Zada pressed her lips together and sighed. “So why didn’t they ‘make their exit,’ then?”
“No idea,” Daphne said. “All I know is that they didn’t show up to the rendezvous point the week before, and then they stopped talking to me. Next thing I knew, they were holding hands and saying their vows.” Then Daphne said in an undertone, “You mentioned Flora went in for Counseling?”
“Yes. She told me she was worried about the wedding,” Zada said. “She wanted everything to go smoothly.”
“Or not go at all,” Daphne muttered.
Zada shook her head. “How could you expect me to believe this?”
“I’m telling you,” said Daphne, “they were ready to leave everything behind. Flora had that systems job waiting for her, and Aiden had his family. He’s really close with his siblings, you know. But none of that could keep them here. They wanted out, and they came to me for help.”
“So you decided to crash their wedding?”
“I was invited, thank you very much,” Daphne said primly. “I’ll admit, I panicked. I saw the two of them on the brink of a very permanent binding, and knowing what I knew, I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing. So yes, I swiped the Applicator from the groom’s suite when no one was there.” Daphne amended, “Well, except for Aiden’s nephew. He might’ve seen.”
“You committed theft in front of a child?”
“He had no idea. He was playing one of those new holo-games about raptor detectives,” Daphne said.
“That still doesn’t make it right!”
“I’m of the mind that witnessing crimes can be character building.”
“All right,” Zada said, rolling her eyes. “So what made you think stealing the Applicator was going to work? It’s not as if they’re in short supply. It was a stopgap measure at best.”
“I told you, I panicked. I’m not much of a planner. You were always the brains of the operation.” She cut a sidelong glance at Zada. “You know, you’re taking this all rather well.”
Was she? Zada felt full to bursting with new information, and she still didn’t even know whether to believe Daphne or not. It was terrifyingly easy, falling into old habits with her—the teasing, the lighthearted arguing, the elaborate and extended jokes.
“Would you prefer I weep and rend my garments?” Zada asked, keeping her tone light.
“Maybe,” said Daphne. “More to the point, we’re here.”
The moment they stepped through the door of Murray’s Catering, their old classmate Ursa Neale spun around toface them. Zada could see the exact moment Ursa seemed to remember that the two of them no longer had to worry about touching, and a second later, she had scooped Zada into an enthusiastic embrace.
“So lovely to see you, Zada darling!” Ursa shouted, almost directly into her ear. Her sundress was an equally loud shade of turquoise.
“You too,” Zada wheezed.
After another rib-punishing squeeze, Ursa relinquished her hold. “You’re simply glowing,” Ursa enthused. “Personally, I’ve always considered true love the best cosmetic of all! The cheeks, the complexion, the eyes! Yours are sparkling! Are mine? They must be, I can feel it!”
Ursa had been a year ahead of them at school. They’d had very little to do with each other outside of etiquette class, but what she lacked in familiarity, she was apparently willing to make up for in volume. She was short and exceedingly slight, and Zada couldn’t fathom the source of her resonance. Perhaps on the inside, Ursa was mostly lung.
“Yes,” Zada managed in the face of Ursa’s onslaught. “You’re very . . . sparkly.”
“Thank you, dearest. Oh, where are my manners? HowisBuford?”
“He’s, uh, wonderful,” said Zada. “Also very sparkly.” Her words felt awfully thin.
Luckily, Ursa didn’t seem to notice. “Max and I are just enraptured with each other. I’m sure you two lovebirds feel the same! I nearly wept at the thought of leaving him this morning, but I had my duties. Wedding planning, you know.”
From behind her, Daphne pantomimed digging an escapetunnel and crawling to freedom.
Zada bit the inside of her cheek and nodded. “Oh, I know.”
“That darling little smile! It is so very lucky of you to find your Heartsong match so soon after graduation!” Ursa chirped. “Anyway, I’m afraid I must dash out of here! There’s simply so much to do. But it’s been a delight talking to you! We newly engaged women understand each other on a level beyond words, don’t you think?”
“Mm-hmm,” Zada said, averting her gaze from Daphne, who was now digging a second tunnel.
