“So, after the lighthouse hike, you left with Susannah.”
“And?”
“And Olivia and I went out for brunch.”
Shocked, I sputter a bit on a sip of coffee. “You and Olivia went out for a meal?” She could have told me that she went out to eat with Sarah Palin and I’d be less surprised.
“Well, you know, I felt like an asshole for making her cry the night before.”
“She always cries.”
“I know. I know it. I just felt bad this time.”
Rolling my eyes, I set my coffee down on the ground in front of me. “Tell me you didn’t.”
Suddenly launching herself off the tree, she paces in front of me, grinning. “Yeah, I mean, as she pointed out, we’ve done it before. So why not?”
“Why not, indeed?”
“I sense a wee bit of sarcasm,” she says in a terrible Scottish accent.
“A wee bit?” My accent is also terrible, but better than hers.
“Look, she was kind of sweet and fun on the hike. Plus, you have to admit that she’s fucking adorable.”
“You’re right. As far as outward appearances go, she is very attractive.”
“Anyway, we went back to her place after brunch and one thing led to another and next thing you know, we’re on the couch and she’s straddling me with her breasts in my face. What the hell was I supposed to do?”
Laughing, I collapse my head into my hands. “Sammie-Sam-Sam. Oh, Sammie, Sammie, Sammie.”
“Come on.” Indignant, she smacks my on the top of the head. “Stop laughing at me.”
“Okay, okay. It’s just, you know she’s straight, right?”
Hitching her thumbs through her belt loops, she puffs her chest out. “She wasn’t last night.”
“Oh Jesus!” Unable to contain myself, I laugh until tears spring from my eyes. Sam stares at me in disgust for a few seconds before sitting next to me on the stump and joining me in laughter. When we manage to contain ourselves, I use the hem of my tank top to wipe the tears from my face. Sam sighs and leans against my shoulder, stretching her legs out in front of her.
“Okay, that sounded pretty ridiculous, even for me,” she concedes.
“Even for you,” I agree.
We pause for a few moments, staring around us at the trees and the butterflies. Sam gets up and walks over to a nearby mango tree, pulling one off. Sitting back down on the stump, she pulls out her knife and peels it, handing a slice to me before taking one for herself. We eat in silence, relishing the flavor of the luscious fruit. With juice dripping down my chin, I turn my face to the sky and let the warmth of the sun wash over me. Life isn’t that bad sometimes. We finish the mango and wipe our fingers on our shorts. I think mango is a fruit best eaten on the beach. You can let the whole thing drip sinfully all over yourself and clean up by simply strolling into the seawater.
Sighing, Sam tosses the pit into the bushes. “I love mango.”
“Nature’s perfect fruit,” I concur.
“Better than a fresh passion fruit.”
“Better than papaya.”
“Way better than a banana,” she grins.
“So, Sam. What happens next?”
“I don’t know. It’s just that I kind of like her, you know?”
“I know. You have a habit of being interested in straight women. Haven’t we talked about that?”
She shakes her head. “I don’t know what it is. Olivia is pretty adorable, though. Annoying as hell sometimes, yes.”
“Well, you’re both grown-ups. You’ll figure it out.”
“Besides,” she adds, grinning again. “I’ve got to be better than porn star guy.”
“My eighty-eight-year-old grandfather would be better than porn star guy.”
“Is he available?”
We break into another fit of giggles. When we’ve recovered, Sam pokes me. “So, tell me about your crazy night.”
Taking a deep breath, I decide to just bust everything out at once. “I think I’ve been having visions of Fran because Esmé is somewhat psychic and since we have both been wrestling with the same demons, we somehow had this connection with each other. So, she came over last night, we did this kind of mutual hypnosis thing and we went into some kind of other world or dream state where I became Fran and was inside of her body when she jumped off the cliff.” Pausing for breath, I give her a sidelong glance to see if she is still with me. She’s staring at me with her mouth hanging open. “So, I saw what Fran saw when she jumped, which was some kind of ethereal light sort of beings that beckoned her off the cliff. Whether they were in her head or not is irrelevant at this point. The important thing is that she jumped because she thought the aliens were taking her home that way. I came out of my trance when Fran jumped and Esmé and I cried and then made love and afterward, we both cried again and we both managed to admit that all along, we both somehow thought that I was the reason she killed herself, and Esmé even admitted that she came to the island with the idea of tormenting me or some other sort of half-baked idea of getting even with me for killing the only woman she ever loved.”