“That’s nice of her,” Steph said as she folded the check and put it in her pocket.

“She said any day would do, as long as it was after noon.”

“I’ll check my schedule at work and get back to her. Is she out? Her car’s gone.”

“Yeah, she went to Berkeley.”

Steph went to sit on the bench, taking another drink of her iced tea, and gestured for me to join her. “Did you have a good time last Saturday?” she asked. Analemma nosed around the flower bed where she had been weeding.

I sat down beside her. “Yeah, I had a great time. Thanks for inviting me.”

“Anytime.” She glanced sideways at me, a mischievous expression on her face, and asked, “Did Mel try to make a move on you after we left?”

“That’s private,” I said with a hint of a grin.

“She did, didn’t she?” Steph seemed to think this was hilarious. “I hope she didn’t make you uncomfortable.”

“Oh no. Mel is great.”

“Good.” She drank more of the iced tea; it was almost gone already. “You doing anything this weekend?”

“No. I’m helping Joan go through my grandpa’s old papers, but that’s more of an ongoing thing.”

“She never says much about your grandpa. I only know he was a professor at Berkeley.”

“Yeah, he taught astronomy. I’m sorting his research papers because she’s using them in her art.”

“Really? How?”

“I don’t know. She won’t tell me.”

“What did he research?”

“Protostars. I can show you if you like.” As soon as I said it, I wanted to take it back. Why would Steph want to see Grandpa’s research notes?

But she said, “Sure, I’d love to see it. But I have to finish up here first.”

“Oh, of course. Sorry. I’m distracting you.”

“Happy to be distracted.”

Did I imagine that look in her eyes? A hint of pleasure. I didn’t imagine the buzz I felt in my body.

“But I do have to get back to work,” she added, and then she set down the now-empty glass and pulled the work glove on again, returning to the flower bed she’d been weeding.

I wondered whether I should leave, but I didn’t want to. Analemma had stretched out on the moss-covered brick path and was panting slightly in the growing heat.

“When did you start working for Joan?” I asked.

“About a year ago. She used to come to the Greenbrae Garden Center, where I work, and I’d help her there. Then she asked if I did gardening gigs outside my job.”

“Were you here last summer?” My dad and I had visited last July, but Steph hadn’t been around then.

“Yeah, I started in August.”