“This is pathetic!” I said. “This is supposed to be a summer of Very Serious Friendship, not a summer of Very Serious Avoidance,” I said. “You know what we need to do?”

“Organize the spice cabinet?” said Ros.

“You know I’d be down for that, but no. We should have a party.”

“A party,” Ros said, looking skeptical. “This place is barely big enough for three people.”

“Okay, maybe not like, a party party. Lord knows I don’t want anyone getting punched out on my watch. I know, I know, cool your jets. What about a dinner party?”

“A dinner party,” Touch said. “With our oven?”

“The cake worked,” I said. “Enough that you two scarfed it down.”

“Right, but we’re animals,” Touchstone said.

“What would we even cook?” Ros said.

“And when would we even have it?” Touchstone said. “We’re all so busy.”

“We’d cook whatever you wanted, and we could have the party whenever you wanted, too. You two are such good cooks. You can just make veggie burgers again if you want. Or I’ll cook.”

“No one wants that,” said Ros.

“Look, it’ll be fun. We can come up with a menu together,” I said. “Ros, you can invite Jess… Touch, you can invite Audrey if you’re on okay terms.…”

“That does sound kind of fun,” said Touch, with a hint of trepidation in his voice. “Maybe we can do a risotto? Audrey can probably get us some wine.…”

“I like the risotto idea,” said Ros.

“We could get dressed up,” I said. “We could use those pink glasses.”

“You know I’m just going to break one,” Ros said.

“We’ll get you a sippy cup, then,” I said, and Ros laughed, and so did Touchstone, and the dinner began to take shape before us. There would be laughter and gaiety and frivolity. There would be wonderful smells: garlic and ginger and slow-cooked onions. There would be sparkling drinks. There would be abundance, and then calm—a long, lingering evening on the back porch, just like there’d been that first night. We would sit there until the sun went down, feel the loss of light and heat in our bodies, and the Triumvirate would be reunited.