And with that, Wes walked inside, and finally came home.

Bulahdeen pushed past where everyone was now talking excitedly in the doorway.

“There you are,” Bulahdeen called to Selma, who had just gotten out of her car. No one was welcoming her back, though if they knew what she’d done, they would have. “You’ve been gone a while.”

Selma was wearing a stunningly low-cut red dress, and her hair was disheveled. She put her hand on her neck, to hide the love bite there. “Have you seen the hotel by the water park?” she said to Bulahdeen from the driveway. “It’s divine. What are we all doing here?”

“What, indeed,” Bulahdeen said. “Come in for breakfast. We’ve just had some wonderful news.”

“I’ve already eaten,” Selma said, closing her car door and walking toward the cabins.

“Then come to my cabin later,” Bulahdeen said, walking out of the house and following her. “We’ll have tea and some nice pinwheel cookies.”

“Why?” Selma asked suspiciously.

“Because that’s what friends do.”

“You’re not my friend, Bulahdeen,” she said, hopping from foot to foot as she walked away, taking off her heels. “I don’t have friends.”

“You are my friend.” Bulahdeen huffed after her. “You’re my best friend. And you know it. Why else would you have used your last charm on a man you’re disgusted by, in order to save a place you don’t even like? You did it for me. You did it for all of us. You do great endings. I like your style.”

“You’re a crazy old woman,” Selma said as she reached her cabin and walked up the steps of her stoop. She took her key out of her purse, but then turned. “How did you know I’d used my last charm?”

Bulahdeen leaned against the railing of the steps, out of breath. “I looked.”

“You went into my cabin without my permission?” Selma asked, indignant.

“I thought you’d been kidnapped by Bigfoot.”

“I would have had a better time,” Selma murmured, turning back and slipping the key into the lock.

“If you put ice on that hickey, it’ll go away faster,” Bulahdeen said, climbing the steps and waiting for Selma to open the door.

Selma put her hand on her neck. “Ice on my neck? That’s freezing!”

“That’s why they call it ice.”

“Are you really coming in?” Selma asked.

“Of course.”

“I’m never getting rid of you, am I?”

“Nope.”

Selma walked in and held the door to her cabin open, shaking her head impatiently as Bulahdeen walked inside.

And just before Selma closed the door, she smiled.

*   *   *