“Eli and London saw somebody named Lapri Dallan. I looked her up last night. She’s Black, late thirties, seems like somebody you could actually talk to.”
Nique looked at the hammock for a moment then back at me.
“I’ll agree to trying it with you,” she said finally. “Couples therapy. I’m not ready to commit to the family piece yet.”
“Baby steps,” I said. “That’s all I’m asking.”
I leaned across the tray and kissed her. She kissed me back without hesitating, her hand coming up to my face, warm and certain.
When we pulled apart she stayed close. Close enough that I could see every detail of her face in the morning light. She looked at me for a long moment like she was deciding something.
“I don’t know what I would have done this week without you,” she said quietly. “I mean that Dex.” She searched my face. “After all these years you’re still my person.”
I didn’t say anything. I just looked at her and let that land where it needed to.
She settled back against the edge of the pool, her shoulder brushing mine, and looked out at the jungle around us. Neither of us rushed to fill the silence. We just sat there in that clear water with the trees overhead and the morning stretching out in front of us like we had all the time in the world.
For once it felt like maybe we did.
Chapter thirty-one
Navigation
The past few hours had been a dream. After the pool, we did a guided meditation class that actually had me feeling like I could keep my head above water, and then we spent time exploring a few nearby cenotes. Since we’d missed out on the group trip yesterday, it felt good to finally see the water everyone was raving about without the weight of an argument hanging over us. We laughed, we swam, and for a little while, I forgot that my life was a complicated puzzle with half the pieces missing.
But reality has a way of checking back in.
My phone had been buzzing in my bag for twenty minutes. London was already blowing up the group chat, reminding everyone that the wedding rehearsal was at 4:00 sharp on the resort’s beach. It was 3:15, and we were currently miles away from the resort, stuck in our third pharmacy of the day.
The first two were sold out of Plan B, and the panic was starting to settle in my chest.
Dex stepped up to the counter of the small, dusty farmacia while I hovered by a shelf of sunscreens. He cleared his throat, trying to channel whatever high school Spanish he remembered.
“Hola. Necesito… uh, pastilla del día después? Plan B?”
The man behind the counter didn’t even look up from his newspaper. “¿Qué?”
Dex tried again, slower this time. “Plan B. La pastilla. ¿Tienes?”
The guy finally looked up, nodding slowly as he reached under the counter. “Sí. Tengo. ¿Cuántos necesitas?”
Dex glanced back at me, then turned back to the man. “Solo… solo uno.”
The man pulled out a small box and set it on the glass. “Diez dólares.”
I blinked, stepping closer. “Did he say ten dollars?”
Dex smirked, pulling his wallet out. “Yeah. Dora the Explorer taught you well.”
I flipped him off with a grin. “Do you realize how much cheaper that is than in the States? Dex, get me like four boxes.”
Dex stopped mid-reach, looking at me like I’d lost my mind. “Damn, girl. It’s not candy.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll be popping them like candy until I can get home to see my OBGYN. Just get them.”
Dex shook his head but held up four fingers to the man. “Cuatro, por favor.”
While the man rang them up, I grabbed a bottle of water from a small cooler nearby. Dex paid the man, grabbed the bag, and we headed back out to the car where our driver was waiting. The second the door clicked shut, I ripped into one of the boxes, unscrewed the water, and swallowed the pill.