waving through the window to me, and then they were gone, heading for the gate, their headlights a bright spot against the darkness.
How was it still so dark? It felt like so much time had passed since my arrival in Oregon that it should be near morning, but the moon was still high and not even the glimmer of false dawn could be seen on the horizon. I watched until their lights faded out of view, and then I turned and went inside.
Evie pounced immediately. “Well?” she asked, thoughts going so bubbly with excitement that they were like sipping champagne. “Did the two of you finally decide to sit down for a real, adult conversation?”
“You mean after everyone in this family spent forever not so subtly trying to get us to hook up?” I demanded. “You’re all so inappropriate. We’re younger than you. I’m telling Mom.”
“Yes, please tell our mother,” said Evie. “She won’t believe it from me, and she’s been in despair thinking the two of you would never figure things out and you’d be pining in your room forever.”
“Evie!” I squawked.
“Okay, fine. Your room, various coffee shops, and the local college math department. Romance isn’t the end-all, be-all of existence, and you don’t need it to be happy, but when you’re talking about someone as bound and determined to see herself as a monster as you are, it’s just nice to see you putting yourself out there.” Evie pointed to her mouth. “I know you can’t see this, but I’m smiling. I’m happy for you, sweetheart, I really am.”
I folded my arms. “I never said we had ‘an adult conversation,’ as you so horrifyingly put it.”
“You didn’t have to,” she said. “You’re glowing.” She reached out and grasped my arms, long enough for me to feel the joy and relief flowing through her, before letting me go and stepping back. “Kevin and I need to head out to the barn to help Ted and Jane with the dissection and preserving the samples. I don’t think you want to come out there, but if you need anything . . .”
“I’ll call.” I tapped my temple with one finger.
She nodded, relief palpable in the air. “Okay, sweetheart. I’ll see you soon.”
I stayed by the door, watching as she walked away, before turning and heading through the kitchen to the living room.
Annie and Sam were gone. James was still seated on the couch. I offered him a nod as I went to pick up my backpack from where it had been dropped by the entertainment center.
“It’s James,” he said.
“I know.”
“I thought you didn’t see faces.” He sat up a little straighter, turning toward me. “Was that not . . . ?”
“I don’t see faces the way humans see faces,” I said. “That doesn’t mean I can’t tell people apart once I get to know them a little. You’re tall and pale and you have floppy hair and you don’t have a tail. Sam has a tail. Which means you have to be James.” I sat down at the dining room table, unzipping my backpack. “Also you have a very distinctive accent. Where are you from?”
“Maine,” he said. “You?”
“Ohio, mostly.” My laptop was still shrouded by the layer of clothing I’d packed it in. I pulled it out gingerly, relieved when nothing rattled or fell to the floor. Maybe it was okay despite the beating I had given it. “My parents live there, and I sort of bounced back and forth between their place and here in Oregon when I was a kid. Depending on what was going on and how much work Mom had on her plate.”
“What does she do?”
“She’s an accountant. Cuckoos are good at math.” The screen wasn’t cracked, and all the keys on my keyboard were still firmly in place. I relaxed a little. “So when tax time rolled around, she’d bundle me onto a plane or a train or the local carnival convoy and ship me off to stay with my cousins. We all grew up together.”
“I see.”
I glanced over my shoulder at James as I pressed the power button. “I know we can be a lot, and I’m a weird new variable. It’s nice to meet you.”
“I think ‘a lot’ may be the most charitable description of this family,” said James, with a dour chuckle. “When Annie informed me that I was being adopted, I thought she was being fanciful. And then she got me back here, and I found myself with a bedroom, a space