thing. You kind of spaced out there for a moment with that whisk. Everything alright?”

Shy turned off the burner and busied herself getting out two mugs for their cocoa. She poured a generous splash of cinnamon liquor into each before adding the cocoa.

“Everything's fine, yeah,” she shrugged off the question. “I'm just exhausted, I guess.”

“You certainly had a long enough day, what with all those droid repairs.”

There was a sweet, sympathetic tone in Thisbe's voice. When Shy turned to hand her a mug of cocoa, Thisbe had moved closer to her so unexpectedly that they nearly bumped into each other. Shy smiled awkwardly and offered her a mug and when Thisbe accepted it, her fingertips brushed Shy's for just longer than was necessary to accept a cup from someone.

“Shy, I...”

Shy could hear her blood pumping. She felt more alive, more aware, than she could ever remember feeling. Her whole body screamed at her to make a move, to take this gorgeous creature into her arms, to drink her up, to pin her against the kitchen counter and find every single spot on Thisbe's body that made her melt.

“Storm's letting up,” she said instead, pulling her hands back. She picked up her own mug like a shield. Idiot! “I suppose by the morning it'll be clear enough that we can get you in communication with your people and get you on your way to a shuttle.”

Why am I doing this? Why can't I just let myself have one nice night? I’m a farmer, not a nun. But Shy already knew the answer to her own question. She didn't want just one night, that's not how her heart was built. Better to have none than to spend the rest of her life wishing for more than what she could have.

Thisbe stared at her for a long moment, stunned surprise writ large across her face. She took a drink of her spiked cocoa and licked some cocoa from her lips. Shy bit back the urge to lick them for her.

“Uh, yeah. Yes, of course. Mr. Kerridan is no doubt wondering what happened to me. I'll try messaging first thing in the morning.”

The way Thisbe said the name made Shy look at her closer until Thisbe looked away, suddenly very interested in her cocoa.

There was something off about Thisbe's relationship to this Sean Kerridan, but Shy couldn't figure it out. If he was a cantankerous old man who she was visiting out of familial obligation, she imagined Thisbe would be happy to linger with her on the farm. She didn't seem reluctant to go, but she didn't seem happy about it, either. She seemed stressed, tense. Her shoulders hunched together ever-so-slightly when she talked about him.

“Thisbe...”

Shy took a drink and clutched her mug close to her chest, as though the milky warmth could somehow infuse directly into her heart and make her a warmer person. A less awkward woman. Tell her she can stay! Ask her what's wrong! Kiss her, you absolute fool!

Thisbe looked up over the rim of her mug and her bruisy plum eyes were the most perfect eyes Shy could ever remember seeing. They were so full of life, mysterious and inviting as a wild forest trail she'd walked on Earth one autumn morning a lifetime ago.

“Yes?”

“Err… you know, I was just thinking. The weather’s not great, but the storm's pretty much done. Just a few gusts now, and the main road’s drivable again. I know a place up in town that just opened up, Galactica it’s called. Their grand opening is actually tonight, and I bet what with the weather the way it is and all, they could use all the customers they can get. Do you maybe want to get out of here and go dancing?”

The words came out before Shy realized what she was saying. Midway through, it was as though someone else was speaking through her and she could only watch, in distant mortification, as she asked this beautiful, perfect, sophisticated woman to put down her hot cocoa and drive in the rain to go out dancing with her at what was no doubt the dullest nightclub on the entire moon.

“I'd love to.”

“Oh. Wait, really?”

Thisbe set her cocoa aside and grinned. She was already beautiful, but to see her so excited and eager for adventure, her features came alive with a vivacity that threatened to take Shy's breath away if she wasn’t careful.

“Dancing I know. And it's been a long time since I went out dancing. Farm chores are great cardio and all, but I could do with something a little more... fun. Not that I haven't enjoyed every minute here!” Thisbe rushed to add. “This place is pure magic.”

“Well, alright. Let's go dancing.”