“Where are you going?”
“Up to the grocery store. I need to talk to them about this,” I tell her.
Bellamy distinctly pouts the entire way to the store, obviously wanting me to share in her jubilant excitement. But something seems strange about this. I need to talk to the manager and find out exactly what it is I won. The last thing I need right about now is getting roped into a timeshare presentation at chez hotel, teetering on a tiny patch of land just enough in the water to be technically considered an island.
When we get to the grocery store, I go straight to Gabriel's line. He grins at me as he sees me approach.
“Congratulations, Emma!” he gushes. “I'm so excited for you.”
“Gabriel, I don't understand what's going on. What sweepstakes are we talking about?”
“The one for customer loyalty cardholders,” he explains. “There's been an information flyer up on the bulletin board at the front of the store for the last few weeks. Didn't you notice it?”
“I don't really pay attention to bulletin boards that much,” I tell him.
“Let me call Gretchen,” he says. “She can explain the whole thing to you.”
He puts in a call to the store manager, and a few moments later, she comes down from the office. Dressed in gray slacks and a purple sweater with her salt and pepper hair styled in a neat bob, she looks elegant and confident. Her stride is one of authority and ease in her position. Even if I didn't remember her working at the store from the time I was a child, just the way she holds herself would tell me she was in charge.
“Hello, Emma,” she says as she approaches. “What can I do for you today?”
“It's actually about the sweepstakes,” I say.
“Ah, yes,” she nods. “I hear you are our lucky winner. That's very exciting. But I thought you had all the information you needed. I gave the information with the prize details to your friend since she was the one who was using your customer card at the time.”
“Yes, she gave it to me,” I tell her. “But I don't really understand how I won something I didn't enter.”
“Nobody needed to enter,” she explains. “The Windsor Palms Resort sponsored the prize. It’s on a beautiful private island in the Caribbean. Everyone with a customer loyalty card was automatically entered.”
“Alright, but how did I win?” I ask.
“The contest was designed so that the winner would be selected randomly. The more you shopped, the higher your chances. It was set up so the winner would be selected sometime this week and you had a lucky day. Congratulations. Enjoy your trip!”
She smiles at me and walks away, headed for the cash register at the end of the row, where a teenage girl stares frantically at the register and waves for help.
“Satisfied?” Bellamy asks. “Can you just be excited now?”
I look down at the papers in my hand again. After the kind of luck I've had over the last couple of years, maybe I am due for a shift in the tides.
Sam agrees when I call him as soon as we get back to the house. Bellamy is placated by a still-warm cinnamon roll. I bring the phone outside to try to coax some more heat out of the sunlight while I talk to him.
“It'll be great for you,” he says. “You absolutely deserve some relaxation.”
“I feel like all I've been doing is relaxing,” I tell him.
“Staying home is not the same thing as relaxing,” he insists. “It will do you a world of good to get out of your routine and get into some new surroundings for a while. No Bureau work. No police work. Doesn't a dose of hot weather and lounging around by the ocean sound amazing to you?”
“It does,” I tell him. “Especially since it's seeming like summer is going to take its sweet time getting here this year.”
“I keep trying to tell you summer does not start in March,” Sam replies with a laugh. “You would think after as much time as you spent in Sherwood, you'd remember that.”
“My heart may be here, but my internal calendar is perpetually in Florida,” I tell him.
“Then your internal calendar will be very happy with this trip. I only wish I could be there with you,” he sighs.
“Wait; what? What do you mean you wish you could be there with me? Of course you'll be there,” I say.
“I can't, Emma,” he says.
“Why can't you?” Sadness creeps into my voice. I don’t hide it.
“You said the dates for the trip are in two weeks,” he points out.
“Yeah, the information says the trip is specifically for some festival that happens on the island. That's why they did the sweepstakes. Two weeks should be enough time to get ready for a vacation,” I say.
“Not for me,” he says. “My schedule is absolutely packed. This new investigation we just got into is really complicated. As much as I want to think it's going to be resolved in a couple of weeks, I can't guarantee that. Besides, we have our big trip planned for the holidays this year. If I'm going to have the vacation time to do that, I can't use any now. You have the time, and as much as I hate the idea of you being gone for a week and not being able to enjoy seeing you stretched out on the beach in your bathing suit, I really feel like you shouldn't waste this opportunity. You don't have to go alone. The trip is for three, right?”
“Yes,” I confirm.
“Perfect. Invite Eric and Bellamy. The three of you haven't really spent any quality time together in months. And when was the last time you went anywhere together like this?” he asks.
“Never,” I tell him.
“There you go. Take this as an opportunity to relax, give your brain a rest, and reconnect with your best friends. I love you. I've got to go.”
Bellamy is gradually
