“It’s okay,” said Calix quickly.

“It’s not okay,” said Samm. “I’m sick of it. I want to be better at this, but I’m just not built for it. I didn’t want to cross an entire continent with Kira without ever saying anything, but I did, because I don’t know how to say it. There are a lot of things I’m stuck with, but . . . I’m just sorry. I am.”

He looked up, and saw that Calix had stopped her work on the horses and was staring back at him. Her voice was soft. “What is it you want to say to Kira?”

Samm stood still, emoting a thousand different bits of data that Calix didn’t even know were there. Right now wasn’t the time to say things like this to Kira, they had more important things to do. And yet . . . Kira thinks I’m a statue, he thought. An emotionless mannequin. He deliberately imitated the signs of sadness and resignation he’d seen in other humans, drawing in a breath and letting it out slowly. A sigh. “I don’t know what she wants,” he said at last. “You made your intentions clear. Kira is a mystery to me.”

“You don’t know if she loves you back.”

“We’re too different,” said Samm. It was hard to talk without saying too much. “I don’t know if she wants . . . what I am.”

“Sure,” said Calix. “For all we know, she might really get turned off by handsome, competent, kindhearted guys.”

“You’re very kind,” said Samm.

“Lot of good it’s doing me,” said Calix. She sighed as well, moving away from the horses and sitting cross-legged on an old, weathered table. “Look. You and Kira was not the relationship I’d hoped to be discussing today, but I’ve done this enough times with Phan that I’m pretty sure I’ve got some pointers you could use. First of all, everything you said about not knowing what she wants? She feels exactly the same way—I haven’t talked to her or anything, but I guarantee it. Ironclad. I’ve been watching you ever since you came into town, and you never gave a single sign that you were interested in her. That’s why I made a move. If I couldn’t tell, neither can she.”

“I’m very bad at commu—”

“I know,” said Calix firmly. “I am very quickly becoming an expert in how bad a communicator you are. We’ve established that, and we’re moving past it. Step two: You said you were grateful to me for being so up-front about my feelings, and frankly, I’m grateful to you for being up-front about yours. Once I forced it out of you. I’d rather know how you feel than hope and wonder and delude myself for weeks on end—which is exactly what she’s been doing.”