“After you,” Steph said, and she stepped aside so that I could brush past her and put Analemma on her leash.

“I thought we’d take the short loop up to the fire road,” I said. “It’s just a couple of miles. Have you ever hiked up there?”

“No. Sounds good to me.”

As we walked, Analemma ranged ahead on the leash, sniffing at plants and patches of the ground. Not far from Joan’s house, I turned onto a single-lane road. We passed the gates to other houses built up into the hillside, but except for us the road was deserted.

“Can I ask you that question again?” I said. We weren’t looking at each other as we walked, and maybe that made it easier to talk.

“About the song?”

“Yeah. I wondered if it was inspired by a specific poem.”

“Not just one poem, more like the whole group of them. I wrote it last year when I was about to turn twenty-one, so that’s why it’s called ‘Twenty-One.’ And I guess I was thinking a lot about relationships, and how much work they are, and ‘Twenty-One Love Poems’ is about how Adrienne Rich’s relationship with another woman is a lot of work. You have to choose to be in the relationship, because the rest of the world doesn’t make it easy.”

“Do you believe that?”

“The world is definitely not set up for queer relationships.”

“True, but I mean do you believe that relationships are a lot of work? I always thought that if you’re in a relationship with someone, it should work on its own. You shouldn’t have to force it.”

“I don’t think forcing anything is a good idea, but yeah, you have to work at it.”

I wanted to ask if her relationship with Lisa was a lot of work, but instead I said, “Some things can’t be forced, anyway. Like chemistry. You either have it with someone or you don’t.”

“You think so?”

We arrived at the trailhead, and Analemma led the way through the metal gate onto the trail.

“Of course, don’t you?” I said. “Isn’t it obvious when you’re attracted to someone?” I looked at her through my sunglasses, which made it feel safer to ask this question, but she only smiled slightly and didn’t meet my eyes.

“Sometimes it’s obvious, yeah,” she said.

I felt like I was too close to saying something I shouldn’t. Analemma was sniffing at the little yellow flowers growing along the side of the path, and I used it as an excuse to bend down and look at them.

“Joan told me these are named something kind of funny,” I said. “I can’t remember.”