“No other way to do it. No time to go there. Anyway, it’s an efficient way to shop, especially for what’s primarily an investment. We bought some of the furnishings already in place as the previous owners didn’t want to move most of it. Lots of fussy stuff to see to yet. It’ll be fun to pick up little things, or decide to have something repainted.”

“What do you want to do, first thing, when you wake up tomorrow morning?”

“Try out the gym, then take a walk on the beach with a huge cup of coffee. Or, depending, skip the gym for a run on the beach. Run. On.The. Beach.”

“And without your BlackBerry.”

“I don’t know if I’d go that far. I could go into withdrawal. What about you? First thing.”

“That’s the beauty. I don’t know. I have no idea what I want to do, or what I will do. Mac will start taking pictures. Emma’s going to plop herself on the beach and stare at the water while she makes happy noises. And you, admit it, will make sure to check your laptop and phone for messages right after the workout and the walk. Or after the run.”

Parker lifted her shoulders then dropped them. “Probably, but then I plan to do a lot of staring and making happy noises.”

“And start a list of what you want to change or add to the house.”

“We all vacate in our own way.”

“Yeah, we do. And thanks in advance.”

“For what?”

“For the two weeks in a beach house in Southampton. Yes, partners and pals, but you could’ve said you wanted a couple weeks to yourself.”

“What would I do without you?”

“There’s a question we’ve never had to answer.” She opened the bag, took out the bottled water. She uncapped them both, set Parker’s in the drink cup, tapped it with her bottle. “To us. Beach girls of Southampton.”

“Absolutely.”

“Tunes?”

“Unquestionably.”

Laurel switched on the radio.

Everything changed when they cut east of New York and started across the skinny island. She lowered the window, leaned out. “I think I can smell the water. Sort of.”

“More than halfway there.” Parker bit into an apple slice. “You should call Del, give him our ETA.”

“Good idea, because I’m going to be starving when we finally get there, and jonesing for a margarita. Should I tell him to fire up the grill? Is there a grill?”

“Del co-owns the house, Laurel.”

“Of course there’s a grill. Burgers, chicken, or steak?”

“You know what, first night of vacation. A really big, fat steak.”

“I’ll put in the order.” She took out her phone, hit Del’s number.

“Hi. Where are you?”

She looked at the GPS screen, gave him their location.

“Hit some traffic?”