Mack finally looked down at her, scrunching her eyebrows together. “What’s got your panties in a twist?”
Kayla twisted her face deeper into a scowl to make sure none of Mack’s shining optimism could penetrate. “Ew. I hate that word.”
“What word would you rather I use? You don’t wear boxer briefs or boy shorts.”
“How do you know what underwear I wear?” Dammit. Mack was breaking through her defenses too easily.
“Because we shared a room for two years in high school, and you suck at laundry and tidying up. I spent half my time picking up after you. Including your panties.” Mack hit the last word with extra emphasis.
Kayla poked her in the ribs, but couldn’t keep the grin off her face. “Yeah, well, I’ve upgraded to thongs, which my soon-to-be-wife should know.”
Mack’s grin was positively wicked. “Interesting. Okay, what’s got your thong in a twist?”
The fun of teasing melted like her deodorant in the tropical heat. “The stupid passport official wouldn’t tell me if Skye has arrived yet. I got the same run around from Delta. What’s the point of paying a ridiculously high transfer fee and bullying the resort into giving me the dates Skye booked if I don’t get the same consideration from the airline or the passport people?”
Mack turned a stern gaze on her. “You bullied the resort people?”
“Heck yeah. Pulled out all the stops, and they caved. How else do you think I found out when Skye was coming here?”
“You cried, didn’t you?”
“I do have some dignity.” Kayla rolled her eyes at Mack’s raised eyebrows. “I begged. Much more ladylike.”
Mack’s bark of laughter was like sunshine on her face. How could she stay grumpy when Mack was looking more relaxed than Kayla had seen her in years? At least her secondary plan was working, even if she was hitting a roadblock with the primary objective. “Well, do me a favor and don’t get yourself arrested for trying to bribe a government official. God knows what the prisons are like on this island.”
As Mack teased her, Kayla pulled out her phone and switched it off airplane mode. The moment she did, a dozen notifications came in, one right after another. Kayla cringed. “I think we have a bigger problem than that.”
Right on cue, Mack’s phone rang. The first suitcase appeared through the rubber curtain at the end of the luggage carousel, and a collective sigh of relief burst from their fellow travelers. Mack took one step forward, then stopped dead, looking at her phone screen.
“Why’s Mom calling me?” Mack asked.
Despite her trepidation, Kayla couldn’t help being charmed. Mack had always called Kayla’s mom just Mom. When Kayla and Mack first became friends, they were in their early teens. The first time meeting her, Mack had tried to call her Mrs. Lamb, but her mom wasn’t having it. She said it made her feel old. Mack had resisted the familiarity at first, but things weren’t always great at home for her. Soon, Kayla’s mom was more of a mother to her—more of a safe space and confidant—than her own mother, so she relented.
A couple of years later, Mack had come out to her parents, and they had responded by kicking her out of the house in the middle of the night. Kayla, who had known the big talk was happening, wasn’t surprised to see Mack crying on their doorstep that night. She was a little surprised by the blackening eye that had been her father’s parting gift.
Kayla’s mom had been a rock star that night, getting Mack settled in, feeding her, and being the loving parent she needed when her own had been such a disappointment. She’d continued to be that hero for the next two years while Mack lived with them and finished high school. She had been there for both of Mack’s college graduations, all her birthdays, and every Christmas. If folks didn’t know better, they just assumed both Mack and Kayla were her biological daughters.
“About that,” Kayla said. “I might’ve sent her a text message on the way to the airport this morning.”
“A text about what?” Mack still held the ringing phone out like an offering.
“This trip. I told her all about it.”
“You did what?”
Mack’s shout made a twenty-something blonde in barely-there shorts and a big floppy hat jump. Mack was too apoplectic to apologize, so Kayla lied, “I told our cat she’s adopted.”
The woman gave Kayla a puzzled look, which only made her giggle harder. She grabbed Mack by the arm and dragged her to a more secluded corner away from the carousel. By the time they got there, Mack’s phone had stopped ringing and Kayla’s had started. She didn’t bother checking the screen, she knew who it was and they didn’t have a lot of time.
Mack asked, “Did you tell her the truth or the lie?”
“Um…”
“LaLa!”
“Okay, okay. Don’t shout at me.” She tapped the toe of her sandal against the much larger toe of Mack’s boat shoes. “I told her the lie.”
“Why would you do that? Why would you tell your mother we’re getting married?”
