Page 128 of See You Next Month

“That’s what they did the week before,” Kelsey explained. “All their friends' families were coming in for graduation so they were busy with them.”

Isabella leaned her elbows on the island and gazed into the living room.

Kelsey sidled up next to her and bumped her shoulder. “What are you thinking?”

Isabella glanced over at Kelsey. “I’m almost afraid to say.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want to jinx anything,” Isabella said.

Kelsey chuckled. “You said I was stuck with you.”

“Oh, you are, but still,” Isabella said, arching an eyebrow. “Everything is going so well.”

“Spill it,” Kelsey said, leaning against Isabella.

“I was thinking… They look like a happy blended family,” Isabella said, gazing back at the living room.

Kelsey rested her head on Isabella’s shoulder. “Mmhmm.”

“Too much?” Isabella asked.

“Just right,” Kelsey replied.

A phone began to vibrate at the end of the island.

“That’s yours,” Isabella said, reaching for it and handing it to Kelsey.

“It’s Carmen,” Kelsey said, connecting the call. “Hey.”

“Hi, have you seen the latest comments on the website?” Carmen asked.

“Uh, no,” Kelsey replied. “The girls graduated this weekend and Isabella and the boys are here. I haven’t looked at them today.”

“Isabella’s with you? Can you put me on speaker?”

“Yeah, hold on a sec,” Kelsey said. “She wants to talk to both of us. Let’s go in here.”

Isabella followed Kelsey into her office. It was also the extra bedroom where the girls were staying and clothes were scattered everywhere.

Kelsey sat in her desk chair and powered up her computer while Isabella dumped clothes out of a chair and put them on the bed. She pulled the chair over next to Kelsey and smiled when she saw the picture of them on the beach at Coral Bay. She’d given it to Kelsey for Christmas with instructions to put it next to her computer at home. The idea was to look at it and remember that wonderful day along with those happy feelings when things weren’t going so great at home. Isabella had a feeling they were about to need it.

“Hi, Carmen,” Isabella said.

“Hi, Isabella. Something is going on with the site. Look at these comments.”

“Uh,” Kelsey mumbled. “Give us a sec—I’m pulling them up now.”

“What is that?” Isabella asked, squinting her eyes at the screen.

“‘It looks like the single moms vacationing their way around the Virgin Islands aren’t so single after all,’” Carmen read. “‘Why are they pretending to be just like you and me when they’re really lesbians in a gay relationship? Who are they trying to fool? Why pretend? Is this just another scam to get honest people to spend their hard-earned money on one-star vacations pretending to be five-star accommodations? Couldn’t this resort get better spokespeople?’”

“Oh, fuck,” Isabella murmured. “Can you take it down?”

“Yeah, but there are a couple of comments under it,” Kelsey said.

“‘Why would they lie?’” Isabella read.

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