Page 108 of Where You're Planted

To which Marianne replied, “She called ameeting, not a party. The surprise is thecontentof the gathering.”

Tansy surveyed the spread of finger foods on Irma’s kitchen island, the half-empty bottle of peppermint schnapps they’d clearly been drinking in the hour since work, and a banner hanging crookedly between one of the upper kitchen cabinets and the light fixture over the table that saidCON-GRAD-ULATIONS!

“It was the best we could find on short notice,” Marianne explained as she followed Tansy’s gaze. She grabbed the piping bag that Irma was squeezing, her hands already shaking from the effort. “I’ll do it. I’m not as drunk as you two.”

This made Kai laugh and sling their arm around Irma’s shoulders, directing her away from the cake but also hugging her affectionately. “You’re so wasted, Irma.”

They were all a mess. A completely, heartbreakingly loveable mess.

Tansy’s already-low spirits fell to the floor. She hadn’t told them specifically what this meeting was about, but she’d thought they had basically put the pieces together. Now, she was going to crush them.

“What’s the cake for?” Briar asked, leaning against the table to see it better. There was a green building with flowers piped onto the center with a shaky, unfinished message written across the bottom. “What’sfare-we?”

Tansy pulled Briar back by the shoulders and cleared her throat. “I should have just said it at yesterday’s meeting, before you all went out and bought cake and…graduation decor? I thought I’d figure out a softer way to put it. But I didn’t.”

“Put what?” Irma asked, removing her hat entirely now.

“We’re closing.”

Everyone stared back at her. Probably in shock.

“In about a month,” she added. “I’m sorry.”

“And?” Kai asked.

“And…” Tansy frowned. They still weren’t reacting. “And, um, I’ve been assured you’ll all receive placements at other branches, so no one is losing their job. Again, I’m so sorry.”

She winced at Marianne, who not only did seem less drunk than the others and more capable of understanding what she was saying, but who also would have been the first to break down at this news.

Marianne rolled her hand at the wrist. “Is that all?”

“That’s…I mean, yeah. I guess that’s it.”

Irma expelled a dramatic breath. “Good God, I thought you were going to say someone wasdying. We already knew about the closure. You left your email open on the computer, and Marianne overheard your call with Sheila the other day.”

Tansy slumped against a chair. “You knew?”

“Of course. That’s why we’re having cake,” Marianne said.

“I’m not following. This is bad news.”

“Doesn’t cake make you feel better?” Irma asked, as though this was the most obvious explanation in the world.

“Yes,” Briar answered seriously.

“Did I not say the mismatched decorations would be confusing?” Kai pointed out.

Marianne swatted their arm. “Well, it was better thanyoursuggestion of ‘eighteenth-century Gaelic funeral vibes.’ ”

“Black veils over the picture frames. Bagpipes. Crows,” Kai argued. “What’s not to like?”

“It’s depressing.”

“But aesthetically cohesive.”

“I like crows,” Briar offered, and Kai lurched across the table for a high five, nearly knocking the cake over the edge.

An unexpected laugh bubbled up into Tansy’s throat. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t save the library.”

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