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I look up and yell, “Come On!” I pop up from my lounge chair to hug my stunning best friend, completely decked out in resort wear.

“You know, I can be trusted to travel safely. You people don’t need to keep showing up.”

“And when the hell am I ever going to have an excuse to get an equatorial African tan again?” She turns to the waitress pointing to the menu with her long coral ombre nails. “I’ll take the green one and she’ll have this one. Put it on Davis room 419.”

I move my stuff off the adjacent lounge chair and Ginny sits.

“This was a bitch of a trip to get here so keep me plied with stories and booze. Oh, and there’s a spa.”

“Haven’t you had enough?”

“This time I think you should join me in the world of fluffy robes and facials instead of hiking and stinky yoga.” She hands me sunblock and lowers her sunglasses. “I missed you.”

“It’s only been like two weeks.”

She leans back and says, “That’s about how long it took to get here. Now catch me up. Oh, and I’ve just gotten word, you sold out again. And this time one person took everything. I mean it all including my frames and a piece of my wall that needs to be patched.”

I squinch my face up and shake my head. “Unreal. I don’t have a bunch of new ones. I just sent you Taj Mahal and some wildflowers.”

“Wildflowers are always a good idea.”

She settles back and I whip off a quick blog post that’s been rumbling in my head.

He’s written only that one line since Copenhagen. I stretch out and reread the tales of Squire and Katydid like a good romance novel. You believe and hope things will work out for these wacky kids. But in reality, I have split ends, questionable self-esteem, and bumpy thighs pale in the equatorial sun. He can’t figure out how to put other people first or go a day without daddy’s money, but the blog’s a good read.

Lounging.

Zane

Spent the day wondering how I’d feel doing whatever I wanted whenever I thought about it. You seem to do that. No regard for whom it may affect or what the consequences may be. Consequences rule my life. I think I should be having much more ice cream than I allow myself. You seem MIA. Everything okay?

Kat

I put my laptop away and then pull it back out. “Hold on.” Ginny lowers her sunglasses. “I have to tell him one more thing.”

“Mmm hmmm.”

Squire

Your groomsmen, regular three, Bill and Liesel. Liesel has to wear a suit. And you have to pick a suit color. And for a real laugh ask about where they put our announcements. Can you answer me- I feel used. A little FaceTime sex and now I’m ghosted. Answer me young man. Don’t make me send you pictures of my tits in your shirt in order to get a reaction.

Katydid

Ginny’s reading over my shoulder.

“You did what on FaceTime?”

If I tell her, then it’s real. Not cyberblogged or invented in my head. I inhale slowly then bite my lip. And I dive in.

“Let’s just say Katy did that not Kat.”

“I see you.” She points at me.

“And drink.” We toast our cocktails and lay back in the hot sun.

I’m so tired but I can’t sleep. So I do what I do most nights.

I write to him in my continuous draft of an email.