Seth was still in shock. “I . . . yeah . . . I saw Georgina was here and stopped by . . .”

Maddie peered at me. “You okay? You look a little worn out.” Her eyes flicked to my hair and then back to my face. “Did you just wake up?”

Apparently, I no longer looked like I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, which was something. I hadn’t liked the way she eyed my hair. “Well, not exactly. It’s, uh, been a long day.” I stumbled over my words. I was so flustered, I could barely string a coherent response together. Seth’s presence was like the sun, blinding me and warming me all over, and Maddie was making me feel guilty and dirty for enjoying that sun.

“Is everything okay with your family?” she asked.

“My—oh, yeah, they’re okay. Still just a little crazy, but it’ll, um, pass.” I stood and picked up the laptop, hoping I sounded casual and calm. I needed to get out before I said something stupid. As it was, I couldn’t even make eye contact with Seth now. “I really just came by for this.”

Maddie studied me a few seconds longer and must have decided I was more or less telling the truth. She relaxed and seemed oblivious to me trying frantically to get to the door.

“Hey,” she said, “I was thinking you might not need to go to California for beaches.”

“For . . . what?”

“Remember our conversation at Mark’s?”

“Er, yeah.” Miraculously, I did. The condo thing, when I told her I had a beach itch.

“I have the perfect solution: Alki.”

“Alki?” asked Seth, confused.

“It’s a secret.” She winked at me. “I thought that might be a good place to start looking. What do you think?”

“Sure. Sounds great.” Alki Beach was a region of West Seattle that stuck out into Puget Sound. While it was a far cry from a Cyprian beach, it was, well, a beach. And if agreeing that it was a good idea would get me to the door . . .

“Cool! And what about dancing?”

“Huh? What about it?” I probably looked like a deer in the headlights again. This agitated state of mine didn’t make for good topic-jumping.

“Teaching salsa. I mentioned it to Beth and Casey, and they were pretty excited.”

“Oh. Yeah. Sure. I can do that.” I was seriously about to agree to anything to escape.

Her face lit up. “Oh, thank you! Is this week too soon? I bet we could get everyone together on, oh, Thursday.”

“Sure, sure, that’s fine.” I was almost at the door.

“Oh, thank you! This’ll be fun. I’ll double-check the day with everyone and e-mail you. If something comes up . . . I mean, I know you’re under a lot of stress . . .”

I waved it off. “It’s fine, really. Have a good night, okay?”