“Careful!” Jerry said from the comfort of the boat. “Beulah’s a hungry lake!”

Time passed more quickly on water than on land. Before she knew it, the sky was dark and the lake was even darker, a pool of onyx. More importantly, the beer cooler was empty, which meant it was time to head back.

Arthur met Danny at the pier and tied his boat against the shore station while everyone hopped off and walked past him toward the campfire, as if he were a carnival worker at the end of the ride. Not even Sherri thanked him; instead, she flitted from person to person, begging Tina to stay at the resort, complaining about Gloria with Carmen, and gossiping about regulars and comparing schedules and shifts. Arthur and Roberta stood by, outsiders to her world, unable to find a way to enter the conversation.

Sherri began to see the boundaries that separated her two worlds. There were Arthur, Jerry, and Roberta, people who knew her one way, and her friends from work, who knew her as someone else.

Danny had brought a big boom box and played ELO. A group of people started to dance in the light of the fire. Curtis didn’t. He whittled a stick with the knife he kept in his pocket for cutting carpet. He looked up and saw Val and Danny talking to each other, and his eyes narrowed with suspicion. Jerry, wasted, snored in the hammock strung between two white pines, a bottle of Jim Beam at his side.

Sherri was drunk and oblivious. She swayed to the music. Roberta and Arthur sat in plastic folding chairs, watching her. Goldie rested at Arthur’s feet—even the dog looked bored. Sherri grabbed Roberta’s arms and tried to get her to stand. “Come on,” she said. “Dance with me. You guys look like chaperones.”

“When did you learn how to dance like that?” Roberta asked.

Sherri stuck out her tongue. “You’re no fun anymore.”

“And you’re nothing but fun. That’s it.”

“That’s because I’ve never had any fun until now.” Sherri gave up on Roberta and moved on to Arthur. “You’ll dance with me, won’t you?”

He stood, but he seemed stiff and uncertain.

“What’s wrong?” She pressed herself against him.

“How long do you think people will stay?”

“I hope forever!” Sherri twirled away from Arthur’s sullen heaviness and fell into a circle with Ginger, Carmen, and Boo. She didn’t notice when Roberta left, or when Arthur went upstairs and didn’t come back down.

The sun was starting to rise when the van finally pulled away. Jerry snored contentedly. The house was scattered with empties, and cigarette butts were all over the yard. Sherri, buzzed and pleased, plopped into bed next to Arthur, a huge smile on her face. She kissed him and his eyes fluttered open. “Oh Arthur, thank you so much. I had the best time!”