She went to the trunk of her car and withdrew her little cart. She arranged the jewelry on each of its tiers and then stood at the ready. Matt looked pleasantly amused with her setup. He set down his bundle of wood and said, “Follow me.”
She did as he instructed, following him to the front porch of the house, pushing the cart as she went. It was a beautiful wood-paneled house—unpainted, the natural grains of the wood visible. Matt knocked on the front door, and then there she was—Angeni Luna.
She was much shorter than Sasha had expected. For the past month, Angeni Luna had loomed so large in Sasha’s mind, an Amazonian woman. In person, she was significantly shorter than Sasha’s five feet, seven inches. Sasha guessed she was five two, if that. Her hair was in a braid that hung over her shoulder. She was wearing her usual turquoise necklace and bracelet. Her face didn’t appear as bright and glowing as it did on Instagram. It was clear she was not above the use of filters. There were dark circles under her eyes, a smattering of sun spots on her cheeks and forehead.
Angeni’s eyes went from Matt to Sasha.
“Ang, this young woman just moved to the island and is selling turquoise,” Matt said. “Thought you might be into it.”
“Oh,” Angeni said. “My goodness. Sure, come on in.”
It was that easy. Sasha had not been prepared for it to be so easy.
Matt started to walk away and then turned back suddenly. “Wow, I’m an idiot. I didn’t even get your name.”
It would be the first time she would say it out loud. She cleared her throat.
“It’s Sitka.”
“Sitka,” he repeated. “Such a cool name. Nice to meet you.”
Then he was off, disappearing down the dirt path.
“Sitka? Like the spruce tree,” Angeni said.
There was a twinkle in her eye when she said it, and Sasha knew she’d selected the perfect name.
“Yes, like the spruce tree. Not many people know that.”
“It’s my favorite tree,” Angeni said.
“No way!”
“And turquoise is my favorite jewelry,” she said.
“It’s almost like we’re meant to meet,” Sasha said.
She immediately regretted it, wondering if she was going too far, showing her hand. But Angeni didn’t seem alarmed in the slightest.
When Angeni turned to lead them inside, Sitka hit the record button on her phone so she could capture the confrontation she’d been fantasizing about. The house was filled with natural light from several floor-to-ceiling windows. The kitchen, dining area, and living room were all one large space, with no walls between them. Sasha’s eyes went to the big picture window above the kitchen sink, out of which she could see her namesake tree.
“This is beautiful,” Sasha said, a compliment that was genuine, not part of her performance.
“Thank you,” Angeni said, placing a hand to her heart as if in deep gratitude. “I have spent so much time tending to this space, making it reflect who I am as a person, you know?”
Sasha didn’t know, but she did know that this was exactly the type of thing Angeni Luna would say.
There was a hallway off the living room that Sasha guessed led to the bedrooms. From that hallway, a woman emerged who Sasha quickly recognized as Aurora, the woman Angeni described as her “soul sister,” whatever that meant. She was holding in her arms the beloved baby—Freya Odina.
The baby was undeniably beautiful, even without whatever Instagram filters Angeni used. It was her eyes—large and blue, accented by long, stark-black eyelashes. She stared with the intensity of a much older, wiser human.
“Ror, this is Sitka,” Angeni said when Aurora came into the room and handed the baby to Angeni.
“Hi,” Aurora said, giving a little wave.
“Aurora is my dear friend who lives with us here on the land,” Angeni said.
“How wonderful,” Sasha said, quickly chastising herself for using that word for the second time since arriving. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful—everything was just damnwonderful.
