Shepherd:It’s my last name. My first name is none of your concern
Ginny:I am your fake girlfriend. I need to know your real first name
Ginny:To sell the lie, you see
Shepherd:Yeah yeah sure
Shepherd:NOW you want to compare notes. I tried to get you to do this earlier today, if you will remember
Ginny:What? You? Want to make an extensively detailed plan?
Ginny:I never heard such a thing
Shepherd:You’re fired and I’m serious this time
Ginny:Whatever you say, Alistair (?)
Shepherd:No
Shepherd:You’re embarrassing yourself, Virginia
Ginny:OOOOOOHHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Ginny:I’m not fired. I QUIT
Shepherd:You can’t quit. I fired you already
Ginny:Hold please. Incoming text from Noah
Shepherd:typing …
Ginny:Weelllllllll what do we have here hmmmmm
Shepherd:typing …
Ginny:Funny how someone named PRESTON thinks they have any right to mock MY NAME
Shepherd:Damn it
Shepherd:You can have your job back as long as you promise not to tell Max
Ginny:Deal
1:27 a.m.
Ginny:I am sorry about my tongue
SEVEN
It was a hot and humid morning, because of course it was. It was South Florida, after all. It had rained hard but briefly sometime during the night, leaving behind puddles and a steam-like quality in the air.
Laguna Key technically sat about a mile south of Miami, not quite the entrance to the Florida Keys but close enough. Driving over bridges used to freak Shepherd out when he first moved in his twenties, but now the open ocean on both sides of his vehicle was as commonplace as the land crabs scurrying across the asphalt to get to the other side.
His first time driving to the Keys, with nothing but a half-completed college degree and a pizza dream to his name, Shepherd saw dolphins crest on the very first bridge he crossed. He’d taken it, at the time, as a sign of good luck, but considering how his life had turned out, maybe they were instead harbingers of doom.
The brunch spot they were supposed to go to was all outdoor seating, overlooking the beach, because there’s nothing better than eating cold shrimp with sweat dripping down your back while incredibly good-looking people walk by in bathing suits and judge your food choices.
He pulled up to the end of the block and parked near iguanas sunning themselves. A mess. That’s what you called a group of iguanas, according to Lex, and Shepherd had learned a long time ago not to google the things his daughter told him for verification. At least, not without the safety turned on.
