Or more accurately,murderousyears, Holly thought, but did not say. Everyone knew what Mish meant with the word challenging.
“I will curate the musical selections with the utmost care,” Harry assured her. “And perhaps we can enlist Luv to watch over the little ones for a few hours? They are not afraid of her, are they?”
“I don’t think so.” Mish looked up at Holly, hopeful. “Do you think she’d mind?”
“I will ask her,” Holly said. “She wants to see this outpost succeed and I’ve never heard her express, ah, discomfort with your kids, Mish.”
“Excellent,” Harry said, as if that was all settled. “Now, aside from my robust network, how shall we get the word out about our event?”
Holly watched them from her chair as contentment settled over her. Things were working. The people around her were leaning in rather than pulling away, and the event that had been nothing but an idea two days ago was taking shape. It had a real chance of happening. She had the strange, tentative sensation of being exactly where she was supposed to be, doing exactly the thing she was supposed to be doing. It was a verygoodfeeling. Maybe she didn’t trust it entirely because it didn’t quite feel earned. Not yet. But she let herself sit in it for a moment without picking it apart.
“What about decorations?” Harry asked, returning to full volume. “Bunting. Lanterns. Garlands. I can make garlands from dried mushroom caps. They’re lovely. They catch the light.”
“They smell,” Alyce said.
“They smellearthy. Which is the same thing as lovely.”
“It isnotthe same thing, Harry.”
Holly stepped in before this became a twenty-minute argument about the olfactory qualities of dried fungi. “If we have time, great. If not, the square looks fine as it is.”
“It looksadequate,” Harry corrected, as if the word caused him physical pain.
The lounge door opened again, and Cody ambled in. He stood in the doorway with his hands in his pockets, sandals on his feet. He wore an unhurried expression, as if he’d just wandered into the room for the first time and was tickled to see people in it.
“Hey, cuz,” he said to Holly. He scanned the room with friendly curiosity. “What’s going on? I didn’t get an invite for a meeting.”
“It’s not a meeting,” Holly said in a sharp tone. “We’re planning a small event. Nothing to worry about.” If she was hoping that would bore him enough to make him leave, she was mistaken.
Cody’s eyebrows rose. “Oh, cool.” He wandered further into the lounge, plucked a cookie from the counter, and took a bite. “Need any help?”
Holly looked at him. His hair was loose and messy, his clothes rumpled. He looked like he’d just woken up despite it being nearly noon. She thought about all the times she’d seen him lounging in a chair, or wandering aimlessly through the outpost, or giving unhelpful nods from a comfortable distance. Then, she thought about the campsite Rasker had spotted in the woods and the room at the hotel Cody never seemed to sleep in. It didn’t make sense. None of it. Cody wasexactlythe type who would sleep outside, and if she asked him about it, she’d likely get a long, annoying reply about his cosmic journey or the health benefits of dirt.
“Not really,” she said, tamping down her irritation. “But if we need anything, we’ll let you know.”
“Sweet.” Cody took another bite of cookie and settled into a vacant chair, oblivious to the pointed silence. He really couldnotread a room. “Just tell me what you need.”
“Sure.” Holly hoped, with every fiber of her being, that Cody would either stay out of the way or actually be useful. Anythingother than sitting in the sun and eating all the food would be a win.
She was not optimistic.
“Two weeks,” Holly said, addressing the room again. “That’s what we’ve got. It doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to be good enough to make people glad they stopped.”
“It’ll be more than good enough,” Harry declared, rising from his seat with the fervor of a man who had just found his calling. “It will bememorable. Mark my words. People will talk about this for years.”
“Let’s start with getting them to show up,” Alyce said dryly.
“Leave that to me,” Harry said, waving a hand. “Aside from my robust network of fungi enthusiasts, whowillspread the word, I can take some attractive vid-stream of the outpost, create a short advertisement, and transmit it on the relevant streams and frequencies.”
Sam stood, too. He looked at Holly, and in his quiet, steady way, said the thing that mattered most: “I’m in. Whatever you need.”
Holly nodded. “Thank you, Sam.”
He clapped her once on the shoulder, as was his way, and left.
The lounge cleared slowly after that, the way it always did. Harry lingered to discuss his tea selections in more detail than anyone had asked for. Mish said she’d start mapping the forest path that afternoon. Alyce mentioned scheduling an extra rain session for the night before to make the plants extra vibrant and perky. Rasker eyed Cody with a contemplative gaze, before nodding to Holly and slipping out. Cody remained in his chair until he finished his cupcake, then ambled from the lounge, trailing his too-sweet perfume scent after him. Holly was still annoyed about how he’d manipulated Charles into hiring him, taken the station’snits, then made the lounge kitchen into a dump. She hadn’t kicked him out yet because they were relatedby blood, but her patience had run out. After the festival, he was gone.
She rose and began moving chairs back to their spots.
