Page 23 of Windward Hearts

Eleanor blinked at her brother. He was panting like he’d just run a race.

“What are you talking about?” she asked when he didn’t elaborate.

“Star Wars,” he repeated. “That is a classic movie that isn’t based on a book. Plus, I know you like it. I remember that Halloween when you were about seven, when you wore the Princess Leia space buns.” He made a swirly gesture next to his ears to illustrate the shape of the hair in question.

Winnie, attracted by the noise, came into the kitchen.

“Oh, hey, honey,” she said, smiling when she saw Shane. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

“I wasn’t,” he said. “But then, I remembered Star Wars.”

Now, it was Winnie’s turn to blink in confusion. “Um, yeah,” she said, nodding in clear confusion. “Great movie. Totally.” Then she paused. “Oh, the bet!”

“The bet,” Shane agreed. Winnie whipped out her phone and began doing research.

“I’m with you that Star Wars isn’t based on a book, but wasn’t it inspired by a whole bunch of famous books?”

Shane looked faintly despairing. “How do you know these things?” he moaned. “How do you have this weird film to book library in your brain all the time?”

As much as Eleanor enjoyed watching her brother flail as he tried to win a bet with her, given her unavoidable big-sister desire to drive her little brother nuts, she couldn’t take credit that she wasn’t due.

“The space buns, remember,” she said, copying his gesture toward her head. “I was a fan. And I’m a book fan. When you combine the two…”

“She’s right,” Winnie said, looking up from her phone. “Looks like it’s a bunch of different texts, according to an interview that George Lucas gave. A lot of them I don’t know, since I’m not a big sci-fi person, but there’s Dune and Lord of the Rings. I know those.”

“Okay,” Shane said with the air of a man who knew he was grasping at straws. “But that’s not the same as being based on a book, is it?”

Winnie gave him a sympathetic frown. “I don’t know. I think I’m going to side with Eleanor on this one. This is a lot of literary background.”

“Whose side are you on?” Shane demanded, looking betrayed.

Winnie gave him a teasing grin. “I’m on the side of truth and justice, babe. Truth. And. Justice.”

At Shane’s pout, the two women laughed. His expression quickly turned into a scowl as he pointed between the two of them.

“I’ll get you,” he said, adopting the tone that reminded Eleanor of a super villain in a movie. “Just you wait and see.”

“Uh huh,” Eleanor said, letting doubt into her tone. “Well, it’s book club time, and no boys allowed, so shoo.”

“Yeah, okay,” Shane said, his façade immediately dropping, replaced by his usual good cheer. “Love you! Have fun!”

He waved on his way out the door.

“You know, this bet is driving him totally nuts,” Winnie said, chuckling as she took the pitcher off the sideboard where Eleanor had placed it after her near disaster. “I keep catching him muttering about literary influences and cinematic greatness.”

“So, he’s having a blast?” Eleanor ventured.

“Oh, absolutely. One hundred percent.”

The two women were still chuckling over this when Diana was the first to arrive for that night’s meeting, followed shortly after by June.

“Wait,” June said, frowning and looking around, “did we forget to send somebody to pick up Miriam? I thought she wasn’t driving herself around yet after being sick.”

“Oh, Miriam isn’t coming,” Winnie said, “we’re actually waiting on…”

And then, with absolutely perfect timing, the door opened and an unfamiliar face peeked in.

She was around thirty years old, with soft, brown waves of hair that fell around her shoulders. She offered them a shy smile and a little wave, the look in her brown eyes friendly, but with the guardedness that came with meeting a group of new people.