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Leni joins us on our walk and introduces herself. She falls into a natural conversation with Nelli and Rory as they want to be called, though Noa insists on using their given names—Lenora and Aurora—which I think is because of how they react to them.

We manage to get everyone to the guest house and their things unpacked before Kelly announces that it’s time to eat. She wanted to make us a meal, but the houses are not stocked with food, as everyone on the island eats at Ares’s Bar, and we don’t keep anything more than non-perishables and breakfast foods handy.

By the time we take a seat, Noa’s family fill two tables with Noa directing the moving of furniture to accommodate everyone. I sit at one end with my mom sitting beside me, and poor Valli is down the hectic end with Noa.

My father sits across from me, next to Kelly, and she proceeds to talk his ear off.

“He is proud of you.”

I look at my father and back at Mom. “He hasn’t said so.”

My father didn’t want me to move so far away from him; being their only child, he wanted me close. But when a job opened here, and I came for a trial, I never left. I love it here.

“He doesn’t say things aloud. You know where you get it from. How is your boyfriend doing?”

Mom knows everything about Cave. She was afraid for me at first after what I shared about him, but she trusts me to make the right choice.

“He is doing okay. He should be home soon.”

“And you?”

I don’t want to lie to my mom, but I refuse to tell her that a piece of my heart feels like it’s been ripped from my chest. That it hurts.

“Better, Valli makes me feel better.”

My mom looks at Valli, who is laughing at something one of the twins is telling her. Then she looks back at me and places her hand over mine. Our meals are brought out, and the chaos calms a little. Noa is in his element, entertaining everyone and jumping between conversations while his mom sits back watching him with a smile on her face.

I excuse myself and go up to the bar to get a water jug when my father joins me. “I like her,” he says, and it’s the closest thing to a compliment he has ever given me.

“How’s the other one?” he asks, meaning Cave. He is still having a hard time processing that I have a boyfriend, since he never even knew I liked men, though I honestly didn’t know either until I met Cave. “When does he come home?”

“Hopefully soon.”

My father nods and picks up a water jug placed down in front of us by one of the day staff. “You seem happy.”

“I am.”

Dad nods, and we move back to the table. “The work you have been doing on the house, you’ll have to send me pictures.”

“I will.”

Dad takes his seat beside Kelly, who immediately picks up the conversation with him again, and I laugh as I take a seat. Valli has stolen my seat, so I take the free chair beside her where Mom was sitting.

“Your mom taught me how to sign ‘thank you.’”

She shows me what she has learned. “Did I do it right?”

“Close enough that she will understand.”

“She put her hand on my face before dinner and didn’t sign anything. I don’t know what it means.”

“It means she sees you. It’s what she does when she wants someone to know they have been seen.”

I glance at my mom, who is now sitting in Valli’s seat trying to sign something to the twin I think is Nelli. She is attempting to sign back, and while enthusiastic, is very bad at it. My mom tosses her head back in laughter.

“I like her,” Valli says.

“She likes you.”