Page 7 of Threads of Hope

Fox thought for a moment as though he wasn’t sure he wanted to answer. “I answered the first one. And that was one of the biggest mistakes of my life.”

“Was it a woman?”

“A past love, sure,” Fox replied. “She thought we could try again. I was living in Ko Samui at the time, and she came out there to live with me. At first, it was rainbows and gumdrops, but not long afterward, it became clear that we’d become very different people. It was devastating, too, because I’d completely upheld that relationship as one of the best of my life in the past. But by the time our second round of the relationship was over here in Thailand, we hated each other.”

Fox’s voice was very somber, dark. Brea recognized the tremendous pain in his eyes.

“Is your ghost a man who got away?” Fox asked after a dramatic pause.

Brea shook her head. “She used to be my best friend. We met when we were four years old and went through life together. We lived together in college, then went on to work for the same company in New York City before returning home together. She was the maid of honor at my wedding.”

“When was the last time you saw her?”

“The year 2000,” Brea replied.

Fox shook his head. “Is she feeling nostalgic? Is that why she reached out?”

“No,” Brea breathed. “She’s angry. She’s so, so angry. And I’ll never be able to talk her down.”

“Want my advice?”

“Okay.”

“Delete the message,” Fox said. “Block her if you can. Don’t let yourself get distracted by the past again. I mean, look around you.” He swept his hand through the air to show off the turquoise waters, the blissful beaches, and the swaying palm trees. “You live in paradise. Why would you want to be anywhere else?”

Not long after, Brea took her motorbike back home, returned her neighbor’s plate, and ate a mango, standing at her kitchen window, staring out yet unable to comprehend what she saw. When she finished the mango, she deleted Oriana’s message— and considered blocking her. But for some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to. It felt too drastic.

ChapterFour

By the time Oriana and Meghan’s four-day trip to New York City came to an end, Oriana had secured three art deals, met with five clients, attended two swanky parties— and nearly lost her mind with worry. Behind the wheel of her convertible, her head thrummed with anxiety as Meghan clicked through radio stations, looking for songs they’d previously loved as younger versions of themselves.

“This one’s great,” Meghan said, pumping her fist through the air as a late eighties hit came on. “Oh gosh. This reminds me of that terrible blazer I always stole from you. The one with the shoulder pads?”

Oriana tried to smile, remembering the magenta and blue blazer, which she’d caught Meghan wearing at a high school party. Oriana had taken her aside and told her she was too young for that beer and certainly too young for her blazer— and Meghan had burst into tears. Immediately afterward, Oriana had recognized her cruelty, gotten her little sister a glass of water, and driven her to a diner, where they’d eaten burgers, played songs on the jukebox, and gossiped. In retrospect, it was one of Oriana’s favorite memories. They’d missed “iconic” moments at the party the night before, but neither cared.

When they boarded the ferry, Meghan and Oriana received identical text messages from their father.

CHUCK: Hi, you two! How about dinner tonight?

CHUCK: I want to hear all about your trip to the big city!

Oriana groaned inwardly, but Meghan said, “Doesn’t that sound fun? Your place or mine?”

“Let me call Reese.”

As Oriana and Meghan struck out from the convertible and up to the ferry's top deck, Oriana’s phone rang out across the Sound. Reese answered after two rings.

“Hey, honey! You on the ferry?”

“We are.” Oriana hated how down she sounded. “Dad wants to have dinner tonight.”

“I know! He already let me know. We have all that burger meat in the freezer, and Alexa says we can make homemade onion rings,” Reese said.

“I should have known you already had a plan,” Oriana said, breathing a momentary sigh of relief.

“I got you, babe.”

With the plan in place, Meghan texted her husband, daughter, Eva, and son, Theo, about dinner, and everyone agreed to come— even Eva’s serious boyfriend, Finn.