Josh let his hand fall from her back, taking a step toward Ben. "Good, let's go then," he said, suddenly in a hurry.
He joined Ben and they clattered out of the kitchen. "See you tonight," Ben shouted over his shoulder. "I'm cooking for us. You can invite Emily too!"
"Yeah, I will." She didn't dare ask anymore who exactly was included in 'us'.
At noon, Hannah threw her cell phone, keys, and purse into her handbag and pulled the door shut. It didn't take long to find Grassroots, the vegetarian restaurant in the village center. Her gaze drifted to a Navajo girl sitting at a small table outside.
"Uhm... Emily?" she ventured.
The girl looked up from the magazine she'd been reading, and a wide smile appeared on her face. "Hannah!" she exclaimed enthusiastically, getting to her feet. "You're back!"
"Em!" Hannah hugged her old friend tightly. "It's so wonderful to see you again. You look good."
"Well, I should look good. I just had four weeks of vacation, so I'm still well-rested. But I also really enjoy my new job. I finished my studies in Tuba City two months ago, and I still had four weeks off before starting my job at the practice. I went camping next to the lake near Navajo Mountain with my sister, and after that Yazzie and Josh helped me build my own hoghan in Naabi'aani. I don't live with my parents anymore."
It turned out nothing had changed in the past four years. Em still talked at two hundred miles an hour.
They went inside, chatting excitedly, and chose a table near the window. Emily ordered the day's special for the two of them and poured Hannah a glass of water from the jug on the table.
"Hey, Josh wears a feather like that in his hair as well," Hannah commented when Emily's hair bands caught her eye. Her friend had little bright-red feathers in her plaited hair.
"That's right. His father's clan is my mother's clan. Feather People." Emily shrugged. "Well, I don't mind Josh copied my style. It looks good on him, don't you think?"
"Yeah, it does." Hannah blushed. Of course, anything would look good on him. If Josh decided to wear a bucket on his head she would still think it looked sexy. Quickly, she gulped down some water and stared intently at the menu. "Oh, by the way, Ben invited you to dinner tonight. He's going to cook for us."