She squeezed out the tea bag, stirred in the packet of honey, and got to work.
And stopped. Harry wanted to spiff up his boat so it would be ready to rent out starting the following spring. As Elaine had reminded her, floating bed-and-breakfasts were originally her idea. She put off answering Harry’s email and dove into research.
Elaine picked her up late the next morning, drove her home so she could drop off her bags, and took them to lunch at a new spot that had opened between Anna’s cottage and the center of town. She waited until they had bowls of bone broth soup in front of them before she started her examination.
“I’m not quizzing you, Anna. I just want to know everything that happened. Everything,” Elaine explained, drawing out each syllable of the word.
Anna blew on her soup spoon and slurped up the broth. “This is good, El. You ever think of doing a soup truck?”
Elaine harrumphed.
Anna grinned to herself. “I take it that’s a no?”
“I did consider it. I mean, who doesn’t like soup? Does Daniel like soup? You have any soup in Mexico?”
“No, no soup. Lots of amazing guacamole. Some incredible wines from the region. And a moderate amount of heartbreak.” She lifted the spoon to her mouth again, her gaze on the contents of her bowl.
“I heard that.” Elaine leaned in.
Anna buttered one of the slabs of wood-fired sourdough bread, handed it across the table, and buttered one for herself. She dipped it into the broth until the bread threatened to fall apart and lifted it quickly to her mouth.
“Mm,” she said, “so good.”
The soup was fortifying, and even though she’d had a full day to figure out how to describe her trip and its accumulation of revelations, she was having a hard time getting started.
“Daniel looked good, Elaine, really, really good,” she began, looking across the table. “And the resort was something else. Right on the Pacific. We had a staff member dedicated to taking care of us the entire stay. I even went snorkeling and saw manta rays.”
Elaine peered at her. “That’s all lovely, but you’re telling me nothing about what it was like to see someone you were in love with a long time ago.”
“It was painful and beautiful, El. And it’s clear to me that Daniel and I will not be seeing each other again.” She watched her words send Elaine’s eyebrows arching over her eyes and her mouth into an O.
“Never?” she asked.
“Okay, maybe not never, but not any time soon.” She had a few more sips of the soup and took her time getting as much butter as she could onto another slab of bread. “Danny had a major epiphany the second night we were there, and that was after he did something at dinner that really irritated me.”
“Did you two get sexual?”
Anna nodded. “Earlier that day.”
“You want to talk about what it was like?” Elaine set her spoon beside her bowl and rested her elbows on the table.
“Not yet. I’m still processing.” She wiped her mouth with the napkin and let their waitress clear the table. “But I would like to talk about that business proposal you made.”
“Which one? The floating bordellos?” Elaine waved the waitress back over. “You want any dessert?”
Anna shook her head. “No, thanks, just herbal tea please, something with ginger in it.” She turned her attention back to Elaine. “And yes, the floating B and B, that idea. Harry emailed me. It looks like his nephew’s ideas were a little too modern for his tastes and he wants me back on board. But that would be like working for the competition, wouldn’t it?”
Elaine leaned into her chair, smoothing her fingers across the edge of the wood table. “We don’t have a boat yet, and we already know Harry’s got a particular vision for his boats, right?”
“Yes,” she said. “White or cream, primary colors only. Stripes or all one color. He’s not terribly imaginative, but he’s got a solid reputation for the boats he leases out.”
“He does have a good crew,” Elaine agreed. “But I think it would be fine for you to do this one job, and if you need to do it guilt-free, tell him you and I have been talking about doing something similar.”
“I can live with that.”
“So, when do we go boat shopping?”
Anna grinned. “I started last night. I’ll send you the links when I get home.”
The bell above the entrance to the café tinkled, letting in more customers. Anna waved and returned her attention to Elaine.
“How’re things with Richie?” she asked. She was ready to hear about someone else’s love life.
“We’ve been together less than six months,” Elaine said, “and I can’t remember the last time I felt this comfortable having a man in my life. We’re monogamous—which in and of itself is unusual for me—and we’ve spent almost every night together.” She looked at Anna full on, pointed to her face with both forefingers. “Do I even look like me?”
“Are you happy?”
“I’m very happy.”
“Is Ruby happy?” Anna teased.
“Ruby is deliriously happy. Ruby has eyes for no other man. Ruby is…” She opened her arms wide before slapping her thighs and whispering across the table. “Did I ever tell you about the time we were having sex and it was so intense that I cried?”
Anna shook her. “No, but I’m not surprised, El. I had a moment in Mexico where Daniel was moving too fast, and I freaked out. On the inside, I mean. I had to ask him to stop.”
“Then what did you do?”
“We did other things, but there was no…” she paused and lowered her voice, “penis in vagina. At all.”
“How’re things with you and Liam?”
Anna relaxed, felt her
