Page 23 of Rescuing Kaye

“Good, you found them.” She puffs at a strand of hair covering her face. “Did I hear it was Wine Time?”

“Sure did.” Carmen thrusts the bottle she was holding at me, then turns to Rosalie. “You’ll find wine glasses in the cabinet behind you.” She opens the fridge and pulls out two more bottles of wine. “Barbi, you’re on pizza duty.”

“I’m on it.” Barbi snaps to attention and gives a little salute. She pulls out her phone and quick dials our favorite pizza place. “Rosie, anything you won’t eat?”

Something happens when Barbi shortens Rosalie’s name to Rosie. I swear it’s as if her entire face lights up. No, her entire body seems to glow, and for the first time, a genuine smile graces her features.

The four of us head upstairs and clamber up the fire escape that leads to the roof. Like the gym, the meditation room, and the garden, we’ve made changes up here as well.

Nothing fancy. Anything left to the whim of the elements needs to be able to handle what San Francisco can throw at it. We settled for plastic Adirondack chairs and matching side tables, coffee tables, and gas fed heaters for chilly San Francisco nights. But what makes the roof so much fun is the stunning view of the city when it’s lit up at night.

“So, Rosie…” Barbi uncorks the first bottle of wine. She fills up Rosalie’s glass, then plops down into a chair.

“Yes?” Rosalie takes a sip and her eyes close as she takes everything in. She’s definitely relaxing. “Tell us all the sordid things you and Hayes did while running around in the jungle. Did you play Tarzan and Jane? Who jumped whose bones first?” Barbi’s question gives Rosalie a shock. She inhales her wine and spits it out, coughing hard.

“Wine Foul!” Carmen and Barbi point at Rosalie, and we all laugh hysterically.

“Excuse me?” Poor Rosalie looks between the three of us.

“Spitting out good wine is a Wine Foul,” I explain. “Which means you have to tell us nothing but the God’s honest truth to our very next question.”

“Wait. What?” She turns to Carmen. “Is that really a thing?”

“You’re one of us now…” Barbi slings an arm around Rosalie’s shoulder. “Which means, it’s totally a thing. And I have questions.”

“About what?” Rosalie looks unsure.

“I want to know about you and your Guardian.” Barbi leans back and takes a sip of wine. “Men like that… Men stacked like that…”

With Rosalie’s eyes round as saucers, we all settle back in our chairs, and wait for Barbi to ask her question.

“Yes?” Rosalie hesitates.

“Are they as good in bed as they look?”

Right as Rosalie opens her mouth to answer, the clomping of boots rings out from the fire escape below. We stop talking and look at each other.

Barbi mouths:Did you lock the front door?She glances at Carmen and me. I shake my head, as does Carmen. We forgot to lock the front door.

A sudden sense of dread overcomes me. Would Scott…? No, he wouldn’t come in uninvited, but who else would know the code to get in?

SEVEN

Zeb

We’refortunate traffic is light and make good time to the airport.

My phone rings and I put it on speaker.

“Yo!”

“Howzit hanging, Zeb?” Mitzy’s high-pitch voice crackles through the speakers.

“A little to the left. How about you?”

“The girls are doing just fine.”

“Are you going to brief us?”

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