gone with the next phase of the moon.”
“Are you talking about me?” Zoe accused, breathless from the run. “Because I know when that little coven of yours gathers the topic is, What are we going to do with Zoe?”
“Not this time,” Tessa said smoothly. “The topic is, What are we going to do with Lacey?”
Zoe fanned herself and cupped her hand over her eyes. “Can we discuss it somewhere shady? Preferably with cocktails? It’s hotter here than Arizona and you’ve got a flippin’ beach.”
“It’s Florida in August, Zoe,” Jocelyn said. “That’s why they invented air-conditioning.”
“Which we didn’t have at Nana’s house for almost three weeks,” Ashley told them. “But we do now.”
“Thank God,” Zoe said. “Or I would be at the Ritz with Jocelyn, because I don’t sweat.” She nudged Ashley. “I glisten and glow.”
The banter continued as they walked to the cars, but Lacey held back, her arm still around Tessa. “I didn’t know how much I needed you,” she whispered, her throat suddenly thick with emotion. “Thank you so much for coming, Tess. I know this has been a positively horrific year for you, waiting for the divorce to be final.”
“Not horrific for Billy. He’s got a girlfriend.”
“The bastard.”
“She’s pregnant.”
Lacey froze like ice water had been poured on them. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“Would I kid about something like that? Five years I’ve traipsed around foreign countries to build that organic-farms business with him, growing every seed but the one I wanted.”
“Oh, honey.” Lacey took both of Tessa’s hands.
“He’s all smug, too, like he’s a real man now that he’s finally made a baby.” Her voice cracked a little, like it always did on this subject. “He just texted the other day, and she’s only like three weeks pregnant.”
“I’m so glad you’re here now,” Lacey said.
“It really was Zoe’s idea. But I was on it in a heartbeat.”
“And, miracle of miracles, you got Jocelyn to set foot on Mimosa Key again.”
“Yeah, sort of.” Tessa eyed Jocelyn and shook her head. “Of course you can’t get anything out of her she doesn’t want to give, but one thing is clear: She won’t go south of that road that cuts across the middle of the island.”
Where her dad still lived, Lacey thought. “Hey, she’s here, Tessa. We’ll work around her issues.”
“Like that control freak would give us a chance to do otherwise. And, speaking of issues, have you heard from David lately?”
“Oh, Lord, please. Last I heard he was on an icing expedition in Antarctica or maybe he was trekking in Tibet. I lose track.”
Tessa rolled her eyes as they reached the Jeep. “So he’s still Peter Pan.”
“He sends money and Christmas cards,” Lacey said, the odd urge to defend Ashley’s father and her former boyfriend rising up.
“Hardly enough.”
“Enough for me.”
“Anybody at all in the romance picture?” Tessa asked.
Lacey just snorted. “What picture? I’ve dated the few single men on Mimosa Key and I don’t feel like bar hopping in Fort Myers with a teenage daughter at home.”
“Maybe we can join an online dating service together.”
“Get real, Tess.” Although Lacey had certainly considered it when she’d looked at the calendar and faced facts. She was going to be thirty-seven, and if she were ever to have another baby… No way she’d bring that up with Tessa now.
Thankfully, Jocelyn ended the conversation by waving her phone. “I need to check into the hotel,” she announced. “Client emergency. Why don’t you guys put your bags in Lacey’s car and ride with her? I’ll take the rental.”
Next to her, Lacey could feel Tessa tense for an argument, so Lacey jumped in, unwilling to ruin this perfect reunion. “Do what you need to, Joss. I’m just glad you’ll be close by.”
“Oh my God, Lacey, I was supposed to give you these.” Hanging over the driver’s seat of the Jeep, Zoe held up a few long cylinders. “They better have Hot Surfer Dude’s phone number on them.”
Lacey’s heart hitched as she took the tubes of paper. “What hot surfer dude?”
“Somebody named Clay Walker.”
She almost dropped the rolls. “You saw him?”
“Zoe practically ate him,” Tessa said.
“Like you wouldn’t have taken a bite,” Zoe shot back.
“He was the guy Mom totally dissed on the beach,” Ashley said.
“I didn’t dis him.” Lacey swallowed, the paper sticking to her damp palms. “What did he say?”
“Nothing,” Zoe said. “He just gave us those to deliver to you and told us to tell you they were from Clay Walker.”
“No,” Jocelyn corrected her. “He said the Clay Walker, the sign