“That’s what I usually go by, with my friends. Lillibet is for… the public-facing stuff.”
“Libby,” he repeated. It suited her—like that soft-looking shirt. And the blink-and-you’d-miss-them shorts.
“I was trying to finish the story about Keoki’s grandmother.”
Jefferson understood the part she didn’t say out loud:So I can give it to Hildy.“How’s it going?”
Lillibet—Libby—shrugged. “Can’t tell anymore. Hence the snacks.” She tugged on the end of her braid, brushing it against her palm. “Is that why you were down here? I think there’s more papaya in the fridge. Since I noticed you were holding the fruit bowl.”
“I thought you were an intruder.”
“Oh! Ha. No. I’m definitely supposed to be here.” She rubbed the sole of her foot against the opposite leg, no doubt brushing off crumbs. Jefferson wasn’t sure why she seemed to be trying to convince herself.
“I came downstairs to call my sister,” he said. “Meant to do it earlier, but it was hard to find a quiet time.”
“Do you talk every day?”
He shook his head. “It’s my birthday.”
“What?” Her eyes were enormous. “It’s been your birthday this whole day? You should have said something.”
“It’s no big deal. Susan wanted to make sure she got a chance to wish me a happy birthday. And she was up late, so we’re good.”
“The two of you must be really close.”
“Pretty much.”
“And you get along really well?”
“Most of the time.”
“Is that where you would be tonight if you weren’t here? Your sister’s house?”
“Probably. She and the girls like to do it up. Streamers. Trick candles.”
She absorbed this in silence, like she was interviewing a head of state. “Is it just the three of them? No dad in the picture?”
“He took off when the youngest was a baby. That’s why I moved back to Wyoming.”
“To be there for your sister?” Libby blinked rapidly, like her eyes were welling.
“I’m sure Susan could have handled it, but I wanted to be close. Get to see the girls grow up a little.” Jefferson wasn’t sure what had loosened his tongue, but now that he’d started, he couldn’t seem to stop. Maybe he liked that she was interested in his life.
“What does she do? Your sister.”
“She’s a vet. Has her own practice now. That’s why she was still up. There was an emergency call. The dog’s going to be fine,” he added, at Libby’s worried intake of breath.
“So you’re both animal people? I mean, people who like animals. Not like—werewolves.”
He smiled at the distinction. “We used to watch all the nature shows. Hour after hour ofAnimal Planet.Kind of an obsession. It got to be a competition to see which one of us could absorb more facts about capybaras or blue whales.”
“You would have killed at trivia night.”
“As long as the questions were about vertebrates.” He stopped himself there, worried he’d been talking too much. “Is this going in your next story?”
“Sorry. Am I being nosy? I just think it’s so cool that you knew what you wanted to do when you were a kid and then actually followed through. I wish I’d been that focused.”
“Probably fewer kids’ shows about journalists.”
