Reaching down, I pull up a soaked and ruined copy of Annabelle Lies from the floor. Holding it in my hands, I look down at the cover with the shadowy woman standing near the edge of a cliff. Maybe it’s time to write the sequel. Smiling at Roxanne, I fling the ruined book to where the kitchen garbage can would be if it hadn’t blown away.
“Dana,” Roxanna says. “You look like a woman who has found all the answers.”
“Oh, Roxanne. I’m a woman who realizes I have none of the answers.”
Sam and Olivia come out of the bathroom and make their way cautiously down the hall. Turning at the sound of crunching glass, I catch Sam’s eye and smile. “Looks like my roof is gone,” I say, shrugging.
“Walls too,” she answers, deadpan.
For a few minutes, none of us can move. Standing in a line in the kitchen, staring at the sky through what used to be my ceiling, we’re all silent. I’m struck by an insane desire to laugh. I don’t know why. I must be making a strange noise while trying to choke down the laughter because the other three are staring at me.
“Are you all right?” Roxanne asks.
“Actually, I am.”
“It’s just...I know it can be upsetting. Your house is destroyed.”
“You should see your car.” Hysterical laughter wells up from my stomach and has me bent double. Roxanne starts laughing with me and then Sam and Olivia are laughing, too. Standing under the ruins of my roof, all I can do is laugh, deep, beautiful belly laughter. A ray of light is shining through the hole in my house, and I turn my face to the sky to feel the warmth.
Looking at the sun, I realize that maybe I’m a little more healed than I thought I was.
Roxanne, smiling next to me, takes my hand. “You’ve come a long way, baby.”
I have come a long way. Looking down at her beautiful smile, I’m suddenly filled with an inexplicable joy. Maybe we aren’t meant to be together. Or maybe we’re just not meant to be together right now. Whatever else happens, whatever other trials I go through, I know I can count on her to hold my hand on the journey.
Putting her arm around Olivia, Sam smiles at me over Roxanne’s head. “What are you thinking, my friend?”
“I’m thinking we’re going to have to change the name of our club.”