“Maybe the storm is a message that we should call it a week and head home,” Blair suggested.
Emily understood the sentiment, but she wasn’t ready to get back to regular life yet. She clicked off the TV. “We have to stay. I haven’t planned my day for the three of us yet.”
Sienna and Blair gawked at her.
“I think we can give you a pass, given the circumstances,” Sienna said.
“I’m creative; I can manage. We should do something here in the house together. And I’m going to plan it.”
“You do know we just endured a major storm,” Blair said. “Like Sienna said, I think you’re off the hook for that.”
“I know,” Emily said, standing up. “But I’d hate for us to leave on this note. It’s too late to drive home today, and we probably couldn’t get down our road yet anyway in Sienna’s car. You saw how Patrick’s truck had to drive over debris.”
“What do you have in mind?” Blair asked.
Emily tapped her chin. “Hm. Well, the tub in my bathroom is the size of a hot tub. We could get our swimsuits on and take a bubble bath. Light some candles… Have our own little spa day?”
Blair scooted to the edge of the sofa. “That’s a great idea. I brought my cucumber-green-tea-face-mask cream. We could hydrate while we soak.”
“I’ll make drinks,” Sienna added. “We had some club soda and a lime in the fridge after our last dinner. Do we have pineapple juice?”
“I think I saw some. Didn’t Patrick use it to make the salad dressing the other night?”
Sienna stood up. “If not, I’ll find something. Go draw the water.”
The next thing Emily knew, she’d texted Patrick to hold off until dinner, and was in her bikini, with a green face mask tightening on her skin as it dried, soaking in a bubble bath with Sienna and Blair.
“Now, this is the life,” Sienna said, taking two sliced cucumbers from the silver tray next to them and placing them on her eyes. “Great idea, Em.”
A pair of lavender candles flickered on either side of the tub, and the crisp white tile shimmered under the glow of the chandelier.
“Sitting in this beautiful place, it’s hard to believe there’s such a mess outside,” Emily said, running her hands in and out of the bubbles.
“I got some cool photos of it before we came in,” Blair said. “I’ve been thinking I might post something, but I’d need your okay.”
“What are you going to post?” Emily asked.
“I’ve been thinking about how our lives are like that storm, and how at some point it all ended and the sun came out.”
“That’s a great point,” Emily said. “I hope we see the sun in our lives soon.”
Blair twisted her hair into a clip. “Well, after talking with Julia, I decided that I should push myself to see it. I’ll never find the sun if I stay in the storm.”
Those words hit Emily right in the heart, giving her hope.
“I thought I might make a slideshow of some of our photos and use Sienna’s idea of The Broken Hearts Beach Club. I’d tell my story and how great my friends have been in getting me through it.”
Sienna took the cucumber slices from her eyes. “I love that idea.”
Emily agreed.
“Maybe you all can help me with it tonight,” Blair said.
Emily glanced at Sienna, smiling. “We’d be happy to.”
Maybe, Emily thought, she could take a page out of Blair’s book. Could she somehow find sunshine in her storm too?
EIGHTEEN
