I hadn’t known what she’d meant by that the day she and Cecily had ambushed me in my office, but I knew now — I’d been voted off the island, which I’m sure wasn’t a hard vote for them to take. I guess since I’d shamed them, they shunned me.

"Well, no matter what they said, my life isn't over," I said. "I haven’t even been at the ad agency for six months, and I’ve already secured my first client.”

“Really?” Dru clapped. “You didn’t tell me.”

“Just got the news the day before yesterday. So the way I see it, I may be ten years late getting started, but give me a minute and I’ll have my own agency up and running.”

"See,” she held out her hands as if she were making a point, “divorce is doing you good."

"No, I'm making the best of a bad situation." I pointed toward the barista. "Do you want something to drink?"

"No, I'm good." After a couple of seconds of silence, Dru said softly, "I’m really glad to see you, but I'm surprised you came," changing the tenor of our conversation.

"If I'm being honest, I am, too." I fingered my chai tea as I replayed Jeremy's request to bring the children to D.C. for the church’s eleventh anniversary celebration.

"I understand if you can't bring yourself to attend, but I really would like the children there," he said.

Recalling his words when he’d called a month ago, I hadn’t made any promises to him then. But last week, I’d returned his call and told him the children would be here. When he kept thanking me over and over, I heard the first moments of joy from Jeremy since our divorce had been finalized five months ago.

It had been a quick divorce for me and Jeremy. Truly, I blinked and our marriage was over. It had been easy since we’d been married in D.C. and the district had such a short process. And it helped that (to my surprise), Jeremy had not contested it and we’d been amicable.

That was a blessing because I hadn’t been sure which way this wind was going to blow. When I’d walked away from my husband, Amazon had walked away from him. But a surprise for me was that like me, Jeremy wasn’t pressed about Amazon. He cared more about losing his family than losing that deal. It was just too bad that his care had come far too late.