Then again, the only thing waiting for her in her cabin was a doe-eyed Tennessean and traitorous cats.
She and Daphne had spent most of today in the art studio, putting together slide presentations for their upcoming classes. April was loath to admit that Daphne knew her stuff and was even excited to dabble in watercolors herself. Still, April couldn’t seem to put away her scorpion’s tail when it came to Daphne.
April sighed and took another bubbly gulp of her drink, finishing it off and setting the empty glass on a nearby table. She was just about to seek out another when her phone buzzed in her back pocket.
Ramona.
“Hey,” April said after scrambling to slide her finger over her screen. She’d texted Ramona yesterday about Daphne’s presence in Clover Lake, the cosmic insanity of it all, but hadn’t heard back yet. At the sound of Ramona’s voice now, April’s chest felt lighter, airier.
“Apes, hey, sorry,” Ramona said. “I just remembered you’re at the Cloverwild party.”
“It’s boring as fuck,” April said, leaning her hip against the window. “Did you just get home from work?”
“Yeah, thank god. But we’re leaving for this movie premiere in twenty minutes.”
“Fancy,” April said.
Ramona laughed. “We’re exhausted.”
April nodded even though Ramona couldn’t see her. Always the royalwethese days. April remembered when she and Ramona were thewe. Of course, she was happy for her best friend—wouldn’t want Ramona to have any less than everything she wanted—but she was learning that being happy for her friend sometimes came with loneliness for herself.
And she hated it.
“Did you see my texts?” she asked.
“Oh, I…” Ramona trailed off, and April imagined her pullingback to check her phone. There was a pause, then a softly uttered “Holy shit.”
“Yeah,” April said.
“Wait, wait. Your teaching partner is Daphne Love.”
“In the flesh.”
“TheDaphne Love?”
“The one and only.” April snagged one of the bite-sized appetizers from a tray the servers carried through the room, a crab cake topped with Old Bay mayo, and popped it in her mouth. “And she’s a mess,” she said around the food.
“I bet she’s terrified of you,” Ramona said. “How did she react?”
April swallowed. “She didn’t.”
“She…didn’t?”
“No clue who I am.”
Ramona blew out a breath so strong it buzzed in April’s ear. “Apes.”
“It’s fine,” April said, but her throat thickened, the knowledge that Elena hadn’t even bothered to tell Daphne about her hitting all over again. “Anyway, how are you?”
“Wait, Apes,” Ramona said softly.
Too softly.
She thought she wanted that—Ramona’s tenderness and caring, her empathy—but suddenly, her gentle,oh honeykind of tone was making April feel the opposite of comforted.
She felt exposed.
Silly and strange and alone.
